The World Series of Poker Academy is set to organize its first event ever in the Chicago area.

Located just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago, the 2 day event, taking place from August 29th – 30th, will provide inveterate poker players the chance to become precocious in the game with firsthand tuition from leading professionals. Instructors at the Chicago scene event will include WSOP bracelet winners Matt Graham, Annie Duke, poker author Bernard lee as well as poker tell expert Joe Navarro.
The event, which normally takes place in Las Vegas for 3 days rather than 2, provides intensive schooling to those players serious enough about the game to pay the fees. The regular Vegas package for avaricious players is $2500, however many players have gone on to recoup these expenses in main stage events like the WSOP. For example, past students like Aaron Keay and Allen Kennedy who participated in the schooling, went to the WSOP main event and each took home over $135,000 (positioned 49th and 50th respectively).
Brandon Rosen, one of the key figures behind the event said “The WSOP Academy just finished an amazing summer at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and we’re now excited to offer our first academy experience in the Chicago area with an amazing line-up of instructors. “From live hand demonstrations with Annie Duke to our groundbreaking seminar with poker tells expert Joe Navarro, our event at the Horseshoe Casino will give players the confidence and skills they need to be a threat at the table, whether they’re playing in a home game with friends or at the World Series of Poker against the best in the game.”

Those who pay to go to the events will benefit from intensive seminars teaching all advanced areas of the game including – advanced and implied odds, targeting weak players, and using intimidation and psychology to control your opponents. Students will also be able to sit in question and answer sessions led by top name pros. As well as this however, organizers of the event provide first hand video analysis of real WSOP tournament footage, live hand demonstration and private multi-table tournaments where amateur players can practice playing against real live pros on the green felt. The curriculums overall proclivity lies with a focus on the Texas Hold’em game of poker, including special focus on concealing tells, post-flop strategy; just a few things among a list of aspects of the game.

The event will be the first of its kind in Chicagoland, showing the growing interest in the game of poker and the WSOP, with the game immersing itself into more diverse areas. Joe Navarro, who worked with the FBI for many years in areas of counterintelligence, said: “I look forward to working with WSOP Academy students to help them see inside their opponents and change the way they view the game. I plan on spending time working with players individually and spotting tells that they are giving off at the table. I truly believe that this type of personalized attention can save a player a lot of money in the long run.”
The individual price of the 2 day event is set at $1,899, however as Aaron Keay and Allen Kennedy will testify, the ‘in it to win it’ cliché provides an appropriate tagline.