World Poker Tour Postpones Cyprus Tournament Due to Middle East Conflict

The international poker series World Poker Tour (WPT) has announced the postponement of the WPT Prime Cyprus Championship amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, PokerNews reported.

The tournament, featuring a $1,100 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million, was scheduled to take place March 5–9 at the Chamada Prestige Hotel & Spa in Cyprus. It is the flagship event of the WPT Prime Cyprus festival, a tournament series aimed at large player fields and broad participation.

The decision to postpone the event follows the military escalation involving Iran. According to media reports, the United States and Israel carried out joint airstrikes on Iranian military and intelligence facilities on February 28, increasing tensions across the region.

WPT said the move was prompted in part by flight cancellations and travel uncertainty, which complicated plans to send part of the tournament staff to Cyprus.

Organizers also noted that Cyprus is located less than 800 miles (about 1,300 km) from Iran, raising additional concerns amid the deteriorating regional situation.

The rest of the poker festival in Cyprus is proceeding as scheduled. Organizers said the postponed event will be replaced with another $1,100 no-limit hold’em tournament added to the festival schedule.

This is the second poker event to be canceled or postponed amid the developments surrounding Iran. Earlier, the Mixed Game Festival at Resorts World casino in Las Vegas was canceled after its organizer, Israeli poker journalist Robbie Strazynski, was unable to travel to the United States.

Organizers have not yet announced a new date for the rescheduled WPT Prime Cyprus Championship.

Earlier, Gambling Park reported that Flutter plans to consolidate its Italian poker brands into a single PokerStars Italy network.