Amaya Hosting PokerStars 2016 Norwegian Championships

Amaya Gaming, parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt, is planning a PokerStars tournament in Norway. Amaya's Global Poker Tours Ltd brand announced the first legal live poker to take place in Norway will be called the 2016 Norwegian Championships and will include 5 regional championships across the country with the final Championship Main Event held in Oslo. "The Norwegian Championships has a rich history of “unofficial” events held at overseas locations for the past 13 years, including Dublin, Ireland; Nottingham, England; and Riga, Latvia," according to a statement from Amaya. "These events were always well-attended, so expectations are high for the first event on home soil." The statement also notes that over 100 players registered on day 1 of pre-registrations with the final participant count projected to surpass 2,000 and set a new record for a closed National Championship. Norwegian charity Blodkreftforeningen, which means The Leukemia Foundation and focuses on leukemia and bone marrow cancer research, will be the official charity partner of the Norwegian Championships. Five percent of all buy-ins from this event will go toward the cause. The tournament was made possible by legislation changes in Norway and will conclude with the Norwegian Championships in Oslo from November 18-24. There is a NOK1,500 (USD$180) buy-in for each of the five Regional Championships and each stop will serve as a satellite to the Championship Main Event.