Q&A with Midway Poker Tour Founder Dan Bekavac
The Midway Poker Tour was conceived by Dan Bekavac, a Midwest poker player with more than $290K in lifetime tournament earnings. That includes two MSPT titles, one of which was the 2019 MSPT Potawatomi Main Event for a career-high $126,998.
PokerNews had the chance to catch up with Bekavac leading up to this introductory event.
PokerNews: When and how did the Midway Poker Tour come to be?
Bekavac: We’ve been developing an app that is basically Facebook for poker players since 2017, so the idea of the live tour has been being kicked around since then. We are getting closer to launching the app so now is the perfect time to get our live tour off the ground.
What sort of COVID-19 precautions will be taken during the event?
To help keep everyone safe, we are hosting the event in four separate banquet halls and we are limiting each room to five tables of nine players. All players will be required to wear a mask and hand sanitizing stations will be in each gaming room.
What sort of things have you had to do to prepare for this event?
We’ve had custom tables and chips made for the charity, as well as a custom RFID table, as we will be the first and only mid-major poker tour to stream their event live from the beginning to the end of the event. We’ve had to navigate through the Illinois charity gaming regulations to make sure we are 100% in compliance. As well as reach out to many marketing teams and companies to start getting the word out on our new tour.
What do you envision for the future of the Midway Poker Tour?
We created this tour with the concept of, “For Players, By Players”. Giving the players what they want, treating them well and offering them what doesn’t exist now with other tours. We will be the biggest mid-major poker tour by the end of 2021