Online briefs: Busy January on 888Poker and PokerStars, Lower rake for MGN’s Jackpot Sngs
TCOOP on Pokerstars to start the year 2017
It is once again the time of year for PokerStars’ Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) which will run from January 18 to 29, 2017. The schedules of the 65 events have been announced but the guarantees for each individual event will be posted on the platform as it happens. Players, however, are assured an overall guarantee of US$15,000,000 across the whole series.
As PokerStarslistened to their players, certain changes have also been made to certain events in terms of time scheduling and format. One of the more interesting changes is the increased buy-in of the High Roller event. Due to popular demand, the High Roller Event now has a US$3,000 buy-in.
Depending on the turnout of this event, however, PokerStars will consider having a US$5,000 or US$10,000 buy-in for future TCOOP High Roller Events.
The prize table for the Player of the Series has also been released so that players will know what they will be fighting for.
Making 2017 bigger with 888poker.com’s Super XL Series
And to make the blast even bigger, 888poker.com is having its Super XL Series from January 19 to 31, 2017. The Super XL Series, which guarantees an overall prize pool of US$5,000,000 has 63 events lined up including a $1,500,000 Super XL – Main Event.The Series will also be having a $2,100 High Roller event which guarantees $350,000.
The top 18 players on the Super XLleaderboard get to automatically enter the Super XL Champion of Champions which has a top prize of a US$12,000 WSOP 2017 Main Event Package.
More: XL Series – Full Schedule
Microgaming lets players win more by cutting effective rake down
Microgaming (MNG) is decreasing its effective rake on its “Fish party” lottery Sit N Gos after players complained that it was impossible to win at the game.
The “Fish Party” SnG originally had the standard 5% rake which was competitive in the industry.
But the SnG has a casino bonus component which progressively increases – a feature to supposedly lure casual players. So an additional 5.17% is taken out to be added to the jackpot. With this format, a €1 can have a jackpot prize of €50,000. But since jackpots are rarely won (5 times in 1 million games), the effective rake of a “Fish Party” SnG comes out to more than 10%, turning even the best players away from the game.
Alex Scott, Head of Product at Microgaming, said,” In any gambling game you need to deliver winning experiences frequently enough to keep players interested, but in poker the game must be beatable by some in the long term, or it’s not poker and a significant number of poker fans won’t play.”
MNG has significantly decreased the jackpot rake percentage to only 0.85%, and with the normal 5% standard rake, the effective rake comes to less than 6%. This change will definitely take longer for the jackpot to increase but it will give players the chance to win more in the long run.
