In this column, we deliver you the latest and most interesting online poker industry news from across the world and all platforms.
Natural8-GGNet set to award $5M in prizes across Mini MILLION$ series
Following its success with the recently concluded World Series of Poker Online, Natural8-GGNet is back again with another exciting festival beginning this October 2nd. The Mini MILLION$ series is anything but mini with its grand prizes amounting to an eye-catching $5,000,000 in guarantees across 189 events. Scheduled to run through the 17th of October, low stakes players can take advantage of the great value tournaments with its buy-ins priced at an affordable $1.05 to $11.
Highlights of the series include the $1 million guaranteed Mystery Bounty MILLION$ with the entry fee listed at $10.50, the multi-day mini Omaholic Bounty MILLION$ for a guaranteed prize pool of $100K, and the single day $101,000 GTD Sunday Hundred Grand for $11, available on all three Sundays on schedule. The network’s regular Mini Global MILLION$ also sees a boosted prize pool of $300,000 with the buy-in remaining at $5 to complement the festivities.
“Even though the buy-ins are low, there’s nothing mini about this series! There’s over $5 million to be won, and with buy-ins starting from just $1, mini MILLION$ tournaments are designed to be accessible to almost every player.“, said Sarne Lightman, Global Head of GGPoker.
PokerStars’ inaugural WCOOP Women’s Championship hails champion
The male dominated field of poker is taking a step away from the limelight with women-exclusive tournaments becoming more popular across major sites. Online poker giant PokerStars for one, has most recently concluded its first World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Women’s Championship where it awarded Charlotte ‘Sjlot’ Van Brabander the title along with over $15,000. The newly minted champion outlasted 78 entrants and claimed the lion’s share of the $65,000 guaranteed prize pool.
The women’s only event was not the first of its kind with the major network having hosted three women-exclusive tournaments in its previous Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). Aside from this, another three women’s PKO tournaments (WCOOP 93) played through in this season’s lineup in addition to the site’s daily exclusive games. The site offers several regular women-only tournaments, the biggest of which remains to be the $22 Women’s Sunday with a guaranteed prize pool of $2,000. While the prizes tend to be less, the smaller fields and inviting atmosphere for beginners may bring in relatively new players and more women onto the felt.
WPT Global names tournament after two-time winner
The new real money poker application on the block is pulling out all the stops to get noticed by its target recreational player pool and claim its rightful share of the market. Apart from the interesting $1 for $1 million celebration, WPT Global is offering a fresh and unique promotion for its lucky winners. Unlike other platforms, two-time champions (within 30 days) of the site’s daily $5.50 Deepstack tournament can get their name up on lights. The champion’s online screen name will remain on the title as long as no other player has qualified followingly.
Each daily tournament offers good structure, running on 10 minute blind levels and beginning gameplay with a stack of 400 big blinds. Players are allowed two re-entries within the late registration period in an attempt to capture the biggest payout of the $500 guaranteed prize pool. Additionally, other exciting events also fill the weekly schedule including the $55 Daily Jackpot PKO with a $5,000 guarantee. The tournament features a similar promotion where two-time winners in 14 days are entitled to receive $1,100 worth of MTT tickets. Live poker enthusiasts on the other hand, can relish WPT Global’s live satellite offerings where players can win packages to the upcoming WPT World Championship event valued at over $12,400.
GGPoker migrates to WSOP Ontario platform
Just this week, Ontario users on GGPoker will find themselves migrated to a segregated market branded under the World Series of Poker name whilst still running under the same network and software. The exclusive site under the domain WSOP.ca stands to be the fourth network in the province, joining 888poker, BetMGM Poker – partypoker, bwin, and PokerStars.
“With the introduction of provincial regulations for online gaming in Ontario, the World Series of Poker and GGPoker are joining forces to launch the first-ever WSOP.ca online poker room exclusively in Ontario on Friday, September 30,” stated in the e-mail sent by GGPoker.
Players need not fret as the migration is aimed to be seamless with the same username and password used across both sites. Currency denomination however, will be changed to CAD for all games and balances available. All players – both new and from the old platform, will be eligible for welcome bonuses and other new promotions.
In part of its launch, the brand has announced an exclusive Ontario WSOP Online Circuit Series scheduled to run from October 1 to 16, 2022. The festival will feature 12 Rings and CAD $2.5 million in guarantees, only available for the Ontario, Canadian market. Tournament buy-ins range from $21 to its highest $525 for its $300,000 guaranteed Main Event.
“Growing up in Toronto, I dreamed of playing in the World Series of Poker. Now, 25 years after I moved to Las Vegas to chase WSOP bracelets, you can compete online in WSOP events in Ontario, all running on GGPoker’s amazing platform – how cool is that?”, said GGPoker Global Ambassador, Daniel Negreanu.
“Canadian poker players have always been a significant portion of the WSOP playing base, We are thrilled to bring the chance for WSOP glory to you. With online bracelets and exclusive qualifiers to the WSOP in Las Vegas, we expect a wave of new WSOP champions from the 6ix.”, added WSOP Executive Director, Ty Stewart.
