In this column, we deliver you the latest and most interesting online poker industry news from across the world and all platforms.
Winamax Series sports €5 Million guaranteed Main Event
Starting the year with a bang, Winamax is bringing its largest guaranteed tournament in history across its 38th edition Winamax Series. The festival set to debut this January 7 will showcase a record-breaking €5,000,000 guaranteed Main Event as its headliner. An ambitious pot for any online operator, Winamax has its eyes set on recording the 44,000 entries required to meet the advertised prize pool. Several Day 1’s beginning on New Year’s Day will be available, with at least three starting flights running per day from the 7th to 16th.
Winamax Series €5 Million GTD Main Event Schedule
- Buy-in: €125
- Dates: Sunday 1st to Thursday 18th January 2024
Sunday 1st to Saturday 6th January: one Day 1 flight per day (20:00 CET)
Sunday 7th to Tuesday 16th: three Day 1 flights per day (15:00, 17:30, 20:00 CET)
Day 2: 17th January at 21:00 CET
Day 3: 18th January at 21:00 CET - Format: 6-max, unlimited re-entries
- Structure: Starting stack: 50,000, Levels: 60 minutes for the first level, then 11 minutes per level, Starting blinds: 250 / 500
- The 12.5% of players remaining on each Day 1 flight are already in the money, and are therefore guaranteed a real-money win. Each Day 1 flight ends when 3% of players remain in the money. All players with chips remaining then qualify for Day 2.
Featuring its usual €125 price tag, this year’s Main Event likewise caters to a wide range of players and remains to be attainable for a bulk of the player pool. However, those who deem the entry fee a tad bit too high will be glad to know of several ways to claim a ticket without breaking the bank. Other than the site’s dedicated satellite tournaments, daily promotions including its Winamax Series Expresso, Road to Series tournaments, and Sit & Go qualifiers, are available 24/7 for those intending to invest only a fraction of the price. The entire series will run from January 7th to 18th and will play through a total 266 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from €2 to its most expensive €1,000 high roller games.
iPoker Network’s €7,000,000 GTD Elite Series underway
Standing on its own spotlight, iPoker Network is ending the year with its own record-breaking festival, the Elite Series Winter Edition. Already underway, the €7,000,000 guaranteed offering is scheduled to play through all the way to January 16th for six full weeks of online action. The series tackles a mix of classic NLHE and PLO games, flighted tournaments, and at least seven multi-day Mystery Bounty events. With a ton of options to choose from, players can extend their bankrolls across a number of events considering that the buy-ins mostly fall within the €10 – €100 range.
The ESW 02-H €250K Mystery Main Event remains to be the biggest highlight of the festival with multiple flights available through January 8th. For each €200 entry, players will receive a starting stack of 12,500 (25 big blinds) and will make their way through 17 blind levels in order to advance through. Gameplay duration is set at 10 minutes per blind level with registration closing by the 13th level. Players are welcome to qualify multiple times and build a healthy chip count, with all stacks of the qualifier collected together for the final round. Aside from the Main Event, runners can similarly turn their attention to seven other events posting a six figure guarantee for a full festival experience.
25 Days of Poker continues at Global Poker
US-friendly Global Poker is gearing up for the holiday season with its biggest events for the year playing down in the coming weeks. Online festival, 25 Days of Poker began early this December and has since filled the site with a line up of exciting poker tournaments, challenges and surprises. Freerolls, game flops, and daily spins are only some of the promotions that make up the campaign with the Home for Holidays Main Event really being the star of the show.
The Main Event games come into fruition on December 26th and boasts a whopping 40,000,000 Gold Coins and 250,000 SC pot. Two Challenge Invitationals, each posting a 5,000 SC guarantee, will also take place on December 22nd with players most welcome to claim tickets from competing across the different games available on the platform. Aside from these, players joining in on the fun can claim exclusive holiday themed prizes and avatars to add on to the merry spirit.
CoinPoker heats up Festive Period
Putting the happy in happy holidays, CoinPoker is back on the scene with a whirlwind of events throughout January 31st. The site’s Festive Period brings in a Micro Series available until the 17th where a ₮15 Main Event featuring ₮2,000 in guaranteed prizes will take place. Running all December are ₮1,000 worth of Secret Santa Freerolls daily where players can bag prizes up to ₮200. To add in on the festive feel, CoinPoker is bringing boosted cash game leaderboards with the extra boost seeing prizes jump 50% to ₮18,000 from December 18th – 24th and January 15th – 21st.
January takes up a whole new series with the Winter Showdown running from the 5th to the 14th. The site’s biggest series yet, the upcoming games bare over ₮350,000 in total prizes headlined by a ₮75,000 Main Event. Each day will play through at least six events suited for all types of players. Pre-Event chances which include satellites, Ticket Madness, and freerolls will be up on site beginning on December 25th through January 4th, keeping everybody busy throughout the season.
