In this column, we deliver you the latest and most interesting online poker industry news from across the world and all platforms.
WPT Global’s Day 2 of $1 for $1 million rescheduled to October
Newcomer WPT Global marched right into the online poker scene with a grand entrance, kicking things off with its inaugural Summer Festival featuring a show-stopping $1 for $1 million event. While thousands of players have since made Day 2 initially scheduled to play through last August 22nd, good news awaits those who have yet to qualify. For an extended five weeks, tournament runners can take advantage of the festivities’ delay and secure themselves a slice of the massive prize pool.
The brand’s press release revealed Day 2’s new date to be on Saturday, October 1st with its final table gameplay set the following day. Close to 40 flights have been added to the schedule, allowing more players and bigger stacks to make Day 2. While the move may be seen to lessen the operator’s expected overlay, players who have qualified prior to the change will be compensated accordingly and may offer no change in the poker giant’s deficit.
“I know that some will jump to the conclusion that we are postponing the event to avoid an overlay. That is simply not the case. We have designed this event with a guaranteed overlay of over $900,000, and even if thousands of additional players now join the event because of the new schedule, at a buy-in of only $1 it will not make a material difference to the cost.”, posted WPT Global.
Those set to play Day 2 last 22nd will receive a free $330 ticket to the upcoming $1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event. WPT Global is reportedly using this extension as a way to get more players involved in its fresh new application and undoubtedly irresistible $1 buy-in tournament. In its announcement, the brand noted two major reasons for the decision – “1) To give as many players as possible the chance to join the event, and fight for their share of the unprecedented $1million prize pool, 2) To release upgrades to our product that will improve the customer experience for everybody playing on WPT Global, especially those playing this event.”
PokerStars Live application unveiled
Just most recently, top network PokerStars launched its newest application, PokerStars Live in a bid to provide players updated information on its live festivals. A very useful tool for live tournament grinders across both the local and international scene, players can immediately tap onto essential details and make the most of their live tournament experience. The application covers PokerStars Championship and PokerStars Festival events, relaying much needed information including tournament schedules, structures, registration hours, game type, buy-in, and even tournament starting stacks among others.
Additionally, the application also offers real-time information on its ongoing events, giving participants a quick and easy way to know details such as number of entrants, winners lists, registration details, seat draw information, and the live clock. Prior to the said events, interested runners can likewise refer to the PokerStars Live app for venue details – event dates, location, hotel information and other upcoming major festivals.
Record turnout at GGPoker WSOP Online’s Mystery Bounty
The ongoing World Series of Poker Online at leading network GGPoker is taking the online world by storm with its once again, record-breaking events. For its seventh bracelet tournament, the $210 Million Dollar Mystery Bounty now stands as the largest turnout at a WSOP bracelet event and the largest Mystery Bounty tournament in online poker history as well, having recorded a huge 51,003-entry field. The impressive turnout easily surpassed the site’s $10 million listed guarantee and generated a $10,200,600 prize pool.
The exciting tournament had everyone’s high hopes with a huge $1 million Mystery Bounty up for grabs to start Day 2. However within the first five minutes, many would see their lottery dreams down the drain with United States’ Scott Ball snagging the million dollar bounty right away.
https://twitter.com/EndGameScott/status/1562118053269123072?s=20&t=orkXLOdnZkittKcFbCFzpQ
Just this Saturday, the final table closed in with Finland’s Tapio Vihakas as the event winner after beating Japan’s Hyunsup Kim in heads up play. Vihakas successfully secured his maiden WSOP bracelet and top payout amounting to $348,723 for his impressive performance.
Event #7: Million Dollar Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Payout (US$) | Bounty (US$) | Total | |
| 1st | Tapio Vihakas | Finland | $348,723 | $19,230 | $367,953 | |
| 2nd | Hyunsup Kim | Japan | $261,490 | $16,960 | $278,450 | |
| 3rd | Vincent Huang | Australia | $196,090 | $4,200 | $200,290 | |
| 4th | Mark Waal | Netherlands | $147,046 | $6,330 | $153,376 | |
| 5th | Diogo Ferreira Da Silva | Brazil | $110,269 | $9,550 | $119,819 | |
| 6th | Timo de Smet | Netherlands | $82,690 | $9,660 | $92,350 | |
| 7th | Kubanychbek Abakirov | Kyrgyzstan | $62,009 | $14,420 | $76,429 | |
| 8th | Rytis Strigunas | Poland | $46,500 | $4,610 | $51,110 | |
| 9th | Alexey Solntsev | Kazakhstan | $34,870 | $42,000 | $76,870 |
The World Series of Poker Online festivities are far from over, with 18 more bracelet events still waiting to play through. The ongoing major festival will continue to run up to the 27th for more than three weeks of action left on the calendar.
2022 WSOP Online Bracelet Schedule
| Date | Day | Time (HKT) | Event Name | Buy-in | Guarantee |
| Sep 1 | Thu | 02:00 (+1) | #15: $777 LUCKY SEVENS Bounty 7-Handed NLH | $777 | – |
| Sep 3 | Sat | 02:00 (+1) | #16: $1,000 Ultra Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em | $1,000 | – |
| Sep 4 | Sun | 02:00 (+1) | #17: THE BIG 500 No-Limit Hold’em | $500 | – |
| Sep 5 | Mon | 02:00 (+1) | #18: $100 FLIP & GO No-Limit Hold’em [Go Stage] | $100 | $1,000,000 |
| Sep 6 | Tue | 02:00 (+1) | #19: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | $5,000 | – |
| Sep 8 | Thu | 02:00 (+1) | #20: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS Bounty 8-Handed NLH | $888 | – |
| Sep 10 | Sat | 02:00 (+1) | #21: $500 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship | $500 | – |
| Sep 11 | Sun | 01:00 (+1) | #22: $1,050 WSOP GGMasters HR Freezeout NLH | $1,050 | $2,000,000 |
| Sep 12 | Mon | 02:00 (+1) | #23: $400 PLOSSUS [Bounty, Final Stage] | $400 | $1,000,000 |
| Sep 13 | Tue | 02:00 (+1) | #24: $2,100 Bounty NLH Championship | $2,100 | – |
| Sep 15 | Thu | 02:00 (+1) | #25: $315 Superstack Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em | $315 | – |
| Sep 17 | Sat | 02:00 (+1) | #26: $600 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH [2-Stack] | $600 | – |
| Sep 18 | Sun | 02:00 (+1) | #27: $1,500 FIFTY STACK Bounty No-Limit Hold’em | $1,500 | – |
| Sep 19 | Mon | 02:00 (+1) | #28: $400 COLOSSUS [Final Day] | $400 | $3,000,000 |
| Sep 20 | Tue | 02:00 (+1) | #29: $5,000 Short Deck Championship [3-Stack] | $5,000 | – |
| Sep 22 | Thu | 02:00 (+1) | #30: $840 6-Handed Bounty No-Limit Hold’em | $840 | – |
| Sep 24 | Sat | 02:00 (+1) | #31: $1,050 Beat the Pros Bounty Freezeout | $1,050 | – |
| Sep 25 | Sun | 02:00 (+1) | #32: $400 The Closer NLH [Series Saver] | $400 | – |
| Sep 26 | Mon | 02:00 (+1) | #33: $5,000 WSOP Online MAIN EVENT [Day 2] | $5,000 | $20,000,000 |
$200K GTD Main Event coming up on 888poker’s ChampionChip Series
Global brand 888poker is not missing out on any of the online poker buzz going around with its own celebration running through the 5th. The latest edition of the ChampionChip Series boasts over $500,000 in guaranteed prizes across its lineup of 31 low stakes tournaments. Buy-in for the series ranges from an affordable $1 to its highest $60 entry fee for the Main Event.
While the festival is halfway through its schedule, the highlight and largest prize pool of the series remains to be unclaimed. Event #24 – Main Event ChampionChip Games holds a notable $200,000 guarantee with its final day scheduled on Monday, September 5th, where the champion will take home the biggest payout of the summer games festival.
2022 ChampionChip Series Schedule of Events
| Date | GMT | Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | |
| Sep 1 | 18:00 | Event #13 – Marathon (Deepstack) ChampionChip Games | $22.00 | $12,000 | |
| Sep 1 | 18:30 | Event #14 – Triathlon (Deepstack) ChampionChip Games | $11.00 | $6,000 | |
| Sep 1 | 19:00 | Event #15 – Decathlon (Deepstack) ChampionChip Games | $5.50 | $4,000 | |
| Sep 2 | 18:00 | Event #16 – Surfing (6-Max) ChampionChip Games | $11.00 | $6,000 | |
| Sep 2 | 18:30 | Event #17 – Sailing (6-Max) ChampionChip Games | $5.50 | $4,000 | |
| Sep 2 | 19:00 | Event #18 – Swimming (6-Max) ChampionChip Games | $2.20 | $2,000 | |
| Sep 3 | 18:00 | Event #19 – Sport Climbing (PKO) ChampionChip Games | $22.00 | $12,000 | |
| Sep 3 | 18:30 | Event #20 – Mountain Biking (PKO) ChampionChip Games | $11.00 | $6,000 | |
| Sep 3 | 19:00 | Event #21 – Skateboarding (PKO) ChampionChip Games | $3.30 | $2,500 | |
| Sep 4 | 16:00 | Triple Threat 11 (PKO) ChampionChip Games | $11.00 | $15,000 | |
| Sep 4 | 16:30 | Triple Threat 22 (PKO) ChampionChip Games | $22.00 | $20,000 | |
| Sep 4 | 18:00 | Event #22 – Mini Main Event ChampionChip Games | $16.50 | $20,000 | |
| Sep 4 | 18:00 | Made to Amaze – ChampionChip Games | $5.00 | $10,000 | |
| Sep 4 | 19:00 | Event #23 – Micro Main Event ChampionChip Games | $5.50 | $15,000 | |
| Sep 5 | 18:00 | Event #24 – Main Event (Day 2) ChampionChip Games | $60.00 | $200,000 | |
| Sep 5 | 18:30 | Event #25 – Closing Ceremony ChampionChip Games | $22.00 | $12,000 |
