Poker Central has teamed up with partypoker for the first-ever Online Poker Masters, set to take place in mid-April, with a whopping $15 million guarantee! This is good news for high rollers around the globe who might still be reeling from the widespread cancellation of major live poker events.
Poker Masters is a popular high-stakes tournament that has been held live over the past three years. The festival involves a leaderboard where the top player takes home a highly-coveted Purple Jacket, alongside an additional cash prize. The festival usually takes place during the fall of each year, attended by some of the world’s best high rollers. Previous winners of the Purple Jacket include Sam Soverel (2019), Ali Imsirovic (2018), and Steffen Sontheimer (2017).
With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of abating, major online operators have stepped in to provide an alternative way for players to take part in their favorite tournaments. The partnership between Poker Central and partypoker has paved the way for an online edition of the Poker Masters, which will take place on April 12-26.
Poker Masters Online Series – More Details
The online festival will feature an expanded schedule of 30 individual events, up from the usual 10. Majority of the events will carry a buy-in of $10,300. The main highlight will be the Main Event, which comes with an entry fee of $51,000. More than $15,000,000 in total guarantees are up for grabs, including an incredible $2 million in the Main Event alone. A few $25,500 buy-in events complete the schedule, which features a mix of no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha formats.
As the events have now moved online, each event is expected to conclude within a day, instead of two days. The inaugural online edition will still feature a points leaderboard, with the leader walking away with the Purple Jacket, plus $50,000 extra cash.
Impact on Other Poker Central Tournaments
Based on available info at the Poker Central website, the team intended to host the Poker Masters as a live event, but the current pandemic resulted in a change of plans. As for the US Poker Open, which is also sponsored by Poker Central, the tournament series isn’t affected by Poker Masters Online and the schedule is still up for discussion.
The fall edition of the Poker Masters is also likely to be unaffected, and is planned to take place as normal pending further announcement on the final dates.
No further details have been released yet on the type of coverage that will be provided for poker fans during the online edition of the Poker Masters this April as players will use screen names instead of their real identities while competing. But it is highly likely that organizers might adopt the Galfond challenge format.
Major Tournaments Go Online Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Poker Masters is the latest major event to team up with partypoker, after an online edition of the Irish Open, as well as the inaugural World Poker Tour Online Series were also announced last week, in partnership with the world’s second largest online poker site.
The 2020 Irish Open has now moved online after organizers pulled the plug on the live event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The online festival will run on April 6-12, with the Main Event featuring a massive €1 million guarantee. The schedule is still being finalized as there are some formats in the initial schedule that are currently not being supported by partypoker’s online platform.
Meanwhile, the WPT Online Series will take place on May 10-26, with a staggering $30 million in total guarantees on offer. The winner of the $5 million-guaranteed WPT Online Series Main Event will take home a free seat to the WPT Tournament of Champions, alongside a massive cash prize.
Partypoker’s Tom Waters said they are delighted to be able to offer players and fans the opportunity to pursue what they love amid this current crisis.
More details will be announced soon by Poker Central and partypoker.