1 Million Buy In Poker Tournament
An additional feast for US-based poker players awaits just days after the Christmas Holidays. For the first time, poker enthusiasts located in New Jersey can participate in a WPT Main Tour online event. The WPT Online Poker Open $3500 Main Event features a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million with a single starting day and runs from December 27-29, 2020.
The guarantee for the event can certainly be considered as ambitious considering the fact that it takes place in the ring-fenced New Jersey market. Participants have to be located in the Garden State in order to access the tournament via the partypoker US network and can then register on either partypoker NJ, BetMGM Poker or Borgata Poker.
“The WPT Online Poker Open brings the most prestigious prize in poker to New Jersey and the partypoker US Network,” said Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour. “WPT’s continued pivot toward online will continue with another landmark for regulated online poker in the United States.”
LONDON (Reuters) - A poker tournament featuring a 1 million pound ($1.2 million) buy-in - a record according to organizers - started in London on Thursday, with 54 players from around the world. It featured a buy-in of US$1 million, the largest in poker history. Of the buy-in, $111,111 was a charitable donation to the One Drop Foundation, and the WSOP took no rake. All 48 seats available for that event were filled, resulting in a prize pool of $42,666,672, with over 5 million dollars donated. The buy-in for The BIG ONE for ONE DROP at $1 million, remains the largest ever for a poker event. There will be no rake or house fees to operate the event, and $111,111 of each buy-in will be.
The namesake WPT Online Poker Open already took place back in June 2020, the $400 Main Event attracted a field of 868 entries. The prize pool of $317,540 set a new record for the partypoker US network back then, which has since been toppled.
In September 2020, the World Poker Tour teamed up with partypoker New Jersey once more to host the WPT Borgata Online Series. The festival included 10 events in total, and the $1,060 Main Event attracted a field of 440 entries for a prize pool of $432,700. Tony ‘ToNiSiNzz’ Sinishtaj emerged as the champion and claimed the top prize of $77,349.
A total of $917,300 in prize money was awarded throughout the series, which will now be surpassed in the days to come.
With at least $1 million up for grabs, the $3500 Main Event equals the biggest guarantee in the history of regulated online poker in the US. During the 2018 World Series of Poker, two WSOP Online Bracelet Eventsfeatured the same guarantee in the shared player pool of New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware.
“WPT Online and the partypoker US Network are pushing online poker in New Jersey and the United States to another peak with the WPT Online Poker Open Main Tour event,” said Angelica Hael, VP of Global Tour Management for the World Poker Tour. “Following back-to-back record-setting events, this $1 million guarantee will push our partnership to new heights.”
The overall online poker traffic in New Jersey has also seen a significant leap compared to the previous year and will aim to finish 2020 on a high. For the first time in its history, the New Jersey online poker market produced revenue of more than $30 million and had achieved that by September already. The partypoker US Network enjoyed the biggest growth among all competitors and was up 78%.
Winner Joins the WPT Champion’s Club
The winner of the WPT Online Poker Open Main Tour Event in New Jersey will have their name engraved on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup. Five players achieved this feat during the international WPT World Online Championships $10,000 Main Event on partypoker in July and September 2020.
On top of the prize money and the bragging rights, the newest member of the WPT Champions Club will also receive a $15,000 seat into the prestigious WPT Tournament of Champions presented by Baccarat Crystal.
Among those competing will be WPT Main Event champion Tony Dunst, who hopes to fade his WPT lead commentator duties alongside Vince Van Patten for the live-streamed final table on December 29. Dunst will make the road trip to the Garden State in order to try to add a second WPT Main Tour title to his resume.
“partypoker US Network welcomes the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup back to New Jersey for the WPT Online Poker Open. This event promises the opportunity for players of all bankrolls to compete for the most coveted prize in poker,” said Ray Stefanelli, Director of Poker for partypoker US Network, back when the event was first announced. “Come December, we look forward to welcoming players from across the US to New Jersey for a chance to compete for their share of the $1 million guarantee.”
Satellites Allow new Jersey Poker Players to Enter Prestigious WPT Event for Less
Prior to the weekend on which the $3500 Main Event is hosted, nearly 150 players were already registered putting the event on track to meet the ambitious guarantee. Among them were more than 100 satellite winners who have entered the fray on a bargain.
The satellite system on the partypoker US network has given players the chance to win their entry from as low as $0.25 with further step qualifiers available at $5, $45 and $400.
David “TheKing411” Coleman turned a $45 satellite entry into a top prize of $56,586 in the previous WPT Online Poker Open $400 Main Event and qualified once more.
2020 WPT Online Poker Open $3,500 Main Event at a Glance
- $3200 + $300 buy-in
- $1 million guarantee
- Unlimited re-entries for the first 12 levels
- Only available to players located in New Jersey
- Winner joins WPT Champions Club; name engraved in Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup
- Live-streamed final table with cards-up coverage and commentary
One Drop is an international non-profit organization based in Montreal, created in 2007 by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, which is focused on water initiatives.
Arts and culture[edit]
One Drop uses circus arts, folklore, popular theatre, music, dance and visual arts to raise awareness of water-related issues.
Projects[edit]
One Drop has projects in Latin America, India, Canada and Africa.
Awards and recognition[edit]
One Drop has received the following recognition:
- 2019 Top 10 International Impact Charities as recognized by Charity Intelligence.
- 'Water for Life' UN-Water Best Water Best Practices Award in the category “Best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices”
- International Water Association Project Innovation Award in the Development category.
Donations[edit]
Guy Laliberté has pledged to donate C$100 million to the organization over 25 years.[1]
In its 2012 Annual Report, One Drop reported raising nearly $52 million over the previous five years. Funds were allocated to programs designed to provide permanent safe water to over 340,000 people.[2]
1 Million Poker Tournament
Social Art for Behaviour Change[edit]
The Social Art for Behaviour Change™ (SABC) approach emphasizes participation and implementing action plans that are adapted to target groups, influencers, desired behaviours and local contexts. The social art programs rely on collaboration and innovation as essential elements, which result in sustainable WASH behaviours and Social Art products created with, for, and ultimately by the communities. The SABC approach stands at the heart of the A·B·C for Sustainability™ model, which includes three components : Access, Behaviour Change, and Capital to drive long-term change in communities. [3]
Poker[edit]
In 2011, Laliberté teamed with Caesars Entertainment, owner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), to launch a major poker tournament to benefit the organization. The One Drop tournament would be held as a competition within the larger WSOP series of tournaments held each summer in Las Vegas.
The first tournament, known as The Big One for One Drop, was held as part of the 2012 WSOP, and had a record per person buy-in of US$1 million.[4] The WSOP waived its normal 10% rake of the entry fees, and $111,111 of each buy-in went to the Foundation.[4] The 48 seats available in the event were filled, creating a poker record first prize of $18.3 million[5] and a donation to One Drop of $5.33 million. Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber, ineligible to play, donated $111,111 while One Drop founder Laliberté donated his entire fifth-place winnings of $1.83 million, for a total donation of $7.28 million from this single tournament game.[5][6]
As part of the initial 2012 event, Caesars announced that One Drop has become an official charity of the WSOP, and it encouraged all players who cashed during any tournament at the 2012 WSOP to donate 1% of their winnings to One Drop.[7] Labelled the 'All in for One Drop', the 2013 campaign saw 458 players contribute $0.25 million of their winnings from tournaments held during the 2013 WSOP.[8]
Free Poker Tournaments Online
References[edit]
- ^Annual Report 2009, ONE DROP
- ^Annual Report 2012, ONE DROP
- ^https://www.onedrop.org/en/visionary-approach/
- ^ ab'WSOP Announces $1 Million Buy-In Tournament in Conjunction with One Drop' (Press release). World Series of Poker. June 2, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ^ abDalla, Nolan (June 30, 2012). 'The Biggest One—World's Most Spectacular Poker Extravaganza Starts Sunday'. World Series of Poker. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ^Dalla, Nolan (July 3, 2012). 'Antonio Esfandiari Pulls Off Amazing Trick by Winning One Drop'. WSOP.com. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ^'One Drop Designated as an Official Charity of WSOP' (Press release). World Series of Poker. May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
- ^'BIG ONE FOR ONE DROP RAISES OVER $4.6 MILLION FOR CHARITY' (Press release). Caesers Interactive Entertainment. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-09-01.