The New Jersey Championship of Online Poker II will offer a guarantee of $1m in prizes, after a tentative schedule was released on 2+2, and the World Series of Poker have approached Nevada gaming regulators for a rule change that will allow them to end their first WSOP online tournament with a six-handed live final table at the Rio.
How times change.
There was a time when American online poker players rocked. When PokerStars were a burgeoning beast, but partypoker ruled the world. This week, the release of various online poker tournament schedules show how far things have drifted.
PokerStars are now the Daddy of most of the world. This week they released their tentative schedule for the Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP) series. A 15-day marathon hosting 135 different events, with guarantees bound to exceed the $40m they delivered in 2014.
The Red Spade also look after their fledglings. The MicroMillions 10 schedule was released. 100 events will be held over a 10-day period, and $5m will be put up by the hosts in guaranteed prize money.
A lot of poker, a lot of money, and a lot of progress.
Online poker is not dead in America. The heart is beating, albeit not thumping. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) have defibrillators in hand; the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) have a silver bullet in theirs. The acronym RAWA is etched into the metal.
PokerStars don’t rule this roost. They haven’t even got a home yet. Partypoker is wearing the crown. For how long who knows? But in the meantime they are creating a foundation for the great things that will follow, should the poker community dodge that silver bullet.
In 2014, nj.partypoker.com and borgatapoker.com held the first-ever New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOP). 15-events with $600,000 in guarantees. They had their teething problems. The haters hated. But in the main the feedback was positive.
In 2015, NJCOP II will try to do better. The organizers have posted a tentative draft schedule on 2+2 and have asked for feedback. There is a proposed 32-events and $1m in guaranteed prize money. Now doesn’t that sound better?
The events will be predominantly No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) and Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO). There is only one Stud game. That can change, however, with two events known as ‘Players Choice’. Players in the New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York areas can vote for their favorite game. The top three will be put out to poll, and the top two implemented into the series along with $20,000 guarantees.
The event will be held April 16 – 26. The organizers will be hoping to attract prospective World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championships players into the fold a little earlier. The WPT’s grand finale runs April 25-29.
Buy-ins are available for as low as $45, and as high as $950. The Main Event will be a $185 buy-in and will carry a $150,000 Guarantee.
You still have time to have your say.
Head over to the 2+2 forum and express a constructive opinion click here
The WSOP to Alter Online Bracelet Event
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) put a hyena amongst the pigeons, when they announced plans to hold the first-ever bracelet for an online event as part of the 2015 series. The plan was to hold the event online at WSOP.com and play out the heads-up action live at the Rio.
Well, that was the plan.
Plans change.
In what seems a much better idea, the WSOP want to halt play once a final table of six has been reached, and then play out the event at the Rio. It’s a great idea, but it’s not one the WSOP can implement without the approval of the Nevada Gaming Regulators.
We will keep you posted on progress.
