Partypoker experienced unexpected downtime on Saturday due to a system upgrade.
An unspecified network error crashed PartyPoker’s system a day before the Powerfest kicked off on Feb 21st. According to the company, the system’s downtime was caused by “a routine update to the software deployed earlier this week.” Because of the interruption, PartyPoker chose to postpone the update until the end of the four-week Powerfest Series.
“We understand the frustration felt by our players who had their tournaments cancelled and rest assured that we will honour all of the guaranteed prize pools in full for those tournaments that started before the technical issues arose last night,” said PartyPoker in a statement. “The customer support team is working around the clock to process these refunds. As you can appreciate this is a substantial task, but should you not receive your refund in the next day or two, please contact customer support who will be happy to assist you further.”
The downtime also caused the site to reschedule Grand Prix Poker Tour (GPPT) on Wednesday, February 24th, with $10,000 added to the prize pool as a goodwill gesture.
“We would also like to apologize to those players who were unable to participate in the scheduled Grand Prix Poker Tour Newcastle Online Day 1 and we have decided to run a special GPPT UK Online Leg at 7:00 pm GMT on Wednesday 24 February so that you have the opportunity to use your GPPT $109 tickets. This tournament will have a $50,000 guarantee and we are adding an additional $10,000 to the guaranteed prize pool,” added PartyPoker.
The Powerfest series, which started with the Featherweight Week on Sunday, will collectively offer $5 million in guaranteed prizes and run through March 20. A total of 98 no-limit Hold’em tournaments will take place at PartyPoker tables.
Six events have completed successfully and the biggest overlay so far was Event 3, a $5.50 buy-in tournament with a $25,000 guaranteed prize pool that attracted 4203 entrants.
