PokerGO and ARIA Resorts and Casino will once again come together to produce the second iteration of the Poker Masters, a seven-event series awarding the man or woman with the most money earned with a purple jacket.
I had a dream last night, which I find remarkable considering I sleep with a baby lying across my throat.
I had the power to miniaturise things. I was rich; a bit of a cock. And I would spend my time walking around the zoo, zapping things and stealing them.
I zapped a bunch of sharks during a visit to the aquarium in Barcelona, took them home and put them into a fish bowl. They were the size of goldfish, and I would feed them worms from the garden.
Maybe it was a premonition because when I woke up, I learned that Poker Central and ARIA Resort & Casino are preparing themselves for the second iteration of the Poker Masters –
more sharks swimming around in a goldfish bowl, only one of them is going to end up wearing a purple jacket.
The second Poker Masters runs from Sep 6 – 13. It’s good news if you have a PokerGO account because the feature and final tables will be shown exclusively on the subscription video on demand (SVOD) service. It’s also good news if you’re not a subscriber because it’s only $10 per month.
There are a few changes.
Last year, the Poker Masters debuted with five events. This year there will be seven. The buy-in level has decreased. Last year, there were four $50k events and a $100k event. This year, five games have a $25k buy-in, one $10k and a $50k. To balance the organisers have made the $25k events and the $10k event a double re-entry. The $50k remains as pure as a virgin. There is also a Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event. I’m not sure why? It seems to spoil the purity of the series for me. I assume it’s on the request of the players.
As with last year, the highest total money earner over the seven events will take all the plaudits and the Purple Jacket. Points also count toward the High Roller Player of the Year title, and these points have more oomph behind them because the Poker Masters is one of the High Roller Triple Crown events (alongside the US Poker Open & Super High Roller Bowl).
Each event will abide by the 30-second shot clock rule, with players having five 30-second time banks, daily. There will be no tournament fees for people who register for their first entry by 2 pm (PDT) the day of each event, Phil Hellmuth take note.
NBC Sports Network will also air original content in the months that follow.
Here is the schedule in full:
Sep 6: Event #1: $10,000 NLHE (two-days)
Sep 7: Event #2: $25,000 NLHE (two days)
Sep 8: Event #3: $25,000 NLHE (two days)
Sep 10: Event #4: $25,000 PLO (two days)
Sep 11: Event #5: $25,000 NLHE (two days)
Sep 12: Event #6: $25,000 NLHE (two days)
Sep13: Event #7: $50,000 NLHE (three days)
Last year, Steffen Sontheimer earned $2,733,000 to win the inaugural Poker Masters and claim the Purple Jacket. The organisers rewarded him by refusing to grant him a seat in the Super High Roller Bowl. Sontheimer eventually got to play, but only when Andrew Robl dropped out. One hopes they don’t repeat that scandalous decision.
Here are Sontheimer’s results from last year.
Event #1: $50,000 NLHE, finished 4/51 earning $204,000
Event #2: $50,000 NLHE, beats 50 entrants to earn $900,000
Event #4: $50,000 NLHE finished 5/39 earning $117,000
Event #5: $100,000 NLHE beats 36 entrants earning $1,512,000
