The World Series of Poker react to high roller feedback by including a second $50,000 buy-in event into the schedule, and New Jerseyans get the all clear to compete in all nine online bracelets.
A section of the high roller community was feeling a tad azure after the World Series of Poker (WSOP) decided to pitch the tent belonging to the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em – 50th Anniversary High Roller at the entrance to the festival.
It’s not unusual for the high roller clique to dictate events at a tournament series. At the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, you see it happening all of the time, and it’s always a win-win with the players getting more action, the tournament organiser picking up more revenue, and the fans finding another reason to give Love Island amiss.
“We got some feedback from players who thought [the initial $50k event] was too early in the series and they weren’t around for it,” said VP of Corporate Communications Seth Palansky.
After a quick kick in the tibia and fibula, the WSOP reacted by squeezing the $50,000 Final Fifty High Roller into the schedule on the 8th July, a few days ahead of the scheduled $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event.
The $50,000 Final Fifty High Roller is a three-day shot clock event with unlimited re-entries, and late registration until the start of Day 2. Players begin with 300,000 chips, and the blinds increase every 40-minutes.
The $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em – 50th Annual High Roller ran between 31 May – 3 June with Ben Heath beating 110-entrants to claim the $1,484,085 first prize for his first bracelet. The game achieved notoriety after Isaac Haxton accused Sam Soverel of angle-shooting in a hand that led to Dmitry Yurasov finishing fourth. Soverel, who branded the claims as ridiculous during a chat with Joey Ingram, went on to finish third, and Andrew Lichtenberger came second.
Palansky also confirmed that during the 2020 WSOP, one of the $50,000-events would likely be a $25,000, calling the omission of this price point from the 2019 series a “goof.”
New Jersey residents cam play in all nine online WSOP Events
For the past few months, New Jerseyans believed they could only compete in two of the scheduled nine online bracelets at the 50th Anniversary WSOP due to the grey area opinion that the Wire Act made all interstate online gambling illegal – now they know they can play in them all.
Last week, the state of New Hampshire won a lawsuit against the US Department of Justice (DOJ) clarifying that the nitty-gritty of the Wire Act only pertains to sports betting. It was a big win for online poker crusaders, and the WSOP’s Seth Palansky reacted to the news by saying.
“Barring something unforeseen, we plan on continuing with shared liquidity between Nevada and New Jersey for the remaining WSOP gold bracelet events between now and July 14.”
The WSOP introduced online bracelets in 2015, and their popularity has increased to the point that you can foresee an online WSOP running alongside its live brethren (one in 2015 & 2016, three in 2017, four in 2018, and nine in 2019).
Yong Keun defeated 2,825-entrants to win the opening online bracelet in the $400 No-Limit Hold’em event (Phil Hellmuth made the final table), and Josh Pollock took down the $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Handed event beating 652-entrants (Phil Galfond made the final table).
Here are the remaining events:
June 16th – $600 Knock-Out Bounty No-Limit Hold’em, freezeout
June 19th – $500 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack, 3x re-entry
June 23rd – $1,000 Double Stack No-Limit Hold’em, 3x re-entry
June 30th – $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship, 3x re-entry
July 3rd – $3,200 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em, 3x re-entry
July 7th – $800 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, 3x re-entry
July 14th – $500 Summer Saver No-Limit Hold’em, 3x re-entry
