In a curious move, WSOP.com have announced that they’ll be running the exact same championship series for their Nevada and New Jersey online poker sites. The separate WSOP Online Championship Series will both begin on June 1st, with each one offering 15 tournaments and a $500,000 Gtd. prize pool.
The surprise factor comes in here because the WSOP NJ player pool is larger than the WSOP NV pool. Perhaps the idea behind offering identical prize money is to bring the player bases more in line with each other. The $500k online events should offer plenty of overlays – especially in the Nevada market. Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s discuss the two identical poker series more and cover bonus prizes, game formats, and how players in the Las Vegas WSOP can still take part.
Details of the WSOP Online Championship Series
Both series will span from June 1st – 15th, with the final day featuring a $200,000 Gtd. Main Event. Everybody who wins one of the first 14 events will receive a bonus prize, which is a free ticket for the $200k Gtd. Main Event on June 15th.
The only two games that’ll be featured in the Championship Series are Hold’em and Omaha. However, there’ll also be different tournament formats including freezeout, rebuy and re-entry. As for buy-ins, the cheapest is a $55 entry fee for a $10,000 Gtd. tournament. Residents of New Jersey and Nevada are also encouraged to visit WSOP.com and play in the satellites that are currently running.
What about those playing in the Live WSOP?
As you may have noted, the WSOP Online Championship Series will be running at the same time as the WSOP in Las Vegas. But that doesn’t mean those in Vegas have to miss out on the action. In fact, the Rio have set up a “Grind Room,” which is complete with built-in computers, WiFi capabilities, power banks and cage areas where players can deposit directly into their WSOP.com accounts.
The WSOP staff are encouraging online play at the tables during live events too. Tournament director Jack Eiffel said, “While players are not in the hand, they still may continue to use their electronic devices and/or smartphones.” This being said, everybody in Vegas can enjoy the Championship Series while they grind in regular WSOP tourneys.