For live poker players who are starved to play cards during the coronavirus crisis, now is the time to sign-up for online poker. Many poker sites around the world are hosting some big money events. That includes a PokerStars tournament that made history.
Online poker is booming during the coronavirus pandemic. (Image: pokerstrategy.com)
Live poker is on a hiatus for the time being due to the current global health pandemic. We don’t know how long most brick-and-mortar card rooms will be temporarily shut down. But we do know they’ll eventually return.
For the time being, your options are limited to home games that could be risky health-wise, or playing cards online. And there isn’t a better time to play online poker than right now.
PokerStars Hosting Largest Online Poker Tournament in History
PokerStars set a world record on Sunday. The world’s largest online poker site is in the midst of the world’s largest internet poker tournament.
This week’s PokerStars Sunday Million is a special event. For $215, players can chase a guaranteed $12.5 million prize pool. The three-day tournament began Sunday morning and will conclude on Tuesday.
And there wasn’t an issue with hitting that massive prize pool guarantee. By Sunday evening, a total of 62,500 entries were counted, enough to match the guarantee (minus the $15 rake per entry) and set a world record for most entries in an online poker tournament, and registration remained open. So, the poker site will easily rake in some major dough on this historic event.
PokerStars is capping the tournament at 107,000 players. We’ll know by Monday if the event hit max capacity.
Daniel Negreanu Proving His Worth as GGPoker Ambassador
Daniel Negreanu’s salary as an ambassador for GGPoker isn’t public. But it’s safe to assume he didn’t leave PokerStars to represent another poker site if the price wasn’t right. It appears the Poker Hall of Famer is earning every bit of whatever salary he’s receiving.
INSANE! I’m blown away. They hit the $300k guarantee for the first time, then went bonkers and made it $400k and we hit it again!!! https://t.co/VSFFHIEdUB
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) March 22, 2020
GGPoker, as part of its GGMasters series, hosted a $400,000 guaranteed tournament with a small $150 buy-in on Sunday. With registration still open, the prize pool had already surpassed the guarantee. There are many other events on Sunday at GGPoker, including a $1,000 high roller with a $500,000 guarantee. Not bad for a poker site that was overlooked prior to the Negreanu hiring.
Special WSOP Circuit Online Poker Series on WSOP.com
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all current WSOP Circuit stops have been cancelled. In response, the WSOP is offering a special circuit series at WSOP.com that is currently running. This is only available to players in New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada.
The series is already underway and features one tournament daily until the end of the month. Sunday’s $525 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack (Event #9) guarantees at least $150,000 in prize pool money. On March 31, the series concludes with a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Grand Finale with a $75,000 prize pool.
The coronavirus may have temporarily taken away most of the live poker scene around the world. But at least online poker is thriving.
