Next month, BetOnline Poker will be hosting its inaugural Global Online Poker Series. The GOPS Main Event has a prize pool guarantee of $200,000 and – if you act quickly – you can take advantage of undersubscribed qualifiers with $33.00 buy-ins guaranteeing three seats into the target event.
The Global Online Poker Series (GOPS) will be BetOnline Poker´s biggest tournament series ever. Running from Sunday 11th March to Sunday 18th March, the series consists of seventeen tournaments guaranteeing total prize money of just under $500,000. Compared with other tournament series, GOPS hardly sets the pulse racing; but there are a couple of reasons to get excited about the Main Event.
First of all, GOPS is going head-to-head against WPN´s OSS Cub3d tournament series – a much larger series with bigger guarantees in just one day than BetOnline can offer over a week. Notably, the GOPS Main Event falls on the same day as OSS Cub3d offers more than $2 million in guaranteed prize pools; and, although it is possible for players to play on more than one site simultaneously, there is the potential for a significant overlay in BetOnline Poker´s feature event.
The second reason is that BetOnline Poker is currently hosting $33.00 buy-in satellites that guarantee three seats into the GOPS Main Event. These take place at 8:00 p.m. each evening and are nowhere near attracting the twenty-five players required for them to be profitable (to the site). Players taking advantage of the satellites now are getting incredible value for their buy-ins, and increasing their chances of qualifying for the Main Event due to playing against fewer opponents.
More about the Global Online Poker Series
The Global Online Poker Series is welcome because it shows a determination by BetOnline to attract more tournament players. However, the site has created a varied schedule that predominantly consists of low-range NL Hold´em tournaments with multiple opportunities to re-enter or re-buy. Only three events have prize pool guarantees of $50,000 or more:
- The Opening Event on Sunday 11th March has a buy-in of $215.00 and a prize pool guarantee of $75,000.
- The Warm Up Event on Sunday 18th March has a buy-in of $109.00 and a prize pool guarantee of $50,000.
- The $200,000 guaranteed GOPS Main Event that is also scheduled for Sunday 18th March and has a buy-in of $250.00.
Other events in the schedule include a $109.00 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event guaranteed for $10,000, a Progressive Knock Out event with a modest buy-in of $15.00 and a prize pool guarantee of $3,000, and the site´s first ever Boost Poker tournament that takes place on Wednesday 14th March. This event is sure to be popular with its $22.00 buy-in and $4,000 prize pool guarantee.
Interesting Range of Qualifiers for GOPS Events
The qualifying routes for GOPS events are a little unique. Other than the daily $33.00 buy-in satellite into the Main Event, the qualifying routes consist of three separate Steps programs for the three events highlighted above and a selection of Instant All-In every hand Sit & Go games which are no more than a coin-flip to win a seat in the target event.
The All-In every hand Sit & Go games have buy-ins starting at $3.00 and vary in the number of players according to the buy-in value of the target event. For example, Sit & Go games awarding a seat to a $33.00 buy-in event will have twelve players, while Sit & Go games awarding a seat to an event with an $11.00 buy-in will only have four players.
Although it may be tempting to coin-flip $3.00 in a field of four, I wouldn´t be so keen on taking the same chance in a game with a $7.00 buy-in and a field of ten players, or even the $50.00 game against four other players that awards a seat in the Main Event. At present, there is no action in these games and unlikely to be until immediately before each target event.
Benefit Today from Undersubscribed Satellites to the GOPS Main Event
The opportunity to take advantage of undersubscribed GOPS Main Event satellites will not last much longer. As the target event draws closer, the satellites will start to fill up more frequently, resulting in the disappearance of the currently available value, plus making it harder to qualify against a larger number of players. Therefore, I recommend you visit BetOnline Poker today.
If you do not already have an account with the site, I suggest you have a look at my BetOnline Poker review before creating your account. My review highlights how you can take advantage of a 200% bonus on your first deposit up to $2,500. The regular bonus offered by the site consists of just a 100% bonus on your first deposit, so spending five minutes reading my review could put you ahead by up to $1,250 – even before you qualify for BetOnline Poker´s GOPS Main Event!
