BetOnline Poker launched its new PLO Weekends this week and players immediately responded, with the majority of tournaments smashing their guarantees.
Over this past weekend, BetOnline Poker quietly launched a new Pot Limit Omaha promotion called PLO Weekends. For its launch, the promotion consisted of thirty-seven tournaments added to the schedule on both Saturday and Sunday with combined prize pool guarantees of $50,000. However, judging by the response to the promotion, the guarantees could increase significantly in the near future.
What appears to have attracted players to the games was the great range of formats on offer. The mix of games included “standard” PL Omaha, PL Omaha Hi/Lo, and PL Omaha Knockout tournaments with progressive bounties. The tournaments were played at different speeds with different sizes of starting stacks, and there were no re-buy and add-on tournaments – although players were allowed to re-enter up to a maximum of three times if they were eliminated during late registration.
Week 1 a Success. Now Looking Forward to Week 2
The great response to the promotion saw the majority of tournaments smash their guarantees – some of which were fairly considerable considering the time of day (i.e. the $22.00 buy-in turbo PL Omaha Hi/Lo tournament at 10:00 am ET on Saturday morning has a $1,000 guarantee). Naturally, the biggest prize pools are saved for the late evening, and players who entered these events also supported lower buy-in events, helping them also beat their guarantees.
For Week 2 of the PLO Weekends promotion, the prize pool guarantees have not been changed (the tournaments are already listed in the BetOnline Poker client). However, if the same level of support continues next week, the likelihood the guarantees will increase over time. Players wishing to accelerate the speed with which the guarantees go up are invited to leave a positive comment in the site´s “suggestion box” which pops up in a new window whenever the client is closed.
Why the Prize Money for Progressive KOs Looks Strange
Eagle-eyed players may have noticed progressive KO tournaments have a different amount showing in the prize column of the poker client than the tournament is guaranteed for. For example, $22 buy-in bounty tournaments with a prize pool guarantee of $500 are listed as having $555 in prize money.
The reason for this is that $10 of each buy-in goes towards the prize pool, $1 is the fee for entering the tournament, and the other $11 is the progressive bounty which is split 50/50 when you eliminate an opponent (i.e. you win $5.50, and the bounty on your head increases from $11 to $16.50).
Because each tournament requires five players to start, the total prize money at the start of each progressive KO event has to be $500 – the guaranteed prize pool – plus at least five bounties (i.e. 5 x $11) making a total of $555. Unlike many other online poker sites, BetOnline does not include the bounty amounts in the guarantee, which explains why the prize money for progressive KOs looks strange.
Will You be Playing in BetOnline Poker´s PLO Weekends?
If you missed the opening week of BetOnline Poker´s PLO Weekends, don´t worry. Hopefully, the promotion will become a permanent fixture at the site; and, as word spreads, the tournament will only get bigger and more valuable. However, if you missed the opening week of BetOnline Poker´s PLO Weekends because you don´t have an account at the site, you could be missing out on much more than a great weekend of four-card action.
BetOnline Poker has one of the best first deposit bonuses among USA-friendly poker sites and a whole range of permanent and seasonal promotions to help you better enjoy your online poker experience. To find out more about the first deposit bonus and the range of promotions, read my review of BetOnline Poker before visiting the site and making your first deposit using the BetOnline Poker bonus code [bonuscode room=”betonlinepoker”][/bonuscode]. See you at the PLO tables next weekend!
