Online poker sites are faring well these days as more people are staying home in order to avoid contracting the coronavirus. For the WSOP, their new Online Super Circuit Series has already been a success in its early stages. Regulated markets where the series is offered has seen an uptick in player participation. So much so that the total guaranteed prize money may easily reach record heights.
Big Prize Money Already
The WSOP Online Super Circuit Series has already finished up a few events and paid out over $1.8 million in prize money. The series first guaranteed over $1.2 million. So, already the prize pool guarantee has been smashed.
Several big events, including the Main Event, have yet to take place. It could be that the series almost quadruples the total guaranteed prize money because players are logging on in high numbers to take part in the many tournament options.
Each of the events on the schedule are a single day tournament, which makes it easy for players to compete. They don’t have to devote days to one event. Buy-ins start at around $215 and go as high as $1,000 with guarantees set at $50,000 to $200,000. However, as we have seen, the prize pools are only increasing.
Here are a few examples of prize pools that have increased during the series. Take for example, Event #7. This tournament was a Pot Limit Omaha event. The prize pool guarantee was set for $30,000. It pushed to almost $91,000. Event #6 had a $150,000 prize pool and was pushed to just over $217,000.
Players are logging in at record numbers and causing the guarantees to new heights. It should be taken into account that this is a new series for players and being online does it make it more convenient for some. However, a big factor remains that more people are at home than they would be in a normal environment.
Live Players Going Online?
For some, the new WSOP series could be a substitute for live poker gaming, particularly for career players. The World Series of Poker announced the new online series on March 13th. This was the same day that the company announced their live circuit events would be canceled during the coronavirus outbreak.
As casinos were closing and a call for social distancing increasing, the WSOP did the only logical thing they could do and moved gaming online. Eight stops on the WSOPC were affected including stops at Harrah’s Atlantic City, the Bicycle Casino in LA, Bally’s in Las Vegas and more.
It is unclear if these events will be rescheduled for a later date or if the WSOPC will just start over once everything gets back to normal. However, we really have no idea when that might be.
In the meantime, at least players have access to online poker gaming options from such top-rated providers as the WSOP.
