As the coronavirus continues to spread world-wide, several industries are affected, including poker. As casinos and card rooms close, organizers of live poker events are having to cancel or postpone events or find other alternatives. For many events, organizers are finding ways to go online. By moving an event online, players can still take part without being exposed to the deadly virus. The latest event to make the move from land to online is the Unibet Open Tallinn. Organizers have announced the event will take place in late May via Unibet Poker.
Details of the New Online Event
The Unibet Open Tallinn will now go online, offering players gaming options on May 24th and 25th. Originally, the event was supposed to take place on May 20th to the 24th. The event has a buy-in of €1,050 + 50 and will offer a €100,000 guaranteed prize pool.
The event will also include a Mini version, where players can pay much less to compete. This event will have a buy-in of €90 + 10. The structuring will be the same, with players receiving a starting stack of 30,000 chips in either event.
More details of the events will be released once Unibet finishes up the schedule and tournament structure.
Making the Move Online
Thankfully, poker organizers have the ability to move online to offer events. In areas where online poker is legalized, players can log online and enjoy a game without putting themselves at risk of the coronavirus. In the beginning, it looked like hundreds of players would not be able to compete in the Unibet Open Tallinn due to lockdowns or travel restrictions.
However now thanks to the event going online, even more players will have access to the gaming option. Unibet’s Head of Events, Nataly Sopacuaperu, commented on the change, stating that the concern of the coronavirus is hampering travel and they wanted to offer something positive for players and make sure participation could take place.
Unibet will still be offering trophies for the winners of the Mini and standard Main Event and plan on making the tournaments as much fun as possible. A live stream will be offered to build excitement and allow players to stay engaged.
It would not be surprising to see other operators decide to move major events online. Just a few days ago, the World Poker Tour announced they had partnered with partypoker to launch the WPT Online Series. With the online series, the WPT can offer online gaming instead of relying on their circuit tour.
Of course, the online options will be limited in the US as players only have access to poker in Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On an international level, the opportunity to enjoy online poker is more widespread.
In general, it is expected that online poker revenues will see nice jump as traffic soars at poker rooms due to players being restricted to their homes.
