The Winning Poker Network has added daily guaranteed satellites and an additional Sit & Go Steps program to help players qualify in advance for the Venom.
With the High Five series successfully concluded last night, the countdown to next month´s $6 million guaranteed Venom event begins in earnest this week. In order to give more players the opportunity to qualify ahead of the target event, the Winning Poker Network (WPN) has added daily guaranteed satellites to the regular schedule, plus an additional Sit & Go Steps program.
The additional options give players the opportunity to qualify more than once for the Venom. The advantage of qualifying more than once is that the event has four Day 1s. Players can enter multiple Day 1s and carry forward their largest chip stack into Day 2 – or, if they accumulate a massive chip stack on Day 1A, sell their remaining entries (each worth $2,650) and keep the cash.
The New Guaranteed Daily Satellites
Up until now, the only regular satellite feeding into the Venom has been the Sunday afternoon “Step 6” tournament, which has a direct buy-in of $630.01 and previously guaranteed five seats into the target event (the guarantee has now been increased to ten seats). From this week, the satellites have been extended to daily events – with three of the midweek satellites having lower direct buy-ins:
| Day | Time (ET) | Buy-In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 5:30pm | $630.01 | 2 Seats |
| Tuesday | 6:00pm | $215.01 | 2 Seats |
| Wednesday | 5:15pm | $630.01 | 4 Seats |
| Thursday | 6:00pm | $215.01 | 3 Seats |
| Friday | 6:00pm | $215.01 | 2 Seats |
| Saturday | 5:30pm | $630.01 | 2 Seats |
| Sunday | 4:00pm | $630.01 | 10 Seats |
Players with limited bankrolls can qualify for the daily satellites via the existing “On Demand” Steps program or the new Sit & Go Steps program. Somewhat confusingly, both programs can be found under the “Venom” tab in the Sit & Go lobby, and whereas the “On Demand” Steps program has six stages to ascend through, the new Sit & Go program has seven stages.
More about the New Sit & Go Steps Program
The difference between the two programs is fairly easy to explain. “On Demand” games start when the required number of players has registered like Sit & Go games, but they have a period of late registration to allow more players to enter, or existing players to re-enter if they get knocked out during the early levels. Details of the On Demand Steps program can be found here.
The new Sit & Go Steps program is comprised exclusively of 6-Max Sit & Go games (except Step 1). Because each step is limited to just six players, the Network is limited to how much it can increase the buy-ins for subsequent steps – hence the additional step in this program. However, the advantage of using this program to qualify for the daily satellites is that Step 6 tickets (worth $215.01) can be exchanged for a satellite entry on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, to avoid having to play Step 7.
| Step | Buy-In | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
| 1 | $0.28 | Step 2 | $0.30 | $0.30 | |||
| 2 | $1.65 | Step 3 | $1.40 | $0.99 | |||
| 3 | $6.61 | Step 4 | Step 4 | $2.98 | |||
| 4 | $16.51 | Step 5 | $16.53 | $6.60 | $6.60 | $5.26 | |
| 5 | $55.01 | Step 6 | $55.03 | $16.51 | $6.60 | $3.43 | $3.42 |
| 6 | $215.01 | Step 7 | $215.01 | $215.00 | $55.00 | $55.00 | $29.98 |
| 7 | $630.01 | Venom | $630.05 | $212.42 | $55.00 | $52.53 |
Each Sit & Go step is a “regular” game inasmuch as players start with 1,500 chips and blinds of 10/20. Levels increase every five minutes, and antes are not introduced until the start of Level 7. Sometimes it´s nice to get away from the gimmickry of hyper-turbo games or all-in-every-hand games to sit down and play a 6-Max Sit & Go with a deep payout structure and a chance to progress towards the target event.
What Route Will You Take to the Venom?
Inasmuch as I enjoy playing the On Demand steps, I really like the deep payout structures of the new Sit & Go steps once you reach Step 4. I feel the new program will encourage more players to buy-in directly at the $16.51 and $55.01 price points to accelerate their journeys towards the target tournament. Just remember, Day 1A of the Venom takes place on Wednesday 27th November, so the countdown is on.
