The Winning Poker Network has released further details about its $5 million guaranteed Venom tournament, including important information for satellite winners.
As many readers will be aware, the Winning Poker Network has announced its intention to run a $5 million guaranteed online poker tournament in July. The event – called “The Venom” – will have a direct buy-in of $2,650, or you can qualify for the tournament via numerous satellite routes and the “Spin to GET IN” slots game in the Venom tournament lobby.
This week, the Network released further details about the event you will need to know if you are planning on taking a satellite route. This is because players who qualify for the Venom tournament will be seated automatically at the start of the event, which now begins on Tuesday 16th July (the final day of the World Series of Poker) rather than the previously announced Sunday 21st July.
Details of the Venoms´ Dates and Structure
The Venom will be a multi-day tournament with two Day 1s. The first of these (Day 1A) is currently scheduled to start on Tuesday 16th July at 1:00 pm (all times ET). This is the opening day you will be automatically seated for if you have won a seat in a satellite; so you had better book the day off work in advance if you plan on qualifying for the event because, if you are unable to play at that time of day, you will be blinded out of the tournament.
Day 1B will take place on Sunday 21st July also at 1:00 pm. I imagine anybody who has qualified for the tournament since Tuesday´s Day 1A will also be automatically seated as soon as the cards are in the air; so you won´t be able to pick what time you get involved during the six hours of late registration unless you buy-in directly or re-enter. Play on both Day 1s will last for twelve hours, with surviving players carrying forward their chip stacks into Day 2 on Monday 22nd July at 1:00 pm.
Play on Day 2 is scheduled to last for twelve hours or until the Final Table is reached when eight players remain. If more than eight players survive Day 2, a Day 3 will be added on Tuesday 23rd July, with the Final Table getting underway at 1:00 pm on Wednesday 24th July. As soon as the winner is known, the Network has said it will transfer the first place prize of $1 million by the player´s choice of cryptocurrency within an hour, although other payment options will be available.
The structure of the tournament has been designed to accommodate the extended length of the event. Players will start with 250,000 chips and blinds of 500/1,000 (ante 150). Levels will increase slowly every thirty minutes so that by the end of late registration (Level 12) they are 2,500/5,000 (ante 700), and by the end of each Day 1 (Level 24) they are 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,300). The normal payout structure will apply, so if the breakeven point of 2,000 entries is reached, 234 players will finish in the money.
Venom Satellites Start at Freeroll Level
Direct satellites feeding into the Venom tournament run several times a day with buy-ins starting at $88.00. There is also a super satellite each Sunday evening guaranteeing five seats into the target event with a buy-in of $630.01. The Sunday evening super satellite is the final leg of a six-stage Steps Program that starts at freeroll level. If you want to avoid the six-times-daily freeroll stage, you can buy into any of the remaining five Steps directly from $6.61.
If you are feeling lucky, you can also try to qualify for the Venom tournament via the “Spin to GET IN” slots game in the tournament lobby. The game is a simple three-reel slot in which you win your seat if you match three of a kind. You can select one of five stakes to play the game (from $0.01 to $10.00) with the higher the stake you choose, the more chance you have of winning. According to the Americas Cardroom blog, two players have already won Venom seats via this promotion – one for $0.25.
The freeroll tournaments and “Spin to GET IN” slot games are available at Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker. If you do not already have an account at either site, you will be eligible for a first deposit bonus of 100% up to $1,000 if you make your first deposit by credit card, or 200% up to $1,000 if you make your first deposit using one of the sixty cryptocurrencies accepted by the Winning Poker Network cashier. As the Network plans to pay the winner of the Venom tournament $1,000,000 within the hour, it might be in your best interests to use the cryptocurrency option if you can.
