As the deadly Coronavirus continues to play havoc world-wide, several industries have come to a standstill, including the poker industry. As casinos continue to close, organizers of live poker events are cancelling or postponing events or finding other alternatives. Several prestigious poker brands like the World Poker Tour, the Irish Poker Open and various others have already moved some of their events online. On similar lines, Poker Central and partypoker announced the debut of the Poker Masters Online tournament series, with more than $15 million in guaranteed prize money.
On Thursday, partypoker announced that it had partnered with Poker Central for a debut of “Poker Masters Online” series. The decision was taken after the Poker Masters live series was cancelled due to the growing threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The online version of the Poker Masters will take place from April 12th to April 26th. The upcoming online series comprises of 30 events with buy-ins ranging from $10,300 to $51,000, and there will be an overall series champion. The overall series champion will also get an additional $50,000 cash prize and a Poker Masters purple jacket.
Talking about the upcoming Poker Masters Online series, Tom Waters, partypoker managing director said,“We are pleased to be able to give players the chance to continue doing what they love and play the tournament in online format. The Poker Masters brand carries significant weight in the poker community and we believe this innovative online format will be appealing for fans and players alike.”.
Commenting on this partnership with partypoker, Sam Simmons, Poker Central president, said,“We know partypoker is the right landing spot for our tournament brand to evolve into a new format. We value this partnership as a way to bring the poker community together in these uncertain times.”
Unibet Open Tallinn Also Goes Online
Another live event to go online is Unibet Open Tallinn. It will now take place online on the Unibet Poker client. Instead of following the May 20-24 original schedule, the event will happen on May 24-25. The biggest highlight will be the Unibet Open Online Main Event, which features a buy-in of €1,100 and comes with an impressive guarantee of €100,000. That is not all, there is a €100 buy-in Mini Main Event as well and it will also take place during the two-day online tournament.
Unibet Poker is also hosting a series of satellites to gives poker players opportunities to win their way into the marquee Main Event for just a fraction of the price. The additional details of the event will be released once the schedules and structures are finalized by the organizers.
Unibet’s newest Ambassador David Lappin, who will be at the virtual tables to give his best shot at winning his first title, said: “Coronavirus is having an adverse effect on so many scheduled events worldwide, but we’re really delighted that Unibet Open will still effectively be going ahead, but online instead of “IRL”. It means everyone can take part, even if they are in a country where travel is tricky. We’re still “all in” for this online event and I’ll be giving my best shot at winning a first title!”