When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Though poker rooms around the world have been shut down by the Covid-19 virus, the online Poker Masters Tournament will let players face off—without facing each other at the table.
The pandemic has forced millions of players to hunker down at home.
This boom in online poker inspired Poker Central and Partypoker to launch the online festival, where all the participants can practice safe poker without catching anything, except maybe an inside straight.
The premier digital edition will feature 30 poker tournaments from April 12 to April 26. Players are expected to join in from all over the world, three years after the first Poker Masters took place at the Aria Las Vegas.
Online poker tournaments are known for the penny-ante buy-ins, but this tournament will offer $15.25 million in guarantees. It’s possible a Cinderella player could buy in low and win the $2 million Main Event.
The Poker Masters Online will include No-Limit Hold ’em and Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments. The $51,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em 8-Max Main Event will be held April 26.
Speaking to GGB News, Poker Central President Sam Simmons said the Poker Masters Online “was created out of necessity—the mass exodus of traffic from casino properties. When there’s a need, there’s an opportunity. We at Poker Central decided to take advantage of that. This is the first time we’ve done this, so it’s going to be a big adventure for us—taking that typically live format and bringing it onto the online platform.”
Will online poker tournaments outlive the coronavirus? “I think so, to a degree,” said Simmons. “One of the big challenges we’ve had in the last decade is the availability of online poker.”
In the April 2011 “Black Friday” crackdown, the U.S. Justice Department indicted three of the largest poker websites in the U.S., PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. All ceased real-money accounts in the U.S., and since then, online poker companies have put most of their efforts into legalizing online poker at the state level.
“Now it’s making a comeback,” said Simmons. “The coronavirus is shining a very bright light on online poker. I think it will be as big as it’s allowed to be; we’re seeing that window of opportunity to shine that bright light on poker availability online.”
Event formatting will be determined by the capabilities of Party Poker’s platform. Don’t expect to see players staring down each other and trying to read elusive “tells.” Online poker isn’t that kind of a game. In fact, it’s the perfect introvert mathematician’s game—a mathematician who sits around in his shorts and T-shirt making bets.
That player will encounter a rival new to him, the flashy type, accustomed to bright lights and TV cameras. It could be a volatile mixture.
“The online version brings in a different element that will be an advantage to some, a disadvantage to others,” said Simmons. “It’s a math problem, and it’s anonymous. You could be next to someone and be up for $1 million and not know who they are.”
Instead of looking for a facial tic or one hand touching a wedding ring, “You look for subtle nuances like bet sizes, and how much time they’re taking,” said Simmons. “Does it mean they’re taking a difficult decision? It’s almost the purest form of poker, because you don’t focus on the details around you.
“It’s almost like a strategic mind sport—like a game of chess.”
Partypoker ambassador Jason Koon—who will be playing in the event— describes it like this: “Online poker is just a bit more of a technical game. You can see exact chip stacks and you’re a little less likely to make a mistake that you would in live poker, especially when you’re tired.”
He adds, “The art of looking at people is obviously out the window in online poker. It’s still a beautiful game and it’s where I originally cut my teeth, but it’s definitely a bit more of a technical game and a lot less artful.”
Many players excel because of their ability to look at a game like a math problem, Simmons said. “They’re calculating all the time.” But don’t expect the competition to be limited to math whizzes. “I think there will be ample crossover, as well. For our purposes, it’s fantastic. We’re taking our brand to a number of players who wouldn’t be able to play in a brick-and-mortar tournament. I would expect higher prize pools and larger participation.”
The tournament will be a joint effort that merging the bases of both companies. Simmons calls Partypoker “a great partner. We are excited and look forward to innovating to live poker and bringing a new dynamic to our poker coverage.”
Will this revolution be televised? “We’re still discussing that internally,” said Simmons. “Our core business is live poker streaming, like on ESPN. We’re the exclusive distributor of the World Series of Poker. The challenge in the current climate is the inability to play live poker, and we’re looking at how to do the poker viewing experience in this new environment. How can we think out of the box to create and distribute it?”
Partypoker Managing Director Tom Waters, who is based in the U.K., told GGB News that online poker is a “natural surge, because so many people are stuck at home. It’s affordable. You can play with a small amount of money. It’s a manageable product for a relatively long time. It’s coincided with no live poker, and all those who normally play the circuit can’t play. It’s a perfect storm. The numbers have surged in the last week or two.
“It’s something we’ve been looking at for a while—giving people an experience where they might see each other. We were doing that pre-coronavirus.”
In this instance, there will be the ability to see players who want to be seen using a video app. “But not everyone has a web cam,” said Waters. “It’s something players will be able to choose to do.”
He expects most will use avatars and play under aliases. Partypoker is also looking at how viewers may be able to watch the games in progress and comment. “We’re testing it to see if we can do it in time for this tournament,” said Waters.
The two-week tournament will be groundbreaking, says Waters. “Poker Central and Partypoker have never been run online before. It may bring a different audience or a different set of contestants. A lot of players don’t travel. It’s very different playing online to live poker. Their game may need to change. Normally, $5,000 is as big as it gets for online poker. For this series, it starts at $10,000. Running something like this is big for us. Different for Partypoker and different for the players.”
And the Cinderella story? “You never know, you always hope. It happens sometimes. One thing we can guarantee is more recreational players who want to win their way to the top.”
Waters is asking for the support of those who like such tournaments. “This is a big festival,” he said. “It’s high risk, and we need people to come in and support it. There are really nice incentives for the players. It’s nice to offer something a little bit different.”
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