Poker players that missed out on winning a bracelet at the recent World Series of Poker in Las Vegas will have a second chance of glory as the WSOP action heads online.
WSOP Online 2022 will feature dozens of tournaments hosted by WSOP.com in the United States and GGPoker.com internationally, and there will be as many as 33 bracelets up for grabs across two months of action.
The series was introduced as a response to the pandemic, with in-person tournaments cancelled for obvious reasons, but such has been the demand for top-tier online games that WSOP officials have decided to keep their annual online competition up and running.
There’s plenty at stake on both sides of the Atlantic too, with all bracelet winners at WSOP Online 2022 cordially invited to play at the Tournament of Champions event in Las Vegas next year as part of the in-person WSOP 2023.
As if that alone wasn’t encouragement enough to get involved, the record-breaking WSOP Online Main Event will be back – with officials promising to match the £20.6 million prize pool that saw the tournament enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the richest poker event in history last year.
The senior VP of the World Series of Poker, Ty Stewart, has revealed plans to make the event the ‘biggest deal in online poker’. He said: “No one wanted to see this year’s WSOP come to an end.
“However, in many ways, the return of WSOP Online is even more exciting. Together with GGPoker, we have a clear vision to make this festival annually the biggest deal in online poker, so that the WSOP offers players the marquee event in both live and online poker each year.”
Buy-ins for the 33 bracelet events will range from $100 (£82) to $10,000 (£8,200), and at least seven of the tournaments played will feature a minimum prize fund of $1 million (£820,000). There will be satellite events in the lead up to WSOP Online 2022, allowing you to try and book your seat at the big tables for a fraction of the cost.
Seidel Steps Out of the Shadows
One of the downsides of online poker is the anonymity of the game – you never quite know for sure who you’re up against.
Players at WSOP Online 2022 could find themselves seated virtually next to Daniel Negreanu, the six-time gold bracelet winner and GGPoker ambassador who has confirmed his involvement in the third hosting of the series.
He will be looking to follow in the footsteps of another serial WSOP bracelet winner, Erik Seidel, who clinched his ninth piece of World Series of Poker silverware in the online ranks last year.
The Poker Hall of Famer clinched his first bracelet 30 years ago, and it’s testament to how far the game has come that he trousered just $168,000 for his efforts back in 1992.
His online exploits, by contrast, netted him $977,842 – easily one of the biggest paydays of Seidel’s career, and one that pushed him to fourth on the all-time money list and joint fifth in the WSOP bracelet winners’ rankings.