The WPT World Online Championships Main Event kicks off this week at partypoker. The site is now giving even more players the chance to participate through the weekly mega satellite final.
The series runs through Sept. 14 with the $5,300 Main Event comes with a $5 million guarantee. Day 1A plays out on Sunday with starting flights continuing for the next two Sundays. Day 2 is set for Sept. 13 with the final two days on Sept. 14-15.
Along with adding additional satellite seats, partypoker has also announced some nice cash up for grabs for the Player of the Championships. Here’s a look at some of the news surrounding the series.
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Partypoker adds 50 extra satellite tickets
The WOCs offer players of all bankrolls the opportunity to qualify. Partypoker recently added even more qualifying opportunities with $0.01 feeder satellites running daily and satellite finals held every Sunday.
The centrolls award at least 15 tickets to the $4.40 buy-in Phase 1. Players making their way through that stage go into the $22 buy-in Phase 2. That’s followed by the $109 Phase 3.
This leads into the weekly final. Players can choose which phase best suits their bankroll and can also buy into the weekly final directly for $530.
This week, the number of Day 1A tickets given away has increased to as many as 50. This gives more players the chance to compete in the series’ highlight.
Team partypoker’s Jeff Gross is one of many who have claimed a Main Event entry via satellite. He won his spot in the tournament after entering at Phase 3.
“The satellites for major events on partypoker have always provided some of the best value in online poker,” Gross said in a news release. “This WPT series is no different, with a variety of phase entry points. I was fortunate enough to grab my seat from the $109 phase and can’t wait to play in the Main Event.”
Extras for the partypoker WOC champion
On top of the large cash prize, the new WOC champion scores some additional rewards. That includes:
- name engraved on Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup
- replica of the WPT trophy
- Hublot watch
- entry into the WPT Champions Club
Mini and Micro versions of the tournament also run concurrently with the WPT Main Event. The Mini comes with a $1,050 buy-in and a $1 million guarantee. The $109 Micro features a $300,000 guarantee.
The Main Event and other key events will be live-streamed on partypokerTV, partypoker’s Twitch channel.
Player of series pays out $50K
Beyond the added satellites, partypoker also announced prizes for the WPT Player of the Championships leaderboard.
As many as 50 players will share $50,000 in cash prizes. The overall winner claiming the top payout of $10,000.
Players earn points by cashing in WOC events. Even finishing in the standings earns a player at least $100.
Sonnert wins WPT Omaha Championship
At the tables, several events are already in the books. Sweden’s Bengt Sonnert took down the $2,100 WPT Omaha Championship on Monday for $71,239.
A total of 24 players reached Day 2, including Team partypoker’s Joao Simao, who finished ninth. He recently spoke with PokerScout about the series and his poker life.
Sonnert eventually beat Denmark’s Patrick Hyllegaard heads-up to claim the title. Hyllegaard scored $49,032 for runner-up.
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Sergiy Yashchur wins WPT Pro Hunt
The $33 WPT Pro Hunt kicked off the series this year. Sergiy Yashchur topped a field of 1,374 players to take the title for $5,340.
The event topped the guarantee for a prize pool of $41,220. Along with his winnings, the Ukrainian banked a free $5,300 seat into the WOC Main Event.
Yashchur is something of a freeroll and low-stakes specialist. He’s a regular tournament ticket winner for larger buy-in events. It was a bit out of the norm for Yashchur to play in an event like the Pro Hunt. The win added to quite a successful week.
“I found out about this tournament about 10 days before it started,” he told partypoker. “Prior to this tournament, I had only played three tournaments that week; one of which was the Double Jab at partypoker.
“I had free tickets for all three tournaments, and I reached the final table of all three! After that, I decided to play the WPT Pro Hunt and made it a streak of four final tables in a row.”
After reaching the final table, Yashchur overcame a 2-to-1 chip deficit heads-up against Laust Mejer Nielsen. To complete the victory, he called all in with a flush draw against Nielsen’s two pair.
“I was in a stupor for a couple of minutes before running to wake my wife,” Yashchur says. “Her first words were to ask what currency my prize money was in! Neither of us could sleep. Instead of celebrating the next day, we decided to simply go to the river with our children for a day out in town.”