Eight Pennsylvania poker players are among the latest to earn World Series of Poker gold bracelets following the conclusion of the first ever WSOP PA Online Bracelet series at WSOP PA.
Starting less than a month after the site’s launch, the eight-tournament series played out from Aug. 6-17. Ultimately the events attracted nearly 2,500 total entries and built prize pools adding up to almost $1.5 million.
WSOP PA Online Bracelet Series By the Numbers
Each of the eight events allowed re-entries, usually a maximum one or two with the Championship permitting three. Players played no-limit hold’em in all eight events. In the end 1,939 unique players took part in the tournaments, re-entering 539 times between them. Such turnouts created $1,493,610 in total prize pools.
All of the prize pools reached six figures, ranging from a high of $279,900 for the $1,000 PA Championship down to $114,840 for a $400 NLHE progressive knockout bounty tournament.
Here is a look at the turnouts and prize pools for all eight WSOP PA Online Bracelet series events:
| No. | Event | Entries | Re-Entries | Prize Pool | Winner (Prize) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 NLHE Keystone Kick Off | 425 | 75 | $225,000 | ratrivers ($48,420) |
| 2 | $500 NLHE PKO | 262 | 65 | $147,150 | POTtheRIVER ($27,592.56*) |
| 3 | $3,200 NLHE High Roller | 66 | 20 | $261,440 | DerekHarper ($66,641.12) |
| 4 | $400 NLHE 6-Max | 295 | 126 | $151,560 | TheRealYashi ($35,480.48) |
| 5 | $777 NLHE Lucky 7's | 158 | 68 | $158,200 | Mr.Magoo7 ($40,325.18) |
| 6 | $400 NLHE PKO | 251 | 68 | $114,840 | Conngong12 ($22,213.71*) |
| 7 | $600 NLHE Monster Stack | 216 | 72 | $155,520 | TonyBandanas ($39,642.14) |
| 8 | $1,000 NLHE Pennsylvania Championship | 266 | 45 | $279,900 | LoveToLose ($65,524.59) |
| TOTALS | 1,939 | 539 | $1,493,610 |
*includes bounties
PA Championship Event Features Series-High Prize Pool of Nearly $280K
The PA Championship attracted 266 players with 45 re-entries to build that $279,900 prize pool.
The event featured three Day 1 flights on Aug. 13-15, then a final day on Monday, Aug. 16. It was one of two events featuring three days’ worth of starting flights. The opening “Keystone Kickoff” event also featured three Day 1 flights.
Player “LoveToLose” ultimately took the first “Main Event” title bracelet at WSOP PA, earning $65,524.59 for doing so.
Delayed High Roller Event Pays Out $261K, More Than Half Field Cashes
The $3,200 buy-in High Roller event had originally been scheduled for last week. However it was postponed just before its starting time, with the WSOP tweeting “technical difficulties” had forced the schedule change.
That event played out last night, ultimately drawing 66 total players with 20 re-entries during the almost four-hour late registration period. That created a total prize pool of $261,440, just under the Championship’s prize pool and the second-highest of the series.
Curiously, the structure paid out the top 36 finishers in the event. That meant more than half the players who entered cashed. Dividing the prize pool among nearly 55% of participants was by far the highest percentage of any of the series’ events. Most events paid either just over or under the top 20% of finishers.
That said, those finishing 13th through 36th in the High Roller cashed for less than the $3,200 buy-in. A min-cash in the tournament (28th-36th) was worth $1,830.08. After 10 hours of play, “DerekHarper” took the top prize of $66,641.12.
Interestingly, Event #7, the $600 NLHE Monster Stack, also paid the top 36 finishers although 216 players took part (with 288 total entries), meaning only the top one-sixth of players made the money.
First PA Series Numbers Unsurprisingly Modest Compared to Other WSOP Bracelet Series
The Pennsylvania series comes on the heels of the recently completed “domestic” portion of the WSOP Online Bracelet Series on WSOP’s New Jersey and Nevada sites. Unlike WSOP PA which is a ring-fenced site where only Pennsylvania players can play, WSOP NJ and WSOP NV are able to share player pools thanks to a multi-state agreement between the states.
That series ran July 1-Aug. 1 and featured 33 events in which prize pools ultimately added up to more than $18.2 million. There the championship event was also a $1,000 buy-in tournament, drawing 537 players and 284 re-entries to create a $738,900 prize pool.
Meanwhile on the global GGPoker site, the “international” portion of the WSOP Online Bracelet series continues for players outside of the United States. There the fields are even larger, as are the buy-ins. For example, yesterday Erik Seidel won his ninth career WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 buy-in Super MILLION$ High Roller for a first prize of $977,842. The total prize pool for that event exceeded $6 million.
The series on GGPoker also features 33 tournaments, running July 26-Sept. 12.
Not long after that, the live WSOP is scheduled to begin at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Sept. 30. There, 88 events are planned with the series set to run through November. That said, ongoing uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the Delta variant has everyone in wait-and-see mode.
Lead image credit: AP Photo/Julie Jacobson
