The countdown has begun and we are only 24 hours away from the kickoff of PokerStars’ most ambitious live poker tournament in its history—the PokerStars No Limit Players Championship (PSPC).
All 320 Platinum Passes have been given away and now the operator is all set to host its inaugural PSPC, taking place at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) at the Atlantis Resort & Casino in the Bahamas. With $9 million already added to the prize pool and the potential to attract a further 500 entries, the PSPC could well be the biggest $25k buy-in poker tournament.
For those players who unfortunately did not win a Platinum Pass or cannot make it to the Bahamas, PokerStars has scheduled an online miniature version of PSPC replicating the same format and structure except the buy-in is 1/1000th of the price.
The Mini PSPC has been designed much like the $25K event following the same five-day format scheduled that runs from January 6 to January 10. The buy-in is set at $25, and there will be no rake charged. Just like the Main Event, the tournament will be played 8-handed with each player receiving a 60,000 starting stack and blind levels starting at 100/200. However, the blind levels will last for 20 minutes instead of the 60 minutes in the Bahamas.
*Late registration is available for a whopping 24 hours period*—possibly the longest ever in online poker. The Final Table commences on January 11 with the remaining six players.
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Although the online version does not have a guarantee, PokerStars has added $9000 to the prize pool giving it (virtually) the same value as the one in the Bahamas. Approximately 15% of the field is expected to be paid.
Players from Russia and the Czech Republic are prohibited from playing (possibly due to local regulations) in the online version.
This is not the first time PokerStars has hosted an online tournament that has lasted for more than four days. In 2016, during the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) series, PokerStars added a four-day “Marathon” event to the WCOOP schedule testing the patience and endurance of some of the world’s best online players. However, the tournament faced some technical difficulties which allowed it to run for an additional day without any breaks. Due to this glitch, the tournament didn’t reoccur in the subsequent COOPs.
Meanwhile, in the Bahamas, direct satellites to the $25K event are scheduled to run on January 5 and 6 costing $2700. Additional events as part of PCA 2019 are also scheduled to run from January 6 onwards. The $10,300 buy-in PCA Main Event (with a single re-entry) is scheduled to take place from January 11 to 16.
PokerStars will be live-streaming the action of the PSPC and other PCA events including the $100K Super High Roller and the final four days of the $10,300 PCA Main Event for 11 consecutive days on Twitch and Youtube. There will also be exclusive giveaways and freerolls for stream viewers.
Off the poker tables, special arrangements have been made for the Platinum Pass winners and their guests. On January 5, a Platinum Pass Winners’ Welcome Reception has been arranged from 20:00 – 23:00 at the Player Lounge. Winners will be able to directly meet with PokerStars Team Ambassadors and other star players. There is also a PCA Player Party scheduled to take place on January 10 from 19:30 – 22:30 at the Royal Deck. Furthermore, all the players present during PSPC will have the opportunity to win exciting prizes just by showing up to play.
