- Partypoker MILLION is the operator’s ambitious attempt to take on PokerStars in running a $1 million Sunday tournament.
- Apparently a technical or configuration issue resulted in players who made it through Day 1D did not gain entry to the Final Day.
- The tournament was canceled, but not before hundreds of players played the Final Day.
- The $1 million guarantee will be honored, and an additional $600,000 will be used to compensate players.
Online poker operator partypoker canceled its inaugural weekly million-dollar online poker tournament after a technical issue resulted in one flight of players not making it through to Day 2.
Partypoker MILLION is the operator’s ambitious attempt to take on PokerStars in running a $1 million-guaranteed tournament each Sunday for a $215 buy-in.
The tournament is structured with four Day 1s: One ran last Sunday, two during the week, and then a final turbo Day 1D that ran ahead of the Final Day on Sunday evening.
It was this final flight that caused the cancelation. Apparently a technical or configuration issue resulted in players who made it through Day 1D—some 400 players—did not gain entry to the Final Day.
This Final Day ran as scheduled at 7pm on Sunday for one to two hours before the operator could pause, then ultimately cancel, the event, it is understood.
“Tonight we have the worst possible thing that could ever happen on the site,” said Rob Yong, partner at partypoker parent company GVC, in a video posted to Twitter shortly after 9pm last night. “Day 1 players from 3 o’clock UK time … the 400 players that made it through to the final day, were unable to feed into the Day 2.”
“To compound that, Day 2 ran for an hour, and we were unable to cancel it,” he added.
Ultimately the tournament was canceled, but not before hundreds of players played—and many were knocked out—of the Final Day.
