There will be $20 million guaranteed this year in GGPoker's international edition of the World Series of Poker 2021 Online Main Event, the operator has just revealed.
That is down $5 million from last year’s $25 million guarantee, but 2020 was a unique year in the poker world and beyond. It still guarantees that it will be at least the fourth largest online poker tournament ever held.
For the second year in a row, GGPoker is hosting an online, international version of the coveted WSOP Main Event. Last year, after the Covid-19 pandemic unexpectedly shut down the world, GGPoker stepped up to host a massive online WSOP festival that culminated in a record-setting Main Event.
To say 2020 was a success would be an understatement. While the series was not without its technical glitches at the beginning, hardly a surprise for such a new site suddenly hosting massive WSOP fields, by the end it was an unmitigated success.
GGPoker put a $25 million guarantee on the 2020 Online Main Event, then proceeded to smash that guarantee to put on the biggest online poker tournament to date with more than $27.5 million total in the prize pool.
It is no surprise that GGPoker decided to lower the guarantee this year, as the unique situation in 2020 no doubt contributed to the bloated numbers. A $20 million guarantee with barely a month to ramp up is still very ambitious indeed.
- TOP BONUS — $600 deposit matched or up to $100 in rewards
- TOP FOR MTTs — GGMasters freezeout guarantees $2.5 million a week
- TRUSTED Holds a License from the UK Gambling Commission and the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. Available in many countries in Europe, South America, and Asia
One of the Biggest Games Ever Hosted Online
Even with the the WSOP 2021 Online Main Event guarantee lowered to $20 million, the game is expected to be among the largest online poker tournaments ever run. The $20 million guarantee puts it on-par with second and third biggest online games ever, partypoker's MILLIONS Online from 2018 and 2019.
Both of those games had $20 million guaranteed pre-pandemic, and both hit the guarantees comfortably with more than $21 million in each event. Even in the unlikely event the game doesn’t make the $20 million guarantee, the guaranteed pool will still make it the fourth biggest online game ever.
Like last year, the buy-in for the tournament $5000. There will be multiple Day 1 phases, which will each be played as freezeouts.
Largest Online Poker Tournaments in History
| Tournament | Operator | When | Guarantee | Prize Pool | Buy-in | Entrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG WSOP Main Event 2020 | GGPoker | August 2020 | $25,000,000 | $27,559,500 | $5,000 | 5802 |
| MILLIONS Online | partypoker | December 2018 | $20,000,000 | $21,835,000 | $5,300 | 4367 |
| MILLIONS Online | partypoker | December 2019 | $20,000,000 | $21,090,000 | $10,300 | 2109 |
| GG WSOP Main Event 2021 | GGPoker | August 2021 | $20,000,000 | ??? | $5,000 | ??? |
| Sunday Million 14th Anniversary | PokerStars | March 2020 | $12,500,000 | $18,603,200 | $215 | 93016 |
| Sunday Million 15th Anniversary | PokerStars | March 2021 | $12,500,000 | $13,975,200 | $215 | 69,876 |
| Sunday Million 10th Birthday | PokerStars | December 2011 | $10,000,000 | $12,432,200 | $215 | 62116 |
| High Roller Championship | GGPoker | May 2020 | $10,000,000 | $12,372,500 | $25,000 | 505 |
| Sunday Million 13th Anniversary | PokerStars | April 2019 | $10,000,000 | $12,268,400 | $215 | 61342 |
| WCOOP Main Event | PokerStars | September 2010 | $10,000,000 | $12,215,000 | $5,200 | 2443 |
| Sunday Million 5th Anniversary | PokerStars | March 2011 | $5,000,000 | $11,825,600 | $215 | 59128 |
Awaiting a Series Schedule
This announcement is still quite preliminary, and in truth there are still a lot of open questions that need answers. One of those open questions is how many bullets players will be allowed to fire in each Day 1 flight.
Rather than make the decision unilaterally, the operator has elected to go to Twitter for the opinion of its players.
The Twitter poll shows that the details of the Main Event are still in flux, and that lack of clarity with the structure of the Main Event extends to the series as a whole. To date, there is no full schedule yet so players have been unable to plan their full bracelet action for August just yet.
There are a few details already known however. The GGPoker international bracelet series will replicate the domestic series in at least one significant way—the awarding of 33 bracelets through the month.
The series is expected to start on August 1 and run until Sept 12, but little else is known currently about schedule details. What is known is that at $20 million guaranteed, the Main Event will be one of the biggest online games ever, no matter how many runners the game actually gets.
WSOP 2021 at a Glance
| Series | Location | Start Date | End Date | Bracelet/Ring Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSOP Super Circuit Series | GGPoker | May 1 | May 30 | 18 Rings |
| WSOP Online Domestic | WSOP.com | July 1 | August 1 | 33 Bracelets |
| WSOP Online International | GGPoker | August 1 | September 12 | 33 Bracelets – $20 Million Gtd. |
| WSOP Las Vegas ME Satellites | Both | August 1 | October 1 | - |
| WSOP Live 2021 | Rio | September 30 | November 23 | TBD |
| WSOP Live Main Event | Rio | November 4 | November 17 | 1 Bracelet |
| WSOPE 2021 | King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic | November 19 | December 8 | 15 |
| WSOP Winter Online Super Series | GGPoker | TBD | TBD | TBD |
