Online poker room 888poker has just uncorked a complete redesign of its weekly schedule of guaranteed poker tournaments. Gone are years-long staples like The Big Fish, Monsoon and Mega Deep. In its place is the New Tournament Collection, promising more tournaments with bigger guarantees and friendlier schedules to attract casual players.
To promote the launch, the operator is giving away $200,000 in tournament tickets and free seats to players over the next five weeks. Just play your regular cash games and tournaments and you are in with the shot of getting a random gift drop. You can also spin the prize wheel in the lobby twice every day (once on desktop, another time on mobile) and get a free prize.
According to 888poker, the focus with the new schedule is:
- Shorter run times;
- More spots make the money;
- More choice for those with small wallets;
- More tournaments starting at European peak times (early evenings).
What this translates to in practice is six new tournaments brands which are much more self-descriptive than before. There’s a two Turbo tournaments, called Dash and Mayhem; a PKO tournament called PKO Rumble; a deep-stacked, longer-running game called Voyage, and Classic, a new freezeout.
Capping off all this is The Big Shot, a new tournament that runs multiple times a day, seven days a week, promising the biggest guarantees of the day.
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888Poker New Tournaments: Quick-look Guide
- Voyage: Low-stakes, deep stacked. Starts early (3.45pm) for those that want more play for their money.
- Mayhem and Dash: Turbo tournaments starting later in the evening, one low stakes, one mid-stakes.
- Rumble: New PKO tournament starting early evening.
- Classic: Freezeouts across various buy-in levels.
- Big Shot: Re-entry, promises the biggest guarantees of the day.
Events Every Day Lead into Big Sunday Schedule
Multiple tournaments of each of these brands are scheduled throughout the day, each with a guarantee from $2000 and upwards.
But it is the Big Shot that stands out, and is the operator’s big new reentry tournament. It seems right now that at least five are currently scheduled each day, Monday to Saturday, starting with a buy-in of $11 ($7000 guarantee) and going up to $109 ($20,000 guarantee).
Of course, this is all subject to change—the operator can be expected to tweak this as they go when they see which tournaments prove popular, and which fall flat—but at the time of writing there’s almost $100,000 in these highlight tournaments on the schedule each day alone.
888 new daily tournament schedule highlights (Monday to Saturday)
| Stakes | Time (GMT) | Event | Buy-In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 15:45 | Voyage | $8.80 | $3,000 |
| Mid | 16:00 | Big Shot | $33 | $15,000 |
| Mid | 17:00 | Big Shot | $11 | $7,000 |
| Mid | 17:30 | PKO Rumble | $22 | $10,000 |
| High | 18:00 | Big Shot 55 | $55 | $15,000 |
| Mid | 19:00 | Big Shot | $22 | $15,000 |
| High | 19:00 | Big Shot | $109 | $20,000 |
| High | 21:00 | 6-Max Mayhem | $55 | $7,500 |
| Low | 23:30 | Dash | $8.80 | $2,000 |
On Sunday, a similar slate of tournaments is expected, but with bigger guarantees. The full schedule for this Sunday’s tournaments are not yet in the client, though a Big Shot schedule has been released.
There will be four, the operator says: the standout is the $109 buy-in tournament with a $150,000 guarantee, starting at 7pm GMT. This goes head-to-head with PokerStars’ new Sunday Million, which also now sports the $109 buy-in.
888 New Sunday Majors
| Event | Stakes | Time (GMT) | Event | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Shot 5.50 | Low | 14:45 | $5.50 | $5,000 |
| Big Shot 33 | Mid | 16:00 | $33 | $15,000 |
| Big Shot 525 (2-Day event) | High | 17:00 | $525 | $100,000 |
| Big Shot 109 | High | 19:00 | $109 | $150,000 |
Big Promotional Push to Get Players in Seats
To get players trying out the new guaranteed tournaments, the operator is launching a big new promotion, giving away $200,000 to players in the form of free tickets and seats to the events.
It starts tomorrow and runs through to April 2. To take part, you just need to have a real money, verified account with a deposit on file. It is open both to new players who go through this process, and any existing players.
All you need to do is then:
- Log in each day and spin the Spinner Wheel. You can do this once on desktop and once on mobile every day to get a prize.
- Play normal cash games, tournaments, Blast and SNAP games, to be in with a chance at getting a random prize drop.
That is basically it. Through these two mechanics, you’ll get a random prize, including tickets to these new tournament among other prizes.
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