WSOP Ontario, powered by GGPoker, officially went live in the province late last month, and the operator wasted no time in hosting its first-ever prestigious gold ring series for Ontario online poker players.
The first WSOP Ontario Online Circuit Series begun commenced on October 1, featuring 12 ring events and plenty of side events with CAD $2.5 million in combined guaranteed prize money.
So far, seven out of 12 ring events have concluded, and the series has entered its final week, with five more events still to play out. The guarantees for each event have been quite ambitious, which has created overlays and lots of value for players to enjoy.
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For instance, the CAD $55 buy-in FIFTY STACK Bounty attracted a decent turnout of 735 entrants, and yet it missed its CAD $50,000 guarantee by 26.5%, creating a nice juicy overlay of $13,250. Another Bounty event with a buy-in of $1050 and a $100,000 guarantee drew 88 entrants, falling short by $12,000.
The $50 buy-in Housewarming with an aspiring $100,000 guarantee also had an outlay despite attracting nearly 2000 entries across all its flights. It missed its guarantee by almost 11%, creating an overlay of $10,852.
But not all events have missed their targets. The opening event — the BIG 500 Kickoff with several Day 1s — drew 236 entrants creating a prize pool of $112,100. Event #3: MONSTER STACK NLH, with an entry fee of $400, pulled in 200 entries, smashing its $50,000 guarantee by 50.4%.
WSOP Ontario Online Circuit Series Results So Far
| Ring | Tournament | Buy-in (CAD) | Gtd (CAD) | Entrants | Buy-ins Collected (CAD) | Overlay (CAD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | BIG 500 Kickoff | $500 | $100,000 | 236 | $112,100 | |
| #2 | FIFTY STACK Bounty | $55 | $50,000 | 735 | $36,750 | $13,250 |
| #3 | MONSTER STACK NLH | $400 | $50,000 | 200 | $75,200 | |
| #4 | Bounty High Roller 6-Max NLH | $1,050 | $100,000 | 88 | $88,000 | $12,000 |
| #5 | Bounty GIANT NLH | $315 | $50,000 | 196 | $58,800 | |
| #6 | GIANT NLH | $365 | $100,000 | 270 | $92,637 | $7,363 |
| #7 | The Housewarming NLH | $50 | $100,000 | 1938 | $89,148 | $10,852 |
While undoubtedly, the participation has been impressive given that the player pool is confined to just a single province in Canada; it has still created excellent value for players on WSOP Ontario.
Guarantees Dropped, but Value Remains
In response to the overlays, the operator has reduced the guarantees for some of the upcoming ring events. For instance, Event #8: $777 LUCKY SEVENS, which initially had a guarantee of $100,000, has been dropped to $70,000. It would still need to attract close to 100 runners to avoid the overlay.
Events #9 and #10 also saw their guarantees halved to $50,000 from $100,000.
The drop in guarantees will surely upset the players, but the chances of overlays are pretty high. The Main Event, especially, has kept its original $250,000 guarantee, and with a buy-in of $525, it would need a whopping 500 runners to cover. Its Day 1s have already been running and have attracted over 200 players, overlaying by $144,500 at the time of writing.
Satellites for the Main are available for buy-ins starting at $55. Players can also qualify for the Main via the Express satellites — the operator’s set of unique satellite poker formats giving players a shot at qualifying for higher buy-in tournaments within minutes.
The $100 HUNDRED STACK NLH is another event that has also maintained its original guarantee of $100,000. It would need close to a staggering 1100 entrants to surpass its guarantee.
Note that the ring events are not the only events offered to Ontarians. The Circuit series comprises hundreds of side events running daily with cheaper buy-ins. Many of these also fall short of their guarantees, providing decent value in EV.
If the first eleven days are anything to go by, players can expect to see more overlays in the upcoming days. The Main Event, especially, could be the most valuable event of the series, so watch this space.
Learn more about WSOP Ontario real money tournaments and how to sign up, head to our in-depth review!
