The Festival Online (TFO) recently wrapped up at 888poker, and after 25 days of poker, the $1 million series guarantee was surpassed by almost 5%. With more than 16,000 entries across the series, the games collected nearly $1.1 million.
The Festival Online got underway on March 19 with a vast schedule lined up that didn’t finish until April 13. A $1 million guarantee came into the series that saw 28 tournaments over 25 days, and almost 61% of the events beat their guarantees.
The final tally for total prizes in The Festival Online at 888poker was $1,046,870, almost 5% above the pre-series guarantees. The largest prize pool came in the Main Event, but that was always likely to be the case, given that it had a $200k guarantee, the biggest of the series. Ultimately, the tournament missed the original promise and played for $200k.
The second biggest prize pool of the series was also the game with the best increase on the guarantee, by dollar value anyway. The $150,000 Texas PKO 8-Max on March 27 saw 1263 entries for a total prize pool of $189,450, more than 26% above the guarantee.
Six Games Got More than 1000 Entries
A total of six events got four figures for entry totals, representing 21.5% of the total games. The best performer for field size was the $8000 Micro Mystery Bounty Closing on April 9 with 1636 entries. That was the only game to get more than 1500 entries, but the $25,000 Mini Mystery Bounty Closing came very close with 1450.
2023 The Festival Online Best Fields
| Date | Tournament | Total Entries | Prize Pool | % Above Gtd | $ Above Gtd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-04-09 | $8000 Micro Mystery Bounty Closing | 1,636 | $8180 | 2.25% | $180 |
| 2023-04-09 | $25,000 Mini Mystery Bounty Closing | 1,450 | $29,000 | 16.00% | $4,000 |
| 2023-04-02 | $15,000 Sunday Big Shot 11 | 1,391 | $15,000 | 0.00% | $0 |
| 2023-03-19 | $25,000 Mystery Bounty Mini Opening Event | 1,373 | $27,460 | 9.84% | $2,460 |
| 2023-03-27 | $150,000 Texas PKO 8-Max | 1,263 | $189,450 | 26.30% | $39,450 |
| 2023-03-19 | $100,000 Mystery Bounty Opening Event | 1,072 | $107,200 | 7.20% | $7,200 |
This series has four prize pools of $100k or more, including two that topped $150k. Of the top four prize pools, only two boosted the guarantee. The $200k Main Event and the $100,000 Sunday Big Shot 109 played for their guarantees.
2023 The Festival Online Biggest Prize Pools
| Date | Tournament | Total Entries | Prize Pool | % Above Gtd | $ Above Gtd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-04-10 | $200,000 Main Event | 992 | $200,000 | 0.00% | $0 |
| 2023-03-27 | $150,000 Texas PKO 8-Max | 1263 | $189,450 | 26.30% | $39,450 |
| 2023-03-19 | $100,000 Mystery Bounty Opening Event | 1072 | $107,200 | 7.20% | $7,200 |
| 2023-04-02 | $100,000 Sunday Big Shot 109 | 973 | $100,000 | 0.00% | $0 |
Two games saw more than $10k extra in their prize pools over the guarantee. The best performer for dollar value was also the second biggest prize pool of the series, the $150,000 Texas PKO 8-Max. That event resulted in almost $40k extra in prizes when 1263 entries generated a final prize pool of $189,450.
2023 The Festival Online Best Guarantee Busters
| Date | Tournament | Total Entries | Prize Pool | % Above Gtd | $ Above Gtd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-03-27 | $150,000 Texas PKO 8-Max | 1263 | $189,450 | 26.30% | $39,450 |
| 2023-03-19 | $40,000 Mystery Bounty High Roller Opening | 104 | $52,000 | 30.00% | $12,000 |
| 2023-03-19 | $100,000 Mystery Bounty Opening Event | 1072 | $107,200 | 7.20% | $7,200 |
| 2023-03-26 | $40,000 High Roller PKO 8-Max | 92 | $46,000 | 15.00% | $6,000 |
| 2023-04-06 | $12,000 PKO 8-Max | 180 | $18,000 | 50.00% | $6,000 |
Brazil Bags the Most Wins
Brazil is one of the hottest markets in the poker world right now, and it shows in the results from this TFO. The South American nation bagged six titles, more than 21% of the games during the series. The following best country was Germany, whose players took home three titles. Interestingly, two of the German wins went to the same player, “777CCC343,” who was triumphant in two low-stakes games.
Countries with Two Titles
- Ukraine
- Lithuania
- Finland
- Malta
Countries with a Single Title
- Montenegro
- Vietnam
- Romania
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Argentina
- Sweden
- Belarus
- Canada
That brings the 2023 online edition of The Festival Online to a close, and both the organizers of The Festival Series and online host 888poker will be happy with the results. With an overall profit and more than 16,000 entries, it would be hard to call the 2023 TFO anything but a success.
