The inaugural Ontario Platinum Series is well underway on PokerStars Ontario. The series features 90 events spread out across 9 days of online action, from July 10 – 18, with a massive $1 million total prize pool up for grabs.
Multiple Overlays on Opaening Day
Based on the initial figures, Ontarians hugely benefited from a series of overlays during the opening day, with 8 of the 15 scheduled events failing to hit their guarantees.
The tournament that recorded the largest overlay was the $100 buy-in, $60K GTD 8-Max Sunday Special which only drew 494 entries. For this event alone, PokerStars Ontario had to shell out $10,800 to make up for the gap.
Platinum Pass Giveaway aExpected to Boost the Numbers
While the initial turnout wasn’t very favorable for the operator, the numbers will likely be more positive in the days to come, especially as the series also comes with extra perks.
Apart from the decent prize pools on offer, players will more likely enter the remaining events for a shot at winning a Platinum Pass. The highly-coveted ticket, worth $30K, will give players the chance to take part in the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) in 2023, for free.
Each player who participates in any event at the series qualifies for the PSPC Platinum Series Prize Draw, where one lucky player will take home a Platinum Pass. The player who ultimately tops the series leaderboard will also receive the $30K package.
The series will culminate in the $300 buy-in Main Event which offers $200,000 in guaranteed prize money and runs on July 17.
Minnesota resident Yevgeniy “Kazak132” Minakrin was crowned the winner of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Online Championship. The Minnesota resident dominated a field of 994 players and defeated Dragos Trofimov heads-up to walk away with his first gold bracelet and $238,315 in first-place prize.
The Results
Minakrin took the lead at the final table after pulling off a huge triple-up against Trofimov and Matthew “Muckdat” McDowell. Trofimov quickly recovered after eliminating three players successively – Jeffrey “Steelvikes7 Hoop (9th, $17,801), Houston “Deadmoney843” White (8th, $23,114), and Matthew “MDInvest” Davis (7th, $30,553).
The next player to leave was David “Iamyorfather” Gonzales (6th, $40,649), followed by “CA_MTNeer” (5th, $55,129), both of whom were sent to the rail by “lewismurray”. McDowell then bowed out in 4th place for $75,453, and not long after, “lewismurray” was also out taking home $104,811 for finishing 3rd.
Minakrin Outplays Trofimov
Minakrin pales in comparison with Trofimov in terms of experience but that didn’t become an issue during heads-up play as Minakrin not only gave his opponent a run for his money, but he went on to win the tournament after an intense one-on-one battle that lasted for more than half an hour.
Trofimov, well-known for winning the 2019 GPI National Player of the Year title, ended up with a $147,585 runner-up prize.
Rich Korbin, one of the favorite personalities in the world of poker, has passed away. Korbin was a highly respected poker player who was instrumental in promoting the popularity of online poker in recent decades.
He was an excellent poker player in his own right and was the winner of a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2001. He was also the winner of several other tournaments over the years.
Rich Korbin was best-known as the Director of Events and Sponsorships at PokerStars, the iconic online poker site. His smart marketing campaigns helped bring PokerStars to the forefront of the online poker world and legitimize online poker in general.
Korbin was also industry-famous for his philanthropic spirit and was always donating to different causes.
Nolan Dalla of PokerStars said that he was “stunned and speechless” to learn about Korbin’s untimely death which results from heart complications following leg surgery.
“It will take me some time to gather my thoughts, reflect, and share more about what this exceptionally kind and generous man meant to me, and so many others,” Dalla wrote.
The online poker industry is buzzing with a new tournament which kicked off this weekend.
APAT (The Amateur Poker Association and Tour) launched the World Championship of Amateur Poker at online poker room, PartyPoker and gameplay is already underway.
A series of online freezeout events will run until the final week of June.
A Championship Event will be held on June 26th and boasts a $75,000 prize pool with a $109 buy-in.
In this event, players are given 1000,000 in starting chips in an effort to make it to the final table and be crowned the winner of the World Championship of Amateur Poker. The blind level in this event changes every 10 minutes, for fast-paced online poker action.
Dusk Till Dawn Live Event
Once the first part of the World Championship of Amateur Poker is over at PartyPoker, things heat up as the live portion begins.
From June 29th to July 3rd, participants will battle it out in several events in the WCOAP Dusk Till Dawn tournament.
Events in the Dusk Till Dawn include:
– International Team Championship
– Short Deck Championship
– High Roller Championship
– ROE (MLHE/PLO) Championship
– Bounty Championship
– NLHE Tag Championship
– Shootout
– Main Event
Ontario’s online poker players were introduced to a new cash game feature after it was announced that PartyPoker’s Hot Tables would be rolled out across the PartyPoker network.
The feature injects extra rewards into cash game pots at random times and at random tables. This boosts the regular cash pots.
The feature is more commonly known as Cash Drops and can be found at multiple online poker rooms, and not just across the BetMGM/PartyPoker/Bwin poker platform.
What makes this feature different, however, is that it is the first time that it has been introduced in the legal and regulated Ontario online poker industry.
In a press release put out by BetMGM Ontario, it was announced that the Hot Tables feature will run until October 31st, 2022.
It invites players to play any No Limit Hold ‘em at fastforward poker table for the opportunity to receive a random boost.
It’s explained that there are five levels of Hot Tables: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond.
For the first two levels, the winner of the hand wins the entire Hot Table pot.
For Gold, Platinum and Diamond Hot Tables, the Hot Table pot is shared between all players. 50% goes to the winner, and 50% to the other players around the table.
All online poker players on the platform in Ontario are eligible for the promo and no opt-in is required.