Inaugural Potomac Winter Poker Open Set to Start at 5 PM with Day 1a of the $400 Opening Event
Welcome to the first-ever event of the brand-new East Coast Poker Tour which is the $400 Opening Event of the 2020 Potomac Winter Poker Open at the stunning MGM National Harbor. This is one of the three events PokerNews will cover in this inaugural festival which features a guaranteed prize pool of over $1,000,000. The Opening Event itself has an amazing guarantee of $500,000!
The new East Coast Poker Tour (ECPT) has five events slated for 2020 with the first one starting today with the Borgata Spring Poker Open, Borgata Summer Poker Open, Potomac Summer Poker Open, and The Armory Classic to follow later this year. Players who register and play in any of these main events and championship events will participate in the leaderboard.
The five winners of the ECPT Main Events plus five randomly selected participants from each event will join the top 90 of the leaderboard in Atlantic City as they will all receive a complimentary two-night stay at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa and an entry to the Borgata Fall Poker Open/MGM Resorts ECPT $2,000,000 Guaranteed Championship which is scheduled from November 15-20.
As this is the debut of the winter version of the Potomac Poker Open, there is no defending champion. In 2019, there was the $370 Opening Event six months ago and Laura Moore emerged victorious in a field that attracted 1,952 entries over five starting flights. She recorded her biggest score for $65,000 when she agreed to a three-way deal with James Canoles and Lalith Mannur after almost 16 hours of play on Day 2.
This year’s edition features a slightly increased buy-in of $400 and six starting flights. Day 1a is set to kick-off at 5 p.m. local time in the Poker Room with Day 1b scheduled for Thursday, February 6 at the same time and location. But Day 1c and onwards will be taking place in the Ballroom on the 2nd floor of the hotel with two starting flights each day, one at 11 a.m. and 1 at 5 p.m.
Players will get 25,000 in chips when they start the day with late registration and one reentry possible for the first 11 levels of the day. Level duration will be 30 minutes on Day 1 with a break assumed to take place after every four levels. Players can reenter once per starting flight.
Each starting flight will pay 12% of the field as they cash for a fixed $550 while play will stop when there’s 8% of the field left. Day 2 will begin at the shortest time played in any of the six starting flights and all Day 2 payouts will exceed the $550 Day 1 payout. The level duration for Day 2 will increase to 45 minutes until the final table when it will go up to 60 minutes and play will continue until a new winner has been crowned.
The 2020 Potomac Winter Poker Open $400 Opening Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Starting Time | Late Reg | Entries | Survivors | Further Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1a | Wednesday February 5 | 17:00 | End of Level 11 | tba | tba | 12% of field will be in the money, play down to 8% |
| Day 1b | Thursday February 6 | 17:00 | End of Level 11 | tba | tba | 12% of field will be in the money, play down to 8% |
| Day 1c | Friday February 7 | 11:00 | End of Level 11 | tba | tba | 12% of field will be in the money, play down to 8% |
| Day 1d | Friday February 7 | 17:00 | End of Level 11 | tba | tba | 12% of field will be in the money, play down to 8% |
| Day 1e | Saturday February 8 | 11:00 | End of Level 11 | tba | tba | 12% of field will be in the money, play down to 8% |
| Day 1f | Saturday February 8 | 17:00 | End of Level 11 | tba | tba | 12% of field will be in the money, play down to 8% |
| Day 2 | Sunday February 9 | 12:00 | - | tba | - | Level duration increases to 45 mins, FT to 60 mins, play down to a winner |
PokerNews will be there from the first shuffle up and deal until the final player has been paid so make sure to follow along with the updates right here.