Action is now underway in the first feature game this Sunday, The Grand. The game gets going with 61 entries and a little less than one third of the prize pool collected so far.
Action proceeds with 15 minute levels, and Maarten Van Der Goes has taken the lead from Shaun Conroy in one of the last phases before the start of the day, though both players have more than 1.9 million chips.
It's time to get another big Sunday of action underway for partypoker Sunday LIVE. After a few big weeks of action while the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Online Championships (WOC) was ongoing, this weekend will be a little quieter with just three standard games on the schedule for this Sunday LIVE.
The first big game on the bill today is The Grand, a unique phased $1,050 buy-in game that finishes on Sundays. There is $200,000 guaranteed in the event which players can buy into for the full price on Sunday, or play an earlier, less expensive phase, to bag a stack for the Sunday game.
Players who buy in on Sunday for $1,050 get 1 million chips for their money, but many players start the day with a bigger stack thanks to an earlier phase. Currently, with about an hour to go till the cards go in the air, Shaun Conroy from Ireland leads the way with just under 2 million chips, and the entire top five so far has more than 1.5 million going into the final phase.
The game will proceed today with 15 minute blind levels, starting at 5,000/10,000 (1,250), and it will run until a winner is decided. Players can rebuy once during the 12 levels of late registration if they lose all their chips, but once 12 levels are in the books, it becomes a freezeout.
Action on The Grand kicks off at 12:05 p.m. ET.
The second game to watch today is the $100,000 guaranteed The Sunday 500. For $530, players get 500,000 chips, and late registration is open for 10 levels. Players can rebuy once during that registration period if they lose their chips.
The Sunday 500 is a progressive bounty game, with $250 of the buy-in going to bounties and $250 to the prize pool. It gets underway at 13:05 p.m. ET, and they'll play 12 minute levels through the end of the day starting at 2,500/5,000 (625).
The final big game on the schedule today is The Weekender Final Day. With $100,000 guaranteed, this event is the culmination of a weekend of poker. There are still a couple of Day 1 satellites running to fill up the player field.
Unlike the other games we are watching today, players can't but into The Weekender Final Day directly - they have to play their way there through one of the starting flights that run through the weekend. They cost $109 to enter, with $50 going to prize pool and $50 for a progressive bounty.
Everyone who makes the Final Day is already in the money, so there's no waiting to get paid once you get into the Final Day. There are currently just 58 players in the Final Day field, but that number is set to grow before the game gets underway. Brener Vicente from Brazil is the current chip leader with just over 1.5 million, as well as $271 in bounties already in their pocket.
Stay tuned all day and get ready for a big day of action from three different games ongoing. Check back shortly as The Grand gets underway at the top of the hour, and check out all the exciting news from partypoker at the partypoker Sunday LIVE hub.