Let the Battle for The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™ Begin!
Welcome to Day 1 of the inaugural Poker Masters!
The highly-anticipated five-event series kicks off today inside ARIA with the first of four prelims featuring a $50,000 buy-in. The final event will be a $100,000 Championship Event. The player with the best results (highest total earnings) throughout all five tournaments will be deemed Poker Masters Champion and be awarded The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™.
Among those expected to compete in the Poker Masters 14-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, 2016 Super High Roller Bowl champ Rainer Kempe, and Fedor Holz, who will be filming a documentary all week giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at his Poker Masters experience.
In addition, Daniel Negreanu is betting on himself to become the Poker Masters’ first-ever winner. “Kid Poker” offered a bet of $50,000 that he would win against any one player, and right now he stands to collect $1 million from the field if he does in fact win.
Other players you’ll likely see in action are Brian Rast, Isaac Haxton, Doug Polk, Dan Smith, Scott Seiver, Bryn Kenney, David Peters, Byron Kaverman, Ben Lamb, Justin Bonomo, Ben Tollerene, Stefan Schillhabel, Christoph Vogelsang, Koray Aldemir, Christian Christner, Dominik Nitsche, Adrian Mateos, Sergio Aido, Igor Kurganov and Charlie Carrel.
Event #1, which will be live streamed on PokerGO on a 30-minute delay, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. PST with the live stream starting at 5 p.m. PST. Players will start with 125,000 in chips and are allowed a single re-entry. Levels will be 30 minutes with a ten-minute break every three levels. Late registration will remain open through Level 9. The plan for the day is to play down to the final table of nine.
Inspired by the Aria High Rollers, the tournament rules are designed to speed up play and are specifically catered to the regular high-stakes players, including:
- Seven-handed tables
- A single ante posted by the big blind
- A 30-second shot clock, with three 60-second time extensions
- Players may re-enter once per event through level nine (with no re-entry in the final event)
- Headphones and sunglasses are not allowed
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing complete coverage from the tournament floor. Our updates will coincide with the live stream, so don't worry — there will be no spoilers for those watching on PokerGO.