The World Cup of Cards (WCC) is really starting to ramp up with Day 1a of the partypoker Grand Prix Poker Tour $500,000 Guarantee. This is event #16 and this tournament sports the biggest guarantee of the WCC. It also has the lowest buy in, only $109.
Today's flight is just one of eleven live starting flights. There have been a ton of online Day 1 flights as well and 38 players have already qualified for Day 2. Mike Stannard is the big stack so far with 668,500.
There will be plenty of chances for live players to match Stannard's stack, beginning with Day 1a at 4 p.m. There is another flight tonight at 9 p.m. Tomorrow there are five Day 1 flights and four more on Saturday. The regular flights will have 20-minute levels and the turbo flights will have 15-minute levels. Each player will start with 20,000 and each starting flight play will continue until ten percent of the field remains. Day 1a is a turbo flight.
One of the unique elements of the GPPT is a "Golden Chip." The golden chip can be earned in a series of 1-cent online tournaments. The top five players from each of the tournaments earns a virtual golden chip. If a player with a virtual golden chip makes Day 2, they get a physical golden chip. Then any player who wins the tournament and has a golden chip adds $50,000 to their first place prize.
The Party Poker Grand Prix $500,000 Guarantee is Event #16 of the World Cup of Cards. PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news, updates, and photos. Follow @pokernews on Twitter for live updates, Periscope broadcasts, and more. Also, follow PokerNews on Facebook and Instagram.
