In an attempt to take advantage of the three-day PokerStars boycott by high stakes players (and others who join in solidarity), 888poker is implementing some temporary initiatives to make the games more attractive.
In a post on Two Plus Two this morning, 888’s official representative laid out the three changes: a) two new daily tournaments, b) increased guarantees on many scheduled tournaments, and perhaps the most enticing to PokerStars protesters, c) halved rake at the Pot-Limit Omaha cash game tables at $200 and higher buy-ins. Rake will be reduced from 5 percent to 2.5 percent.
The two new tournaments are:
$55 buy-in, $5,000 guaranteed 8-max at 13:00 GMT
$30 buy-in, $5,000 guaranteed turbo (No-Limit Hold’em?) at 15:00 GMT
And, per the 888 rep’s post, here is the list of the new guarantees:
Regular Guaranteed | Special Guaranteed | Buy in | Start Time (GMT) |
The $85,000 Tuesday Volcano | The $100,000 Tuesday Volcano | $600 | 19:30 |
The $30,000 Thursday Quarterback | The $35,000 Thursday Quarterback | $215 | 19:30 |
The $25,000 Tuesday Crocodile | The $30,000 Tuesday Crocodile | $160 | 17:30 |
The $15,000 Crocodile (Midweek) | The $20,000 Crocodile (Midweek) | $160 | 17:30 |
The $30,000 Tuesday Challenge | The $35,000 Tuesday Challenge | $109 | 20:35 |
The $7,000 Lightning 6-Max | The $8,000 Lightning 6-Max | $109 | 14:00 |
The $10,000 Tornado | The $12,000 Tornado | $109 | 20:15 |
The $6,000 Hurricane | The $8,000 Hurricane | $109 | 21:45 |
The $10,000 Breeze | The $12,000 Breeze | $55 | 15:45 |
The $5,000 Twister | The $6,000 Twister | $55 | 11:00 |
The $7,500 Thunder 6-Max Second Chance | The $8,000 Thunder 6-Max Second Change | $55 | 19:35 |
The $5,000 Cyclone | The $6,000 Cyclone | $55 | 02:20 |
The $5,000 Typhoon Second Chance | The $5,000 Typhoon Second Chance | $55 | 09:00 |
The $7,500 Swordfish | The $8,000 Swordfish | $30 | 18:00 |
The $5,000 Turbo Swordfish | The $6,000 Turbo Swordfish | $30 | 22:00 |
The $3,000 Super Turbo Swordfish | The $4,000 Super Turbo Swordfish | $30 | 00:00 |
The $8,000 Guaranteed Turbo R&A | The $10,000 Guaranteed Turbo R&A | $5 | 19:00 |
The $1,000 Turbo Blowfish | The $1,500 Turbo Blowfish | $5 | 18:00 |
The $1,000 Super Turbo Blowfish | The $1,200 Super Turbo Blowfish | $5 | 23:00 |
The $1,000 Goldfish | The $1,200 Goldfish | $1 | 20:00 |
The $600 Turbo Goldfish | The $700 Turbo Goldfish | $1 | 15:00 |
The $300 Super Turbo Goldfish | The $400 Super Turbo Goldfish | $1 | 02:00 |
(by the way – if I could play on 888, I would totally play in a tournament called the Goldfish)
This is a clever move by 888, which ranks a distant second to PokerStars on PokerScout’s cash game traffic rankings, as now more than 2,500 PokerStars players have publicly stated that they will refrain from playing on the world’s largest poker room through Thursday in protest of the site’s announced VIP program changes for 2016 and beyond. That’s not to say that all of them will play at 888 this week and most of the players will likely return to PokerStars at the end of the boycott, as there is no substitute for the action the site can offer, but if even a small portion continue to give 888 business, that could give 888 a nice boost.
