The prize pool may not have been anything unusual, but the size of the field of PokerStars’ inaugural Common Cents tournament series certainly was. On Monday, PokerStars broke its own record for the largest online poker tournament of all-time by attracting 253,698 players to the micro-roller tournament series’ kickoff event.
PokerStars didn’t get over a quarter-million players with some ridiculous prize pool and outlandish guaranteed first prize. It was quite the opposite, actually – it was a ridiculously low buy-in that drew the crowd. Just one cent. That’s right, Common Cents really does signify that the buy-ins are insanely low. With a one cent buy-in, and a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool, anyone could afford to enter. In fact, people couldn’t afford NOT to enter the tournament.
And with just a one cent buy-in, that means that it was almost completely a $100,000 freeroll, as there was more than $97,000 in overlay. On top of that, more than 500 tickets to the Common Cents Main Event were randomly awarded during the tournament. (it only costs 99 cents, but hey, for some micro-rollers, that could be a sizable chunk of their bankroll).
Austria’s “DaDumon” won the tournament, cashing for $10,000. In all, over 26,000 people made the money.
The previous record for the largest online poker tournament was set by PokerStars in 2013 when 225,000 players showed up during the site’s 100 billionth hand celebration.
The Common Cents tournament festival looks like it will be a recurring deal. In this first run, there are fourteen events with escalating buy-ins as the series goes on. There will be two tournaments per day, with each day’s events costing 10 cents more than the ones on the previous day (yesterday’s second tourney had an 11 cent buy-in). All have guaranteed prize pools, but none come close to the $100,000 from the penny tourney. The Main Event, as mentioned will be 99 cents and will feature a $25,000 guaranteed prize pool.
As is the case with most, if not all, PokerStars tournament series, there is a leader board for Common Cents in which the top 100 points earners will share $1,000 in winnings. The overall leader at the end of the festival will receive $100.
The Common Cents tournament series appears to be another effort by PokerStars to appeal to the casual player. While high stakes games get all the attention, the vast majority of online poker players play on the penny, nickel, and dime tables and are often priced out of the higher buy-in tournaments.
