Online poker room BetOnline.com is offering players a unique opportunity to buy-in to a $15,000 guaranteed prize pool multi-table tournament on the cheap this weekend. Now, normally when we think about being able to get a seat in a tourney for below face value, we’re talking about winning a satellite. Not this time.
BetOnline is hosting a $15,000 guaranteed tournament this coming Saturday, June 29th at 7:00pm ET and is giving everyone a crack at it for just 99 cents (specifically, the buy-in is 90 cents and the fee is 9 cents). This will actually be a re-buy tournament, with re-buys available during the first hour for $44 ($40 + $4) and an add-on available at the first break for another $44. There is no indication on BetOnline.com as to what the normal buy-in for this $15,000 guaranteed is, but based on the re-buy and add-on prices, $44 would be a good guess.
Everyone will start with 2,000 chips and will be given 2,000 chips for each re-buy. The add-on will be worth 5,000 chips.
BetOnline’s promotional materials say that “seats are limited,” but we’re not quite sure what to make of that claim. It would not really make sense to limit the number of participants in a guaranteed tournament, especially with such a low buy-in compared to the promised prize pool. Poker rooms normally hope that they get enough entrants to hit the guaranteed amount with buy-ins alone so that there is not an overlay. Additionally, BetOnline has very low traffic, so there is probably no need to put any sort of cap on registrations.
Speaking of that network, BetOnline is on the Chico Poker Network along with five other poker rooms: ActionPoker.com, GearPoker.com, PayNoRake.com, PokerInCanada.com, and TigerGaming.com. According to cash game traffic monitoring site PokerScout.com, the Chico Poker Network is quite small, ranking just 32nd in the industry with a seven-day average of 210 cash game players. It is, however, one of the few networks that still accepts U.S. customers (and is not restricted to those in Nevada).
The competition at BetOnline tends to be very soft. It is a sportsbook first, casino second, and if poker players know anything it’s that opponents who migrate over from the sportsbook love to gamble it up. Those who are patient should be able to find ample opportunity to scoop some nice pots.
Also running through the weekend (and starting Wednesday) is BetOnline’s Royal Flush promotion. Anyone who is dealt the highest ranking hand in poker – a royal flush – will win $1,000 on top of whatever he wins in the hand. There are conditions, of course. The hand must be dealt at a real money No-Limit Texas Hold’em table, the hand must go to showdown, and there must be at least four players in the pot at the flop. Additionally, the royal flush must be made with both of a player’s hole cards.