Starting in September, a $1 million guaranteed prize pool tournament dubbed the Monthly Million will take place monthly on the massive iPoker Network. The $535 buy-in gala will kick off on September 13th at 18:00 GMT.
Titan Poker is one of several iPoker Network sites gearing up for the first-ever running of the Monthly Million, the same term used by PartyPoker to describe its recurring high-stakes event. A bevy of roads to qualify are available, including $1.10 buy-in tournaments that take place Monday to Saturday at 17:15 GMT. In order to promote its new addition, Titan Poker announced that marketing materials were available to affiliates in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Swedish, Russian, Dutch, and Portuguese.
Daily except for Sunday, Titan Poker holds a $66 buy-in freezeout that awards three seats into the Monthly Million. Held the same days of the week at 14:30 GMT are $6.60 rebuys that award at least eight seats into the seven-figure prize pool tournament. On Sundays at 18:30 GMT, Titan Poker holds a $6.60 buy-in satellite that doles out at least 20 seats. In the week leading up to the first Monthly Million on September 13th, the qualifying schedule changes, so check out Titan Poker and other iPoker Network sites for more information.
The Monthly Million features 30-minute blind levels and players will start with a chip stack of 10,000. After playing out on September 13th, the Monthly Million will make its grand return on October 11th at 18:00 GMT. A press release distributed by Titan Poker noted that the contest will be a welcome change from the regular $250,000 Guaranteed weekend tournament: “Titan Poker stages a highly popular $250,000 Guaranteed Prize Tournament every Sunday night, however on September 13, the focus will turn instead to the $1,000,000 Guaranteed. Many players have already guaranteed their seats at the hugely anticipated million-dollar event.”
According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the iPoker Network is the third largest worldwide. It’s the largest that does not accept players from the United States and boasts a seven-day running average of 5,400 real money ring game players. Its 24-hour peak is roughly double that total and, at the time of writing, which is late afternoon across Europe, a total of 7,726 cash game players have descended on the iPoker Network’s virtual felts. A ticker found on Titan Poker notes that over 18,000 active players are battling on the iPoker Network across more than 3,000 tables. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are the two most populous online poker sites in the world, respectively; both accept customers from the United States with open arms.
Besides Titan Poker, other sites that call the iPoker Network home include BetFred, Boyle Poker, CD Poker, Chili Poker, Expekt, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, Poker Plex, Sun Poker, and VC Poker. The iPoker Network is owned and operated by Playtech, a subsidiary of which unsuccessfully submitted a bid to purchase the World Poker Tour (WPT) earlier this month. Instead, the WPT, which is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York City under the symbol “WPTE,” was purchased by a subsidiary of Party Gaming called Peerless Media.
The PartyPoker Monthly Million takes place on the first Sunday of every month and boasts a $640 buy-in. The gala kicks off at 12:45 ET and a full qualifying structure is available with tournaments starting at $1. Like Titan Poker, PartyPoker does not accept players from the United States; it boasts WPT Host Mike Sexton as its ambassador. PartyPoker’s Cash Machine promotion, in which Party Points are matched dollar-for-dollar with site bonuses, kicks off on September 1st.