PartyPoker Introduces Pokerfest 2011

With the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) coming to end, most online poker players would normally be looking forward to the next Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) to find that next poker tournament series excitement.  But with Full Tilt gone, there is a gaping hole in the online tournament series landscape after the WCOOP.  Enter PartyPoker.  The world’s second largest online poker room (or third, depending on the day) has announced its very own online poker tournament series, Pokerfest, scheduled to begin in the last week of October.

Pokerfest will run October 23rd through November 6th and feature 47 events with $3 million in guaranteed prize money.  On most days, three events will be run, each geared towards players at different stakes levels.  One tournament’s buy-in will be just a few Party Points, one will have a buy-in of $6 to $33, and the highest stakes event will cost $55 to $1,060, though most in the latter category will fall in the lower end of the spectrum.  Some of the highlighted tournaments include:

•    Event 1 – $215 No-Limit Hold’em, $300,000 guaranteed
•    Event 23 – $215 No-Limit Hold’em, $350,000 guaranteed
•    Event 46 – $33 No-Limit Hold’em, $50,000 guaranteed
•    Event 47 – $640 No-Limit Hold’em Championship Event, $1 million guaranteed

Qualifiers will be available for each event with a $55 buy-in or higher.  As is the usual for PartyPoker, qualifiers will start very low, for as little a one dollar, and will have a ladder-type structure as players work their way up to win a seat in a Pokerfest event.  Those who win seats can enter any event with the corresponding buy-in.

There will be three Pokerfest leaderboards, one each for events with points buy-ins, low buy-ins, and high buy-ins.  Players will earn points based on tournament finish and the amount of the buy-in.  The total prize pool for the points buy-in leaderboard will be $5,000 with a $500 first prize, for the low buy-in leaderboard there will be a $30,000 prize pool and $2,500 first prize, and for the high buy-in leaderboard there will be a $65,000 prize pool and $5,000 first prize.

Pokerfest will also feature Side Events so that players can win extra cash:

• $35,000 Pokerfest Jackpots – The first person to win three Pokerfest events will win $20,000, the first person to reach the final table in 10 events will get $10,000, and the first person to cash ten times will win $5,000.
• Daily Dollar Side Events – Starting October 23rd, PartyPoker will hold two daily $1 buy-in tournaments, but each tournament will have a special twist that can only be found in the tournament lobby.
• Prize Draw – Every player will win a raffle entry for each event in which they play.  The first 500 names drawn will win prizes such as iPads, chip sets, and other merchandise.

The complete schedule for Pokerfest 2011 is below.