Players looking for last-minute opportunities to win their way into the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) should check out William Hill. On Sunday, June 14th, the site will host a massive WSOP qualifier offering 40 prize packages to Las Vegas.
The total cash value of the June 14th event on the popular iPoker Network site is $520,000; each package is worth $13,000. The tournament will have a $535 buy-in and replaces the site’s regular Sunday $250,000 Guaranteed. The contest serves as the last Super Satellite for WSOP Main Event seats on the iPoker Network, as the tournament will kick off at the Rio in Las Vegas on July 3rd with the first of four starting days. As was the case in 2008, the Main Event will play down to its final table in July and then be paused, resuming in November. This time around, it will wrap up on November 10th and air that evening on ESPN.
Each $13,000 prize package includes the $10,000 Main Event buy-in, seven nights’ accommodation at the Rio (the home of the WSOP), registration fees, and $1,900 to use towards travel and other expenses. Players on William Hill can also win their way into the $535 buy-in tournament on June 14th through a series of satellites. Direct qualifiers include an $88 freezeout, a $66 rebuy, and a $27.50 rebuy. In each case, one ticket to the 40 WSOP Prize Package Guarantee will be given away for every $535 in the prize pool. Other satellites are available starting at a low $0.84.
The $13,000 WSOP Main Event packages cannot be exchanged for cash or transferred to another player and the minimum age to play poker in a brick and mortar casino in the United States is 21. Satellites to $1,500 No Limit Hold’em events are available, as is a qualifier for the $10,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Championship. Last year, Irishman Marty Smyth took down the latter tournament for $859,000 and his first bracelet.
William Hill makes its home on the iPoker Network, the largest that does not accept U.S. players and the third largest overall behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. At the time of writing, it boasted a seven day running average of 6,200 real money ring game players with a 24 hour peak of nearly double that amount, according to PokerScout.com. William Hill is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, where it can be found under the symbol “WMH.” It has been taking bets from across the world for the past 70 years and has been bought and sold in London since 2002. In addition to its online poker room, William Hill offers a full sports book, casino, and Bingo parlor. Other major iPoker Network sites include CD Poker, Chili Poker, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, Paddy Power, and Titan Poker.
The $250,000 Guaranteed on William Hill runs every Sunday and comes with a $320 price tag. The event takes place at 7:00pm BST and satellites start from less than $10. Direct $70 sit and go qualifiers to it are six-handed. The winner takes home a seat into the $250,000 Guaranteed and the runner up receives their buy-in back. A $35 rebuy multi-table tournament runs daily Monday to Saturday and awards one seat for every $320 in the prize pool. Another attractive option is a $55 buy-in freezeout that awards one seat for every $320 collected and 10 seats on Sundays.
William Hill offers a variety of promotions for players seated at its real money ring game tables. The site awards a $100 Best Hand of the Day bonus. In it, both hole cards must be used to make a Royal Flush and at least four players must be in the hand. William Hill also dishes out $150 Bad Beat Bonuses. If a player’s quad jacks or better go down in flames at showdown, they’ll be awarded $150 to help ease the pain. The winning and losing hands must use both hole cards and only Texas Hold’em cash games qualify.
