It’s all happening at Partypoker right now. With the WPT Montreal event currently in progress, the poker site struck while the iron is hot and announced Millions Online.
The third installment of the annual series will build on a recent bevy of MTT action on the popular site. Moreover, it’s another chance for Partypoker to set a few more records.
The second incarnation of Millions Online surpassed expectations and, this time around, organizers want to raise the bar again.
More Millions Online Madness
Millions Online 2021 will run from Feb. 13 to March 9 and feature 28 tournaments. Buy-ins range from $1,000 to $100,000 and there will be more than $15 million in guarantees across the series.
The highlight will be a $5,300 main event. The guarantee is $5 million and Partypoker is aiming to attract more than 1,000 entrants through a combination of direct buy-ins and qualifiers.
To help as many players as possible write their own Chris Moneymaker-style story, satellites will start at just $0.01.
Partypoker Ambassador Patrick Leonard believes an underdog story could characterize the Millions Online main event. In a statement, he said that “numerous people” have qualified and, in turn, won a lot of money in “huge events” recently.
2020’s WPT World Online Championships was a prime example of unlikely success stories. Daniel Smyth (not me) won $428,391 thanks to a $33 qualifier.
Liviu-Rodrig Bartha got into the WPT World Online Championships Mini Main Event via a $109 satellite and cashed for $472,866. Finally, Willyam Esmeril went deep in the $10,300 Main Event courtesy of a $0.55 qualifier.
Partypoker Writing Its Own Success Story
Everyone involved with the Millions Online is hoping that similar stories will be written this year. Even if they’re not, the series could still be a success if guarantees are broken.
Given that Partypoker has been on an impressive run recently, that could well happen. Although some would argue that GGPoker was 2020’s top performer, Partypoker also did well during the pandemic.
As COVID-19 restrictions shut down live events, tour operators were forced to adapt. Partypoker became a proverbial port in a storm. Those maneuvers added to an already strong reputation within the tournament community.
Millions Online made headlines in 2018 when the main event generated a prize pool of more than $21 million. Partypoker followed that with another $21+ million prize pool in 2019.
That put the event and its host site on the map. Although it’s since scaled back the main event’s guarantee to a more modest $5 million, it remains popular.
The key to success for Partypoker will be keeping the momentum going. WPT Montreal and APAT’s online series are pulling in strong numbers, which gives Millions Online a solid base on which to build.
