888poker Increases Jan. 15 Baby Whale Guarantee to $500K
888poker celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Mega Deep tournament in November 2016 by boosting its guarantee to $500,000 and now the online poker giant is set to give the Baby Whale similar treatment on Jan. 15.
The Baby Whale is a $320 buy in tournament that runs every other Sunday, complementing the larger $600 Whale that also runs on alternate Sundays. On a normal Sunday, the Baby Whale boasts of a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool, but to help celebrate the New Year, 888poker is slapping a massive $500,000 guarantee on this Sunday’s tournament.
This monster-sized Baby Whale tournament costs the same $320 as any other time it's featured in the 888poker lobby, but late registration will be extended from 180 minutes to 250 minutes and the freezeout format will be altered to allow each player the chance to re-enter once.
Even with these changes, it is quite likely that the $500,000 Baby Whale will overlay, because the tournament, in its standard guise, tends to attract between 300 and 400 entrants.
As you would expect, there are a plethora of satellites running around the clock that feed into this special edition of the Baby Whale, including one with 50 seats guaranteed that kicks off a couple of hours prior to the Baby Whale shuffling up and dealing.
In April 2016, Jan “hownorez” Nakladal won a $100,000 Baby Whale and walked away with $26,334 for his victory. Nakladal told the 888poker eMagazine that he is a fan of the Baby Whale because of its deep structure and the number of recreational players who compete (due to the satellites available).
Former champion Nakladal says if he plays this $500,000 edition of the Baby Whale, his strategy will remain similar to when approaching the standard $100,000 version.
“I’m pretty sure I will play the special edition because it will attract a lot of recreational players," Nakladal said. "My strategy will be the same strategy I apply for deep-stacked tournaments with good structures — just be tight before antes come into play, wait for my spots and then start to open up more while using my tight image to steal pots. We will see how it will work this time.”
With this value-packed tournament this weekend and the free $20 offer available to PokerNews readers, there has been no better time to join 888poker. Download 888poker via PokerNews, make a deposit of $10 using the bonus code “POKERNEWS10” before Mar. 31 and 888poker will give you a free $20 on top of the free $88 no deposit bonus awarded just for signing up to the site.
