Learn About the PokerStars Winter Series, partypoker Christmas Freeze and More
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In addition to the Christmas advent-style promotions currently running on many of the major online poker sites worldwide, several of them have also announced special winter-themed tournament series running through the months of December and January.
PokerStars is ending 2018 and kicking off 2019 in style with the Winter Series, which will run alongside other big guarantee tournaments on the regular schedule. The Winter Series will come in four different versions depending which PokerStars network you play on and below, we highlight each one.
$85 Million in Guarantees During The Winter Series
The biggest Winter Series will take place on the worldwide PokerStars network with $40 million in guaranteed prize pools across 60 events from Dec. 23 to Jan. 7. The Winter Series events make up less than half of the $85 million guaranteed across more than two weeks of Holiday action as there will be another $45 million in guarantees from the regular PokerStars schedule.
For each of the 60 Winter Series events, there are four different tiers - Micro, Low, Medium, and High, meaning there are actually 240 tournaments on tap. The 16-day festival has something for everyone with buy-ins ranging from as low as $0.55 to as high as $5,200.
Of course, PokerStars will be hosting plenty of satellites where players can qualify to Winter Series events for cheaper than the ticket price, including special $2.50 and $20 Spin and Go's where you can win cash prizes and Winter Series tickets ranging from $5 to $2,100.
Jan. 6 is a big day to mark on your calendar during this festival as this is when the four Main Events will be taking place. Even for pocket change, you can be playing for big money as the Micro Main Event features a huge $100,000 guarantee for just a $2.20 buy-in.
“We have a range of buy-ins suitable for players of all bankrolls, giving everyone the chance to win a huge prize and get 2019 off to a great start.”
The guarantees go up in a big way from there as the Low Main Event features a $750,000 guarantee for a $22 buy-in and the $215 Medium Main Event, and the $2,100 High Main Event each feature a massive $1,500,000 guarantee.
For those looking to play even higher limits, the schedule also features two $5,200 High Roller events on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. Both tournaments guarantee at least a $500,000 prize pool.
Some of the schedule highlights outside of the Winter Series include two $215 Sunday Million tournaments with $1 million guarantees on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 and High Roller Club tournaments.
“We hope that they will enjoy the schedule that we concocted for them, with more than $85 million guaranteed across the whole of PokerStars during the Series, including $40 million thanks to the Winter Series alone,” said Severin Rasset, Director of Poker Innovation and Operations at The Stars Group. “We have a range of buy-ins suitable for players of all bankrolls, giving everyone the chance to win a huge prize and get 2019 off to a great start.”
Winter Series at PokerStars Europe Breaking Records
Not everyone is able to play at the worldwide PokerStars client, but players in France, Portugal, and Spain will have their own Winter Series on the shared PokerStars Europe client. Players from other European countries can also potentially join in on the action if they are allowed to create an account from their country.
The festival on PokerStars Europe runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 17 and features 297 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from €2 to €250 and more than €20 million in guaranteed prizes. The combined guarantees represent a record for PokerStars Europe.
Another record will be the €2 million guaranteed for the €250 Main Event on Jan. 13. Apart from that big one, PokerStars Europe will be ending the year and beginning the next one with two huge tournaments. The €250 Winter €500K event on Dec. 30 boasts a €500,000 guarantee, while the €100 New Year Special on Jan. 1 features a guarantee of €300,000.
Winter Series in New Jersey and India
Players in New Jersey play on their own ring-fenced PokerStars New Jersey client and will also be treated to a 12-event Winter Series with $325,000 in guaranteed prizes running Jan. 14-21. The highlight will be the Winter Series Main Event on Jan. 21, which boasts a $100,000 guarantee for just a $400 buy-in.
Players in India weren't left out either as their Winter Series will take place on PokerStars India from Dec. 16-24 with ₹14,800,000 in guaranteed prizes across 37 events. The Main Event in India takes place on Dec. 23 featuring a ₹7,700 buy-in and a ₹3,500,000 guarantee.
Winamax Series
PokerStars won't be without competition over the holidays, as other operators will be hosting online poker series around the same time. Among them is the 23rd edition of the Winamax Series that will run on Winamax Jan. 6-17. That one will offer €13 million in guarantees over 165 tournaments, highlighted by a €2 million guaranteed Main Event.
partypoker's Christmas Freeze
partypoker couldn't be left out of the celebrations, as they just added their own holiday series into the mix. The Christmas Freeze will feature 201 freezeout tournaments at partypoker from Dec. 23 through Jan. 6, Poker Industry Pro ($) reported. Over the two-week festival, $10 million in guarantees will be up for grabs.
While the events, which are now live on the client, include a range of variants like progressive KO, mix-max and Pot-Limit Omaha, all the tournaments in the Christmas Freeze, congruent with the name, will be freezeouts - meaning no re-buys. The new series comes on the heels of their hugely successful MILLIONS Online event that beat its $20 million posted guarantee.
More Upcoming Series
Beyond the holidays, 888Poker will be launching XL Blizzard in February and MPN will host two series over the winter in January and February.
If you reside in a country with regulated online poker and have access to the above sites, there should be plenty of opportunities to fire up some tournaments and try to get your hands on some extra cash this holiday season.
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