When Partypoker announced the return of its Million event, the organizers knew things could go wrong but a second week of action has seen ordered restored.
With so many moving parts, organizing the new Partypoker Million was always going to be tricky. Thanks to multiple starting flights and merging stacks, the margin for error was wide.
As bad luck would have it, trouble struck on Day 1D of the first event. With a glitch causing players that made it through to Day 2 not having a seat in the final session, refunds were fully issued.
1.) Firstly, we apologise for the issues with the partypoker MILLION tonight. An error occurred that prevented the Day 1D players being loaded into Day 2. This resulted in the cancellation of the tournament. The following tweets are what happens now….
— partypoker (@partypoker) November 3, 2019
Undeterred, Partypoker pressed on with its second $215 event last week. As before, a $1 million prizepool was guaranteed and players were able to take part in six starting flights.
When the registration desks had closed and Day 2 was running as expected, 4,658 entries had been collected. That left Partypoker with an overlay of just under $70,000 but without any technical errors to correct.
The action eventually came to a close in the early hours of November 11 after Velazquez76 beat mickeyMous3. The online grinder battled his way through a tough final table to clinch the second Partypoker Million title of 2019 and a top prize worth $152,770.
With a second week in the bag, Partypoker will be hoping to build on its recent success and breach this week’s $1 million guarantee.
What’s more, the return of its weekly Million is a chance for Partypoker to advance its position in the traffic rankings. The latest in a recent slew of innovations, the event is a direct alternative to PokerStars’ Sunday Million.
Although its rival slashed the buy-in for its weekly major by 50 percent this year, Partypoker is banking on its casual-friendly structure.
By offering multiple opening flights and start/finish times, the dynamics are more accessible for part-time players. Between these features, a wealth of satellites and parallel events (the Mini and the Micro), expectations are high.
The initial hiccup may have caused the numbers of entries to fall compared to the opening event. However, current interest should be strong enough to continue with what Partypoker insider Rob Yong described as a trial.
If the weekly event does continue, it will mean even more choice for players. What’s more, it could give Partypoker a timely boost in the online poker rankings.
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