More than 60 Day 1 flights in play leading up to Day 2 on May 30
The WSOP Super Circuit Online Series has already produced major player turnout and significant prize pools at GGPoker. The $2.5 million guaranteed COLOSSUS, for instance, drew more than 10,000 entries and saw the final prize pool vault over the $3.8 million mark.
The biggest guarantee of any WSOP Super Circuit Online Series event still awaits, however. The preliminary phases are already underway for Event #18: $525 Main Event, and the structure of the tournament could lead to the biggest Main Event in the history of the WSOP Circuit.
In terms of number of opening-day flights, Event #18 is already one for the record books. The $525 Main Event offers more than 60 Day 1 phases, the first of which kicked off earlier this week. The Day 1 flights will run multiple times per day through May 29.
Sunday, May 30, could mark a day of complete madness at GGPoker. All surviving players from the Day 1 flights merge into a combined player pool for Day 2 action, which plays down to a nine-handed final table.
The tournament then breaks, and the final table participants come back for a tournament restart on June 5. The winner of the Super Circuit Online Series Main Event will claim a championship in one of the most ambitious tournaments ever offered at GGPoker.
Biggest WSOP Circuit Main Event in history?
In terms of the sheer scope of Event #18, one could definitely make the argument that the tournament already qualifies as the “biggest” Main Event in WSOP Circuit history. PokerGO commentator Jeff Platt certainly thinks so, and put out a Twitter post saying as much:
"The biggest @WSOP Circuit Main Event in history starts tomorrow. Just a $5 Milly guarantee from @GGPoker, that’s all,” Platt tweeted.
As PokerNews’ veteran live reporter Christian Zetzsche pointed out in response to a subsequent tweet from Platt, however, the 2020 WSOP Winter Online Circuit Main Event guaranteed a larger prize pool. The $1,700 buy-in tournament from that January 2021 series guaranteed $10 million, with the actual final prize pool ending up at over $10.3 million:
“The $1,700 price tag is way closer to the traditional WSOPC ME buy-in so I’d probably see that as more appropriate comparison,” Zetzsche pointed out. The longtime PokerNews reporter has a point, as most of the Main Events that run in live WSOP Circuit series offer a $1,700 buy-in as the standard.
The GGPoker Super Circuit Series Online $525 Main Event could claim the undisputed title of “biggest Circuit Main Event” in history, but only if it draws 20,656 or more entries. That would push the tournament past the $10,327,925 prize pool established at the Winter Online Circuit Main Event back in January.
A 20,000-entry field isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Each Day 1 flight offers unlimited re-entry, and players can enter as many Day 1 phases as they wish. The $400 COLOSSUS, with a similar buy-in, drew 10,000-plus entries, and that came with just a single Day1 flight.
In any case, the Super Circuit Online Series Main Event will play out as one of the most ambitious tournaments in online poker history. Check back with Poker.org for continuing coverage of the preliminary flights, as well as Day 2 action and the final table.
Featured image source: Twitter
