December 19 2011, Josh Bell

This week in the PartyPoker Weekly, we’ll introduce you to rake free tournaments, tell you all about how you can qualify for live events such as the World Poker Tour, GSOP Live, the Aussie Millions, and more!

Pay Zero Rake in Multi-Table Tournaments

The biggest new initiative from PartyPoker this January will be the introduction of rake free tournaments.

Paying rake in poker tournaments is one of those things that cannot be avoided. It is simply one of the aspects that comes along with playing poker. Thanks to PartyPoker, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 31 you will not have to pay any rake across the whole multi-table tournament schedule.

This means 100 percent of your tournament entry will go straight into the prize pool and therefore back into the pockets of the players. Thanks to this promotion, players could potentially save thousands of dollars throughout January as this huge value promotion is sure to get the forums talking.

In addition to paying no rake in tournaments throughout January, players will also have the opportunity to cash in on a generous reload bonus and a $50,000 freeroll.

To receive a reload bonus of 100% up to $100, existing PartyPoker players must deposit at least $50 using the bonus code “RAKEFREE” during the promotion period as outlined above.

If you make this minimum reload deposit using the bonus code above, you will also be eligible to take part in the $50,000 Depositors’ Freeroll. The freeroll will take place on Feb. 5 at 1100 ET, so make sure you don’t miss out!

Travel to Salzburg for the GSOP

You could be slaloming your way down the slopes of Salzburg, Austria, in 2012 as the GSOP LIVE makes its way to the luxurious snowy city.

Taking place in Salzburg Sportswelt, Austria’s largest skiing area, the GSOP Live Salzburg will take place beginning Feb. 2, and is set to combine a fantastic holiday experience with a great poker tournament, which will be a great way for players to start off their 2012.

PartyPoker is currently running daily qualifiers and weekly satellites, which will award great value tournament packages worth $3,600 each.

Each package consists of:

• $1,650 GSOP Live Main Event buy-in
• Five nights accommodation
• $700 spending money
• Entry to the GSOP Welcome Party

WPT Heads to Venice

The city of Venice needs no introduction as it remains one of the most iconic locations in the world. Thanks to PartyPoker you could be pocketing a $10,000 tournament package and be making your way to Italy this February.

The WPT Venice Grand Prix tournament is set to be one of the classiest events on the World Poker Tour schedule and you could win a tournament package which consists of a $6,700 Main Event buy-in, six nights hotel accommodation, $1,100 spending money and PartyPoker’s world renowned hospitality.

The event will take place from Feb. 6 to Feb. 11 and PartyPoker is currently running a plethora of daily qualifiers and satellites, so make sure you don’t miss out on one of the biggest events of 2012.

Win Millions Thanks to the Aussies

The $10,600 Main Event of the Aussie Millions has steadily risen to the top of the tournament food chain and is now considered one of the biggest and most prestigious poker events in the world. Head to PartyPoker and don’t miss out on your chance to win your way to Melbourne, Australia.

Taking place from Jan. 22 to Jan. 28, the Aussie Millions Main Event is expected to award $2 million to the eventual winner, just as it did to the local player David Gorr last year.

If you would like to become a millionaire just like Gorr and join the likes of Gus Hansen as an Aussie Millions champion, then make sure you start taking part in PartyPoker’s daily qualifiers and satellites. If you manage to take down a tournament package, you will be awarded a huge $16,000 worth of value.

$16,000 Aussie Millions Package

• $11,400 Aussie Millions Main Event buy-in
• Eight nights accommodation at the Crown Promenade Hotel, which is right next to the Crown Casino where the Aussie Millions is taking place
• $2,500 spending money

If the above isn’t enough reason to start trying to take down an Aussie Millions package then why not consider that if you do happen to win a package, you will be privy to a personally hosted feast from Tony G himself!

Last week, on his blog, Tony G told his fans that if they qualified for an Aussie Millions seat on PartyPoker they will be awarded with a feast.

“My mind is already turning to the Aussie Millions in January. I have serious business out there and Crown recently confirmed there will be a AUD$250k buy-in tournament which I am considering entering. My good sponsors PartyPoker.com have given me responsibilities for the event Down Under, however, and I am going to host an exclusive meal for the online qualifiers – if you qualify you get a feast!”

Start Your Bankroll for Free

If you would like to start qualifying for great live tournaments like the above events, but don’t quite have the bankroll to get started, don’t fret because PartyPoker is here to save the day.

Thanks to the special relationship between PokerNews and PartyPoker, you can do just this when you cash in on a free $50 poker bankroll.

All players need to do is sign up for a PartyPoker account through PokerNews, and you will get an immediate free credit of $25 into your account. When 200 PartyPoints are earned, you will receive an additional $25! It really is that easy.

To receive your free bankroll, head to our Free $50 No Deposit Page and use the bonus code “PN50Free” as outlined in the walkthrough guide.

If you experience any problems with this or any of our promotions, please contact our Ticketed Promo Support System.

Comments

December 18 2011, Donnie Peters, Chad Holloway

Last week, the World Poker Tour drew the ire of many poker pros when the 2011 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic drew 413 players. Although that wasn’t a problem in and of itself, the fact that the tournament was slated to payout 25 percent of the field if 400 players entered, a standard practice for the Bellagio for a few years now, was the real problem.

Had the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic gotten just 399 entrants, fewer players would have gotten paid and first place would have earned $986,926, if it reached 400, the plan was to pay 100 spots with first earning $794,624. This year, many poker pros took to their social media outlets to express their displeasure with so many players being paid, a sharp contrast to the industry standard of paying out 10 percent of the field; for instance, Kevin MacPhee was one player who was none too happy:

The issue of paying out more or fewer players in a tournament seems to be a hot-button issue these days, with some players advocating the payout structure, while others prefer earning more for their buck when they go deep in a tournament. PokerNews’ Live Reporting Manager, Donnie Peters, and Senior Writer, Chad Holloway, have different perspectives on the topic and square off in our latest debate.

Donnie Peters believes it’s better to pay out fewer players in a tournament field.

Poker tournaments provide players with a great opportunity for competition. This isn’t your third-grade talent show where everyone gets a ribbon for competing, this is poker. All players are adults (at least by age) and don’t need to be coddled by awarding them a greater chance of cashing in a poker tournament.

Poker players don’t play tournaments to simply make their money back. Paying out more places forces the prize pool to be spread out thinner. In the recent case of the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic held at the Bellagio, the top 100 spots were paid from a starting field of 413. James Dempsey was awarded a first-place prize of $821,612, but it could have been a lot more. In fact, if a more normal payout structure was used, all of the places would have added a lot more weight to the money finishers’ pockets.

One argument that often comes from the host when paying more spots than normal is that it actually benefits the venue or site that is holding the event. Take PokerStars for instance. On the European Poker Tour, it makes sense to pay a little bit larger amount of the field than normal because the payouts are often deposited into the player’s online poker account. Prior to cashing that money out, those players have a very high chance of spending some of it on the site in the available games. When it comes to live events, such as at the Bellagio, this doesn’t seem to make much sense.

The players who fight and scratch for a minimum cash aren’t going to be the ones taking their very small profit and shooting off in the pit. It’s just not going to happen. They’re going to take that money and leave the casino, happy to turn their $500 satellite win into a nice, little payday. Going back to Dempsey and his win, I believe it’s much better to be able to have a $1 million first-place prize rather than have an extra 50 players walking away saying they cashed in a Bellagio WPT. Wouldn’t you rather have the headline read James Dempsey wins WPT Five Diamond for $1,000,000?

It also seems to take away from the spirit of competition. It’s not supposed to be easy to make money playing poker tournaments and the good players and professionals want to win the most money possible. This isn’t going to be happening when prize pools are spread very thin when a quarter of the field is being paid out. In the minds of the pros, just making the money isn’t even worth it in this spot.

And in a sick, twisted sort of way, poker players secretly want the money bubble to really hurt. When making the money is worth two times or more the original buy-in, bubbling a tournament can be very painful mentally and emotionally. Deep down, poker players love this feeling.

Chad Holloway believes it’s better to pay out more players in a tournament field.

The Bellagio is one of the most popular destinations for poker players, both for cash games and tournaments. The latter have proven exceptionally popular, and always draw satisfactory fields; in fact, the venue plays host to the World Poker Tour several times a year, including the $25,000 World Championship. I think one of the reasons the Bellagio has proven so popular, at least in terms of tournament poker, is its generous payout structure.

When playing a tournament, the first goal on every player’s mind is to win; however, another goal on most players’ wish list is to make the money, which is easier to do when more spots are paid. I know I’d be more likely to plop down $10K to play in a big tournament if I knew 25 percent of the field was paid. Even earning a min-cash or getting my money back (which is what happened in the WPT Five Diamond as 100th-51st essentially earned the same amount) would alleviate a lot of pressure, allowing me to prep for a deep run in the event from that point forward.

Deep payout structures remind me a lot of PokerStars 50/50 Tournaments, where players earn double their buy-in once half the field has been eliminated. Such tournaments have proven quite popular online and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar format adopted at a live event, though this would be the extreme of any generous payout structure. Pros are always looking for that big score, but the average poker player would be thrilled to double their money.

I’ll admit that the standard 10 percent payout is more amenable for poker pros, but I believe the 25 percent payout structure is more appealing to the poker masses, at least in big buy-in tournaments. Let’s face it, there is a direct correlation between the size of a tournament and the buy-in. Usually the higher the price, the fewer players there are. By paying out more spots, more players will be enticed to enter as they’ll no doubt think it easier to be one of four to cash rather than one out of ten. Given the economic hardships faced by many, and the lackluster poker economy, this is not a time to turn a blind eye to any policy that could possibly attract more players.

Playing tournament after tournament and never cashing can be very demoralizing and discouraging. By easing the criteria to cash, some players may be more apt to play. If they do and get their money back, they’re more than likely going to invest it in another tournament down the road. This is good for everyone involved as players get to play more events, the entries will be up, and the venue will get even more entry fees. Also, let’s not forget about those who satellite into tournaments. To them, a min-cash usually feels like a win in itself and I bet the majority of satellite qualifiers would prefer a 25 percent payout structure.

I don’t believe paying out 25 percent of the field should become the new industry standard, but I do think it is an agreeable option and should be utilized at various stops. Times are tough across the board, and a deeper payout structure is a simple tactic to adapt to a downtrodden poker economy.

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Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter – @Donnie_Peters

Follow Chad Holloway on Twitter – @ChadAHolloway