If you viewed my article on the quickly approaching WSOP 2008 on March 16th (and if not you can click here to read it), I gave an update on some news and satellite results. Well, being now that is has been 1.5 months since then, and more importantly only 1 month from the kick off of the WSOP 2008, I figure it’s time for an update.
Looking into the world of online satellites, the number of people who have already won their seats to the WSOP 2008 Main Event is getting quite large. Starting with the power house of the online poker world, PokerStars, the number has gone up tremendously. On March 16th, there were 225 seats awarded. Now on April 30th, there are a total of 852 qualifiers, just from PokerStars! 756 of these players were cash qualifiers, 22 won their seats with only FPPs, 43 won their seats from PokerStars VIP satellites, and 31 have bought in directly. In 6 short weeks, the number of qualifiers has gone up over three times. PokerStars is constantly running any kind of tournament you can think of to qualify for the Main Event. You can win your way for as little as $7.50 or 500 FPPs in Step sit & gos, and $2 for cash satellites. Of course, when you start low, you have to win a few times to make it there, and you can also start at higher buyins to increase your chance.
PokerStars is also running satellites to other events, even the $50,000 HORSE Championship! Satellites for this huge event start at $550, and the final qualifier has a $5200 buyin. Also, if you’re a Platinum Star or above in the PokerStars VIP Club, you can buy into many different WSOP 2008 events with just FPPs. For example, event 2 of the WSOP is a $1,500 NLHE event, which you can purchase for 93,000 FPPs. PokerStars has one of the best main event packages there is, totaling $12,500; $10,000 for the man event buy-in and $2,500 for travel and hotel expenses. Also, if you wear PokerStars gear you will get free 8 nights at the Palms, cash bonus of $50,000 if you make any tv table, and $1,000,000 bonus if you make the final table!
Moving onto the other large pro US room, Full Tilt, they are also in the triple digits for qualifiers. 6 weeks ago Full Tilt had just 62 qualifiers, and that has now grown to 200. Even though it seems tiny compared to PokerStars, there is still plenty of time left so expect this number to grow. Full Tilt also is holding a 150 seat guarantee on June 15th. This large event will be sending at least 150 more players to the main event, a prize pool totaling $1,800,000! The buy-in for this event is $535, and there are many satellites starting at $26 running now to qualify. Remember, if you win your seat through Full Tilt and win the Main Event, they will give you $10,000,000 more!
One of the reasons Full Tilt doesn’t have as many main event qualifiers as PokerStars is because Full Tilt is also focusing on other events at the series this year. Every night, they run Race For Bracelet qualifiers where you can win yourself a seat at any event you choose! These daily tournaments feature direct buy-ins from $26 – $75 and are guaranteed at least one $2,000 prize package. You can also qualify for as little as $2.25 or 50 Full Tilt Points if you want to take that route. I think it is great that Bovada isn’t just putting all of the emphasis on the main event, as the series is over one month long. Sure the main event is the grand finale, but this gives the players a chance to try out the other events leading up to it.
Remember, the WSOP 2008 kicks off in one month, but the main event isn’t until July 3rd so players still have over 2 months to win their seat. The first event of the World Series of Poker 2008 is the new Pot-Limit Hold’em World Championship event with a $10,000 buy-in on May 30th. This will be a great launch to the series which has 54 events in total. Have you won your seat yet?