As you know, the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is almost ready to go in Vegas, and many online players will be looking to satellite into events. I am going to start a 3 part series of articles that will help American players figure out where to earn their seats to the WSOP Main Event (ME). You’ll have plenty of opportunities between UB, Full Tilt, and PokerStars, and the best site for you might not be the best site for someone else because each site offers different satellites and different ME bonuses. Today I will go over the UB satellites and incentives.
Players interested in playing in the ME are able to get a special bonus if they can win their way into the tournament via satellites. You’ll be glad to hear that you won’t be needing a UB referral code for this bonus, however. If you can win your way into the Main Event by playing Sit N’ Go’s (SnGs) or multi-table satellites, you will receive cash for being on Team UB.
The bonus prize pool on UB becomes progressively bigger for every person that qualifies for a seat via satellites. Assuming that at least 51 players win seats for the Main Event through UB, the prize pool will contain $5,000 multiplied by the total number of qualifiers. When the satellites are finished, three quarters of the bonus cash will be given to the players that participate in the Main Event and the leftover 1/4 will be given to the people that win money in the event. The entire prize pool will be divided between all the people that play if no one is able to cash.
Let’s look at an example situation. Pretend that 60 people do a UB download and go on to win seats to the WSOP Main Event. This means that UB will put $300,000 ($5,000 x 60) into the bonus pool and everyone will get $3.75k as their bonus allocation ($300k x 75% / 60). If 3 players go ahead and money the tournament, they will split the remaining 25% and enjoy an additional $300k x 0.25 / 3 = $25k each. Not bad!
If you can go all the way and make the final table, UB will offer you a chance to receive even more money via a sponsorship deal. The sponsorship payments are as low as $75k and as high as $750k. You’ll need to agree to endorse UB for a year after the event to receive the final table money.
If tournament poker is your thing and you’re planning on winning your way to the Main Event this year, you should definitely consider doing it at UB. You’re guaranteed to receive some cash via the progressive prize pool, and the incentives are great for everyone that makes the final table. Before you make your final decision, however, you should definitely read my WSOP articles on Full Tilt and PokerStars first. I’ll post the Full Tilt article next week, so see you then!