The Christmas period always used to be a quiet part of the poker calendar. In this brave new future where the World Poker Tour’s amazing World Championship can break attendance records alongside the European Poker Tour’s final stop of the season in Prague, however, the festive week becomes a battleground for a New Year player grab. PokerStars have proven time and time again that they have a great way of getting thousands of players involved in online poker festivals and there are sure to be plenty of takers between Christmas Day and January 17th in the PokerStars New Year Series.

Over $40 million in Guarantees Up for Grabs

With over $40 million up for grabs in guarantees, the PokerStars New Year Series kicks off on December 25th and 23 days later comes to a conclusion. There are a total of 334 tournaments across the entire tournament series, and 18 of them take place on Christmas Day itself, meaning many players will be making sure they can hit the Boxing Day sales with plenty of cash in their pockets.

Overall, the buy-ins for tournaments during the PokerStars New Year Series vary wildly, with great value buy-ins such as $5.50 going up to super high rollers such as the $1,050-entry events. There’s even a massive $109-entry Big $109 Christmas Edition on December 25th itself, which has a belting $125,000 guarantee that is sure to call Santa once he gets back to Mrs Claus.

Tournament Highlights

Some of the tournaments taking place have just as huge guarantees. On 29th December, the Thursday Thrill has a buy-in of $21,000 with a guarantee of $250,000. On New Year’s Day, the $20.23 New Year Special has a bumper $400,000 guarantee for an incredibly low buy-in, while a $202.30 buy-in edition has a million up for grabs. A super high rolling $2,023 entry event has $400,000 guaranteed.

Kicking off on 8th January is the $5,200-entry Titans Event, which is sure to be attended only by the very best in the world. With a guarantee of $500,000 in the prizepool, shrewd elite players will be hunting for glory in that one. They’ll be doing likewise in the $10,300-entry Super Tuesday High Roller two days later as the Christmas Edition of the popular regular event has a $650,000 guarantee.

Main Event Madness

As well as events such as the $55-entry Women’s Event – with $10,000 guaranteed – and $215 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Main Event, where $200,000 is one the line for sure, it’s all about the Main Event on January 15th. There are three separate buy-in levels to take on, and you can be sure that with the mammoth guarantees on the line, many regulars will be playing all three in pursuit of glory.

The lowest buy-in Main Event is the $109 ‘Low’ Main Event, which has a $1 million guarantee. The $1,050 ‘Mid’ Main Event has a $1.25 million guarantee, and the ‘High’ Main Event costs $5,200 to play and features a guarantee of $1.5 million. Each of the Main Events kick off at 5.30pm GMT / 6.30pm CET.

Each of the three Main Events see Day 2s take place at the same time the very next day on January 16th, with the final tables taking place on January 17th , also at 5:30 pm GMT / 6.30pm CET.

 

 

Joe Ellison

Joseph is a dedicated journalist and horse racing fanatic who has been writing about sports and casinos for over a decade. He has worked with some of the UK's top bookmakers and provides Premier League soccer tips on a regular basis. You'll likely find him watching horse racing or rugby when he isn't writing about sport.

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