The partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Tour Continues with Full Force for Season 2
After a very successful first season that went from strength to strength, partypoker LIVE MILLIONS has established itself among the global poker tours and continues on the same path. While the term guarantee has become used quite frequently over the last few years and is even expected by many poker players these days, it hasn't seen quite such numbers on a regular basis yet on an international stage with different locations.
Even before the fireworks of the Grand Final at Casino Barcelona with €23,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools are over yet, partypoker LIVE had already announced guaranteed prize pools of more than $200,000,000 in total for the upcoming 2018/2019 season to continue their aggressive strategy.
If one had to pick up a song title that describes all of this, Daft Punk's “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” immediately comes to mind, for several reasons.
Harder: When Daft Punk emerged in the music scene, they were using a completely different and unique approach. That clearly showed in the electronic music videos and style as well, which was last seen in the 1980s. The current attack with full force on the live circuit reminds of the poker boom a dozen years ago and the upcoming years will show the eventual outcome.
Better: The partypoker brand is trying to keep their players around with a variety of promotions and improvements. One of them is the introduction of their own currency that can be won through online satellites, the so called PPL$$$. They are available to use in any partypoker LIVE branded or sponsored events, as well as for travel expenses, giving players a way better flexibility.
Faster: What started as an experiment in the Dusk Till Dawn card room has since been accepted as a viable option to speed up the game. The button ante, and as established by other brands as big blind ante, has proven to speed up the action at the tables with the ante to be paid by one player only instead of having to give possible change to some participants.
Furthermore, the shot clock is in place during the MILLIONS Grand Final at the Casino Barcelona, yet another recent innovation to ensure that players get to play more hands per level on average.
Stronger: It kind of reminds of a competition at the gym where all the muscles are out and the weights get adjusted to impress the pretty girl that just showed up. Right now it's partypoker that shows all the muscles and builds a stronger presence on both the live and online market. The results agree with their strategy thus far, and the stronger competition can only be good for the players in general.
The growth is not just visible on the live circuit. The first edition of the MILLIONS Online took place on partypoker in December 2017 and Jonathan “sordykrd” Van Fleet topped the initial $5,300 Main Event to claim a stunning payday of $1,027,000 for his efforts. Another MILLIONS Online is set to take place at the end of 2018 with even bigger guaranteed prize pools to be expected.
MILLIONS North America kicks off Season 2 at the end of April 2018 and CAD$15,000,000 are guaranteed throughout the festival at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal. The CAD$5,300 Main Event features CAD$10 Million up for grabs and five further events will provide seven figure reasons to take part.
Other confirmed stops include MILLIONS Russia (Sochi) in August, MILLIONS UK (Nottingham) in October and the Caribbean Poker Party at the Bahamas in November.