Will tonight's first-ever Poker Masters eventually inspire that same lofty, hushed admiration?
The poker world gets a new prestigious trophy to aspire to this week but it's not the usual shiny bracelet or creative sculpture.
Instead, it's a purple jacket - inspired by the legendary green jacket of The Masters and designed by American designer Waraire Boswell.
Who will wear the first one? And will it - along with the teems of cash to be won - become a new poker tradition?
We'll find out this week on Poker Central.
What is the Poker Masters?
If you've missed the lead-up to this week's series, the Poker Masters is a five-event High Roller series playing out at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas from Sept. 13-20.
There are four opening 'prelim' tournaments each with a $50,000 buy-in followed by a final $100,000 Championship tournament.
The purple jacket goes to the player who wins the most money over all five tournaments.
The fees for players are mostly waived (late reg and re-entries excepted) and those who play in all four prelims play the $100k for free as well.
The Format
The $50k tournaments will be played over two days while the $100k tournament will run over three days.
Starting stacks will be 125,000 chips and levels are 30 minutes. Every day will play down to a final table of nine, which return the following day to play to a winner.
Re-entry is available until Level 9.
In the $100k Championship tournament starting stacks are 200,000 chips and levels are 60 minutes. This one is a Freezeout so no re-entries are possible.
The following rules also apply:
- Tables are seven-handed
- Big blind pays ante for entire table
- 30 second shot clock; each player also three 60 second extensions
- No headphones, sunglasses or cell phones at the table
- Dress code is business casual
Who's Playing?
There's no public registration list yet so we don't know exactly how many players are expected in the Poker Masters.
However, it seems that the initiative has been welcomed and many of the usual High Rollers have tweeted about it.
Just a few of the players who have confirmed their participation:
- Daniel Negreanu
- Phil Hellmuth
- Fedor Holz
- Koray Aldemir
- Doug Polk
- Rainer Kempe
- Jason Koon
- Stefan Schillhabel
- Dominik Nitsche
Holz will even have a documentary team following him in Vegas for the full week. Ali Nejad and David Williams will call the action in the commentary booth.
Side Action
In addition to the tournament action there will likely be plenty of side bets between the players.
The most prominent so far is, of course, Daniel Negreanu, who has announced $50k 'must win' side bets between him and over 20 players.
If Negreanu wins the Purple Jacket he's in line for a $1m+ added payout; if he loses to one of the selected players, he's only out $50,000.
Current list of players I have $50k bets against to win the Purple Jacket
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 12, 2017
If Christoph or DP don't play the first event those bets are off. pic.twitter.com/TxGLWCXR2B
Where Can You Watch?
The Poker Masters will air all week on PokerGO, the subscription poker streaming service provided by Poker Central.
Feature tables will be cards-up and air on a 30-minute delay.
Poker Masters PokerGO Stream Schedule
Wed., Sept 13 – Event 1 $50,000 Day 1 Feature Table – 8 pm ET
Thurs., Sept 14 – Event 1 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET
Friday, Sept 15 – Event 2 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET
Sat., Sept 16 – Event 3 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET
Sunday, Sept 17 – Event 4 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET
Monday, Sept 18 – Event 5 $100,000 Feature Table – 8:30 pm ET
Tuesday, Sept 19 – Event 5 $100,000 Feature Table – 5:30 pm ET
Wed., Sept 20 – Event 5 $100,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET
A full replay of the previous day's action will be available within a few hours after play ends.
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