[toc]The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is still a little over two months away, but Planet Hollywood Casino and WSOP.com are giving Nevada poker players a chance to get some early practice for the big summer series.
Planet Hollywood Goliath Warm Up series starts March 24
Planet Hollywood is running a PHamous Poker Series from March 24-April 3 with 13 events. The Goliath Warm Up Series Main Event is a $1,500 + $150 Main Event with starting flights on Thursday, March 30 and Friday, March 31. The tournament features a $529,850 guaranteed prize pool. The series is offering a total of $1 million in guarantees across the series.
The action begins with a $100,000 guaranteed $525 + $75 buy-in with starting flights on Friday, March 24 and Saturday March, 25. The series culminates with a $3,700 + $300 buy-in High Roller tournament on April 2 and April 3.
There is also a charity event with $60,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs. The 2017 Poker For Hope charity event hosted by poker pro Antonio Esfandiari gets underway at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday, April 1. Last year’s event was won by actress Sara Rue. Proceeds from the tournament go to Tia’s Hope, a charity which focuses on supporting hospitalized children battling serious illnesses.
WSOP.com running online poker satellites for Goliath Warm Up Main Event
There are several live satellites running at Planet Hollywood for the Goliath Main Event, but players can win their way in online as well. WSOP.com is offering online satellites from March 24-29.
Each night at 6 p.m. PT, the site will run a $30 buy-in satellite to the $1,650 buy-in Main Event. Winners will be registered into the starting day of their choice for the Main Event at Planet Hollywood. If players win more than one seat, subsequent seats will be paid out as $1,650 in WSOP.com online tournament tickets.
If $30 is too steep, there are even cheaper ways in to Goliath. WSOP.com will be offering daily super satellites into their nightly satellite events for as little as $3.
Planet Hollywood establishing itself as a tournament poker destination
The Goliath Warm Up is the latest in a string of poker series hosted by Planet Hollywood. The Las Vegas poker room is quickly growing to be a great destination for poker tournaments on the Strip.
Planet Hollywood hosted its first WSOP Circuit event in November of 2014. The WSOP series is just a small piece of year-round tournament action though.
Last summer, the property’s Goliath series was a huge success with numerous events besting the guaranteed prize pool. The event ran up against WSOP bracelet events, but still thrived. The $1,650 buy-in Main Event featured six starting flights and a $2 million guarantee. The tournament drew 2,332 entries, which generated a prizepool in excess of $3.5 million.
It is difficult to build an audience for poker on the crowded Las Vegas Strip, but Planet Hollywood is picking up where Caesars Palace left off after downsizing its poker room. Partnerships with WSOP.com and compelling guarantees on tournaments are working to bring players back to Planet Hollywood throughout the year.
