Wsop 2020 Online Kicks Off on Natural8 With 54 Bracelets
It is an opportunity like no other. Players around the world can compete for the most coveted prize in poker – a World Series of Poker gold bracelet – from almost anywhere in the world. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, poker players cannot travel to Las Vegas for the traditional summer WSOP action, so it is online this year.
The first 31 events are underway in the United States, though for players in only two of those states. But the other 54 tournaments set to award gold bracelets start today on sites affiliated with the GGPoker Network…like Natural8. And they will run through the first week of September.
Satellites, Qualifiers, and Promotions
Some poker players have money to directly buy in to all of the WSOP 2020 Online tournaments they want to play. The vast majority of players do not have endless bankrolls. Further, they want to make their actual bankrolls last longer, and satellites and qualifiers allow them to do that.
There are also promotions running in concert with the 2020 WSOP.
The Silk Road promotion consists of direct qualifiers to WSOP events, and the overall leaderboard winner will receive a ticket to the $5K Main Event. Buy-ins start as low as $1.08 and go only as high as $21.60, and each qualifier offers a tournament guarantee. These qualifiers will run through August 31.
WSOP Spin & Gold is the latest way to win $5K Main Event tickets and cash. The SNGs cost just $2 each, and a spin of the wheel decides the multiplier for the prizes. Those multipliers can go as high as 12,000. Other prizes include $5K Main Event seats, $500 satellite tickets, and $50 and $10 satellite tickets. This also runs through August 31.
The other big promotion is one exclusive to Natural8 and not available on other GG Network sites. Simply put, anyone who wins a gold bracelet on Natural8 wins a sponsorship. The WSOP Winner’s Circle promotion will award any Natural8 WSOP bracelet winner with an online poker sponsorship worth up to $100,000. In fact, there are three sponsorships available:
- Win the WSOP Main Event on Natural 8 for a 12-month sponsorship worth $100K.
- Win a WSOP event with a buy-in of $1K or more for a 6-month sponsorship worth $15K.
- Win a WSOP event with buy-ins of $50 to $999 for a 6-month sponsorship worth $7,500.
Leaderboard Challenges
Often, tournament series run leaderboard contests that leave some players in the dust, such as those who play only lower buy-in events. The WSOP 2020 Online, however, has something for every player. There are six leaderboard challenges, most with daily prizes.
The WSOP Hold’em Leaderboard offers points for every Hold’em cash game played during the series and $20K in prizes paid daily through August 30. The WSOP Omaha Leaderboard offers the same but for Omaha games. Combined, the two offer a combined $2 million in prizes throughout the series.
A WSOP Short Deck Leaderboard is set up for players who enjoy the Six-Plus Hold’em games, also known as Short Deck Poker. This one will pay $5K in daily prizes through August 30.
The WSOP Rush & Cash leaderboard offers points for all Rush & Cash players from now through September 6. This includes both Omaha and Hold’em and will award $25K in daily prizes. The WSOP Spin & Gold Leaderboard is the same except it requires players to compete in Spin & Gold tournaments. This one offers $10K daily and includes the aforementioned $2 buy-ins.
Another leaderboard specific to a particular poker variant is the WSOP AoF Flipout, which offers points for players who compete in All-In or Fold games. Playing 100 hands enters the player into one of four daily Flipout tournaments worth $10K. There is a different Flipout tournament for each range of buy-ins and prize pools commensurate with those levels.
All of the leaderboard details are available through the aforementioned promotions page.
In addition, there are the official WSOP event leaderboard competitions. The primary one will offer points in all of the events, awarding a pure gold mouse trophy to the winner and a pure gold card deck to finishers in second through fifth places. There is a separate leaderboard just for the events listed in the Asia time zone category, and the winner will become the Asia Player of the Series and win a pure gold dragon trophy.
WSOP 2020 Online Basics
As a refresher to the basics of the series, there are some important things to know.
- Natural8 will offer WSOP 2020 tournaments July 19 through September 6.
- There will be 54 gold-bracelet-awarding official WSOP tournaments in all.
- Buy-ins range from $50 to $25K.
- Players must be 18 years of age or older.
- The $5K buy-in Main Event is scheduled for late August with a $25K prize pool guarantee, several starting flights, and a limit of three entries per player.
- The full WSOP 2020 Online schedule, complete with links to frequently asked questions, are on the Natural8 page dedicated to the series.
The full schedule is listed below. Pay attention to the highlighted events, which are those specifically timed to start at a convenient time for players in the Asian time zone, as well as the Main Event.
All “Asia time zone” tournaments in bold are as listed, with all others at the times +1.
| Dates | Times | Tournaments |
| Jul 19 | 2:00 | $1,111 NLHE Covid Relief by Caesars Cares |
| 2:30 | $100 NLHE Opener (final day, 1 reentry/flight, $2M GTD) | |
| 4:00 | $525 NLHE Super Turbo Bounty 6-Handed | |
| Jul 21 | 2:00 | $5K PLO Championship |
| Jul 22 | 2:00 | $1,500 NLHE Fifty Stack |
| Jul 23 | 2:00 | $1,050 PLO Bounty |
| Jul 25 | 20:00 | $600 NLHE Monster Stack 6-Handed (Asia time zone) |
| Jul 26 | 2:00 | $2,500 PLO |
| 2:30 | $400 NLHE Colossus (2nd of 3 days, 1 reentry/flight, $3M GTD) | |
| 3:00 | $400 PLOSSUS (2nd day of 3 days, 1 reentry/flight, $1M GTD) | |
| 20:00 | $1,500 NLHE (Asia time zone) | |
| Jul 28 | 2:00 | $10K NLHE Short Deck Championship |
| Jul 29 | 2:00 | $2,500 NLHE 6-Handed |
| July 30 | 2:00 | $840 NLHE Bounty |
| Aug 1 | 20:00 | $500 NLHE Deepstack (Asia time zone) |
| Aug 2 | 2:30 | $1,500 NLHE Millionaire Maker (2nd of 3 days, 1 reentry/flight, $5M GTD) |
| 4:00 | $500 NLHE Turbo Deepstack | |
| 20:00 | $1K NLHE Short Deck (Asia time zone) | |
| Aug 4 | 2:00 | $2,100 NLHE Bounty Championship |
| Aug 5 | 2:00 | $400 PLO |
| Aug 6 | 2:00 | $1K NLHE |
| Aug 8 | 2:00 | $10K NLHE Heads-Up Championship (freezeout, no late reg, 128-player cap) |
| 20:00 | $800 PLO Double Stack (Asia time zone) | |
| Aug 9 | 1:00 | $1,500 NLHE GGMasters High Roller WSOP Edition (freezeout, $2.5M GTD) $150 NLHE GGMasters WSOP Edition (freezeout, $1M GTD) |
| 20:00 | HK$8K NLHE Asia Championship (final day, 1 reentry/flight, HK$8M GTD) | |
| Aug 11 | 2:00 | $5K NLHE 6-Handed Championship |
| Aug 12 | 2:00 | $2,500 NLHE Double Stack |
| Aug 13 | 2:00 | $525 NLHE Bounty 6-Handed |
| Aug 15 | 20:00 | $300 NLHE Monster Stack 6-Handed (Asia time zone) |
| Aug 16 | 2:00 | $1,500 PLO |
| 2:30 | $500 NLHE Mini Main Event (final day, 1 reentry/flight, $5M GTD) | |
| 4:00 | $840 NLHE Super Turbo Bounty | |
| Aug 18 | 2:00 | $600 NLHE Deepstack Championship |
| Aug 19 | 2:00 | $800 PLO |
| Aug 20 | 2:00 | $500 LHE |
| Aug 22 | 20:00 | $500 NLHE Deepstack (Asia time zone) |
| Aug 23 | 2:00 | $25K NLHE Poker Players Championship ($10M GTD) |
| 2.30 | $50 NLHE Big 50 (final day, 1 reentry/flight, $1M GTD) | |
| Aug 25 | 2:00 | $1,500 LHE Championship |
| Aug 26 | 2:00 | $1K NLHE 6-Handed |
| Aug 27 | 2:00 | $1,500 PLO |
| Aug 29 | 20:00 | $300 NLHE Double Stack (Asia time zone) |
| Aug 30 | 2:00 | $400 NLHE Forty Stack |
| 2:30 | $5K NLHE Main Event (2nd of 3 days, freezeout flights, $25M GTD) | |
| 4:00 | $1K NLHE Turbo 6-Handed | |
| Sep 1 | 2:00 | People’s Choice – Most popular (details to be announced) |
| Sep 2 | 2:00 | People’s Choice – Pros vote (details to be announced) |
| Sep 3 | 2:00 | People’s Choice – Spin the wheel (details to be announced) |
| Sep 5 | 2:00 | $1,050 NLHE Beat the Pros Bounty |
| Sept 6 | 2:00 | $10K NLHE WSOP Super Millions ($5M GTD) $100 NLHE WSOP Millions (final day, 1 reentry/flight, $2M GTD) |
| 4:00 | $500 NLHE Closer |
