PokerStars is ringing in the New Year by launching a massive schedule of satellites for the Irish Poker Open – starting on January 1 and running right up to the night before the €1 million guaranteed event kicks off in April.
The PokerStars schedule is one of the biggest satellite programmes that the site has ever run and guarantees that hundreds of players will win seats – or full prize packages – to next year’s Irish Open. The tournament, the longest-running No Limit Hold’em event in the world outside of Vegas, is taking place April 3-10, 2023 at the historic Royal Dublin Society.
Satellites will be running on PokerStars.com plus regional sites such as PokerStars.it, .fr and .es as well as under the site’s new Canadian licence in Ontario. Former Irish Open champions include PokerStars commentator Griffin Benger (pictured) who hails from Toronto and won in 2017.
Over the coming months, PokerStars will be offering qualifiers at two different buy-ins levels – €109 and €55 – with feeder satellites costing €1.10, €5.50 and €11. PokerStars is also scheduling “free buy” satellites offering a free entry for the first bullet, followed by micro stakes rebuys (€0.11) and add-ons after that.
The action kicks off on PokerStars.com on January 1 with a Sunday €109[MH1] qualifier guaranteeing three €1,500 prize packages. The packages comprise the €1,150 Main Event buy-in plus €350 expenses credited to the player’s PokerStars accounts.
From Monday, January 2, a whole feast of satellites is promised on .com every week. The Monday night qualifier will offer three seats guaranteed. Wednesday qualifiers will offer three €1,500[MH2] prize packages guaranteed – the €1,150 Main Event buy-in plus €350 expenses. The Friday night qualifiers will have another three seats guaranteed, followed by a bumper five-package guarantee qualifier every Sunday night.
As we get nearer the event, PokerStars will be ramping up the schedule still further with bigger mid-week satellites and as many as eight packages guaranteed on Sundays. Players in Ontario will be offered their own tailored schedule. PokerStars got its licence in Ontario last June. Full details for all the regional satellite schedules will follow shortly.
