The right environment is just as important to poker players as the right hand.
Whether you are playing at home with friends or with a stranger on the internet, poker shines when it’s played as a social game. It is perhaps no surprise then that live poker events and poker festivals have grown in popularity over the last decade.
Beginning in London on October 13, 888poker will launch the first of its new 888live festivals, an 11-day “celebration of poker”, at Aspers Casino in Stratford. The inaugural event, which will operate alongside their 888live local tournaments, will reportedly boast the largest prize fund ever offered by the brand’s 888 poker live events – £500,000.
Hosted by WSOP presenter and Team888 ambassador Kara Scott, events range from the £50 buy-in Super Satellite to the lucrative £2,000 buy-in High Roller. There is also an Opening Event (£220 buy-in) with a guaranteed prize pot of £100,000 and an £880 buy-in Main Event with a £200,000 guarantee.
The new range of 888live festivals will be held three times a year, and you can qualify for the tournaments online. 888poker offers new players free poker software and £20* to spend, with buy-ins on Main Event and Opening Event qualifiers priced at $109 and $30 respectively. You can also win entry to the satellite events with $1 buy-in tournaments.
Attendees at the first 888live festival will be able to mingle with celebrity poker players at Aspers, including Chris Moorman, Dominik Nitsche, Sofia Lövgren, and the host Kara Scott.
Joining in is straightforward:
- Visit 888poker.com
- Click ‘Download Now’ to install your poker software
- Create your free poker account
- Start playing
The smaller 888live local tournaments will continue throughout 2016 with events in Mallorca (21-23 October) and Marbella (9-11 December) in Spain, and London (14-16 October).
The Marbella leg is a three-day, £165 buy-in event taking place at the Casino Marbella while the Gran Casino Mallorca will host the Mallorca tournament, with a similar schedule. The London 888live local tournament will take place at Aspers Casino, over four days, with a £220 Main Event buy-in. Events in Girona, Alicante, Bilbao, and Madrid were held earlier in 2016.
You can play online and qualify for 888live local tournaments via 1¢ satellite events if you don’t want to buy-in directly. The events can have a prize pool of around £120,000, with the previous London winner, Terence Jordon, taking home £14,490.
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