When poker superstar Daniel Negreanu offered investment packages for his World Series of Poker events this summer, the three options sold out so quickly that many interested fans weren’t able to get in on the action. Now, the six-time WSOP bracelet winner is giving those who missed out a chance to back him at the WSOP Europe next month.
Negreanu made the announcement Friday on Twitter, saying that those who were shut out of the original backing offers would be able to get in on the WSOP Europe packages with no markup.
WSOP Packages Sell Out in Minutes
In late April, Negreanu unveiled three packages for this summer’s WSOP, which would cover his low, medium, and high buy-in tournaments respectively, each with no markup for backers.
The packages were meant to appeal to fans and others who might want a piece of the action, with low maximum investments to make sure as many people as possible could take part. For the low buy-in package that covered all tournaments he played at the $1,500 level and below, investment was capped at $100. Backers could take up to $500 of the medium package, which covered events ranging from $1,501 to $10,000. Everything above that level went into the high-stakes package, which allowed up to $5,000 in action for each investor.
Unsurprisingly, at-cost backing for a player as popular and successful as Negreanu attracted a lot of attention from the poker world. Negreanu’s website was overwhelmed by requests, and all three packages sold out in under three minutes. However, while he only offered to sell about $275,000 in total action, a software glitch led to approximately $1.8 million being collected before purchases were stopped, requiring Negreanu to issue a slew of refunds.
Working on a major problem.
I have some awful news:
Low sold in 1 min
Med sold in 2 min
Hi sold in 3 minThere was a software glitch on the new server.
I’m going to cover the $60k in fees if necessary.
Many of you will get a full refund.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 25, 2019
The WSOP Europe packages will likely be a make-good for those who had to be refunded in that initial round of investment. At the time, Negreanu said that he would be creating a closed Facebook group just for those who were shut out in order to alert them to future opportunities.
Negreanu: Too Many Rebuy Tournaments
As part of the announcement, Negreanu also shined a light on the cost of playing the entire 15 event WSOP Europe series. As he pointed out, even without any rebuys, playing the entire series would cost nearly €450,000, while budgeting for a reasonable number of rebuys at various stakes levels would bring that total up to over €1.2 million, a staggering total for all but the wealthiest players.
WSOP Buyins outlook:
All 15 events with no rebuys will cost you 449,600 EURO
With 3 rebuys per heat on events under 100k, 2 rebuys on the 100k and 1 rebuy on the 500k, that package looks like:
1,211,700 Euro
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 4, 2019
Daniel Shak replied by saying that the use of unlimited rebuy formats at the WSOP was “getting out of hand,” a sentiment which Negreanu agreed with.
I strongly agree with you that the schedule is way too unlimited rebuy heavy,” Negreanu wrote on Twitter. “It’s okay to have a few, it really is fine, but there isn’t anything close to a freezeout in the whole schedule.”
Regardless of the cost, Negreanu has incentives to go to the WSOP Europe that go beyond his potential winnings. Thanks to two runner-up finishes this summer, he’ll head to the Czech Republic third in the WSOP Player of the Year standings, behind only Shaun Deeb and Robert Campbell.
