With the WSOP and all the summer high rollers in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead to poker’s next major event: The second-annual Poker Masters, a seven-tournament high-stakes series in Las Vegas that features a $10,000 buy-in short deck game.
Will the Goose Run Loose Again?
The top question heading into this year’s series is can anyone stop Steffen Sontheimer this time around? “Goose” ran loose last fall in the Poker Masters, winning two of the five events and cashing in two others to easily secure the first Purple Jacket.
Goose might have some tougher competition this year considering how hot Justin Bonomo has been running since January. With nearly $25 million in cashes in 2018, including shipping the WSOP Big One for One Drop for $10 million, it’s hard to imagine Bonomo isn’t the player to beat especially considering five of the seven Poker Masters events are no-limit hold’em, his specialty.
But Sontheimer and Bonomo aren’t the only players with a chance to scoop the second Purple Jacket. The Poker Masters will attract many other top high rollers such as Daniel Negreanu and Fedor Holz, both of which have the skill to win these difficult tournaments.
Other players that are likely to compete in the series include Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey, and Jason Koon, along with dozens of other top high stakes grinders.
2018 Poker Masters Schedule
Sep 7 Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Sep 8 Event #2: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Sep 9 Event #3: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Sep 10 Event #4: $10,000 Short Deck
Sep 11 Event #5: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Sep 12 Event #6: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Sep 13 Event #7: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event
You can watch all the action live exclusively on the PokerGo subscription-based app ($10 per month).
Short Deck Coming to America?
Short deck poker has become one of the most popular poker games in Macau, China. Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey are among the Texas hold’em variant’s biggest promoters.
The game plays mostly the same as no-limit Texas hold’em except without any 2s, 3s, 4s, or 5s in the deck, which changes up the hand rankings. A Royal flush, straight flush, and quads are still the top hands. But in short deck poker, a flush ranks ahead of a full house, and three-of-a-kind beats a straight. Otherwise, the game remains the same.
