A New Poker Tradition? Poker Masters Debuts on Poker Central

As the warm tones of broadcaster Jim Nantz remind us every April, The Masters is “a tradition unlike any other” in golf.

Will tonight’s first-ever Poker Masters eventually inspire that same lofty, hushed admiration?

The poker world gets a new prestigious trophy to aspire to this week but it’s not the usual shiny bracelet or creative sculpture.

Instead, it’s a purple jacket - inspired by the legendary green jacket of The Masters and designed by American designer Waraire Boswell.

Who will wear the first one? And will it - along with the teems of cash to be won - become a new poker tradition?

We’ll find out this week on Poker Central.

What is the Poker Masters?

If you’ve missed the lead-up to this week’s series, the Poker Masters is a five-event High Roller series playing out at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas from Sept. 13-20.

Rainer Kempe

Team Germany wants it too.

There are four opening ‘prelim’ tournaments each with a $50,000 buy-in followed by a final $100,000 Championship tournament.

The purple jacket goes to the player who wins the most money over all five tournaments.

The fees for players are mostly waived (late reg and re-entries excepted) and those who play in all four prelims play the $100k for free as well.

The Format

The $50k tournaments will be played over two days while the $100k tournament will run over three days.

Starting stacks will be 125,000 chips and levels are 30 minutes. Every day will play down to a final table of nine, which return the following day to play to a winner.

Re-entry is available until Level 9.

In the $100k Championship tournament starting stacks are 200,000 chips and levels are 60 minutes. This one is a Freezeout so no re-entries are possible.

The following rules also apply:

Tables are seven-handed
Big blind pays ante for entire table
30 second shot clock; each player also three 60 second extensions
No headphones, sunglasses or cell phones at the table
Dress code is business casual

Who’s Playing?

There’s no public registration list yet so we don’t know exactly how many players are expected in the Poker Masters.

jason koon 1

Jason Koon is in.

However, it seems that the initiative has been welcomed and many of the usual High Rollers have tweeted about it.

Just a few of the players who have confirmed their participation:

Daniel Negreanu
Phil Hellmuth
Fedor Holz
Koray Aldemir
Doug Polk
Rainer Kempe
Jason Koon
Stefan Schillhabel
Dominik Nitsche

Holz will even have a documentary team following him in Vegas for the full week. Ali Nejad and David Williams will call the action in the commentary booth.

Side Action

In addition to the tournament action there will likely be plenty of side bets between the players.

The most prominent so far is, of course, Daniel Negreanu, who has announced $50k ‘must win’ side bets between him and over 20 players.

If Negreanu wins the Purple Jacket he’s in line for a $1m+ added payout; if he loses to one of the selected players, he’s only out $50,000.

Current list of players I have $50k bets against to win the Purple Jacket

If Christoph or DP don’t play the first event those bets are off. pic.twitter.com/TxGLWCXR2B

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 12, 2022

Where Can You Watch?

The Poker Masters will air all week on PokerGO, the subscription poker streaming service provided by Poker Central.

Aria

All the action from Aria on PokerGO

Feature tables will be cards-up and air on a 30-minute delay.

Poker Masters PokerGO Stream Schedule

Wed., Sept 13 – Event 1 $50,000 Day 1 Feature Table – 8 pm ET

Thurs., Sept 14 – Event 1 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET

Friday, Sept 15 – Event 2 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET

Sat., Sept 16 – Event 3 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET

Sunday, Sept 17 – Event 4 $50,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET

Monday, Sept 18 – Event 5 $100,000 Feature Table – 8:30 pm ET

Tuesday, Sept 19 – Event 5 $100,000 Feature Table – 5:30 pm ET

Wed., Sept 20 – Event 5 $100,000 Final Table – 3:30 pm ET

A full replay of the previous day’s action will be available within a few hours after play ends.

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