The US is one of the last countries that got affected by COVID-19, but the virus had no mercy from the moment the first US case was recorded. As it becomes more difficult to make any guesses about when this situation will end, poker pros worry about the 2020 World Series of Poker summer festival scheduled to begin in May.
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Poker Pro Daniel Negreanu Is Certain 2020 WSOP Will Be Postponed
There is no bigger challenge for professional poker players than WSOP tournaments. The biggest WSOP event is scheduled for summer and is supposed to start on May 26. The chosen venue for the 2020 WSOP is Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, that should host the tournament until July 15.
However, the tournament might face schedule amendments, as some of the best-known poker players believe that the COVID-19 outbreak will last longer than expected. Daniel Negreanu, one of the most prominent names in the poker world, thinks that the 2020 WSOP festival might take place in the fall:
“Personally, I don’t see WSOP happening this summer. Maybe it happens in the fall, but I would be really surprised if all this blows over by then. There really isn’t much you can do to safeguard a poker tournament from the spread of germs.”
Negreanu stated that no poker event is worth taking chances against such a deadly virus. Although he recently became a representative of GGPoker, Negreanu decided to stay at home even though he planned to fly to Toronto to take part in GGPoker online tournaments.
2020 WSOP Schedule Change Necessary for Circumventing the Virus
Daniel Negreanu believes that implementing protective measures to stop the virus from spreading further is the right thing to do. This will probably affect the annual series this year, apart from the WSOP tournaments that are first on the cancellation list.
Moreover, the latest news about the former professional poker player, David Sands, testing positive for COVID-19 contributed to the 2020 WSOP cancellation story.
Yet, the WSOP has published no information on its official website about any changes regarding the WSOP summer festival. Due to the ongoing prohibition of public gatherings, the festival might get its online version instead of being canceled or postponed.
WSOP Online Super Circuit Main Event Completed
Moving a tournament online is nothing new for the WSOP team. Moreover, the WSOP Online Super Circuit proved to be a great move, as it broke all records in terms of guaranteed prize pools. The online tournament is coming to an end this week, with the Main Event being held on Sunday.
The $525 Main Event represented the final event of the WSOP Online Super Circuit. A total of 508 entries easily surpassed the guaranteed prize pool of $300,000. Once the event was ready to start, the prize pool was $396,500.
The lucky winner of the Main Event, Soheb ‘tommyconway6’ Porbandarwala, outplayed the competition and earned himself $95,160. The runner-up, Todd ‘Google_Man’ Rodenborn, earned a nice prize as well – $50,355.50, while Ryan ‘RyanDepaulo’ Depaulo won the third place and took $32,909.50 home.
The detailed information about the 2020 WSOP summer festival is expected soon. Meanwhile, online poker will continue to flourish.
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Bethany has been working in online gambling for over 13 years. She got her start in the industry as her first job after graduating from the Professional Writing Program at York University. Having written for many online gaming publications and worked with top casino operators, she has unique insight into the gambling market. Bethany maintains a personal interest in iGaming as she continues to play poker online as a hobby.