North Florida is the place to be when it comes to tournament action in the latter half of 2014 and bestbet Jacksonville is leading the charge with monthly $50K guarantees.
If that number isn’t enough to tempt your tournament side then how about $126,535? That was the prize pool for June’s $50K, featuring 779 of the Southeast’s finest poker players. The eight players at the final table, including Roy Vazquez and local pro Lindell King, split the prize pool for $8K each, leaving $2,781 on top as eventual champion Greg Nardo would take home $10,781 to Tallahassee.
That’s just the tip of the tournament iceberg. One of the newest and hottest promos at bestbet is the chipleader bonus, where the player holding the lead at the end of each starting flight can take home a bonus payout of $1K. The promotion has been a huge success with field increases of 30 percent in some flights.
The monthly $50Ks aren’t just a good way to line your pockets with some spare change and have fun while doing it, it’s a stepping stone toward the next big event. The World Poker Tour returns in November with a $5K buy-in main event and a guaranteed $1 million prize pool. In what’s sure to be a staple of large buy-in events in the future of Florida poker, bestbet Jacksonville will welcome everything from pros and tour grinders to A-listers. On the opposite side of the felt will be the local legends looking to make a bigger name for themselves.
The $5K buy-in might seem like a hefty chunk of change, but bestbet has you covered with $550, 10-seat guaranteed satellites the last weekend of every month leading up the main event. High hands into the satellites will be ongoing throughout the month. Featuring bounties and big payouts for chipleaders of each starting day, the $1 million guarantee is sure to be one for the history books. Check bestbetjax.com for a list of satellites and high-hand promotions.
• I want to finish with a few words about Chad Brown, who died July 2. I met Chad when I was working as a dealer in Orange Park. He was there for the event we named after him. He was personable and treated us with as much respect as any player in my career.
We were young and just a fledgling poker room and he helped create one of the largest prize pools Florida had seen at the time with his name alone. He wasn’t just a brand, though, he was a fine man and the world is worse off without him.
— Email Charles at anteupcharles@gmail.com.
