Event #12: $2,200 NLH Main Event Day 1C ($1,960 + $240)
| Date: | Jan 17, 11 AM |
| Blinds: | 40 Minutes |
| Starting Stack: | 40k |
| Late Entry: | 12 Levels (~8:30) |
| Day 1 Ends: | 17 Levels or 10% of the field; Must play to 15% of the field |
| Entries: | 54/411 (92/682) |
| Prizes: | $805,560 ($1,310,162 total) |
This Main Event is shaping up to be the biggest game ever at WSOP-C, and by extension, the entire Alberta poker market. Through the first two flights, the game has 682 entries for total prizes of more than $1.3 million.
The current record holder for prize pools here at Deerfoot was the Jan 2024 Main Event, which got $2.34 million in prizes. After two flights, that game was sitting at $1.17 million, so, at this point in the game, this year’s Main is well ahead of the record prize pool.
Day 1c will be where the chips go in. At this point in the game, they need fewer than 500 entries on 1c to beat the current record, and given the size of the games so far, that seems like a lock. Just 65 more entries over the 1b total for the final flight will be plenty to push the prizes into record territory, and that increase is generally trivial moving from 1b to 1c.
The final flight takes off at 11 AM, and players have 12 levels to enter. With breaks included, that will put the last chance to buy in at about 8:30 PM Saturday night. From there, they’ll play to at least 15% of the field. If they get to that number before the end of Level 17, they’ll keep playing and bag up remaining players at the end of 17; otherwise, they’ll keep playing until they hit 15%. In the unlikely event they get to 10% before the end of 17, they’ll bag up early, but that’s a very rare occurrence in a Main Event flight, which typically bag at the end of Level 17 with more than 10% remaining.
Players get 40k in chips for their $2,200 buy in, and Day 1 levels are 40 minutes long. They’ll have a 45-minute dinner break following Level 9, and players who buy in during dinner sit down in Level 10 with 20 big blinds. Max-late registration during the break following Level 12 will get a player 10 bigs for Level 13.
Get your feet firmly in the stirrups, Calgary — this Main Event is almost certain to set a new record prize pool. I generally predict a 40-50% increase from flight to flight. Day 1b beat that trend with a 51% increase over the 1a numbers. If 1c gets just a 45% boost over 1b, it will mean a new record prize pool of $2.5 million. Time will tell, but this game looks to be huge by the time entries close on Saturday.
