2011, The Year of the High Roller

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 23 December 2011 / Leave a Comment

Numerous "high roller" events populated the tourney calendar in 2011.

Back during the first few months of 2011 much of the poker world’s attention was occupied by the appearance of several high buy-in -- as in six-figure -- events on the tournament calendar. A precedent of sort appeared to have been set, leaving many to wonder “how high can they go?”

When it comes to the business of chronicling poker's history and evolution, the year 2011 will no doubt be primarily remembered for "Black Friday," the day the online game which had been so influential over the previous decade suffered a major setback. However, when it comes to tournament poker another trend emerged this year that might also distinguish 2011 -- the rise to prominence of high buy-in "high roller" tournaments.

It is perhaps difficult to recall how back during the first few months of 2011 much of the poker world's attention was occupied by the appearance of several high buy-in -- as in six-figure -- events on the tournament calendar.

During the first half of January, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure series included a total of three events on its schedule that were designated "high roller" events. There was a $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 6-Max event won by Alexander Kostritsyn. A three-day $25,000 event was also on the schedule, also called a "High Roller" event. Will Molson won that one, besting a field of 151 to earn a $1,072,850 payday.

Finally there was an additional "Super High Roller" event as well with a whopping $100,000 buy-in. A total of 38 entered that one, with Eugene Katchalov outlasting Daniel Negreanu heads-up to take the $1.5 million first prize.

The addition of that $100K event garnered a lot of attention, and was immediately compared to the upcoming $100K event appearing on the Aussie Millions schedule later that month. The Australian poker series first added a $100K event back in 2007, won by Erick Lindgren, and since then the inclusion of a six-figure buy-in event had served to distinguish the Aussie Millions somewhat from other tournament series.

They had their scheduled $100K event at the Aussie Millions later in January, with 38 entering and Sam Trickett kicking off what would turn out to be a stellar year by winning the title and $1.5 million-plus first prize. Then, without much advanced notice, a $250,000 event was somewhat hastily added to the schedule as well, a move that appeared a kind of one-upping of the PCA.

The new quarter-million-dollar event drew 20 entrants, with Erik Seidel winning and Trickett taking second. Seidel had also finished third in the $100K event at Melbourne, and so the $3 million or so worth of cashes from those two events catapulted him into first place on the Hendon Mob's "All-Time Money List" ahead of Negreanu who'd just overtaken Phil Ivey with his runner-up finish and $1 million score in the PCA $100K.

There was a bit of debate-slash-bickering at the time about the last-minute inclusion of the $250K event at the Aussie Millions. Some the back-and-forthing was further fueled by the ongoing competition between online poker's (then) two "superpowers" -- PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. The Stars-sponsored PCA series had drawn mostly Stars-affiliated players, while the Aussie Millions' high buy-in events were more populated by Tilt pros.

In any event, a precedent of sort appeared to have been set, and as January ended many were wondering "how high can they go?" Indeed, when Seidel won another "High Roller" poker tournament in late February at the L.A. Poker Classic, the tourney's $25K buy-in and his $144,570 first prize almost seemed strangely small, relatively speaking.

Then, in what hindsight allows us to view as a fairly reckless plan, Full Tilt Poker announced in March its plan to sponsor a series of six-figure buy-in tournaments during the year, ranging from $100,000 to $300,000, with a $250,000 "Grand Finale" in December to which the site would be adding $1 million to the prize pool plus a luxury sports car for the winner.

With much fanfare, the new series was dubbed the Onyx Cup Series. Amid all of the hype it was further announced that the tourneys would "be filmed on a specially commissioned set and... broadcast over 40 TV networks around the world."

Remember that? Coming on the heels of those other high buy-in events, it didn't necessarily strike us as implausible to consider a series of such events could take place.

We had a few weeks to consider the implications of the announcement before Black Friday came and Full Tilt Poker was shut out of the U.S. market. The Onyx Cup Series was immediately canceled. Subsequently we'd learn more about the non-segregation of player funds at FTP and other jaw-dropping allegations of impropriety that made everyone forget about the ill-fated Onyx Cup.

The "High Roller" events continued to appear, however, with many tournament series including one on its schedule. And a few tripped up into the six-figure range for buy-ins, including one in mid-May at the European Poker Tour Grand Finale in Madrid (also won by Seidel) and another in December at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic at the Bellagio (won by Jason Mercier).

And now, as we look forward to 2012, another big buy-in event looms on the tourney calendar, one that makes even the descriptor "Super High Roller" seem inadequate -- that $1 million buy-in World Series of Poker event they are simply calling "The Big One."

A total of 22 players have committed to playing the event thus far, with $111,111 of their buy-ins going to the international One Drop charity that seeks to provide clean drinking water worldwide. The top 20% of the field will cash and the winner will receive a WSOP bracelet -- made of platinum, rather than gold.

One expects we'll also see other high buy-in events on the calendar as well, starting next month at the PCA with another $100K event and at the Aussie Millions where again both $100K and $250K events will be staged.

Though obviously only available to a select few to play, these high-stakes tourneys certainly capture the imagination of most of us, for a variety of reasons. Prior to 2011 they hardly ever occurred, with even the $50,000 Player's Championship at the WSOP each summer standing out as an exclusive-seeming event. But in 2011 several events exceeded the buy-in for that one, and it appears that may well be the case again in 2012.

One would think that a $1 million buy-in tourney will put an end to our asking the question "how high can they go?" Then again, perhaps it won't.