GGPoker Successfully Implements Online Flip & Go Concept in the 2021 World Series of Poker
The first part of Event #20: $1,000 Flip & Go No-Limit Hold ‘em at the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP), a GGPoker special, was both fun and stressful for several players, including Daniel Negreanu and David Williams. But that’s what has made the one-of-a-kind bracelet event so interesting.
GGPoker’s Flip & Go game is a novel idea that is packed with action for those who are unfamiliar with it. Each player in Sunday’s WSOP tournament gave $1,000 for entry.
In the beginning, participants sat at an eight-player table. However, no poker chips were given to them. Players were handed three face-down cards instead. The flip was then turned over by the dealer. Players examined their hands before mucking one card after going clockwise. They both flipped their hands over, and the dealer flipped over the turn and river. Following the distribution of all of the five community cards, the player who had the best poker hand advanced, while everybody else had been eliminated.
The first of two inaugural sessions started at 10 a.m. PT at the Rio’s Brasilia room. Players who won first hand immediately progressed to the next round. Players who lost the first hand were able to rebuy and try again till 3 p.m., or they also had the freedom to join the session at 4 p.m.
Negreanu, an ambassador for GGPoker, progressed after nine attempts. Williams, the runner-up in the WSOP Main Event in 2004, bought in a total of 19 times before winning a hand. After striking a river six for trips to take down the hand, he tightened his fist and said, “it’s about f*****g time!”
Shaun Deeb, Josh Arieh, Jeff Gross, and Paul Volpe were among the other big-name pros that survived and advanced, most after numerous attempts. Because minimum cash is only worth $2,000, some players will have to progress far in order to break even. The first prize is $180,665, including a gold bracelet.
The event drew 1,232 buy-ins in total, with 155 players making money. Those people returned at 7 p.m. to play in the event’s official poker tournament. Play should be speedy because the participants started with 160,000 chips and will play at 1,000/2,000 blinds with a 2,000 big blind ante.
The players took their seats when each opening session began, but only one dealer dealt a hand at a time. This enabled players, journalists, and spectators to hover over the tables and cheer as the cards were revealed.
In most situations, two pair or greater was required to win the flip hand. However, there were a few hands where a mediocre hand, held up against seven other players. During the 4 p.m. session, one player flopped a pair of sevens with an ace kicker and held on to win and advance, avoiding almost every out in the deck on the turn and river.
Winning players applauded and high-fived, while several appeared surprised that they had won the hand. Not just the big-name pros like Negreanu, but also a handful of recreational and lower stakes players, won a flip hand. That includes Jim Reid, presenter of the RecPoker Podcast’s “Forums Edition,” who was ecstatic to make money.
Reid, from Ontario, Canada, is attending the World Series of Poker for the first time, and the Flip & Go tournament marks his first WSOP cash.
After the flip-and-go phase of the event is completed, the rest of the tournament will be played as a regular no-limit hold ‘em tournament.
