NJ Online Poker Tournament Roundup: WSOP-888 Handed Out Over $13k In Overlays On Sunday
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The latest example: A week after all three flagship tournaments eclipsed their guarantees, not a single one met its guarantee this past Sunday.
For the most part, PokerStars NJ and Borgata-MGM-party had minimal overlays, but the 888-WSOP network was left battered and bruised, with three tournaments costing the site $13,500 in overlays.
As bad as the 888-WSOP overlays were, a more consequential development was PokerStars NJ reducing the guarantee for the Sunday Special.
The decision to lower the guarantee was doubly interesting considering the reduction occurred after the site hit its $50,000 Sunday Special guarantee the week before, and just before the start of the NJCOOP tournament series, where PokerStars NJ will hand out over $1.2 million in tournament guarantees.
Overlays significantly down at Borgata-party-MGM
The $40k Guarantee
The Borgata/partypoker/MGM online poker network hosts a $40,000 guarantee tournament every Sunday. The tournament has a $215 buy-in, $15 of which goes to tournament fees. That works out to a market-standard seven percent rake.
After flying high, the $40k guarantee fell back to earth this past Sunday. After two consecutive weeks of beating its guarantee by around $5,000, the tournament fell two entries shy of the $40k guarantee.
| MTT | Start Time | Buy-In | GTD | Entries | Prize-Pool | Overlay |
| SUNDAY $40K GTD NLH [3X RE] + BONUS | 5:00pm | $215 | $40,000 | 198 | $ 40,000 | $400 |
More signature events at Borgata/party/MGM
Despite the drop-off in its flagship event, total overlays were down network-wide. Most noticeably in the high-roller and PLO events.
One note, US Poker has stopped tracking the $3k guaranteed turbo as it failed to run for the third consecutive week.
| MTT | Start Time | Buy In | GTD | Entries | Prize-Pool | Overlay |
| SUNDAY STARTER $3K GTD [2X RE] | 4:00pm | $55 | $3,000 | 59 | $3,000 | $50 |
| Sunday $535 – $20K GTD [2x RE] | 6:30pm | $535 | $20,000 | 37 | $20,000 | $1,500 |
| DAILY $10K GTD [2X RE] | 7:00pm | $109 | $10,000 | 114 | $11,400 | – |
| Sunday PLO Bounty – $750 GTD | 8:00pm | $35 | $750 | 28 | $750 | $134 |
GSSS Fall ’17 schedule
In the coming weeks, the partypoker network will host the 14-event GSSS Fall ’17 during the week of October 15-22.
All told, $375k is being guaranteed, including a $100k Main Event, with a $320 buy-in, that will take place on October 22.
More information and the full schedule for GSSS ’17 Fall can be found here.
partypoker offers $25 to new players. Sign up here.
PokerStars reduces the Sunday Special guarantee
The $45k Sunday Special
PokerStars is home to the largest weekly guaranteed tournament in the New Jersey market, the Sunday Special.
However, as noted above, PokerStars NJ scaled back the guarantee for this Sunday’s tournament.
The Sunday Special at PokerStars NJ still boasts a $200 buy-in but the guarantee now stands at $45,000 instead of $50,000. The tournament is still $15 cheaper and $5,000 richer than its competitors’ flagship Sunday events.
And like its competitors, PokerStars rakes the tournament at seven percent, as $186 of the $200 entry fee goes to the prize pool, and $14 to tournament fees.
Despite the reduction, the Sunday Special was unable to meet its new, lower guarantee, causing an overlay of just over $700.
| MTT | Buy-In | GTD | Entries | Prize-Pool | Overlay |
| Sunday Special $45K GTD (Reentry) | $200 | $50,000 | 238 | $ 45,000 | $732 |
More signature Sunday events from PokerStars NJ
In addition to the Sunday Special, PokerStars NJ hosts two other major Sunday tournaments with guarantees of $10k and $15k respectively.
The high-roller saw fewer entries this past week, but it continues to have no issue reaching its $15,000 guarantee. The Sunday Warmup continues to offer a modest overlay.
| MTT | Buy In | GTD | Entries | Prize-Pool | Overlay |
| $500 Sunday High Roller (Reentry) | $500 | $15,000 | 37 | $17,300 | – |
| $50 Sunday Warmup (Reentry) | $50 | $10,000 | 212 | $10,000 | $354 |
Sign up for PokerStars NJ here
A look at the Pala Poker daily schedule
The tournaments may not have big prize-pools, but Pala’s tournament schedule has the highest overlays (by percentage) in the New Jersey market.
As it’s still in beta, Pala Poker is only offering a daily schedule at this point.
The daily schedule is highlighted by two $10 buy-in ($9 + $1), $250 guaranteed events.
The two tournaments drew the same number of entries as they did the Sunday before last, which means there is still a lot of value to be had for any New Jersey poker players who don’t have the bankroll for the three-figure buy-ins at other sites.
| Start Time | Tournament | Buy-in | Entries | Prize-pool | Overlay |
| 8:00 pm | Nightly $250 Gtd NLHE Turbo | $10 | 19 | $250 | $79 |
| 8:30 pm | Nightly $250 Gtd (6-Handed) NLHE Turbo | $10 | 14 | $250 | $124 |
Wsop.com-888 hands out over $13k in overlays
The $40k Warrior
Every Sunday, the WSOP.com and 888 network host “The Warrior,” a $215 buy-in tournament with a $40,000 guarantee. The rake for the Warrior is the same seven percent that you’ll find at other sites.
The number of entries in the Warrior dropped off a cliff this week. After tallying over 200 entries two Sundays ago, 888-WSOP managed only 169 entries this week. The poor attendance resulted in an overlay of over $6,000.
| MTT | Buy-In | GTD | Entries | Prize-Pool | Overlay |
| $215 The Warrior $40K GTD (Reentry) | $215 | $40,000 | 169 | $ 40,000 | $6,200 |
Other signature Sunday events at 888/WSOP.com
WSOP.com/888 have two other big tournaments on its Sunday schedule, both offering guarantees of $10,000. Sunday was also the day 888 ran its monthly, $500 buy-in, $30k guaranteed Big Deal tournament.
One of the tournaments met its guarantee, the other two fell well short.
| MTT | Buy In | GTD | Entries | Prize-Pool | Overlay |
| $50 Warrior’s Opening Strike (Reentry) | $50 | $10,000 | 188 | $10,000 | $1,146 |
| $100 Fierce Warrior (Reentry) | $100 | $10,000 | 128 | $11,648 | – |
| $500 Big Deal (Reentry) | $500 | $30,000 | 51 | $30,000 | $6,157.50 |