The first legal online poker tourney, although modest in prizes, was a success – said the pioneer intrastate online poker site, Ultimate Poker in Nevada.
The $10,000 guaranteed Sunday event saw 200 hopefuls sign up for the action, and according to site officials, the entry list was fully subscribed 45 minutes before the start.
“Since going live on April 30, there has been no downtime whatsoever, and demand to play in our first $10,000 Sunday Tournament exceeded our expectations. We ended up reaching our 200 player cap 45 minutes before the tournament opened,” said Joe Versaci, Ultimate Gaming chief marketing officer.
This drove Ultimate Poker to double the capacity of its next $100 buy-in Sunday Tournament to 400 players, and boost the potential prize pool to $20,000. For their $100, players get a starting stack of 10,000 chips to move forward on 15-minute levels.
Satellites run every day, more often on Sunday, and range from $1 to $20, the company specified, adding that participating players must be aged 21 and over and residing in Nevada.
As for the winner of the first Ultimate Poker tourney, it was an amateur player from Nevada, Daniel Healey, who pocketed the main prize of $4,173.
Commenting on his win, Healey said: “It is really exciting to be a part of history, winning the first tournament. I have been keeping up with the news updates and poker blogs ever since Black Friday hit and was extremely excited to hear that legal online poker is here. I am excited to be living in Nevada and playing my favorite game.”
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