This week’s featured player is Playground’s very first tournament winner! He won the first tournament ever held in our club, 8 years ago. It was a $100 event, but he is no stranger to $10K buy-ins either. His first major was in 2009: he played a WPT event at Fallsview Casino Resort in Ontario. He has yet to make a big score in one of these monster tournaments, and hopes that MILLIONS North America will be it! He jumped in a STEP 1 satellite following a casual invitation from our tournament director. He couldn’t turn down such attractive overlay! The very same night, he played the STEP 2, got through, and played the STEP 3 satellite on the following day. He is here now, qualified, pumped up for MILLIONS in May! Introducing… Carlo Nini. (More great content coming up on Playground’s official YouTube channel. Please subscribe!)
MILLIONS North America
MILLIONS of Beats
Montreal, a tourism hot spot, is one of North America’s most visited cities. Harbouring countless festivals (nearly 100 multi-day events each year!), serving delicious food from all over the world, and offering a vibrant cultural and music scene, Montreal has it all. Our snow is melting fast, and come MILLIONS North America in May, the city will be ready for all poker players’ extracurricular activities! Today, for our visitors coming to town for MILLIONS and locals looking for something different, we serve a selection of two options, catered for EDM enthusiasts, but easy to appreciate by anyone. It was extremely hard to slim down our recommendations, but these two fully deserve their nomination. Velvet Speakeasy In the Old Port, in the basement of an old Montreal inn, there is a large room with stone walls that has existed since 1754. Today, it is home to the Velvet Speakeasy, a […]
Road to MILLIONS – Episode 3
This young player was born and raised in Beauce. He is a true poker fanatic. When asked what he would do if he made a big score at the MILLIONS, he did not hesitate: the first thing that came to mind was more poker! He played the 2018 MILLIONS North America after qualifying through the STEP satellite system, and he did it again this year, on his first try! Because one bullet is all you need. Boom! Let’s hear what he has to say about how to reap some STEP value. Introducing… Jean-Philippe Lehoux. (More great content coming up on Playground’s official YouTube channel. Please subscribe!)
Road to MILLIONS – Episode 2
This poker player from Ontario is a frequent visitor at Playground. She plays primarily cash games, but found her way to the tournament hall after a dry patch, and ended up on the January Tournament Leaderboard to earn a STEP 1 satellite seat! A few STEPS later, she is on our list of qualifiers and about to play the biggest tournament she’s ever played: MILLIONS North America! Introducing… Christine Park. (More great content coming up on Playground’s official YouTube channel. Please subscribe!)
Road to MILLIONS – Episode 1
STEP satellites to MILLIONS North America have been running for four months. The 3-STEP system is a great way to allow players to compete in a big event that they normally wouldn’t buy into, and after countless STEP 1s, four STEP 2s, and four STEP 3s, there are a number of players who made their way to the MILLIONS from an investment of $440, $90, and in some cases, $0! Throughout the month of April, there will be a great number of STEP 1 satellites – every Friday and Sunday – which all culminate into the very last STEP 2 and STEP 3 events, held on May 4 and May 5 respectively. This is your last chance to join the ranks of our STEP qualifiers… don’t miss it! Our first hero is a retired lawyer who won his MILLIONS seat from a $90 STEP 1 satellite. He started playing poker […]
$25K Super High Roller Added to the MILLIONS North America Schedule
Playground and partypoker LIVE have announced a key addition to the 2019 MILLIONS North America schedule: a $25,000 + $300 Super High Roller event. Action will get underway at 3:00PM on May 25 and will continue with a restart at 12:00PM on May 26. As usual participants of this class of tournament have become accustomed to, play will be 8-handed throughout, and it will feature 40-minute blind levels. Registration will be open throughout Day 1 and through the first 4 levels of play on Day 2. This will be a reprise of the successful $25K SHR that was part of last year’s MILLIONS North America. That event saw a star-studded field take to the felts including a rare appearance by Viktor Blom. Joining him from the other side of the Atlantic were Niall Farrell, Toby Lewis, Manig Loeser, Marc Macdonnell, and Roberto Romanello. There were plenty of Americans in the […]
A Journey That Begins with a Single STEP
The premier event of the year, the MILLIONS North America, is on the horizon and the anticipation is building far and wide. Players from around the world are waiting impatiently for the May event to arrive, but none more so than the players who have already qualified for the Main Event at a fraction of the buy-in cost. Follow the qualifiers We look forward to bringing you the stories of a number of players who qualified early for MILLIONS North America through the STEP satellite system and sharing their excitement. There will be a series of features on early qualifiers rolled out in the coming weeks to let the poker community follow their journeys on the path to a chance at a life-changing score. Many qualifiers have advanced through the STEPs for as little as $90 and some are even free rolling! STEP by STEP The STEP satellites allow players […]
15 Main Event Seats Added!
MILLIONS North America, partypoker LIVE’s premier poker tournament series, is around the corner. Players are scrutinizing the schedule, making travel plans, and getting into MILLIONS shape! The first big guarantee comes with Event #2, the $1,100 Montreal Open. As if $1,000,000 in cash wasn’t enough of a guarantee, it was boosted with 15 MILLIONS North America seats, worth $10,300 each! $1,154,500 Guaranteed In that strange number lies the possibility of a true poker breakthrough. Finish in the top 15, and you will not only pocket a handsome cash prize, but you will also get a seat for Day 1B of the festival’s Main Event, taking place the following day! Care to play a major tournament with the kind of confidence that only a recent big score provides? Satellite Your Way In The Montreal Open offers seven starting flights, including a turbo flight. Unlimited same-day and next-day re-entries are permitted, giving […]
MILLIONS North America: The Official Schedule
The marquee event of the year, MILLIONS North America, is nearly upon us! The series runs from May 13 to May 26 and hosts ten events, putting over $8,000,000 in value up for grabs. MILLIONS brings three tournaments with seven-figure prize pool guarantees: the Montreal Open, the MILLIONS North America, and the High Roller. These tournaments are complemented by seven side events and lots of satellites to provide options for players of all bankrolls. This year’s Main Event offers a $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and presents some important differences from previous editions. First, the tournament structure has been revised: there are now only two starting flights, which follow a next-day re-entry format. This means that players can fire, at most, two bullets at this premier event – 1 for each Day 1. Second, the buy-in has been increased to $10,300. We have introduced a series of STEP Satellites through which […]
Did you get your MILLIONS Main Event seat yet?
The next Playground Power Weekend takes off on Wednesday, February 20. The mini-series presents a complete roster of STEP Satellites to the $10,300 MILLIONS North America Main Event, the ideal opportunity to play in a major $10K buy-in event. Here’s why: STEP 2, STEP 3, and MILLIONS seats won through a satellite are not transferable, which means that qualifiers will represent a huge portion of the MILLIONS Main Event field. In-the-money action is bound to see a lot of these qualifiers sweat for a monster share of the $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool… one of them could be you! Let’s take a look at the February Power Weekend STEP schedule, your next opportunity to earn a ticket for the big dance: Wednesday February 20 – $80 + $10 STEP 1 10 STEP 2 Seats Guaranteed Thursday February 21 – $80 + $10 STEP 1 10 STEP 2 Seats Guaranteed Friday February […]
Changes to the MILLIONS format
The 2019 MILLIONS Tour, coming to Playground in May, has undergone a few alterations. After analyzing player feedback, collected live at major events and through various polls, partypoker LIVE has added a Day 1 to the Main Event schedule, set from May 21 to May 26. With an extra starting flight, players will be able to fire 2 bullets in the event, but on two separate days. This change is a happy medium, allowing travelling poker players to have a second chance in case they hit an unavoidable wall on Day 1A, while still ensuring that no one will be able to fire multiple bullets on the same day. The precious value of your initial stack remains, keeping all players on the same level, regardless of their bankroll. Here are the revised specs: Buy-in: $10,300 Two Day 1s A $5,000,000 guarantee Format: Next-day Re-entry The amended format will likely encourage […]
MILLIONS returns… with a freezeout format!
As you all know by now, MILLIONS returns to Playground in 2019. A 3-Step satellite tree has been brewing qualifiers for about a month, and today, we are able to officially announce a few more details about the MILLIONS North America Main Event: Dates: May 22 to May 27 Buy-in: $10,300 A single Day 1 A $5,000,000 guarantee Format: Freezeout! The trend in tournament poker these past years has been about extending late registration periods, sometimes all the way to Day 2 of an event, as well as allowing unlimited re-entries during that time. Of course, this format is great to create bigger prize pools; double great if you like to come out blazing and try to accumulate a lot of chips quickly, with little regard to your tournament life. After all, providing you have enough of a bankroll, unlimited re-entries allow you to resuscitate as many times as you […]