Tournament Highlight: The Festival Online – Main Event!
The Festival Online 2024 (August 3rd - August 19th) is now just a few short weeks away. If we're being honest, we could even say days away. So, it shouldn't come as a shock that we would get a bit sentimental over here at The Festival Series and want to take a walk down memory lane - and that's exactly what we're going to do with this article.
Just below, you'll find a short rewind of all the past Festival Online editions and their Main Events. Something to help us see where we started and we're were going next in 2024.
The Festival Online 2022
The first ever edition of the Festival Online happened just a few years ago in the summer of 2022. At the time, the event was a collaboration between the Festival Series and an online poker provider, 888poker.
Compared to this year, The Festival Online 2022 looked a bit more humble. It comprised a total of 20 events and an overall tournament guarantee of $750,000 in prize money. All of this was spread out over a little less than a month, from July 7th to August 1st.
While the 2022 edition saw opening events and knockout days, it was the Main Event that drew in the most attention.
The Festival Online 2022 Main Event
The Festival Online 2022 Main Event was the only multi-day event of the series. It began on July 31st with a buy-in of $215 and a guarantee prize pool of $150,000. As this was the cherry on top of the Festival Online Sunday, satellites were rolling out even during the series.
In the end, the Main Event drew in a total of 673 players, with 140 re-entries, generating a bigger prize pool that originally expected, $162,600 to be precise. Still, there could be only one winner and that first year, the Main Event title went to player 'Pbustos14', who took home a staggering $26,552.58.
The Festival Online Spring 2023
With its first ever online edition under its belt, The Festival Online planned two more the following year. The first was The Festival Online Spring 2023, taking place between March 19th and April 13th 2023.
The Festival Online had stepped it up - that much was evident. The 2023 spring edition came with more than 30 events on the schedule and an overall guarantee that hit the $1,000,000 mark. Again, it was in collaboration with 888poker.
The Festival kicked off with the PLO Mystery Bounty Opening Event and while a fan-favorite format, all eyes were still on the 2023 Spring Main Event.
The Festival Online Spring 2023 Main Event
Just like in 2022, the Main Event spanned over several days, with a total of 17 starting flights scheduled over multiple days. While the buy-in to the event remained buy-in of $215, same as in 2022, the guaranteed prize pool rose to a total of $200,000.
In the end, it was Latvian player “latvianhero1” who got past 863 players to win the most coveted event on the schedule.
The Festival Online Summer 2023
Coming down a massive spring edition success, the Festival Online wasn't ready to call it quits in 2023. Instead, it came out with another summer edition that ran between July 16th to August 1st on 888poker. Again, the team was prepared to up their game with The Festival Online Summer 2023.
Not only were there 53 events on the schedule but the guaranteed prize pool changed once again. This time, it was an aptly designated $888,888 in prize money, with three tournaments featuring six-figure guarantees.
The summer edition began with the Mini High Roller Opening Event with a $215 buy-in and had $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. It continued for the next two weeks with high rollers, mystery bounties and knockout tournaments, only to culminate in the biggest Main Event of the online series.
The Festival Online Summer 2023 Main Event
This time around, things were a bit different. For one, the buy-in was raised from the established $215 to $250, while the prize pool remained the same as the spring edition, rounding up at $200,000. With multiple starting days on the schedule, officially kicked off on July 26st.
The Festival Online 2024 - What Comes Next
With three editions successfully completed, it's almost time for The Festival Online 2024. While we've already told you the dates in the beginning of the article (August 3rd - August 19th), there are more than a few changed going down with this fourth edition.
For one, this is the first edition of the Festival Online to be exclusively available on the iPoker Network, with 26 of its operators on board. The schedule is another aspect that's changed, mounting to 70 events in total and more than €1,500,000 in guaranteed prize pools.
Apart from the €55 Main Event and other events found in The Festival Online 2024 Schedule, there is additional value to be won through Missions and Leaderboards, two novel components of this online poker tournament.
Good luck to all the players!
