BetMGM Poker Michigan‘s first End Boss Poker Series reached its, well, end on Sunday.
The seven-tournament series named after recently-added brand ambassador Darren “End Boss” Elias featured $225,000 in guarantees. In the end, the series drew enough Michigan poker players to award almost a quarter-million dollars overall.
Most BetMGM events meet guarantees, Main Event awards $113K
The series played out Nov. 23-28 and featured buy-ins ranging from $215 to a $1,060 Main Event. In the end, players won a total of $248,200 across the seven events.
Five of the tournaments attracted enough participation to build prize pools that modestly exceeded their guarantees. The other two had small overlays. There were 548 entries all told throughout the series, including re-entries.
Player “georgejanssen” managed to win two of the events, the $320 Progressive KO Bounty (No. 4) and the $215 Second Chance (No. 7), earning about $5,700 for each of those victories.
Meanwhile, “C0rgasm231” took down the Main Event to claim the largest share of that tournament’s series-high $113,000 prize pool. “georgejanssen” made a deep run in the Main Event as well, bubbling the final table to finish ninth of 113 entries.
“C0rgasm231” picked up just more than $23,000 for the victory following a heads-up deal with “Simsalabim.”
Winning the Main Event earned “C0rgasm231” the title “End Boss” of Michigan. The player also won free entry into a special New Year Knockout PKO tournament coming up at BetMGM Poker MI.
Here’s a look at the turnouts and prize pools for all seven events in the End Boss Poker Series:
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Entries | Prize Pool | Overlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: NLH 8-Max | $535 | $30,000 | 62 | $31,000 | n/a |
| 2: PLO 8-Max | $215 | $15,000 | 69 | $15,000 | $1,200 |
| 3: 8-Max Progressive KO Bounty | $320 | $20,000 | 60 | $20,000 | $2,000 |
| 4: NLH - Friday Night Freezeout | $215 | $10,000 | 53 | $10,600 | n/a |
| 5: NLH 6-Max | $535 | $30,000 | 68 | $34,000 | n/a |
| 6: NLH 8-Max - The End Boss Main Event | $1,060 | $100,000 | 113 | $113,000 | n/a |
| 7: NLH 8-Max - Second Chance | $215 | $20,000 | 123 | $24,600 | n/a |
| 548 | $248,200 | $3,200 |
End Boss Poker Series in NJ awards $358K, PA series awards $250K
The partypoker US network also staged similar End Boss Poker Series in Pennsylvania and New Jersey over the same dates.
Although BetMGM Poker MI is the only partypoker US network site up and running in Michigan, PA and NJ both have in-state networks with multiple sites.
In NJ, the network includes three sites: partypoker NJ, Borgata Poker NJ and BetMGM Poker NJ. Over in PA, both BetMGM Poker PA and Borgata Poker PA share players across a single network.
In New Jersey, the seven End Boss events had originally featured $315,000 in guarantees, although one tournament was adjusted to make the total $305,000 in guarantees. Ultimately, that series awarded almost $358,000 to New Jersey players, with the $1,060 Main Event’s prize pool totaling $179,000.
In Pennsylvania. the guarantees were closer to Michigan’s, totaling $230,000. That series saw overlays in five of the seven events, although PA players still won just over $250,000, slightly bettering BetMGM Poker MI’s total. The Main Event in PA awarded $123,000.
