In the United States, Thursday marked the annual Thanksgiving holiday. Serving as a time for friends and family to join together, the holiday was also a cause for celebration on online poker room Bodog. On Saturday, the third of four special Thanksgiving tournaments will occur on the site, a $100,000 Thanksgiving Qualifier.
The $11 buy-in tournament will kick off at 5:05pm ET. Up for grabs is one entry into the site’s weekly $109 buy-in $100K Guaranteed, which occurs every Sunday, for every 10 players entered. The prizes given out on Saturday actually take the form of T$109. Last week, the tournament attracted 711 entrants and saw an overlay of nearly $30,000. An overlay means that the guaranteed prize pool of a tournament exceeds its actual prize pool, which is the number of players multiplied by the buy-in. Last week in the $100K Guaranteed, Bodog member IGotAPair emerged victorious, pocketing $23,600 for first place. Finishing right behind him was Mortadelo, who took home $13,600. Rounding out the final table in the Sunday major event were rjrat84 (third place for $9,100), andyvanslyke (fourth place for $7,000), RedItUP (fifth place for $5,700), hodgeman (sixth place for $4,500), AKFLUSH23 (seventh place for $3,300), atakdog (eighth place for $2,200), and flipper (ninth place for $1,300).
On Sunday at 2:00pm ET, a $3,000 added Thanksgiving Special will kick off on the felts of Bodog. The buy-in, just like that of the $100K Guaranteed, is $109. Also on Sunday will be the $100K Guaranteed, which starts promptly at 4:00pm ET. Its description on Bodog’s website proudly hawks the tournament’s regular overlay: “With one of the biggest overlays in the industry, the value of this tournament is literally unbeatable. Just pick your level of qualifying tournament to compete in during the week and work your way up to the Sunday $100K Final. Whatever your skill set as a poker player, it’s a perfect chance to win a fat cash payout.” Qualifiers for the $100K Guaranteed start at $1.
Four of the world’s top tournament poker pros comprise Team Bodog. Jean-Robert Bellande was a contestant on CBS’ “Survivor: China,” a reality show that strands contestants in a remote location and then forces them to compete against themselves and the elements in pursuit of a $1 million first place prize. Bellande finished second in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shooutout tournament during the 2008 World Series of Poker, falling to online poker pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham heads-up. He also finished third in a WSOP Circuit Event at the Rio in 2005 for $210,000.
David Williams is another member of Team Bodog. He won his first (and so far only) WSOP bracelet in 2006 by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament for $163,000. “Miami” John Cernuto and 10-time WSOP bracelet holder Johnny Chan were also at the final table of that tournament. Williams can regularly be seen in high-stakes tournaments with his mom, Shirley.
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo and Evelyn Ng are the final two members of Team Bodog. Bonomo, who is primarily known as one of the world’s top online poker players, has also experienced a tremendous amount of success in the live arena. He finished as the runner up in a $5,000 buy-in Mixed Hold’em tournament in this year’s WSOP, cashing for $230,000. That event marked the first bracelet win for Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren. Williams, WSOP November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem, Roland de Wolfe, and “The Professor of Poker” Howard Lederer also reached the final table, which was one of several that were televised by cable station ESPN.
A $2,000 added and Thanksgiving Thursday Turbo tournament were the two other events on the docket on Bodog, which took place on Friday and Thursday, respectively. As of 1:00pm ET on Saturday, November 29th, there were 1,856 players seated in the online poker room.
