Over the past six months or so, I have been working with Chris Levick, and several others from www.redbackpoker.com, an online poker site, based in Australia. Redback Poker, part of the Cake Poker network introduced a different type of tournament in November called the Redback International. The goal of this tournament was to have bar poker players from around the World compete against each other in a single online free-roll tournament for huge cash prizes in an online arena. Straight Flush Poker was proud to be the first US-based bar poker league to become a part of this setting. We were able to sign up 12 of our players into the December Redback International held on December 11th, at 7p.m. One of the logistical issues we had was that the initial tournament in November was held on Australian time, which meant it would have started here in the States at about 11:00p.m. So we were able to work with Redback to get the tourney started at noon Oz time, which meant it was 7p.m. the evening before here locally. In this tournament, there were only 237 players (primarily from the Australian bar poker leagues), with a prize pool valued at almost $18, 000 USD.
Why join forces to work in an online setting? Most bar leagues focus on the live tournament settings, and many of these players do not actually play in an online venue. When Redback Poker approached me with the idea, I was skeptical. First being more of a live player, my experience with online poker is limited. However, here was an opportunity to venture into a new realm of poker prize packages. Being a relatively small company, I wanted to be able to provide my players with opportunity to be able to win larger prizes. In the past Straight Flush was offering seats to big tournaments like the Canterbury Classic, and the WSOP circuit events in Iowa. But with the continued success of online poker, I can provide the players with a new avenue to play poker.
From a first-time standpoint, the Redback International turned out to be a huge success for everyone involved. Two of our twelve players cashed, which was actually more exciting to watch than I anticipated. The tournament itself was run very smoothly, no complaints from our end, and the players, many of whom were even more skeptical than I was, were very happy in playing the tournament. Our players were able to mingle with overseas players, something they would typically not be able to do. Personally, I had a great time playing with all of the players. Although I was knocked out about midway through, I was able to chat with and cheer on my other league players from the rail. One thing I found in this setting, was that I could cheer for only a few players, versus when I’m running a live finals within our venues, I’m basically cheering for all of the finalists. I look forward to continuing to work with Redback, and gearing up for February’s RBI tournament.
For more information on Straight Flush Poker, visit www.sfpokertour.com. Redback Poker, visit www.redbackpoker.com or www.theredbackinternational.com. Tell them the Straight Flush Poker Tour sent you.