ACR Poker Prepares for Venom PKO with $5M GTD
Multiple times each year, ACR Poker (formerly Americas Cardroom) offers its signature tournament called the Venom. The standard version of the Venom offers a $10M guarantee, and the progressive knockout version puts up a $5M guarantee.
As ACR Poker charges into 2024, it is time to kick things off with a Venom PKO. Its four initial flights will take place on Thursdays and Sundays from January 18-28, followed by two playdown days and the final table on January 31.
Players familiar with the Venom know that the direct buy-in is $2,650, but there will be a massive number of satellite options – starting at zero dollars – that will award at least 650 seats to the Venom. Many players have parlayed their satellite efforts into four-figure, five-figure, and even six-figure paydays.
Venom Schedule
The buy-in breakdown for the Venom PKO is $1,250 for the prize pool, $1,250 for the bounty pool, and $150 as the fee. Players begin with 300K chips, and they can play only once each flight. However, once a player bags chips at the end of a flight, they cannot play another flight.
The official schedule for this January 2024 Venom PKO is:
- January 18 (Thursday): Day 1A at 1:05pm ET
- January 21 (Sunday): Day 1B at 1:05pm ET
- January 25 (Thursday): Day 1C at 1:05pm ET
- January 28 (Sunday): Day 1D at 1:05pm ET
- January 29 (Monday): Day 2 at 1:05pm ET (Day 1 survivors combine)
- January 30 (Tuesday): Day 3 at 1:05pm ET (playdown to final table)
- January 31 (Wednesday): Final table begins at 4:05pm (live streaming available)
Venom Fever and Steps Begin
The satellite system available for winning $2,650 tickets to the Venom PKO is multi-tiered. It begins on January 7 and runs through January 28. There are several ways to qualify.
There is the On-Demand Step system, which gives players the chance to start at Level 1 with just a $0.11 buy-in. Each step then guarantees a certain number of tickets to the next level. Players can climb the steps or simply buy in at any level and climb from that point on.
- Step 1: $0.11 buy-in (10 Step 2 tickets guaranteed, 15 players required to begin)
- Step 2: $0.55 buy-in (8 Step 3 tickets guaranteed, 12 players required to begin)
- Step 3: $2.50 buy-in (7 Step 4 tickets guaranteed, 10 players required to begin)
- Step 4: $11 buy-in (6 Step 5 tickets guaranteed, 10 players required to begin)
- Step 5: $33 buy-in (5 Step 6 tickets guaranteed, 8 players required to begin)
- Step 6: $109 buy-in (4 Step 7 tickets guaranteed, 8 players required to begin)
- Step 7: $290 buy-in (1 Venom seat guaranteed, 4 players required to begin)
Venom Fever is the program that guarantees 650 seats to be awarded. The full three-week schedule, complete with dates, times, and structures, is on the ACR website. The outline of Venom Fever is as follows:
- Daily direct satellites with buy-ins starting at $33
- Daily paths to mega satellites starting with freerolls
- Mega satellites at $55, $109, $290, and $630 buy-in levels on Saturdays and Sundays
- Beast satellites with $95 buy-ins on January 7, 14, and 21
There is no limit to the number of Venom seats a player can win. They can sell extra tickets but facilitate the sale through WPN per the terms and conditions of the Venom. They can also hold a Venom seat until the next Venom tournament, which will likely be in the next two or three months.
