For the second time in succession, Las Vegas's The Orleans casino has pulled certain multi-flight, prize-pool-guaranteed events from a major poker series midway through the series' run. On Tuesday, Orleans staff announced that they had canceled the three remaining multi-flight events that remained in the current Summer Open series.
"We love offering multi-day events with great value and big guarantees. But, after talks with casino management, we unfortunately must cancel our NLH Championship, $250k Gtd, and Finale events," the Orleans posted on Twitter. "In their place will be some of the best one-day events available anywhere in Vegas."
As originally offered, the NLH Championship was to offer a $750,000 guarantee when it started up this Friday, June 17. The $250,000 NHL Guaranteed event was scheduled for the following Friday, June 24, while the Finale, starting on Friday, June 31, was to guarantee another $300,000. The three initial guarantees accounted for more than a third of the $3.5 million in guaranteed prize pools the Summer Open series initially promoted. The cancelled events have been replaced with several smaller offerings, slashing the series' overall claimed guarantees to $2.7 million.
Missed guarantees, player disappointment
While many tournament providers accept occasional overlays as an unexpected advertising and promotional expense, the Boyd-owned Orleans has decided that pulling the plug on the biggest events now is the safer course. The Summer Open series had reportedly already missed a few of its guarantees in the series, and this week's NHL Championship was heading into a window of spirited competition against major events at other Vegas tournament venues.
