Online Series of Poker

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[edit] Background

The Online Series of Poker (OSOP) was the first poker tournament in the history of online gaming to be held across multiple online poker rooms. Created by Poker Source Online in 2005, the OSOP culminated with a $100,000 final table, contested live at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[1]

The poker rooms involved, PartyPoker, UltimateBet, PokerRoom, Absolute Poker, and Golden Palace Poker, each played host to two OSOP tournaments. Anyone eligible to play at the poker rooms could participate in as many of the ten tournaments as they wished. Five of the tournaments required a $100 buy-in plus a $9 fee, while the other five had a $250 buy-in and $20 fee. Each online poker room held satellite tournaments in the weeks leading up to the events so that players could qualify for the OSOP events with a lower buy-in.

The winner of each online poker tournament was awarded, in addition to the prize money from the tournament itself, a seat at the OSOP $100,000 Championship, held on October 8, 2005, during the final table of the United States Poker Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal. Tom Gitto, the poker room manager at the Taj Mahal, organized the live finale. The prize package included roundtrip airfare from anywhere in the world, airport transfers, accommodations at the Trump Taj Mahal hotel, and meal vouchers.

[edit] Online Series of Poker $100,000 Championship Competitors

  • Todd Ivanhoe (qualified at PartyPoker)
  • Greg Langford (Party Poker)
  • James Campbell (UltimateBet)
  • William Hill (UltimateBet)
  • Zdenek Olah (PokerRoom)
  • Richard Gubbels (PokerRoom)
  • John Vittas (Absolute Poker)
  • Andrew Yeh (Absolute Poker)
  • Michael Willavage (Golden Palace Poker)
  • Ben Sergent (Golden Palace Poker)

[edit] Payout Structure

Prize Pool: $100,000

  • 1st — $30,000
  • 2nd — $17,500
  • 3rd — $10,000
  • 4th — $7,500
  • 5th — $7,000
  • 6th — $6,500
  • 7th — $6,000
  • 8th — $5,500
  • 9th — $5,000
  • 10th — $5,000

[edit] Championship Results

In the end, it came down to Greg Langford versus William Hill heads-up for the championship. Because their chip stacks were virtually identical and the blinds had increased significantly, the two decided to chop the first and second place prize money. Hill conceded the Online Series of Poker title to Langford in exchange for a slightly larger payday.

Online Series of Poker Trophy
Online Series of Poker Trophy

In addition to being crowned champion of the 2005 Online Series of Poker, Greg Langford also received a custom made crystal trophy, provided by Crown Trophy in Sterling, Virginia.

The OSOP also featured the OSOP Leader Board, sponsored by Citadel Commerce, which tracked the results of the ten qualifying tournaments. The top six money winners across all ten events won cash prizes ranging from $3,000 down to $500.

While the OSOP was, by most measures, a great success, 2005 was both the first and last year for the online/live hybrid poker tournament. Unfortunately, financial restrictions prevented an encore in 2006.

[edit] References