GGPoker Cancels GGMasters 5th Anniversary - Technical Issues Strike Again

As previously reported, GGPoker hosted the GGMasters 5th Anniversary edition on February 23. Instead of the original $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, this time, the tournament featured a $5,000,000 guarantee, while the buy-in remained at $150.

The tournament initially ran smoothly. However, after reaching 28,000 entries, several players began reporting connectivity issues. In response, GGPoker first suspended all tournaments and later canceled the entire evening schedule.

The GGMasters Anniversary was not permanently canceled. GGPoker announced that the tournament would resume on March 2. At the time of the interruption, approximately 20,000 players were still in contention. Each player was able to resume with their previous chip stack and was also refunded the $12 fee as compensation.

Another Technical Issue on Day 2

The continuation of Day 1 proceeded without any problems. However, on Day 2, March 3, yet another technical issue arose. This time, players encountered table management errors: some found themselves on heads-up or three-handed tables, while others played full-ring games.

GGPoker paused the tournament to address the issue, then briefly restarted it, but was unable to resolve the problem in real time. Ultimately, they decided to cancel the tournament.

GGPoker on X (formerly Twitter): "After encountering further issues, the unfortunate decision has been made to cancel the tournament. We understand the inconveniences for players throughout, and we sincerely apologize.Players will be issued refunds as per game cancellation policy. https://t.co/sCuuT9yrM2 https://t.co/TxzaZRqKRj / X"

After encountering further issues, the unfortunate decision has been made to cancel the tournament. We understand the inconveniences for players throughout, and we sincerely apologize.Players will be issued refunds as per game cancellation policy. https://t.co/sCuuT9yrM2 https://t.co/TxzaZRqKRj

Tournament Cancellation Raises Overlay and Payout Concerns

At the time of cancellation, the tournament still had an overlay of approximately $100,000. This led some players to speculate whether GGPoker had deliberately caused the issue to cancel the tournament and avoid the overlay. On the other hand, for GGPoker, a $100,000 overlay is negligible for a high-profile anniversary event. The market-leading site has previously covered overlays amounting to millions of dollars in similar tournaments.

GGPoker has yet to clarify how players will be compensated. If they follow their standard policy, given that the tournament was still in its late registration phase and the guarantee was not met, 50% of the collected (not guaranteed) prize pool will be evenly distributed among the remaining players, while the other 50% will be allocated based on chip stacks.