It’s Back: 888Poker’s $500k Micro-Stakes ChampionChip Games

With an overall guarantee of $500k, 888poker is back with its ever-popular Micro-Stakes ChampionChip Games! This series kicked off October 22, and will run until October 31, giving players 10 days to play their way to the top. However, this year, the brand introduces something new in the series, as the popular Mystery Bounty format appears.

How The Games Originated

In response to PokerStars’ MicroMillions and to celebrate the 2016 Olympic Games, 888poker introduced the ChampionChip Games in 2016. In honor of the Olympic Games, the brand named its various tournaments after Olympic sports like Judo, Karate, Badminton, Archery, and Fencing, among others.

This tradition has continued, and the event became an annual series due to its popularity. Since its debut event, this series has run each year, except for 2020, when it took a hiatus. However, it returned in 2021, bigger and better than ever.

2022 Games

In 2022, the event ran from the end of August to the beginning of September, with a prize pool of $506.2k. With 31 events, it had an average guarantee of around $16.3k, but almost half the scheduled events fell short of their guarantees and created small overlays.

2023 ChampionChip Games

This year, the event takes place in October, the latest it has ever taken place. The overall guarantee is slightly lower than last year at around $502.5k, but it has 57 scheduled events. These events bump the average down to $8.8k, about half of what it was the previous year.

The Format

While the average guarantee might be less, the series makes up for it by introducing the popular Mystery Bounty in the tournament for the first time. The Mystery Bounty is a progressive knockout tournament with a random bounty amount when you knock someone out.

This can mean you get massive bounties as the tournament proceeds, and it has become trendy among recreational players. Of the 57 events in this tournament, 31 will be in the Mystery Bounty Format, leaving players excited for the series.

Markets

All 888poker markets, except for New Jersey, will be able to participate in this tournament. Ontario players will have 23 events offering a guaranteed prize pool of C$61,800, while the Iberian market (Spain and Portugal) promises €106k over 21 events. Meanwhile, the Italian market has 23 events with a guarantee of €61,800.

Main Event

The $60 buy-in Main Event guarantees $200k and supports multiple Day 1 flights. It has the highest buy-ins; all other events have buy-ins ranging from $3.30 to $25. The average buy-in for this series is $14.35, making it ideal for recreational players.

Enjoy the Popular Mystery Bounty Format

With the popularity of the Mystery Bounty format growing among recreational players, this ChampionChip Games is the ideal tournament for them. It’s a more accessible tournament than the leading poker brands, like GGPoker and PokerStars, whose series generally reach guarantees in the millions and attract professional players. With low buy-ins, multiple Day 1s, and a $200k Main Event, many players in 888poker markets have a lot of events to look forward to.