In Focus: Spring Tournament Series in the Dot-Com Market In Focus: Spring Tournament Series in the Dot-Com Market
Key Takeaways
  • Spring always marks a busy time for online poker operators.
  • Coupled with the worldwide lockdowns, schedules are extended and guarantees have jumped.
  • PokerStars and Unibet set new records for their tournament series.
  • Partypoker has extended Powerfest and has a string of other series lined up.
  • GGPoker will follow up GGS with WSOPC Online.

Over $200 million is guaranteed across prize pools in the dot-com market this spring, with online poker operators running bumper tournament series.

Spring always marks a busy time for online poker operators. Coupled with the worldwide lockdowns due to Coronavirus, operators are extending schedules and bumping up guarantees to create some of their biggest series yet.

Last year the combined offering from the top four operators in spring created prize pools of over $160 million. This year, series have been extended and enlarged, and for the first time many live events are also offered online. It makes for an unprecedented six weeks of online poker.

PokerStars is leading the charge with their flagship Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), guaranteeing $85 million. It is the largest prize pool for a single online tournament series in history.

Partypoker is nipping at its heels, having extended its Powerfest well beyond the usual schedule. Guarantees have risen from $20 million to over $60 million. It has also queued up a WPT Online event with $15 million in prize money to follow immediately after.

GGPoker’s massive $50 million Good Games Series continues this week, and it will be followed up soon with the WSOP Online Circuit Series. Unibet is running their biggest series in its history, with €1 million guaranteed as part of their eighth edition of the Unibet Online Series. 888poker is back with another XL Inferno.