We now know that PokerStars will not be running its well-known COOP tournament series in the United States this year, but that does not mean that the operator will not be holding any tournament series at all for its American players.
PokerStars has confirmed to us that they are planning to run an entirely brand new series that is expected to take place in late November.
The tentative schedule that PokerStars has shared indicates that the upcoming US series is planned to run from November 21 through December 1. At this point, what that new series will actually be is not yet known, with the operator stating that it will be sharing more concrete details in the coming days.
During the same time period last year, PokerStars ran its usual Fall Fest Series, which typically takes place in the timeframe of late November into early December.
Fall Fest Series or Something Else?
It is certainly possible that the Fall Fest Series could make a return again this year. However, the way PokerStars has worded it, they have indicated that it will be a new series, so it could very well be something entirely different. It is also possible that PokerStars is deliberately waiting for the long-anticipated merger of the Pennsylvania online poker player pool and/or the official integration with FanDuel (potentially resulting in the launch of a FanDuel Poker network) to be finalized, and then will use this upcoming series as an opportunity to celebrate the launch of the new tri-state shared liquidity network.
That type of move would not be out of the ordinary, as PokerStars has often chosen to run a brand new tournament series whenever it has marked an important milestone, whether it has been a merger or an anniversary. For example, when the Michigan and New Jersey player pools were combined, the operator launched the PSPC Online Series, timed to coincide with PokerStars’ PSPC live event in 2023.
The same kind of thing happened years ago when the operator merged its Southern European player pools.
Of course, there is also the possibility that no such Pennsylvania merger or FanDuel integration happens before November, in which case PokerStars US could simply decide to run two separate series, one tailored for the Michigan–New Jersey combined player pool and another one exclusively for Pennsylvania players.
Pokerfuse reached out to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to try to obtain information on whether PokerStars is actively pursuing the merger of Pennsylvania into the MI–NJ shared pool, but the regulator declined to offer any comment on the matter.
Regardless of whether that happens or not, at this stage we can only speculate. What we do know for certain is that PokerStars US will indeed be running a tournament series in late November, even if it is not COOP. Historically, the Fall Fest series has always been a smaller-scale festival compared to the larger COOP series, so it would be reasonable to expect guarantees in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million for the shared liquidity network, and somewhere around $750,000 for a Pennsylvania-only festival (assuming they don’t merge).
The series is unlikely to be a very lengthy one either, as last year’s Fall Fest featured 45 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from as low as $5 up to $1,000. A similar structure could easily be repeated this time.
In both the Michigan–New Jersey and Pennsylvania versions of Fall Fest last year, PokerStars promised $100,000 guaranteed prize pools for their respective Main Events, each with a $200 buy-in, so that format could return as well.
If Fall Fest does come back, players should also expect to see several holiday-themed tournaments included on the schedule.
COOP on Pause
It is worth pointing out that while COOP is not running in the US market this year, PokerStars has been running COOP in Ontario. When explaining the absence of COOP in the US, PokerStars stated that “recent changes in the online gaming landscape mean that our platform requires some upgrades before we can deliver the fair, competitive, and exciting COOP experience that our players deserve.”
The company emphasized that this was only a “pause, not a stop,” and added that preparations are underway for a relaunch in 2026 that will be “bigger and better.”
The exact meaning behind the “platform upgrades” reference has not been clarified by PokerStars. On the surface, it could very well relate to the long-awaited integration of Pennsylvania into the existing PokerStars shared liquidity network with Michigan and New Jersey.
Another theory, one we have often speculated about, is that PokerStars’ US operations could be preparing for some level of integration with its sister brand FanDuel.
Whatever the case may be, we should know more in the near future.
For the time being, players can gear up for PokerStars US’s next series running from November 21 through December 1.
Busy Fall for Other US Operators
Meanwhile, other US operators are already in the midst of, or preparing for, their own major fall online tournament festivals. BetMGM Poker is running its Online Championships featuring $3 million guaranteed prize pools spread across 70 tournaments, including 26 trophy events.
WSOP Online is currently holding its monthly Online Circuit series with $1.6 million in guarantees and will be running both an online bracelet festival and its Online Championships as well.
In addition, newcomer BetRivers Poker is preparing to launch its very first-ever Championship Series, taking place from September 21 through October 5, which will feature $500,000 in total guarantees spread across 112 tournaments.
