Market leader PokerStars has revealed the details of one of its most-iconic online poker tournament series, the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), for 2021.
The festival includes a new record-setting $100 million in prize money. That is up a staggering $15 million compared to the initial schedule last year. However, this was later bumped up to $135 million when the festival was expanded.
In the 20th year of operation, an enormous milestone will be reached. Thanks to the already established guarantees, more than $1 billion in prize money awarded during SCOOP festivals will be surpassed.
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The first SCOOP 2021 events take place on April 4, far earlier than last year’s edition. The series is currently scheduled to run for 23 days until April 28.
“SCOOP is a series that our community really look forward to and plan for, so we’re excited to share the full schedule, a huge guarantee, and all of the promotions and giveaways we are holding to reward our players,” said Severin Rasset, Managing Director & Commercial Officer, Poker, Product, and Innovation.
Key Information for SCOOP 2021
- Takes place April 04 — April 28
- $100 million in guaranteed prize money
- 102 events split into three tiers for a total of 306 online poker tournaments
- Six Main Events with combined guarantees of $15 million
- Special SCOOP Spin & Gos with buy-ins of $4 and $22 will award SCOOP tickets
- SCOOP Ticket Machine to award 1.5 million from March 28
- SCOOP Fast Track gives players the chance to qualify for as little as $1 for the SCOOP Main Event-H
- Player of the Series Leaderboard awards SCOOP tickets and $100,000 in cash prizes
What to Expect from SCOOP 2021?
With the full schedule announced and uploaded into the poker client one and a half weeks prior to the start, SCOOP 2021 will once again feature an expanded schedule. It consists of 102 events into three different buy-in categories— Low, Medium, and High. This makes a total of 306 tournaments.
Last year’s schedule initially had just 240 tournaments. However, due to the huge influx of players at the time due to the coronavirus, the schedule was expanded multiple times, ultimately extending to 372 tournaments and lasting an entire month.
SCOOP 2021 Main Events to Feature Combined Guarantees of $15 Million
The operator has unveiled the buy-ins and guarantees for the six Main Events, which feature combined guarantees of more than $15 million. One year ago, PokerStars hosted three Main Events with $13 million in guarantees.
The Low tier Main Event with a buy-in of $109 will guarantee $3 million, it equals the same amount from last year; the Medium tier $1,050 buy-in will guarantee $5 million, also repeating the amount of the 2020 edition; and the High tier $10,300 buy-in will also retain the same trademark $5 million guarantee as last year.
However, three new Pot Limit Omaha 6-Max Main Events have been added to the schedule with $2.35 million in guarantees.
The Low tier PLO Main Event comes with a price tag of $109 and a guarantee of $350,000; the Medium tier PLO Main Event costs $1,050 to enter and pays out at least $750,000 in prize money; and the High tier PLO Main Event boasts a price tag of $10,300 and will guarantee $1.25 million.
In total, the six Main Events will represent 15% of the overall series guarantee.
SCOOP 2021 Promotions
More than $1.6 million in tickets and giveaways will be awarded by the operator for the SCOOP 2021, continued the path of increased marketing efforts from the operator.
“We’ve ensured that players of all levels have a way in to this well-loved series and have added lots of extra value and more ways to win,” Rasset added in the press release.
“And to give players a break from a busy online series schedule and for those competing in the SCOOP Player of the Series race, we will not run official SCOOP events on Fridays. Come along for the ride, have fun and play responsibly,”
Leaderboards
The leaderboards return for the 2021 edition and will award $100,000 in cash prizes. As usual, there are four different leaderboards—one for the Low, Medium, and High tier, as well as the SCOOP Player of the Series.
The winner of the Low leaderboard will receive $5,000 in prizes and a SCOOP trophy. For the Medium leaderboard, the top prize listed is $10,000, and the winner of the High leaderboard takes home $15,000 in cash.
Furthermore, the player that finishes atop the overall leaderboard will receive $25,000 as well as the coveted SCOOP Trophy. It is an increase of $5,000 compared to the previous edition.
SCOOP Ticket Machine
A massive $1.5 million in SCOOP tickets will be given away in the SCOOP Ticket Machine. Anyone who enters SCOOP tournaments between April 4 and April 27 will gain entry to daily draws for their chance to win tickets. Players have to opt-in for this promotion in the Challenges Window.
Players receive one entry max for each day and can obtain three entries in total – one for each of the three tiers. Three different draws will take place to determine the winners of the SCOOP tickets in the Low, Medium, and High tier.
SCOOP Fast Track
Poker enthusiasts from all over the world can take a shot at qualifying for the $5,000,000 guaranteed Main Event-H for as little as $1 in Fast Track. There are four steps in total and the first two are Sit & Go Tournament with 12 and 21 participants respectively.
Step 3 is a $109 MTT Tournament and the same ticket can also be used to enter the SCOOP Main Event-L.
Step 4 concludes the Fast Track with a $1,050 MTT Tournament. The ticket can likewise be used to participate in the SCOOP Main Event-M.
Special SCOOP Spin & Gos
PokerStars will offer two Special SCOOP Spin & Gos with buy-ins of $4 and $22 to provide further ways for players to qualify for the SCOOP events. These tournaments are awarding SCOOP entries, tickets, or a cash prize worth two times the buy-in.
These special Spin & Gold editions run on top of the regular satellite and qualifier schedule.
History of PokerStars’ SCOOP Series
PokerStars’ Spring Championship series has long been a fixture of the annual online poker calendar. The upcoming SCOOP 2021 will be the thirteenth edition as the first edition of SCOOP was held back in 2009.
It has grown consistently over the years, and recently this growth has excellerated. After guarantees of $40 million each from 2013 to 2016, the guarantees have grown by $5 to $10 million every year since.
Last year’s record-breaking SCOOP 2020 initially featured more than 80 events with combined guarantees of $85 million in prizes. However, the schedule was expanded and set the bar incredibly high. Ultimately, it ended up paying over $185 million—the far biggest payout for a single series in the online poker industry.
The newest edition will once again be among the biggest online poker festivals of all time. Included in the schedule are 23 events with a guarantee of $1 million or higher. SCOOP 2021 runs from April 4 to 28.
