PokerStars USA is back with another series in all three markets it operates in: Summer Stacks.
Action got underway this past weekend, and the events on PokerStars PA managed to break guarantees overall on the opening days. However, PS Michigan and PokerStars NJ both missed the target, with players enjoying a few spots of value.
- Available in all three states: Running in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania
- Bankroll-friendly events: all buy-ins under $100
- Big prizes up for grabs:$500,000 guaranteed in NJ and $1 million guaranteed in PA and MI!
Summer Stacks began on June 12, and runs for 17 days with matching games across the three states PokerStars US operates in.
While player pools are distinct between the three states, all three have a very similar schedule, aimed at more casual players.
In contrast to the high-buy-in SCOOP and COOP festivals, the biggest game in the Summer Stacks is $100. There is at least $1 million guaranteed in both Michigan and Pennsylvania, and a bit more than $500,000 on offer in New Jersey.
PokerStars USA Summer Stacks Festival
| Gtd | Main Event | Avg Buy-in | Non Hold’em Events | PKO Events | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PokerStars PA | $1,045,000 | $100,000 | $40 | 11 | 16 |
| PokerStars MI | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $42 | 11 | 16 |
| PokerStars NJ | $528,000 | $50,000 | $42 | 4 | 24 |
With the first weekend of action complete, the picture looks pretty good across the board. While PokerStars missed the guarantee in two of three states on the first weekend, neither missed by more than 5% of the total guarantee.
PokerStars Pennsylvania, on the other hand, collected more than 20% more than its posted guarantee.
New Jersey
The first weekend of action in New Jersey’s Summer Stacks was not a huge success, but it was also far from a failure. More than 2,500 entries were recorded over the 15 events, and in the end, the games were only $3,607 off the $86,000 total guarantees.
PokerStars is in a fight for market share in New Jersey online poker. The operator is in the unusual position of underdog in the NJ market, with the smallest share of the three main operators in terms of revenue.
WSOP NJ, running on 888poker NJ software with Caesars licensing, has had a near unassailable lead for a while in the Garden State, but in late 2020 BetMGM came out of nowhere to take over second place.
That left PokerStars on the bottom of the pile, and they are surely looking for a way to recapture some market share with the Summer Stacks. While the first weekend missed the total guarantees by a small amount, the difference was less than 5% and there were no huge overlays.
The biggest miss came in the second event of the series, when just a bit more than $8,300 was collected for a $12,000 guarantee. On the other end of the scale, Event 14 guaranteed $4,000 and collected well over $6,300.
Summer Stacks NJ First Weekend Results
| Buy-In | Guarantee | Collected | Difference | Entries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Stacks 01 | $20 | $3,500 | $3,221 | -$279 | 177 |
| Summer Stacks 02 | $100 | $12,000 | $8,354 | -$3,646 | 91 |
| Summer Stacks 03 | $30 | $6,000 | $4,477 | -$1,523 | 164 |
| Summer Stacks 04 | $5 | $1,000 | $905 | -$95 | 199 |
| Summer Stacks 05 | $50 | $6,500 | $4,004 | -$2,496 | 88 |
| Summer Stacks 06 | $20 | $1,500 | $2,075 | $575 | 114 |
| Summer Stacks 07 | $30 | $3,000 | $3,713 | $713 | 136 |
| Summer Stacks 08 | $100 | $6,500 | $8,446 | $1,946 | 92 |
| Summer Stacks 09 | $30 | $4,500 | $4,696 | $196 | 172 |
| Summer Stacks 10 | $10 | $2,500 | $2,239 | -$261 | 246 |
| Summer Stacks 11 | $100 | $25,000 | $22,950 | -$2,050 | 250 |
| Summer Stacks 12 | $25 | $6,500 | $6,893 | $393 | 303 |
| Summer Stacks 13 | $5 | $1,500 | $1,174 | -$326 | 258 |
| Summer Stacks 14 | $50 | $4,000 | $6,370 | $2,370 | 140 |
| Summer Stacks 15 | $30 | $2,000 | $2,876 | $876 | 102 |
| $86,000 | $82,393 | -$3,607 | 2532 |
Michigan
Of the three markets running Summer Stacks series, PS Michigan actually fared the worst over the first weekend.
There was $173,500 total guaranteed across the 15 events, and 4,639 entries were posted, but that was still a bit short with just $166,629 in entry fees collected.
The picture in Michigan online poker for PokerStars has been rosy since it launched in late January. It was first out of the gate in the new market and enjoyed a monopoly for more than a month.
During that time it ran a massively successful MICOOP series, which saw guarantees doubled. Even after its first competitor, BetMGM Poker MI, entered the market in late March, PokerStars’ dominance continued.
While this series has not been as big of a success as past series for the operator in Michigan, the first weekend had decent results. Seven tournaments broke their guarantee by at least a small amount, and the overall loss was less than 4% of the total guaranteed.
Summer Stacks MI First Weekend Results
| Buy-In | Guarantee | Collected | Difference | Entries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Stacks 01 | $10 | $3,500 | $5,060 | $1,560 | 556 |
| Summer Stacks 02 | $100 | $30,000 | $26,347 | -$3,653 | 287 |
| Summer Stacks 03 | $30 | $8,000 | $8,982 | $982 | 329 |
| Summer Stacks 04 | $50 | $15,000 | $13,923 | -$1,077 | 306 |
| Summer Stacks 05 | $5 | $1,000 | $1,115 | $115 | 245 |
| Summer Stacks 06 | $50 | $8,500 | $10,101 | $1,601 | 222 |
| Summer Stacks 07 | $10 | $1,000 | $1,028 | $28 | 113 |
| Summer Stacks 08 | $50 | $3,500 | $2,457 | -$1,043 | 54 |
| Summer Stacks 09 | $10 | $3,000 | $2,839 | -$161 | 312 |
| Summer Stacks 10 | $100 | $60,000 | $52,234 | -$7,766 | 569 |
| Summer Stacks 11 | $30 | $10,000 | $13,459 | $3,459 | 493 |
| Summer Stacks 12 | $5 | $3,500 | $3,008 | -$492 | 661 |
| Summer Stacks 13 | $50 | $10,000 | $10,329 | $329 | 227 |
| Summer Stacks 14 | $100 | $12,500 | $12,118 | -$382 | 132 |
| Summer Stacks 15 | $30 | $4,000 | $3,631 | -$369 | 133 |
| $173,500 | $166,629 | -$6,871 | 4639 |
Pennsylvania
The opening weekend in Pennsylvania went very well for PokerStars PA with almost 6,000 entries in the 15 events. More importantly, that meant more than $216,000 collected in total, well above the $178,000 guaranteed.
It only missed the guarantee in two events, both of which were on Sunday. Neither miss was more than $250 however, and two other events crushed their guarantees by more than 50%.
PokerStars has a solid history in PA online poker since late 2019, and was the only operator in the space for more than a year. Only recently did BetMGM and Borgata jump into the market to try and compete with sister skins, but so far the new operator has mostly failed to make a significant impact.
The success of Summer Stacks in PA shows a clear hunger for mid-stakes poker in the state. Even the biggest games broke guarantees with solid turnout, and all the $10 games crushed guarantees by at least 20%. The first game, a $10 buy-in with $4,000 guaranteed collected almost 50% extra in prizes on the back of 658 entries.
Summer Stacks PA First Weekend Results
| Buy-In | Guarantee | Collected | Difference | Entries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Stacks 01 | $10 | $4,000 | $5,988 | $1,988 | 658 |
| Summer Stacks 02 | $100 | $30,000 | $31,855 | $1,855 | 347 |
| Summer Stacks 03 | $30 | $10,000 | $15,152 | $5,152 | 555 |
| Summer Stacks 04 | $50 | $12,500 | $15,243 | $2,743 | 335 |
| Summer Stacks 05 | $5 | $1,000 | $1,329 | $329 | 292 |
| Summer Stacks 06 | $50 | $8,000 | $10,374 | $2,374 | 228 |
| Summer Stacks 07 | $10 | $1,000 | $1,256 | $256 | 138 |
| Summer Stacks 08 | $50 | $3,500 | $3,868 | $368 | 85 |
| Summer Stacks 09 | $10 | $3,000 | $3,658 | $658 | 402 |
| Summer Stacks 10 | $100 | $60,000 | $70,135 | $10,135 | 764 |
| Summer Stacks 11 | $25 | $10,000 | $16,926 | $6,926 | 744 |
| Summer Stacks 12 | $5 | $3,500 | $3,285 | -$215 | 722 |
| Summer Stacks 13 | $50 | $12,500 | $16,653 | $4,153 | 366 |
| Summer Stacks 14 | $100 | $15,000 | $16,616 | $1,616 | 181 |
| Summer Stacks 15 | $30 | $4,000 | $3,822 | -$178 | 140 |
| $178,000 | $216,158 | $38,158 | 5957 |
Outlook is Good
Even in the two states where PokerStars missed guarantees on the first weekend, the news wasn’t all bad. It didn’t actually lose money on the series in either state.
In Michigan, it collected more than $15,000 in fees over the weekend, while in New Jersey, players paid $7,667 to play. That means both states made at least a small profit, with NJ making just over $4,000 more than it paid out in overlay and MI with $8,740 in profit.
In PA, it was nearly all gravy. There was about $400 in overlay to pay out on two different events, but with more than $20,000 collected in fees, the overlay was not that hard to pay.
PokerStars will surely be looking for MI and NJ to improve somewhat, but in general, the Summer Stacks seems to be a success across the board. Summer Stacks series continue through June 28 on PokerStars PA, PokerStars MI and PokerStars NJ.
- Available in all three states: Running in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania
- Bankroll-friendly events: all buy-ins under $100
- Big prizes up for grabs:$500,000 guaranteed in NJ and $1 million guaranteed in PA and MI!
