The second weekend of play in PokerStars USA Summer Stacks series has come to an end with only one of three markets showing a profit on the weekend—*meaning players across all three states enjoyed some extra significant value.*
Summer Stacks is a recreational-focused series running across the PokerStars USA ecosystem, with similar schedules running in all three US markets: PS PA, PS MI, and PS NJ.
The series kicked off last weekend with lower buy-ins than are typically seen in other PokerStars series, appealing to more casual players. While the series is running in all three markets, the player pools are still segregated by state, meaning results are also specific to each state.
- 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!
Like the first weekend, PokerStars Pennsylvania came out as the best performer, collecting more than the guarantees.
PS Michigan and PS New Jersey, however, proved to be more value for players than the operator. Both states missed guarantees over the weekend, and neither was able to make up the shortfall through fees.
Summer Stacks Overview Comparison Second Weekend
| Total Guarantee | Total Collected | Difference | Total Entries | Avg Buy-In | Total Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MI | $157,500 | $136,779 | -$20,721 | 3782 | $38 | $12,836 |
| NJ | $99,500 | $89,097 | -$10,404 | 2872 | $38 | $6,754 |
| PA | $212,000 | $218,307 | $6,307 | 5995 | $37 | $15,970 |
Summer Series in Michigan
During the first weekend of action, PS Michigan managed to bank a small profit, despite missing the guarantees over the weekend. Once the collected fees were accounted for, the first weekend of the Michigan series made a profit of $8,740.
In the second weekend, the miss was wider. Overall guarantees were short by more than $20,000, with only $12,836 collected in fees. That left a shortfall of more than $7,800 in total over 20 games on the weekend.
Summer Stacks Weekend Comparison Michigan
| Gtd | Collected | Difference | Entries | Gty % | Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend 1 | $173,500 | $166,629 | -$6,871 | 4639 | 96.04% | $15,611 |
| Weekend 2 | $157,500 | $136,779 | -$20,721 | 3782 | 86.84% | $12,836 |
Of those 20 games, only six managed to break the guarantee. Almost 3,800 players came out for the games, but that was not enough to end it in the black.
The biggest bright spots for the weekend came on Friday with event 38 and 39. The $15,000 guaranteed event 38 posted the biggest boost on guarantee by dollar value, with $3,176 extra in the pot, but the $3,000 guaranteed Event 39 saw whopping 59.55% increase over the guarantee with $4,787 in total prizes.
The biggest game on Sunday, the $60,000 Sunday Special (Event 50), was also the biggest disappointment from a guarantee perspective (and the best for players looking to maximize value playing events with overlays). When the dust settled there was barely $52,000 collected for it, leaving it almost $8,000 short.
Summer Stacks Second Weekend Results – MI
| Buy-In | Guarantee | Collected | Difference | Entries | Gty % | Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Stacks 36 | $10 | $2,500 | $3,039 | $539 | 334 | 21.58% | $301 |
| Summer Stacks 37 | $50 | $10,000 | $8,918 | -$1,082 | 196 | -10.82% | $882 |
| Summer Stacks 38 | $100 | $15,000 | $18,176 | $3,176 | 198 | 21.18% | $1,624 |
| Summer Stacks 39 | $20 | $3,000 | $4,787 | $1,787 | 263 | 59.55% | $473 |
| Summer Stacks 40 | $5 | $1,000 | $1,255 | $255 | 267 | 25.49% | $80 |
| Summer Stacks 41 | $10 | $2,500 | $2,484 | -$16 | 273 | -0.63% | $246 |
| Summer Stacks 42 | $20 | $5,000 | $3,531 | -$1,469 | 194 | -29.38% | $349 |
| Summer Stacks 43 | $50 | $10,000 | $9,646 | -$354 | 212 | -3.54% | $954 |
| Summer Stacks 44 | $100 | $20,000 | $20,196 | $196 | 220 | 0.98% | $1,804 |
| Summer Stacks 45 | $30 | $10,000 | $10,920 | $920 | 400 | 9.20% | $1,080 |
| Summer Stacks 46 | $30 | $4,000 | $2,184 | -$1,816 | 80 | -45.40% | $216 |
| Summer Stacks 47 | $10 | $2,000 | $1,074 | -$926 | 118 | -46.31% | $106 |
| Summer Stacks 48 | $50 | $3,500 | $1,957 | -$1,544 | 43 | -44.10% | $194 |
| Summer Stacks 49 | $10 | $3,000 | $2,020 | -$980 | 222 | -32.66% | $200 |
| Summer Stacks 50 | $100 | $60,000 | $52,051 | -$7,949 | 567 | -13.25% | $4,649 |
| Summer Stacks 51 | $30 | $15,000 | $14,060 | -$941 | 515 | -6.27% | $1,391 |
| Summer Stacks 52 | $5 | $3,500 | $2,689 | -$811 | 591 | -23.17% | $266 |
| Summer Stacks 53 | $30 | $3,500 | $2,730 | -$770 | 100 | -22.00% | $270 |
| Summer Stacks 54 | $50 | $8,000 | $5,051 | -$2,950 | 111 | -36.87% | $500 |
| Summer Stacks 55 | $50 | $7,500 | $6,188 | -$1,312 | 136 | -17.49% | $612 |
| $157,500 | $136,779 | -$20,721 | 3782 | 86.84% | $12,836 |
Summer Series in New Jersey
The picture on PS New Jersey was not much brighter than Michigan. Like Michigan, New Jersey was able to book a small profit in the first weekend, despite missing guarantee, but the second weekend was a loss all around. It missed the guarantees by more than $10,000, and collected only $6,754 in fees on 2872 entries.
Summer Stacks Weekend Comparison New Jersey
| Gtd | Collected | Difference | Entries | Gty % | Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend 1 | $86,000 | $82,393 | -$3,607 | $2,532 | -4.19% | $7,667 |
| Weekend 2 | $99,500 | $89,097 | -$10,404 | $2,872 | -10.46% | $6,754 |
A total of 7 out of 20 games across the weekend managed to exceed guarantees in New Jersey. The best result of the weekend came on Friday night in Event 37 with more than $1,000 extra in the middle to play for.
The biggest miss of the weekend for the Garden state came in Event 51, a $100 buy-in with $25,000 guaranteed. In the end, only $22,216 was collected, leaving it more than 10% short.
Event 54 also looked to be particularly small, with just six entries in total for a massive overlay on the $4,000 prize pool, but it seems likely that represents a technical or configuration glitch as opposed to a real result—it appears that late registration almost immediately closed when one player was knocked out, preventing more players jumping into the value-rich event.
Those five remaining players enjoyed over $3700 in overlay value, almost 90% of the guarantee!
Summer Stacks Second Weekend Results — NJ
| Buy-In | Guarantee | Collected | Difference | Entries | Gty % | Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Stacks 36 | $100 | $8,000 | $7,160 | -$840 | 78 | -10.50% | $640 |
| Summer Stacks 37 | $25 | $3,500 | $4,505 | $1,005 | 198 | 28.70% | $446 |
| Summer Stacks 38 | $50 | $4,000 | $4,368 | $368 | 96 | 9.20% | $432 |
| Summer Stacks 39 | $20 | $1,500 | $801 | -$699 | 88 | -46.61% | $959 |
| Summer Stacks 40 | $5 | $500 | $637 | $137 | 140 | 27.40% | $63 |
| Summer Stacks 41 | $10 | $2,000 | $1,775 | -$226 | 195 | -11.28% | $176 |
| Summer Stacks 42 | $20 | $2,500 | $3,294 | $794 | 181 | 31.77% | $326 |
| Summer Stacks 43 | $50 | $5,000 | $4,732 | -$268 | 104 | -5.36% | $468 |
| Summer Stacks 44 | $100 | $12,500 | $12,209 | -$291 | 133 | -2.32% | $1,091 |
| Summer Stacks 45 | $30 | $6,500 | $5,160 | -$1,340 | 189 | -20.62% | $510 |
| Summer Stacks 46 | $10 | $2,000 | $1,856 | -$144 | 204 | -7.18% | $184 |
| Summer Stacks 47 | $10 | $500 | $501 | $1 | 55 | 0.10% | $50 |
| Summer Stacks 48 | $10 | $1,500 | $1,556 | $56 | 171 | 3.74% | $154 |
| Summer Stacks 49 | $50 | $3,500 | $2,639 | -$861 | 58 | -24.60% | $261 |
| Summer Stacks 50 | $50 | $5,000 | $4,323 | -$678 | 95 | -13.55% | $428 |
| Summer Stacks 51 | $100 | $25,000 | $22,216 | -$2,784 | 242 | -11.14% | $1,984 |
| Summer Stacks 52 | $30 | $7,500 | $6,416 | -$1,085 | 235 | -14.46% | $635 |
| Summer Stacks 53 | $10 | $3,000 | $2,675 | -$325 | 294 | -10.82% | $265 |
| Summer Stacks 54 | $50 | $4,000 | $273 | -$3,727 | 6 | -93.18% | $27 |
| Summer Stacks 55 | $20 | $1,500 | $2,002 | $502 | 110 | 33.47% | $198 |
| $99,500 | $89,097 | -$10,404 | 2872 | -10.46% | $6,754 |
Summer Series in Pennsylvania
PokerStars Pennsylvania was the bright spot on the second weekend, as it was on the first as well. The results were not quite as solid this past weekend as the first, when it broke guarantees by almost $40,000. This past weekend the games were only $6,307 above the guarantees, but they were still in the black.
Summer Stacks Weekend Comparison Pennsylvania
| Gtd | Collected | Difference | Entries | Gty % | Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend 1 | $178,000 | $216,158 | $38,158 | $5,957 | 21.44% | $20,242 |
| Weekend 2 | $212,000 | $218,307 | $6,307 | $5,995 | 2.98% | $15,970 |
It was an even split in PA between hitting and missing the guarantee, with 10 games on each side of the fence. As with NJ and MI, the best result came on Friday night in PA. The $100 buy-in $20,000 guaranteed Event 38 collected more than $25,000 on the back of 278 entries.
On the other end of the scale, the big game on Sunday in PA fell short as it did in other states. The $100 buy-in, $65,000 guaranteed Event 50 (Sunday Special) barely managed to put $62,000 into the pot for a miss of almost $3,000.
The Summer Stacks is running on PokerStars PA, PokerStars NJ, and PokerStars MI for another week. The final games run on June 28, with the Main Events running as two-day events starting on June 27.
It will be interesting to see how the big games fare next weekend, with $100,000 guaranteed in MI and PA, and $50,000 in NJ. Given that all three states had trouble meeting smaller guarantees on similar events this past weekend, the Main Events next weekend will be a real test.
Summer Stacks Second Weekend Results — PA
| Buy-In | Guarantee | Collected | Difference | Entries | Gty % | Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Stacks 36 | $10 | $3,000 | $2,712 | -$288 | 298 | -9.61% | $268 |
| Summer Stacks 37 | $50 | $10,000 | $13,423 | $3,423 | 295 | 34.23% | $1,328 |
| Summer Stacks 38 | $100 | $20,000 | $25,520 | $5,520 | 278 | 27.60% | $2,280 |
| Summer Stacks 39 | $20 | $4,000 | $5,060 | $1,060 | 278 | 26.49% | $500 |
| Summer Stacks 40 | $5 | $1,000 | $1,199 | $199 | 255 | 19.85% | $77 |
| Summer Stacks 41 | $10 | $3,000 | $2,566 | -$434 | 282 | -14.46% | $254 |
| Summer Stacks 42 | $20 | $5,000 | $4,495 | -$505 | 247 | -10.09% | $445 |
| Summer Stacks 43 | $50 | $12,500 | $12,604 | $104 | 277 | 0.83% | $1,247 |
| Summer Stacks 44 | $100 | $30,000 | $30,019 | $19 | 327 | 0.06% | $2,681 |
| Summer Stacks 45 | $30 | $10,000 | $11,521 | $1,521 | 422 | 15.21% | $1,139 |
| Summer Stacks 46 | $30 | $4,000 | $2,948 | -$1,052 | 108 | -26.29% | $292 |
| Summer Stacks 47 | $10 | $1,500 | $1,256 | -$244 | 138 | -16.28% | $124 |
| Summer Stacks 48 | $50 | $5,000 | $2,867 | -$2,134 | 63 | -42.67% | $284 |
| Summer Stacks 49 | $10 | $3,000 | $2,357 | -$643 | 259 | -21.44% | $233 |
| Summer Stacks 50 | $100 | $65,000 | $62,057 | -$2,943 | 676 | -4.53% | $5,543 |
| Summer Stacks 51 | $30 | $15,000 | $15,261 | $261 | 559 | 1.74% | $1,509 |
| Summer Stacks 52 | $5 | $3,500 | $2,889 | -$611 | 635 | -17.45% | $286 |
| Summer Stacks 53 | $30 | $3,500 | $2,594 | -$907 | 95 | -25.90% | $257 |
| Summer Stacks 54 | $20 | $3,000 | $3,949 | $949 | 217 | 31.65% | $391 |
| Summer Stacks 55 | $50 | $10,000 | $13,013 | $3,013 | 286 | 30.13% | $1,287 |
| $212,000 | $218,307 | $6,307 | 5995 | 2.98% | $15,970 |
- 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!
