Earlier this year, Ontario became the newest regulated online poker market, and PokerStars entered the market a couple of months later. The operator hit the ground running, scheduling the first tournament series for the newest player pool, the Ontario Platinum Series (OPS).
The first tournament series in the new Ontario online poker market is complete, with PokerStars Ontario's OPS. With 90 events over 9 days, the OPS guaranteed more than $1 million (all monetary values in this article are $CDN unless otherwise specified) and generated much interest from Ontario online poker players.
More than 23,000 entries competed for big cash prizes and a shot at scoring a coveted Platinum Pass to the second running of the PokerStars’ Player’s Championship (PSPC). PokerStars Ontario put guarantees of just over $1 million on the series, and in the end, it collected a bit more than that across the 90 games.
Two-thirds of the scheduled games broke their guarantees, with two games pulling in more than double the original guarantee. A total of seven games put more than 50% extra into their prize pools, and more than 35 games were at least 20% above the promised pot.
- Excellent tournament schedule
- The best variety of game types
- #1 Rated online poker room in Ontario by pokerfuse.com
PokerStars’ OPS in Detail
With all 90 games in the OPS now complete, the series can only be called a success. While the OPS did not crush the guarantees, by the end of the week, the series at least matched its promised guarantees with a tiny bit of surplus on the back of 23,479 entries.
OPS at a Glance
| Total Games | 90 |
| Beat Guarantee | 60 |
| Missed Guarantee | 30 |
| Total Guarantee | $1,010,100 |
| Total Collected | $1,011,906 |
| Total Prize Pool Awarded | |
| Total Overlays | -$101,816 |
| Total Fees | $88,379 |
| Total Entries | 23,479 |
| More Than 100% Over Guarantee | 2 |
| More Than 50% Over Guarantee | 7 |
| More Than 20% Over Guarantee | 36 |
While the series posted a little more than $100k in missed guarantees across the 30 events that did not find the promised amount, that shortfall was nearly made up by the $88,379 collected in fees across the series. That leaves a bit of a shortfall the operator had to make up for, though the total prize pools ended up just capping the promised guarantees at the start of the series, despite the ~$100k in overlays.
The best result of the entire series — in terms of the ratio of the prize pool to the guarantee — came in the opening event, the $4k guaranteed Ontario Platinum Series 1. With 474 entries, the $20 game piled more than $8,600 into the prize pool by the time registration closed, for 115.67% above the $4k guarantee.
The other big game that more-than-doubled its guarantee was the $1,200 guaranteed Ontario Platinum Series 17. The $5 buy-in saw 557 entries for a total prize pool of more than $2,500.
There were 36 games across the series that posted prize pools at least 20% higher than the guarantee. Two other notable games were Ontario Platinum Series 16, a $50 buy-in that guaranteed $5k and collected more than $8.6k, and Ontario Platinum Series 34, a $10 buy-in guaranteeing $2,500 that collected nearly $4k in prizes.
While OPS 17 posted the second-highest guarantee increase and the second-highest number of entries in the entire series, the Mini Main Event saw the highest number of entries across the whole series with 623. However, with a guarantee of $40k, those entries only managed to collect a bit more than $28k for the prize pool, making it the worst-performing game in the entire series in terms of guarantee percentage.
Ultimately, the first foray into tournament series in the Ontario online poker market for PokerStars Ontario looks to have been a success. While there was a tiny bit of uncovered overlay over the fees collected, the fact that the games still posted total prizes above the original guarantee for the first series in a new market is certainly a success to be celebrated.
With this first success under its belt, PokerStars Ontario will not be resting on its laurels. While no dates have been announced yet, the operator has signaled its intention to run an ONCOOP series this year with $2 million in guarantees so that Ontario poker players will get a lot of value in the coming months.
Below are the full results from the inaugural edition of the Ontario Platinum Series, sorted by total prizes collected.
- Excellent tournament schedule
- The best variety of game types
- #1 Rated online poker room in Ontario by pokerfuse.com
PokerStars ON OPS 2022 Full Results—Sorted by Prize Pool
| Name | Buy-In | Guarantee | Entries | Collected | Diff from Gty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario Platinum Series 74 | $300 | $200,000 | 552 | $154,560 | -23% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 27 | $1,000 | $40,000 | 58 | $55,274 | 38% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 6 | $100 | $60,000 | 492 | $45,166 | -25% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 9 | $500 | $40,000 | 75 | $35,400 | -12% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 60 | $200 | $30,000 | 163 | $30,400 | 1% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 75 | $50 | $40,000 | 623 | $28,347 | -29% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 19 | $100 | $18,000 | 279 | $25,612 | 42% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 84 | $100 | $18,000 | 271 | $24,878 | 38% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 76 | $100 | $25,000 | 222 | $20,380 | -18% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 31 | $200 | $15,000 | 105 | $19,583 | 31% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 33 | $100 | $15,000 | 211 | $19,370 | 29% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 2 | $100 | $15,000 | 209 | $19,186 | 28% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 51 | $100 | $20,000 | 203 | $18,635 | -7% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 41 | $100 | $15,000 | 192 | $17,626 | 18% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 67 | $100 | $15,000 | 181 | $16,616 | 11% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 36 | $75 | $15,000 | 213 | $14,537 | -3% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 70 | $75 | $15,000 | 209 | $14,264 | -5% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 11 | $75 | $18,000 | 206 | $14,060 | -22% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 30 | $75 | $14,000 | 206 | $14,060 | % |
| Ontario Platinum Series 77 | $75 | $18,000 | 202 | $13,787 | -23% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 88 | $75 | $15,000 | 197 | $13,445 | -10% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 64 | $75 | $12,500 | 191 | $13,036 | 4% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 25 | $50 | $10,000 | 280 | $12,740 | 27% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 45 | $75 | $12,500 | 163 | $11,125 | -11% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 23 | $50 | $7,500 | 244 | $11,102 | 48% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 20 | $50 | $8,000 | 224 | $10,192 | 27% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 14 | $50 | $7,500 | 199 | $9,055 | 21% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 7 | $20 | $10,000 | 490 | $8,918 | -11% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 43 | $50 | $8,000 | 195 | $8,873 | 11% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 73 | $50 | $10,000 | 193 | $8,782 | -12% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 57 | $50 | $6,000 | 190 | $8,645 | 44% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 16 | $50 | $5,000 | 190 | $8,645 | 73% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 1 | $20 | $4,000 | 474 | $8,627 | 116% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 4 | $30 | $6,000 | 311 | $8,490 | 42% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 39 | $50 | $7,500 | 184 | $8,372 | 12% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 63 | $50 | $8,000 | 182 | $8,281 | 4% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 79 | $50 | $8,000 | 182 | $8,281 | 4% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 5 | $50 | $8,000 | 180 | $8,190 | 2% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 53 | $50 | $8,000 | 180 | $8,190 | 2% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 89 | $50 | $7,500 | 180 | $8,190 | 9% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 82 | $20 | $6,000 | 429 | $7,808 | 30% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 26 | $30 | $6,000 | 271 | $7,398 | 23% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 54 | $30 | $6,000 | 254 | $6,934 | 16% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 8 | $30 | $8,000 | 250 | $6,825 | -15% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 24 | $30 | $5,000 | 250 | $6,825 | 37% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 69 | $20 | $5,000 | 358 | $6,516 | 30% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 50 | $20 | $6,000 | 355 | $6,461 | 8% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 18 | $20 | $5,000 | 355 | $6,461 | 29% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 80 | $30 | $6,000 | 235 | $6,416 | 7% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 32 | $20 | $5,000 | 352 | $6,406 | 28% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 15 | $30 | $6,000 | 234 | $6,388 | 6% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 61 | $20 | $6,000 | 335 | $6,097 | 2% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 49 | $30 | $6,000 | 223 | $6,088 | 1% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 42 | $20 | $6,000 | 329 | $5,988 | 0% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 12 | $20 | $6,000 | 326 | $5,933 | -1% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 62 | $30 | $6,000 | 211 | $5,760 | -4% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 85 | $30 | $6,000 | 210 | $5,733 | -4% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 48 | $20 | $5,000 | 310 | $5,642 | 13% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 56 | $20 | $4,000 | 295 | $5,369 | 34% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 40 | $20 | $4,000 | 291 | $5,296 | 32% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 81 | $30 | $4,000 | 190 | $5,187 | 30% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 3 | $30 | $4,000 | 188 | $5,132 | 28% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 46 | $30 | $5,000 | 182 | $4,969 | -1% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 87 | $20 | $5,000 | 255 | $4,641 | -7% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 66 | $20 | $5,000 | 254 | $4,623 | -8% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 68 | $30 | $3,500 | 154 | $4,204 | 20% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 35 | $20 | $3,000 | 218 | $3,968 | 32% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 34 | $10 | $2,500 | 432 | $3,931 | 57% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 38 | $10 | $2,500 | 425 | $3,868 | 55% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 71 | $10 | $3,000 | 416 | $3,786 | 26% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 37 | $30 | $4,000 | 137 | $3,740 | -6% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 52 | $10 | $3,500 | 397 | $3,613 | 3% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 22 | $10 | $2,500 | 351 | $3,194 | 28% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 44 | $10 | $3,000 | 345 | $3,140 | 5% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 47 | $30 | $2,500 | 115 | $3,140 | 26% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 29 | $20 | $2,500 | 150 | $2,730 | 9% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 58 | $20 | $2,500 | 146 | $2,657 | 6% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 17 | $5 | $1,200 | 557 | $2,534 | 111% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 10 | $20 | $3,000 | 138 | $2,512 | -16% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 28 | $5 | $1,500 | 535 | $2,434 | 62% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 21 | $20 | $2,500 | 119 | $2,166 | -13% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 72 | $20 | $2,500 | 114 | $2,075 | -17% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 13 | $5 | $2,000 | 436 | $1,984 | -1% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 59 | $5 | $1,500 | 410 | $1,866 | 24% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 78 | $20 | $2,000 | 102 | $1,856 | -7% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 55 | $20 | $2,000 | 97 | $1,765 | -12% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 90 | $5 | $1,200 | 386 | $1,756 | 50% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 65 | $5 | $1,200 | 384 | $1,747 | 46% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 83 | $5 | $1,500 | 378 | $1,720 | 15% |
| Ontario Platinum Series 86 | $20 | $2,000 | 94 | $1,711 | -14% |
