Few tournament series on the online poker calendar match the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) from PokerStars. A WCOOP title is one of the most coveted trophies in online poker, and the 2022 edition is now well underway.
PokerStars’ marquee tournament series WCOOP returned for the 2022 season on Sep 4 with a full schedule of events. While the action is still happening in several opening day events, the final numbers are in for Day 1, and the operator will be happy with more than half a million dollars extra in the prize pools on opening day.
The events that ran or started on September 4 included the first WCOOP-branded Sunday Million of the series and the World Championship of Progressive KO. In total, 19 events started on opening day, along with several side events.
There was $7.66 million guaranteed on the first day of action, and PokerStars went above and beyond with just shy of $8.22 million in total prizes. That puts the prize pools about 7% above the initially promised guarantees, so the opening day certainly went well.
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WCOOP Opening Day by the Numbers
After the first day of action in PokerStars’ 2022 WCOOP, the operator’s numbers look optimistic. While not all games hit their guarantees, 14 of the 19 events hit their promised numbers.
For the five games that overlaid, less than $150k extra needed to be added to prizes, and the operator earned that and then some with more than $500k in fees on opening day. For the games that made their guarantees, there was more than $550k extra handed out to players.
2022 WCOOP Opening Day Summary
| Games So Far: | 19 |
| Gtd So Far: | $7,660,000.00 |
| Collected So Far: | $8,219,487.10 |
| Total Overlays: | -$143,000.00 |
| Total Fees: | $523,129.40 |
| % Above Gtd: | 7.30% |
| $ Above Gtd: | $559,487.10 |
18 of the 19 games on opening day were numbered events in the WCOOP. There was also an extra unnumbered big game, the $5,200 World Championship of Progressive KO, which drew 217 entries for a prize pool of $1.085 million — a slight increase on the $1 million guarantee.
The WCOOP-branded Sunday Million also saw a solid turnout. 12,612 entries swelled the $1 million guarantee to more than $1.26 million, putting it as the most significant increase over the opening day guarantee, the second-biggest prize pool, and the fourth-best percentage increase on the guarantee.
The most substantial prize pool of opening day went to the $1,050 8-Max with $1.25 million guaranteed. Over 1,300 entries showed up for almost $1.35 million in prizes, but that was only about 7.5% over the guarantee.
The best performance on opening day was the opening low-stakes event, the $5.50 WCOOP Kickoff. While the eventual prize pool of more than $67k was not even close to the biggest, it was almost 35% above the guarantee of $50k for the best percentage over guarantee while also setting the standard for entries with 13,734.
See below for the total numbers from the opening day of the 2022 PokerStars’ WCOOP.
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2022 WCOOP Opening Day Results
| Event | Name | Buy-In | Guarantee | Entries | Diff from Gtd | Prize Pool | % Over Gtd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCOOP 02-L | WCOOP Kickoff | $5.50 | $50,000.00 | 13734 | $17,296.60 | $67,296 | 34.59% |
| WCOOP 02-M | WCOOP Kickoff | $55.00 | $200,000.00 | 5163 | $58,150.00 | $258,150 | 29.08% |
| WCOOP 02-H | WCOOP Kickoff | $530.00 | $350,000.00 | 771 | $35,500.00 | $385,500 | 10.14% |
| WCOOP 03-L | Sunday Warm Up | $22.00 | $175,000.00 | 9411 | $13,220.00 | $188,220 | 7.55% |
| WCOOP 03-M | Sunday Warm Up | $215.00 | $500,000.00 | 2548 | $9,600.00 | $509,600 | 1.92% |
| WCOOP 03-H | Sunday Warm Up | $2,100.00 | $500,000.00 | 241 | -$18,000.00 | $500,000 | -3.60% |
| WCOOP 04-L | Sunday Million | $109.00 | $1,000,000.00 | 12612 | $261,200.00 | $1,261,200 | 26.12% |
| WCOOP 04-M | 8-Max | $1,050.00 | $1,250,000.00 | 1343 | $93,000.00 | $1,343,000 | 7.44% |
| WCOOP 04-H | High Roller | $10,300.00 | $850,000.00 | 75 | -$100,000.00 | $850,000 | -11.76% |
| WCOOP 05-L | PLO 6-Max | $22.00 | $50,000.00 | 3228 | $14,560.00 | $64,560 | 29.12% |
| WCOOP 05-M | PLO 6-Max | $215.00 | $125,000.00 | 766 | $28,200.00 | $153,200 | 22.56% |
| WCOOP 05-H | PLO 6-Max | $2,100.00 | $250,000.00 | 124 | -$2,000.00 | $250,000 | -0.80% |
| WCOOP | World Championship of Progressive KO | $5,200.00 | $1,000,000 | 217 | $85,000 | $1,085,000.00 | 8.50% |
| WCOOP 06-L | 6-Max | $11.00 | $100,000.00 | 11206 | $12,060.00 | $112,060 | 12.06% |
| WCOOP 06-M | 6-Max | $109.00 | $300,000.00 | 3355 | $35,500.00 | $335,500 | 11.83% |
| WCOOP 06-H | 6-Max | $1,050.00 | $400,000.00 | 395 | -$5,000.00 | $400,000 | -1.25% |
| WCOOP 07-L | Sunday Cooldown | $5.50 | $35,000.00 | 8245 | $5,400.50 | $40,400 | 15.43% |
| WCOOP 07-L | Sunday Cooldown | $55.00 | $200,000.00 | 4676 | $33,800.00 | $233,800 | 16.90% |
| WCOOP 07-L | Sunday Cooldown | $530.00 | $325,000.00 | 614 | -$18,000.00 | $325,000 | -5.54% |
