PokerStars’ record-setting PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) is back for its second edition and so are the ways to win the coveted Platinum Passes each worth over €26,000.
This World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), PokerStars is running a special Streamer Showdown promotion giving players in Europe an opportunity to win their way into the second edition of the historic PSPC event, this time set to take place in Barcelona from August 20 to 24 next year.
A special WCOOP Streamer’s Showdown Sit & Go will take place at PokerStars on Saturday September 7 where six of the PokerStars Team Pros will be competing against each other. This Sit & Go will be live-streamed on PokerStars’ official Twitch channel.
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- The only online poker room offering a chance to win a Platinum Pass for entry into PSPC 2020.
- Largest player base in the world.
- Home of Spin & Go, Power Up and lots of other unique game variants including 6+ Hold’em.
- Biggest weekly tournament schedule around.
Fintan, Spraggy, Lex, Nick from OP-Poker, Arlie and Felix will be taking part in this competition.
All players have to do is pick among one of these ambassadors whom they think will win the Sit & Go and complete their respective challenges. For example, if a player is backing Lex to win, he or she must complete the challenge associated with Lex.
These challenges can be anything from winning three Spin & Go’s to winning hands at Zoom cash games. Players can complete more than one challenge to increase their chances of winning a Platinum Pass.
Once players complete their challenges, they are registered in a freeroll tied to that ambassador. Only the freeroll belonging to the winner of the Streamers’ Showdown will run. This freeroll will take place right away after the Streamers Showdown event ends.
The players who finish in the top six in this freeroll will win a trip to Lex Veldhuis’ Live event (Lex Live 2) that will be taking place at Aspers Casino, London next month. There these six finalists will play a special Sit & Go for a chance to win a Platinum Pass to PSPC 2020.
The promotion is available exclusively to all European players on PokerStars with access to the global player pool but with the exception of some countries.
Similar to this year’s PSPC event at the Bahamas, each Platinum Pass is valued at around €26,500, approximately $30,000 and includes a buy-in to the €22,500 PSPC 2020 event, along with six nights’ accommodation for the winner and a guest in a five-star Barcelona hotel, plus €1250 in travel expenses.
Last year, the operator spent the entirety of 2018 committed to giving away hundreds of passes through a dozen different avenues including Stars Rewards promotions, live tours, major tournament wins, and various competitions and giveaways.
In the end, Ramon Collilas, a Platinum Pass winner (and now PokerStars Ambassador) took down the inaugural PSPC event at the Bahamas for $5.1 million.
While the operator has yet to reveal the details on how many passes will be given over the next eleven months, expect to see a similar number of passes handed out to players this year via various competitions and promotions.
15 platinum passes worth almost half a million dollars have been already awarded in the week since the announcement was made at EPT Barcelona held at Casino Barcelona. Five of these passes were awarded on the same day to all finalists of PokerStars’ Chase Your Dreams promotion.
A further ten platinum passes—five in the dot-com market, five in Southern European market were handed out online via a Mystery Chest promotion.
WCOOP 2019 Off to a Flying Start
The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), considered to be one of the most prestigious series on the annual poker calendar, kicked off on September 5 with a bang.
With $75 million in guarantees spread over 219 tournaments, this year’s WCOOP is the largest ever hosted by the operator.
The series started with six events, each comfortably exceeding their guarantees. According to the operator, already more than $4 million prize pool has been generated with thousands of entries.
The $5200 buy-in Main Event is set to take place on September 22 with a massive $10 million guarantees. Qualifiers and satellites including freebuy satellites are already running on PokerStars.
For players with small bankrolls, a $55 buy-in Main Event will also be running on the same day boasting a $1.25 million guaranteed prize pool.
Also notable is the Right To Play Charity Event, a mini Sunday Million event taking place Sunday September 8. All the rake from the $55 buy-in event will go to the charity whose mission statement is to: “Protect, educate and empower children to rise above adversity using the power of play.”
PokerStars Team Pro Arlie Shaban has some advice for the players looking to play WCOOP.
“Make sure you are eating clean and well rested leading up to the series. Preparing meals ahead of time is key to staying focused while grinding. The long hours have never been an issue for me, I love poker and just embrace these bigger series,” said Arlie Shaban.
“These are huge fields with massive pay-outs, you have to keep a level head throughout the whole series. There is so much money to be won, and variance has this crazy way of throwing people off of their game. Just remember that huge online tournament series like this only happen so often, and you need to make the best out of the opportunity when it’s in front of you.
“I’m looking forward to the smaller buy in events, the fields are so massive it’s extra exciting. I will take a few shots in the bigger buy-ins, but for the most [part] the little ones are what I’m really excited for,” Shaban added.
For more info, check out our article on WCOOP 2019.
