- If you missed out on the first week of PACOOP, worry not, as there is still plenty of time to get in on the action and earn big prizes. Check out our write up to see which events you won’t want to miss.
- Over this weekend, $224,000 will be up for grabs in PACOOP spread across eight tournaments.
The first-ever online tournament series in Pennsylvania is off to a great start so much so that the operator upped the overall series guarantee of PACOOP twice since it opened for registration for PA online poker players last weekend.
Guarantees for at least 33 of the poker room’s signature events have been boosted bringing the series guarantee to a total of $1,225,000, an increase of 22.5% from its original $1 million guarantee.
The biggest boost came to the $300 buy-in Main Event. When the series was first announced, the Main Event carried a $100,000 guarantee. Following a big turnout seen this week, the operator has upped its guarantee to $125,000.
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The average guarantee per tournament has gone up to $24,500 from $20,000.
The increase in guarantees came as a result of the first three days turnout that saw a majority of PACOOP tournaments smash their guarantees.
The very first event set the pace. Event #01: $100 buy-in Nightly Stars boasting a guarantee of $20,000, requiring to 218 players to create a prizepool of that size, drew enough entries to more than double its guarantee. The event eventually ended up paying over $50,000 thanks to 546 entries.
The same enthusiasm was also seen in the next two days. The $200 buy-in Sunday Special with a guarantee of $50,000 paid out over $63,000; Battle Royale on Monday tripled its $10,000 guarantee and the Super Tuesday built a prize pool of close to $50,000.
“Our average guaranteed clearance and overall performance of this first-of-its-kind poker tournament for Pennsylvania players has exceeded our initial expectations,” Matt Primeaux, President, FOX Bet told pokerfuse.
At the time of writing, 19 of 50 tournaments have completed with all but two covering their guarantees comfortably. The exceptions were the Event #13 featuring a unique format called “Escalating Antes” where antes progressively increased every blind level. It attracted 132 entries falling short of its $20,000 guarantee by $1823.
The other event that failed to meet its guarantee was Event #18—a $50 buy-in rebuy event holding a $20,000 guarantee. The event registered 208 entries, 174 rebuys and 55 add-ons but fell short by a margin of just $116.50.
Nearly $600,000 of the $1.225 million in guaranteed prize pool cash has been paid out thus far.
Big Prize Pools Still Available
If you missed out on the first week of PACOOP, worry not, as there is still plenty of time to get in on the action and earn big prizes.
Over this weekend, $224,000 will be up for grabs spread across eight tournaments.
Sign up to PokerStars PA today and enjoy $30 FREE or a $600 first-deposit bonus »
Here we round up some of the standout events scheduled for the next two days:
- Saturday kicks off with Event #22—$30,000 guaranteed 8-max Deepstack tournament carrying a buy-in of $100. It runs at 17:00 ET. The same event originally had $12,000 guarantee.
- Players who prefer fast-paced tournaments should not miss Event #23—$150 buy-in Saturday Speedway guaranteeing $15,000. It takes place at 20:00 ET.
- The first of the six tournaments on Sunday is Event #23—a $100 buy-in NLHE Marathon event running at afternoon 13:00 ET. It is the perfect choice for players who prefer a slow type of tournament structure as the blinds progress every 15 minutes.
- If Pot Limit Omaha is your game, Sunday also features a $100 buy-in 8-Max PLO event at 14:00 ET with a guarantee of $12,000.
- If you are looking to score big, you don’t want to miss out on the Sunday Special SE featuring the biggest guarantee of the weekend. The $60,000 guaranteed event kicks off at 17:00 ET and players can enter the event for a buy-in of $300.
- Finally, to end the day there are two action-packed events scheduled during the evening hours. Event #28 $200 buy-in PKO guaranteeing $35,000 runs at 19:00 ET followed by the hyper-turbo structure $100 buy-in Sunday Supersonic at 21:00 ET boasting a modest guarantee of $12,000.
PACOOP Weekend Schedule [December 7 – 8]
| Day | Event | Time | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | PACOOP-22 [Deepstack] | 17:00 ET | $100 | $30,000 |
| Saturday | PACOOP-23 [Satuday Speedway SE] | 20:00 ET | $150 | $15,000 |
| Sunday | PACOOP-24 [Marathon] | 13:00 ET | $100 | $30,000 |
| Sunday | PACOOP-25 PLO 8-Max | 14:00 ET | $100 | $12,000 |
| Sunday | PACOOP-26 [Big Antes] | 15:30 ET | $150 | $30,000 |
| Sunday | PACOOP-27 [Sunday Special SE] | 17:00 ET | $300 | $60,000 |
| Sunday | PACOOP-28 [Progressive KO] | 19:00 ET | $200 | $35,000 |
| Sunday | PACOOP-29 [Sunday SuperSonic SE] | 21:00 ET | $100 | $12,000 |
Satellites are running daily including SNGs and a SuperSatellite guaranteeing dozens of seats starting at just $5.
Remember, that if you fail to reach the money in any of the PACOOP events, PokerStars PA automatically credits a ticket to Daily Second Chance Freerolls running daily until December 16 with each freeroll giving away $1250 in tickets.
