- PokerStars’ popular Winter Series is set to make its debut in the newly launched Pennsylvania market later this month.
- Buy-ins throughout the series range from $30 to $500. A majority of the tournaments carry five-figure guaranteed prize pools except a couple ranging from $8000 to $100,000.
- The series comes to a close on Saturday with “The Big Game”, a $300 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed Main Event—the biggest guaranteed tournament of the series. There is also a Mini version of the Main Event with a buy-in of just $50 carrying $25,000 guaranteed prize money.
- To promote the series, PokerStars will be running daily Second Chance All-in Shootout freerolls and a Depositor Freeroll, giving away tickets to the Main Event to the top 25 places.
PokerStars’ popular Winter Series is set to make its debut in the newly launched Pennsylvania market later this month.
While the schedule has yet to be officially announced at the time of writing, based on our sleuthing, it appears the first-ever PA online poker Winter Series will see total guarantees of $675,000 spread over 30 tournaments. This includes a $100,000 guaranteed Main Event.
Keep in mind that the information on the PokerStars PA Winter Series was obtained through our own investigative methods, has not been officially announced, and is subject to change before being finalized.
The series will kick off on January 25 and run for eight days, culminating just ahead of the Super Bowl—one of the most-watched American televised sporting events of the year. This year, the Super Bowl is on February 2.
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The latest PokerStars USA site is taking a cautionary approach by not overlapping the series with Super Bowl and so the Winter Series will conclude uncustomarily on Saturday, February 1.
To tap into the excitement of the ongoing NFL 2019-20 season, PokerStars PA has named each of the tournaments after football sporting terms such as the “The Handoff”, “The Block”, “The Tackle” and so on.
Buy-ins throughout the series range from $30 to $500. A majority of the tournaments carry five-figure guaranteed prize pools except a couple ranging from $8000 to $100,000.
The opening day sees three events kicking off at 17:00 ET with “The Warm-Up”, a $50 buy-in $20,000 guaranteed tournament followed by “The Anthem” at 19:00 ET guaranteeing $30,000 for a buy-in of $100 and “The Coin Toss”, a knockout tournament carrying a buy-in of $200 and guaranteeing $15,000.
On Sunday, seven tournaments are scheduled including “The Blitz”, replacing the $200 buy-in Sunday Special guaranteeing $50,000—one of the biggest guaranteed tournaments on the schedule.
There is also a $250 buy-in Super Tuesday edition tournament promising $40,000 and a Thursday Thrill edition holding a guarantee of $35,000.
The remaining schedule is filled with various formats such as PKOs, Deepstack, Big Antes, 4-max tournament, a tournament with variable structure, and a couple of Pot-Limit Omaha.
The series comes to a close on Saturday with “The Big Game”, a $300 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed Main Event—the biggest guaranteed tournament of the series. There is also a Mini version of the Main Event with a buy-in of just $50 carrying $25,000 guaranteed prize money.
To promote the series, PokerStars will be running daily Second Chance All-in Shootout freerolls worth total $7500. These events are open to all those players who compete in Winter Series and fail to finish in the money. These freerolls run from January 26 to February 1.
PokerStars PA will also be hosting a Depositor Freeroll, giving away tickets to the Main Event to the top 25 places. To qualify, players will need to make a deposit of $30 or more using code 'WINTER’ starting January 15 and before February 1. This freeroll takes place on February 1 at 15:00 ET.
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The Winter Series is not on the same footing as PACOOP—the operator’s recently concluded series and the first-ever since its launch in the market.
PACOOP had an initial total guarantee of $1 million which was later upped to $1.225 million following an overwhelming response during the first weekend. The series ended up paying over $1.5 million and registering over 12,000 entries across 50 tournaments. The Main Event drew 640 total entries to build a record-breaking prize pool of $179,200.
Overall, the series turned out to be a massive success despite a few overlays.
“After the incredible number of players that joined together online in the first few days of the tournament, we knew we needed to increase the prize pools to match their enthusiasm,” said Matt Primeaux, President, FOX Bet. “PACOOP exceeded all our expectations. We’re very proud to be the only place you can play poker legally online and look forward to poker’s future here in Pennsylvania.”
PokerStars PA will now be hoping for another great turnout for the Winter Series. The full schedule of PokerStars PA Winter Series 2020 is shown below:
PokerStars PA Winter Series Schedule 2020
| Date | Tournament | Buy-in | Guarantee | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 25 | The Warm-Up – NLHE | $50 | $20,000 | 17:00 |
| January 25 | The Anthem – Nightly Stars SE | $100 | $30,000 | 19:00 |
| January 25 | The Coin Toss – Turbo PKO | $200 | $15,000 | 21:00 |
| January 26 | Kick-Off – Deepstack | $100 | $25,000 | 13:00 |
| January 26 | The Return – 6-Max | $50 | $20,000 | 14:00 |
| January 26 | Play Action – PKO | $150 | $30,000 | 15:30 |
| January 26 | The Blitz – Sunday Special SE | $200 | $50,000 | 17:00 |
| January 26 | First Down – Mini Sunday Special | $30 | $15,000 | 18:00 |
| January 26 | The Handoff – PL Omaha | $100 | $12,000 | 19:00 |
| January 26 | The Block – Supersonic SE | $75 | $12,000 | 22:00 |
| January 27 | The Juke – 4-Max | $100 | $15,000 | 19:00 |
| January 27 | The Spin – Battle Royale SE | $50 | $20,000 | 20:00 |
| January 27 | The Tackle – Variable Levels | $150 | $15,000 | 21:00 |
| January 28 | The Sack – Super Tuesday SE | $250 | $40,000 | 19:00 |
| January 28 | The Punt – Mini Super Tuesday | $30 | $15,000 | 19:30 |
| January 28 | Half-Time – Turbo PKO | $100 | $15,000 | 21:00 |
| January 29 | The Turnover – High Roller | $500 | $35,000 | 19:00 |
| January 29 | The Drive – PL Omaha, 6-Max | $50 | $8,000 | 20:00 |
| January 29 | The Redzone – Turbo | $150 | $15,000 | 21:00 |
| January 30 | The Touchdown – Thursday Thrill SE | $200 | $35,000 | 19:00 |
| January 30 | Extra Point – Mini Thrill | $50 | $20,000 | 19:30 |
| January 30 | Deep Hyper-Turbo | $100 | $15,000 | 21:00 |
| January 31 | The Onside Kick – Vanilla | $100 | $10,000 | 19:00 |
| January 31 | The Snap – PKO, Big Antes | $150 | $15,000 | 20:00 |
| January 31 | Hail Mary – Turbo | $50 | $8,000 | 21:00 |
| January 31 | The Catch – Deep Hyper-Turbo | $100 | $10,000 | 22:00 |
| February 1 | The Comeback – PKO, 8-Max | $100 | $15,000 | 15:00 |
| February 1 | The Big Game – Main Event | $300 | $100,000 | 17:00 |
| February 1 | Overtime – Mini-Main | $50 | $25,000 | 18:30 |
| February 1 | Victory Parade – Turbo PKO | $100 | $15,000 | 20:00 |
