PokerStars’ one-off Pennsyl-MANIA tournament in Pennsylvania was a resounding success for the operator.
The tournament absolutely smashed its record-breaking $250,000 guarantee, more than doubling the promised total payout, and in the process, it also became the biggest online poker tournament in the history of The Keystone State.
The buy-in for this 2-day event was set at $200 ($186+$14), meaning it would need to attract a minimum of 1345 entries to cover the guarantee and 1980 entries to beat the previous record.
Pennsyl-MANIA attracted doubled the number of entries it needed to meet its guarantee, pulling in 2774 entries after five hours of late registration to set the record total prize pool for the Pennsylvania at $515,964. 1760 out of the 2774 were unique entries and the remaining 1014 were re-entries.
The tournament came to a pause after playing 20 levels. 291 players remain in the tournament, each of them competing for a top prize of nearly $75,000 which is also a record for the biggest payout in a PA poker tournament.
A total of 467 places were paid (nearly 17% of the field), each of them adding a minimum of $447.03 to their bankroll.
Pennsyl-MANIA resumes with Day 2 starting in the evening at 7 PM ET.
Pennsyl-MANIA Overview
- Guaranteed Prize Money – $250,000
- Buy-in – $200 ($186+$14)
- Tournament Structure — 2-Day, Five Total Re-Entries
- Final Prize Pool – $515,964
- Total Entries — 2774 (1760 unique players, 1014 re-entries)
- First-Place Prize – $74,891.69
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To ensure that the tournament met its ambitious guarantee of $250,000, the operator ran a special promotion. Players who deposited $30 or more using a special bonus code were given a ticket to the special Pennsyl-MANIA Depositor Freeroll worth $10,000. That freeroll rewarded the top 50 finishers with an entry to the $200 buy-in tournament.
Pennsyl-MANIA Becomes the Biggest Online Poker Tournament in Pennsylvania
Pennsyl-MANIA surpasses the record set during the PASCOOP series held last month. The $300 buy-in Main Event in that series drew 1315 entries for a total prize pool of $368,200.
Prior to that, the Main Event of PACOOP (the first-ever online tournament series to be hosted on PokerStars PA) held the crown for the biggest prize pool. Back then, the tournament attracted 640 total entries to amass a prize pool of $179,200.
Top Three Biggest Online Poker Tournaments in Pennsylvania
| Date | Tournament | Buy-in | Guarantee | Final Prize Pool | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2020 | Pennsyl-MANIA | $200 | $250,000 | $515,964 | 2774 |
| Apr 19, 2020 | PASCOOP-45-H Main Event | $300 | $200,000 | $368,200 | 1315 |
| Dec 15, 2019 | PACOOP-44 Main Event | $300 | $125,000 | $179,200 | 640 |
The $100 buy-in Sunday Special was also held along with the Pennsyl-MANIA tournament. Boasting $50,000 guaranteed prize money, the tournament attracted over 800 entries to push its prize pool to over $75,000.
The same tournament returns next Sunday on May 24 at 18:00 ET with its usual guaranteed prize money of $100,000.
Stars Rewards Showdown and Cardex Challenge Still Running on PokerStars PA
In addition to offering a $250,000 guaranteed tournament, PokerStars PA is also running a couple of limited-time promotions.
Stars Rewards Showdown is one of them. It offers up to 20 chances to win prizes up to $2500.
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To take part in the promotion, players must opt-in to the challenge via the Challenges Window in the PokerStars PA lobby.
Once opted-in, they will need to play real money games to earn Stars Rewards Chests. Each of the Chests will contain two hole cards in addition to the rewards. Players win if their hole cards make a better hand than the house. The community cards are specified in the challenges window.
Stars Rewards Showdown runs until the end of this month.
PokerStars PA is also running its popular Cardex cash game promotion. In this promotion, players can win up to $5000 daily. Again to take part in the promotion, players must opt-in via the Challenges Window.
All players have to do to win is match their cards from Hold’em cash games to what appears on the Cardex spinning wheel inside the Challenges window.
The Cardex Promotion runs until May 24.
