After making its debut in February, PokerStars has once again brought back the popular Bounty Builder Series (BBS) in the US regulated markets.
Taking place simultaneously from July 12 for a 15-day period on both the PokerStars PA and PokerStars NJ, over $2 million in combined guarantees is up for grabs.
Every tournament is played with the fan-favorite progressive knockout (PKO) format, in which half of the buy-in typically goes into the prize pool and the other portion as a bounty on each player’s head.
Much like the previous time, the two Bounty Builder Series are almost identical except that the Pennsylvania series guarantees more money and offers more events than its counterpart in New Jersey.
$1.5 million is guaranteed on PokerStars Pennsylvania making it the second-biggest online tournament series ever run in the state. The prize money is spread across 70 tournaments including a $150,000 guaranteed Main Event.
Over on PokerStars New Jersey, $600,000 is guaranteed across 53 tournaments, culminating in a $70,000 guaranteed Main Event.
Sign up to PokerStars PA today and enjoy $30 FREE or a $600 first-deposit bonus »
Sign up to PokerStars NJ today and enjoy $30 FREE or a $600 first-deposit bonus »
Buy-ins are priced at an accessible level in the Keystone State ranging from $10 to $500 across 70 knockout tournaments, averaging close to $82; while in the Garden State, the buy-ins are slightly more expensive, ranging from $10 to $750 and averaging $110.
And just as pokerfuse rightly predicted, both series will be offering players a Champion’s Belt to the winners of designated events. Some of these events include Sunday Special editions, Super Tuesdays, Thursday Thrills, etc.
In both markets, 18 championship belts are up for grabs, featuring one Championship Belt event every day throughout the schedule. This will be the first time that the operator will be offering a wrestling-style belt to its players on top of the cash prizes.
In addition to the Bounty Builder Series title belts, the operator is also offering an additional Knockout leaderboard with $16,000 in prizes across both markets. The player who knockouts the most number of opponents wins $4000 in cash prizes.
Bounty Builder Series July 2020 Comparison PA vs NJ
| Bounty Builder Series | PokerStars PA | PokerStars NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Total GTD | $1,500,000 | $600,000 |
| Total Tournaments | 70 | 53 |
| Championship Events | 18 | 18 |
| Avg GTD | $21,429 | $11,321 |
| Buy-ins Range | $10 – $500 | $10 – $750 |
| Avg Buy-ins | $81.71 | $110 |
| Main Event | $200 buy-in, $150,000 GTD | $300 buy-in, $70,000 GTD |
| Game Variants | 8 | 3 |
| Series Duration | July 12 – 26 (15 days) | July 12 – 26 (15 days) |
PokerStars PA: $1.5 Million Guaranteed Bounty Builder Series
The Bounty Builder Series in Pennsylvania will be PokerStars’ sixth online tournament series since its inception in the market last November and its fifth series this year.
Compared with the Bounty Builder series held in February, the July edition guarantees three times more prize money.
While No Limit Hold’em dominates the schedule, there is a decent spread of other niche poker variants including No Limit Omaha Eight, 5-Card Omaha, draw variants such as PL Badugi and PL 5-Card Draw as well as mixed rotation games: 8-Game and HORSE.
A wide variety of game formats form the schedule including some of the novelty ones such as escalating antes, marathon, big and deep stacks, hypers and turbos—all spread in 6-, 8-, and 9-max.
The series culminates in two Main Events: a 2-day $200 buy-in Main Event guaranteeing $150,000 and a $50 Mini Main Event boasting a $40,000 guarantee. Both of these events award a Championship Belt to the winner.
Other major events such as the Sunday Special, Thursday Thrill, Super Tuesday, are all part of the schedule with boosted guarantees. There is also a $500 buy-in High Roller on July 15 guaranteeing $60,000.
Satellites are already underway for buy-ins starting as low as $5.
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PokerStars NJ: $600K Guaranteed Bounty Builder Series
The BBS in New Jersey starts on July 12 with a $100 buy-in Kick-off event guaranteeing $20,000 and a Championship Belt to the winner.
The schedule in New Jersey is very similar to its counterpart in Pennsylvania, featuring the same slate of tournaments, including Sunday Specials, Thursday Thrills, Super Tuesdays. However, the buy-ins are a little on the higher side in comparison with the series in its neighboring state.
The High Roller event in New Jersey comes for a buy-in of $750 and guarantees $20,000.
Again, not all tournaments are No Limit Hold’em, as there are a couple of Omaha events as well as the mixed game variant 8-Game.
The series climaxes with two Main Events with combined guarantees of nearly $100,000.
The operator is also running a $3 buy-in series edition special Spin & Go, giving away tickets to the series including the Main Event worth $300.
Some of the highlights of the Bounty Builder Series in Pennsylvania and New Jersey include:
- July 12 – Kick-Off Event: $100 buy-in, $40K Gtd in PA and $100 buy-in, $20K in NJ
- July 12 – Sunday Special: $100 buy-in, $100K Gtd in PA and $200 buy-in, $40K in NJ
- July 15 – High Roller Event: $500 buy-in, $60K Gtd in PA and $750 buy-in, $20K in NJ
- July 16 – Thursday Thrill: $200 buy-in, $50K Gtd in PA and $200 buy-in, $17.5K in NJ
- July 19 – Storm: $10 buy-in, $5K Gtd in PA and $10 buy-in, $10 buy-in, $5K in NJ
- July 21 – Super Tuesday: $200 buy-in, $50K Gtd in PA and $250 buy-in, $25K in NJ
- July 26 – Main Event: $200 buy-in, $150K Gtd in PA and $300 buy-in, $70K in NJ
This will be PokerStars’ fifth online tournament series in New Jersey in just seven months. It is twice as big in size as the Bounty Builder Series held in February that had $300,000 guarantees.
PokerStars NJ Online Tournament Series 2020
| Series | Month | Total GTD | Total Tournaments | Avg GTD | Main Event GTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Series | Jan 18 – 26 | $300,000 | 21 | $14,286 | $60,000 |
| Bounty Builder Series | Feb 20 – Mar 1 | $300,000 | 32 | $9,375 | $65,000 |
| NJSCOOP | Apr 11 – 27 | $1,200,000 | 96 | $12,500 | $100,000 |
| Summer Series | June 18 – 28 | $500,000 | 40 | $12,500 | $75,000 |
| Bounty Builder Series | July 12 – 26 | $600,000 | 53 | $11,321 | $70,000 |
Sign up to PokerStars NJ today and enjoy $30 FREE or a $600 first-deposit bonus »
Both series come fresh off the backs of the Summer Series that were held in June. The Summer Series in PokerStars PA ended up paying out over $1.2 million in prize money across 38 tournaments. The Main Event was the star performer of the series, generating a massive $242,300 in prize money.
The Summer Series in New Jersey was a modest one but still ended up paying close to $640,000 with a Main Event prize pool of nearly $100,000.
