WCOOP 2020 Gets Underway: Big Turnouts, Early Overlays--and an Accidental $500,000 Ticket Drop WCOOP 2020 Gets Underway: Big Turnouts, Early Overlays--and an Accidental $500,000 Ticket Drop
Key Takeaways
  • The opening day at the WCOOP series attracted a decent turnout but high-stakes overlays dented the start.
  • Of the twelve events on the opening day, four tournaments failed to meet their guarantees, causing total overlays of over $300,000.
  • The Sweepstakes promotion was meant to give out $1.5 million throughout the series, but it paid out $0.5 million in the first day.

PokerStars’ headlining annual series, the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), got underway on Sunday. The opening day mostly enjoyed a strong turnout, but overlays in high stakes tournaments dented the start.

Across the twelve events on the opening day of WCOOP 2020, the operator generated prize money of $8.7 million, far exceeding the guarantees of $7.8 million. However, four tournaments fell short, causing total overlays of over $300,000.

Notably, WCOOP 2020 kicked off on the same day that registration closed on the GGPoker WSOP Online 2020 $25 million-guaranteed Main Event.

PokerStars also weathered what was either a technical glitch or a configuration error that saw the WCOOP Sweepstakes promotion give away nearly half a million dollars in tickets on the first day alone.

Originally, the promotion was slated to give away $1.5 million throughout the series. One player reportedly received a free ticket to the WCOOP high-roller Main Event valued at $25,000.