The World Championship of Online Poker, or simply WCOOP, is well underway on PokerStars. Running since August 30th, this year’s WCOOP has already distributed millions in prize money, but there is still plenty of action to be had. If you are up for a challenge this weekend, here are a few tournaments you should not miss out on.
Action-packed WCOOP Weekend
For some KO action, check out the WCOOP-21 event kicking off at 18:05 WET on Saturday. The low tier one is particularly interesting regardless of your average buy-in as it features a guarantee of $250,000 for a buy-in of just $55.
Sunday is always a day for tournaments and particularly so during WCOOP. There are several great events on offer on Sunday, September 6th, so if you have the time and the bankroll, here are a few events you should not miss.
- WCOOP-23: Sunday Kickoff at 13:05 WET
- WCOOP-25 Sunday Slam with $1,000,000 guarantee at 18:05 WET
- WCOOP-28: 8-Max Progressive KO at 22:05 WET
All of these are available in all three tiers with respectable guarantees so all players should be able to find something that fits their bankrolls. Sunday Slam events may be on the higher side, with the low tier one costing $215 to enter, but with $1,000,000 up for grabs and plenty of ways to qualify, it’s well worth trying to get a seat in this one.
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WCOOP 2020 Promotions & Qualifiers
Even if your current bankroll isn’t that big or you’re just a casual player looking to test your luck and skills without breaking the bank, there are ways to get involved. Like every year, PokerStars is running a variety of promotions offering a bunch of WCOOP tickets.
WCOOP Main Event Sweepstakes
Getting your seat in the 2020 WCOOP Main Event sure sounds tasty, but with the buy-in of $5200, not many casual players (and quite a few pros) will have a hard time getting in. With the WCOOP Sweepstakes, you can get your seat by playing any WCOOP event.
- Opt-in for the Sweepstakes via your challenge window (manual opt-in is required)
- Play in any WCOOP event of your choosing
- Every day until September 19th, three tickets are given out
For every tournament you play up to $55, you’ll receive one draw entry. For tournaments between $55 and $530, you’ll receive two entries for that day’s Sweepstakes. Finally, events with a buy-in over $530 grant three entries.
Fast Track Your Way to WCOOP
If you’d rather trust your skills than your luck to get a Main Event seat, you can get involved with the WCOOP Fast Track program. These are essentially step Sit & Go tournaments that start at $1. Win the first step and progress to the next step, a $11 Sit & Go with 21 players.
If you win, you’ll receive a $109 ticket for an MTT qualifier awarding $1050 tournament tickets. In the final satellite, there will be one Main Event ticket for every five entries, so if you make it this far, you’ll have a very good chance of mixing it up with the best on September 20 and playing for your share of the guaranteed $10,000,000 prize pool.
Special WCOOP Spin & Gos
During the series, PokerStars is running special Spin & Go tournaments awarding WCOOP tickets. There are two different buy-in levels, $4 and $22, and you can get WCOOP tickets from $11 all the way to $5,200 Main Event entry.
Watch Action Live on Twitch to Win Tickets
If you don’t like any of these, you could get some WCOOP entries for simply watching the action live on Twitch. PokerStars is giving away $100,000 worth of WCOOP tickets throughout the series so this is your chance to get a shot at big money without risking a single cent.
- Log in to your PokerStars account
- Go to Settings and connect your Twitch account
- Log in using your Twitch credentials to finish the process
Win More with Sunday Slam Events
Sunday Slam tournaments are good as they come with $1,000,000 up for grabs, but the main prize pool isn’t the only thing you’ll be playing for. If you actually manage to ship one of these, you’ll also receive a special Slam Package that covers buy-ins for next year’s Main Events of WCOOP, SCOOP, and Stadium Series.
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WCOOP 2020 Main Event: What to Expect?
With a steep buy-in of $5200 and the massive guarantee of $10,000,000, there is a lot of buzz going around the WCOOP 2020 Main Event. It is, after all, the biggest online tournament of the year and it will likely attract some of the biggest names out there. At the same time, with all the qualifiers and giveaways, there will be a fair number of those not used to playing at this level.
Of course, for those with shallower pockets, there are two “smaller” Main Events on offer and all three tournaments are taking place on September 20. The WCOOP-L Main Event features a buy-in of just $55 and a handsome guarantee of $1,250,000 while the WCOOP-M offers a guarantee of $2,000,000 for the buy-in of $530.
All three tournaments will be played in 8-max format, which means action will be aplenty. For those who are still weighing their options, check out the WCOOP 2020 tab on PokerStars to find a variety of satellite tournaments to help you secure your seat.
2020 WCOOP Thus Far
WCOOP 2020 has started off somewhat slowly with several of the big buy-in events featuring overlays – not something we’re used to seeing at WCOOPs. The opening day of the Series saw a total overlay of $300,000, a bulk of it coming from the $10,300 PKO Sunday Slam event, which fell short $140,000 of the guarantee.
One of the reasons for this anomaly is probably the fact this year’s WCOOP coincided with the first-ever online World Series of Poker on GGPoker where players have been trying to secure their seats in the $5000 Main Event. Despite of all this, PokerStars went all out, featuring $80 million in guarantees across the series, which makes WCOOP 2020 the biggest-ever in WCOOP’s 19-year history.
With the WSOP action winding down though, it’s likely players will now be free to move over to PokerStars and focus their attention fully on grinding the remaining WCOOP events. Even though the series has got off to a shaky start, it’s unlikely to come anywhere close to the Stadium Series which ended up costing PokerStars $2,000,000 in overlays.
