This month marks the first anniversary of PokerStars Pennsylvania with the full launch of online poker in PA, along with and online casino games, one year ago on November 6 following a two-day limited soft launch period.
To mark the celebration of its one-year anniversary, the room is currently running its 1st anniversary tournament series with $1 million in guarantees across 35 events.
Today, PokerStars PA remains the only online poker room authorized to spread poker games over the internet in the state, although other operators are progressing towards launching in the Keystone State.
Sign up to PokerStars PA today and enjoy $30 FREE or a $600 first-deposit bonus »
Now that a whole year has passed, let us take a look back at how the second PokerStars USA room fared in terms of promotions and tournament series.
One Year of Promotions on PokerStars PA
Since going live in the market, PokerStars has been quite active with its efforts to attract and reward players with a good mix of over two dozen promotions, an average of two promotions per month.
In this section we will look at the promotions that ran independent of the tournament series that ran on PokerStars PA.
The giveaways started with a sizeable launch promotion, including welcome and deposit bonuses for all players and “We are in Pennsylvania” welcome freerolls. Those giveaways were immediately followed up with a Christmas Calendar and a Card Hunt poker puzzle promotion in December last year.
The promotions continued into 2020 with daily poker challenges in the form of Cardex and Golden Button Challenges as well as Stars Rewards giveaways such as the Vault and Mystery House, which gave players a chance to win up to $5000 every day during the course of the promotions.
In total, PokerStars PA ran 13 non-tournament-related promotions in its first twelve months, and though the total amount given away has not been made public, a quick glance at the table compiled below indicates that more that $500,000 in promotions was made available to online poker players in Pennsylvania.
Sign up to PokerStars PA today and enjoy $30 FREE or a $600 first-deposit bonus »
PokerStars PA Promotions
| Promotion | Dates | Giveaway Amount | Type of Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|
| We Are in Pennsylvania Freerolls | Nov 7 – 11, 2019 | $30,000 | Freerolls |
| Christmas Calendar | Dec 1 – 24, 2019 | Win Up to $1000 on Christmas Day | Stars Rewards Chest |
| Card Hunt | Dec 23 – Jan 12, 2020 | Win Up to $5000 Every Day | Daily Poker Challenge |
| Cardex | Jan 27 – Feb 9, 2020 | Win Up to $5000 Every Day | Daily Poker Challenge |
| PokerStars 19th Anniversary | Mar 16 – Apr 3 | Win Up to $10,000 | Stars Rewards Chest |
| Chest and Ladders | Apr 13 – May 3 | $100,000 | Stars Rewards Chest |
| Golden Button | Apr 16 – May 3 | Win Up to $5000 Every Day | Daily Poker Challenge |
| Cardex | May 4 – 24 | Win Up to $5000 Every Day | Daily Poker Challenge |
| Stars Rewards Showdown | May 11 – 31 | Win Up to $2500 | Stars Rewards Chest |
| Cardex | July 27 – Aug 16 | Win Up to $5000 Every Day | Daily Poker Challenge |
| The Vault | Aug 10 – Aug 30 | $175,000 | Stars Rewards Chest |
| Mystery House | Oct 12 – Nov 1 | $175,000 | Stars Rewards Chest |
| Golden Button | Oct 12 – Nov 1 | Win Up to $5000 Every Day | Daily Poker Challenge |
Over $8 Million in Guaranteed Prize Money in Tournament Series on PokerStars PA
PokerStars PA also ran numerous tournament promotions in conjunction with the eight tournament series it ran in its first year.
Just weeks after the site dealt its first hand, the operator announced its first-ever tournament series, PACOOP, an acronym for the Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker, which featured $1.25 million in guarantees across 50 events.
In January this year, the Winter Series ran followed by a knockout-exclusive Bounty Builder Series.
In April, PokerStars PA ran its biggest tournament series to date, PASCOOP – the Spring edition of the Pennsylvania Online Championship brand. It eventually paid out over $3 million in total prize money.
During the summer period, the operator hosted an aptly-named Summer Series and another Bounty Builder Series.
In addition to tournament series, PokerStars PA also one-off special tournaments including two Pennsyl-MANIA events, one of which produced a record prize pool of over $500,000 in May. The second running took place in August.
The operator also ran Half Price and Knockout Special Sunday major tournaments.
Sign up to PokerStars PA today and enjoy $30 FREE or a $600 first-deposit bonus »
PokerStars PA Series and Special Tournaments
| Tournament Promotions | Dates | GTD |
|---|---|---|
| PACOOP | Nov 30 – Dec 16, 2019 | $1.225 million |
| Winter Series | Jan 25 – Feb 1 | $675,000 |
| Bounty Builder Series | Feb 20 – Mar 1 | $500,000 |
| PASCOOP | Apr 4 – 20 | $2 million |
| Pennsyl-Mania | May 17 | $250,000 |
| Summer Series | June 18 – 28 | $750,000 |
| Half Price Sunday | July 5 | $131,000 |
| Bounty Builder Series | July 12 – 26 | $1.5 million |
| KO Sunday | Aug 2 | $131,000 |
| Pennsyl-Mania | Aug 23 | $350,000 |
| PACOOP | Sep 19 – Oct 5 | $1.5 million |
| Pennsylvania 1st Anniversary Series | Nov 8 – 15 | $1 million |
