PokerStars MI Raises MICOOP Prize Pools Yet Again: Main Event Now Guarantees $200K

PokerStars MI is not settling down with the guarantees originally set as the operator once again bumps up the prize money for the ongoing Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) after another successful week.

The $300 buy-in Main Event which takes place this Sunday now promises $200,000 instead of $125,000 as advertised previously.

This will be the largest-ever guaranteed online poker tournament in the brief history of PokerStars MI and Michigan online poker.

“We are heading into the final stretch of what has been a fantastic run in Michigan where we have had thousands of entries and record prize pools,” said PokerStars Associate Director, Group Public Relations, Rebecca McAdam Willetts. “We are (again) thrilled to increase the value on offer to our players competing in the Main Event.”

Players yet to sign up can still do so today and take part. Along with all the regular Welcome Bonuses, there is a Depositors Freeroll giving out Main Event tickets plus a $3 Spin and Go also offering a cheap chance at winning a ticket to the first ever Michigan online poker flagship tournament.

MICOOP Now Guarantees Nearly $1.5 Million

With the latest bump in the prize money, the MICOOP has gotten even bigger and the series overall guarantee has gone up to $1,429,000 and nearly matches the total guarantee of the Bounty Builder Series taking place on its counterpart PokerStars PA.

In total, 26 tournaments out of 60 have seen a bump in the prize pool guarantee adding $370,000 to the original $1.059 million guarantee.

Along with the Main, the operator has also upped the guarantee for the $50 buy-in Mini Main from $35,000 to $50,000.

The guarantee on the $50 buy-in 8-Game has been increased by more than three times to $10,000 from the original $3000. This Mixed-Game event takes place on Saturday, March 6 at 18:00 ET.

Event #52, a $50 buy-in Saturday Speedway’s guarantee has been doubled to $10,000. The Marathon event on the same day has also seen a significant bump to $35,000 from $10,000.

The $100 buy-in Progressive Knockout event on Sunday has been pushed to $40,000 from $30,000. The 6-Max Sunday Supersonic has also seen an increase from $10,000 to $15,000.

In total, there is nearly half a million up for grabs across the remaining 14 events including today’s three.

Inaugural MICOOP Guarantee Changes

• Original Gtd – $1,059,500
• Increase in Gtd – $370,000
• Final Overall Series Gtd – $1,429,500
• No. Of Tournaments that Saw Increase in Gtd — 26 out of 60 (43%)
• Avg Increase in Gtd Per Tournament – $14,230

First-Ever MICOOP A Massive Hit So Far

Entering the final weekend, 46 events out of 60 are in books. All but three easily surpassed their guaranteed prize pool amount including the ones that had their guarantees boosted.

Players have come out in large numbers to support the first-ever online tournament series in the Wolverine State. Right from the very first event, the MICOOP festival got off to a crushing start, with guarantees getting smashed by two to three times across the board.

Responding to the huge turnout, the operator doubled the guarantees for all the tournaments that were scheduled to take place over the last weekend.

The $250 buy-in Sunday Special with the first six-figure guarantee of the series attracted 461 players to build a prize pool of $107K. Its Mini edition drew the second-largest turnout: 1137 entries to push its prize pool to $31K.

One particular tournament did turn out to be of great value to players. The hyper-paced Sunday Supersonic with a $20,000 guarantee fell 75 entries short, leading to an overlay of over $5K.

MICOOP 2021 Stats So Far:

• Total Tournaments Ran — 46 out of 60 (77% completed)
• Guaranteed Prize Money Till Now – $949,500
• Prize Money Awarded – $1,474,261.2
• Guaranteed Smashed – 55%
• Average Prize Pool Per Tournament – $32,049
• Total Entries So Far — 20,260
• Average Entries — 440
• Overlays — 3 out of 46 (6.5%)
• Total Overlay — $7506.4

Plenty of Action Still Remaining at the Final Weekend of MICOOP

At the time of writing, $1.47 million in prize money has been awarded and over 20,000 entries have participated across 46 tournaments. But there is still a lot to look forward to in the final three days.

14 tournaments still remain on the schedule including the Main with the boosted guarantee. The new $200,000 guarantee means that it will now need to require 715 entries to cover its guarantee instead of 447 previously. If the tournament fails to hit that number, players will enjoy the extra value of overlay.

However, it is very likely to breach its $200,000 guaranteed prize money.

The $300 buy-in Main Event will kick off on Sunday at 17:00 ET and run for two days with Day 1 breaking after approximately eight hours of play. Late registration will be open for 3 hours and 45 mins and players will be able to re-enter up to a maximum of five times.

MICOOP Depositor Freeroll Taking Place this Sunday

Players can take part in the $200,000 guaranteed Main Event without paying the buy-in by entering the MICOOP Main Event Depositor Freeroll giving away 35 seats worth $10,500 in total.

To take part in this freeroll, players must make a deposit of $30 or more with the code “*MICOOP*” before 13:59 ET on March 7. Once successfully deposited, players will be automatically sent a ticket to this freeroll. It runs on the same day as the Main Event.

Players can also qualify for the Main without investing much thanks to the $3 buy-in special Spin & Go running around the clock.

And not to forget, the series is also being accompanied by Daily Second Chance Freerolls giving away at least $1000 in MICOOP tickets every day to players who bust out of the money.

As previously speculated, the MICOOP series is well on course to pay out a total of $2 million prize money and could easily go beyond that. This would be quite impressive given that it is the first-ever series in the regulated online poker market of Wolverine State.

The MICOOP series concludes on Monday, March 8.

MICOOP 2021 Final Three Days Schedule