This article was first published on Poker Industry PRO and reproduced on pokerfuse.
The inaugural Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) series on PokerStars MI is done and dusted. It has been by far a runaway success with almost every tournament smashing its guarantee.
60 tournaments were played out for the first ever series in the regulated Michigan online poker market. The festival kicked off barely weeks after PokerStars opened the doors to Michiganders.
Initially, the operator set the total guarantees at $1 million. However, once the series took off, the operator was greeted with a turnout that was beyond their expectations.
In response, it bumped up the guarantees multiple times, even hosted a Double Up Weekend where guarantees for all the weekend tournaments were raised 100%. It took the total series guarantee to over $1.4 million, up by 35%.
The festival eventually wrapped up on Monday, producing prize pools well over a million more than what the operator had originally guaranteed.
As per PRO’s calculations, the operator distributed $2.2 million to players across 60 tournaments while collecting $186k in rake. Nearly 29,000 entries participated in the events.
It trumps the equivalent first tournament series held in the larger Pennsylvania online gambling market in late 2019. The maiden PACOOP generated $1.55 million in total prize money across 50 tournaments.
MICOOP 2021 Top Line Numbers
| Total Prize Pool Awarded | $2,208,002.20 |
|---|---|
| Total Rake Collected | $186,075.20 |
| Total Overlay | $17,232.40 |
| Total Profit | $168,842.80 |
MICOOP Main Event One of the Largest
All eyes were set on the $300 buy-in 2-Day Main Event that came to a close last night. Coming off as the largest tournament in the schedule with a boosted $200,000 guarantee, the tournament blew this out of proportion, attracting the series’ largest turnout of 1284 total entries.
It resulted in a prize pool of almost $360,000, one of the largest tournaments in PokerStars’ US regulated market history.
Despite the seemingly high figure, the guarantee was smashed by almost 80% and almost three times the size of its original guarantee. originally set at $125,000. Even if the tournament were played out as a freezeout, it would have still covered its guarantee easily—almost $250,000 was collected from players’ first entries.
The winner walked away with $56k, by far the largest single prize in the short history of regulated online poker in Michigan.
Its miniature edition could not gather as many entries as the $300 buy-in one. Despite carrying a $50 buy-in, the Mini Main drew 1201 entries, enough to best its $50k guarantee by over $4000.
The other tournaments also performed equally well. The Saturday Speedway over the weekend attracted 374 entries for a final prize pool of $17K. The first-ever Zoom event on the same day ran without a hitch, pulling in 520 entries each paying $50 to amass a prize pool of $23.6K.
There were a few misses, including the 6-Max event on Sunday falling short by almost $10,000 to its $30,000 guarantee. However, the operator would be beyond pleased with the final results as it netted nearly $170k in revenue, even after taking these minor overlays into consideration.
MICOOP 2021 By the Numbers:
- Total Guarantees $1,429,000
- No. Of Tournaments 60
- Total Prize Money Awarded $2,208,002.2
- Average Guarantee per Tournament $23,817
- Average Prize Pool per Tournament $36,800
- Guarantee Surpassed 54.5%
- Total Entrants 28,830
- Average Entrants 480.5
- No. Of Overlays 4 (6.67%)
- Total Overlay Amount $17,232.4
- Biggest Turnout & Prize Pool MICOOP-55 [Main Event] — 1284 entries, $359,520 prize pool
- Last Sunday Prize Pool $544,939
The knockout-exclusive Bounty Builder Series, running simultaneously on PokerStars’ other markets in the US, also came to a conclusion last night.
The Pennsylvania series, boasting $1.5 million in total guarantees across 75 tournaments, also crossed the $2 million figure but fell short of the MICOOP series by $200k. Its Main Event sporting a $200 buy-in attracted 957 entries to eclipse its $150k guarantee comfortably.
The Bounty Builder Series in New Jersey was modest compared to these two. It generated nearly $700k in prize money but the operator had to face many overlays, including the Main that missed its $75k guarantee by $18k.
PokerStars US Network Tournament Series Comparison
| Series | MICOOP | Bounty Builder Series | Bounty Builder Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market | PokerStars MI | PokerStars PA | PokerStars NJ |
| Total Gtd | $1,400,000+ | $1,500,000+ | $600,000+ |
| Total Tournaments | 60 | 75 | 58 |
| Avg Gtd | $23,817 | $20,000 | $10,345 |
| Buy-ins | $10 — $500 | $10 — $1000 | $10 — $750 |
| Total Prize Pool | $2,208,002.20 | $2,012,204.25 | $675,000+ |
| Main Event | $300 buy-in, $200K Gtd | $200 buy-in, $150K Gtd | $300 buy-in, $75K Gtd |
| Main Event Prize Pool | $359,520 | $178,002 | $75,000 |
| Last Sunday Guarantees | $370,000 | $267,500 | $115,000 |
| Last Sunday Prize Pool | $544,939 | $322,610.40 | $115,674.30 |
| Last Sunday Guarantee Smashed | 47.30% | 20.60% | 0.59% |
| Duration | Feb 20 — Mar 8 | Feb 20 — Mar 8 | Feb 20 — Mar 8 |
With over $2.2 million in prize money, the MICOOP series has set the benchmark strong for PokerStars MI. It is likely to go neck-and-neck with PokerStars PA despite the Keystone State having a bigger population.
Expect the upcoming tournament series on PokerStars MI to be as big as its counterpart PokerStars PA.
Meanwhile, PokerStars MI is expected to run cash game promotions in the form of Cardex or Card Hunt challenges to keep players on its site and capitalize on the freshness of the market.
A new online poker room will also be soon launching in Michigan so the competition is expected to increase.
