The three big events that were lined up last Sunday in all of the three PokerStars US markets have almost come to a close.
Across the three networks, PokerStars MI, PokerStars NJ and PokerStars PA, exactly $1 million in combined prize money was guaranteed.
Each of them was scheduled to run on April 4 clashing with the Easter weekend—a period that generally sees low traffic.
Two of those events fell short of their guarantees, turning out to be of great value for players in Michigan and New Jersey. Both the MI Classic and the NJ Classic tournaments overlaid, meaning PokerStars had to money from its own pocket to cover the guarantee.
Pennsyl-MANIA, running on the PokerStars Pennsylvania client, was the only event that drew enough to exceed its guarantee.
Still, the operator contributed a total of $16k in prize money these three events.
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PokerStars USA Easter Tournaments (April 4)
| Event | Michigan Classic | Pennyl-MANIA | New Jersey Classic | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gtd | $500,000 | $400,000 | $100,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Final Prize Pool | $500,000 | $413,280 | $100,000 | $1,013,280 |
| Buy-in | $300 | $300 | $500 | __ |
| Entries | 1551 | 1476 | 178 | 3205 |
| Total Buy-ins | $434,280 | $413,280 | $83,660 | __ |
| Overlay | $65,720 | - | $16,340 | $82,060 |
| Rake Collected | $31,020 | $29,520 | $5,340 | $65,880 |
| Net Profit | -$34,700 | $29,520 | -$11,000 | -$16,180 |
$500,000 Michigan Classic
Before the Michigan Classic event made its debut, the previous largest tournament by PokerStars MI came during MICOOP. Its Main Event pulled in 1284 entries to take its prize pool to $360K.
Slapping a $500,000 guarantee on the state’s inaugural Classic event with barely two months since its launch was certainly an ambitious move. It shares the record with Pennsyl-MANIA for the largest guarantee the site has offered in the US market.
- For more than a decade, PokerStars has led the industry with the best software, largest player pools and safest environment to play
- Great Welcome package: $50 worth of Spin & Go and MTT tickets as soon as you play a single cash hand
- Or a big first deposit bonus: huge 100% up to $600 deposit bonus with code
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The Michigan Classic needed around 1800 entries to cover its guarantee, it drew a respectful 1551 entries—the biggest turnout in PokerStars MI’s short history but not enough to meet its half-million guarantee. The shortfall meant that the operator had to fill in $65.6k, the second-largest overlay by PokerStars in the US.
1025 out of 1551 entries were unique players and the remaining 526 were re-entries. 63 players made it to day 2 and the winner will away with $76k – the largest single prize in the regulated market of Michigan.
In addition to the Michigan Classic, other weekly Sunday Majors in Michigan also fell short of their guarantees. The $100 Sunday Special boasting a $45,000 guarantee attracted only 444 entrants leading to an overlay in excess of $4000, while the $100 Sunday Marathon fell short by more than $2000.
$400,000 Guaranteed Pennsyl-MANIA
The fourth running of PokerStars’ most successful tournament in Pennsylvania did not disappoint. After nearly five hours of late registration, it ended up with a field of 1476 entries, to build a prize pool of $413.2k.
Nearly 40% of the field were made up of re-entries, representing 557—roughly $150k of the final prize pool.
With a prize pool of $413k, it is now the third-largest tournament even run on PokerStars PA. The buy-in for this event was set at $300, up from the usual $200.
In fact, the record for the three largest tournaments all belong to Pennsyl-MANIA. The first edition set the record for the biggest prize pool in Pennsylvania at $515,964.
PokerStars Pennsyl-MANIA Tournament History
| Date | Buy-in | Guarantee | Final Prize Pool | Entries Required | Entries Attracted | Overlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17 — 18 | $200 | $250,000 | $515,964 | 1345 | 2774 (1760 unique) | $0 |
| Aug 23 — 24 | $200 | $350,000 | $376,836 | 1882 | 2026 (1274 unique) | $0 |
| Dec 27 — 28 | $200 | $500,000 | $500,000 | 2689 | 2309 (1421 unique) | $70,526 |
| Apr 4 – 5 | $300 | $400,000 | $413,280 | 1429 | 1476 (919 unique) | $0 |
- For more than a decade, PokerStars has led the industry with the best software, largest player pools and safest environment to play
- Great Welcome package: $50 after playing a single cash game hand at any stakes
- Or a big first deposit bonus: huge 100% up to $600 deposit bonus with code
STARS600 - Home of the Sunday Special, NJCOOP, Spin & Gos and more
$100K New Jersey Classic
After easily surpassing its guarantee in the previous edition, the second running of the New Jersey Classic with a much higher buy-in struggled to meet its $100k guarantee.
131 unique players participated in the event, each paying $500 as entry fee. These players added another 47 entries, taking the final turnout to 178, but that was not enough to beat its guarantee. It eventually overlaid by $16.3k.
In its previous run when the event had a $200 buy-in, it attracted 653 entries to comfortably exceed its $100k guarantee by 21%.
It is certainly an interesting decision by the operator to run the event with a 2.5 times bigger buy-in than before. Considering that many players would have gone off to meet their friends and family, perhaps, the operator had hoped that a higher buy-in would help it breach the six-figure guarantee. But it didn’t.
The $200 buy-in Sunday Special with a reduced guarantee of $20,000 also had an outlay. It attracted 105 entries, just 3 shy of meeting its guarantee.
The Sunday Marathon and the Sunday Warm-Up also did not meet their guarantees, but the lower-stakes $10 Sunday Storm did beat its guarantee.
