PokerStars is looking to help players ring in the New Year with some hot poker action. More than 350 games are planned over more than three weeks spanning the year-end celebrations.
With 2024 on the horizon, PokerStars has a New Year party on its mind, but it will be more than just a one-night affair. Starting on Dec 24 and running through Jan 16 in the new year, there are 351 games on the schedule for the New Year Series this time around, and among the highlights are some massive guarantees on New Year’s Day, as well as the introduction of the Mystery Bounty tournament format on the Red Spade.
As usual for PokerStars’ online series, the games are divided into bankroll groups with Low, Medium, and High bankroll streams. There are 96 games at each buy-in level, plus 63 individually priced games to get the final total. With buy-ins ranging from $2.20 on the Low end to $10,300 on the High end, there should be a game to fit most bankrolls.
Players can always get into the games for cheap on PokerStars as well, through the traditional satellite structure, or with Power Path. Direct qualifiers for events start at $.55 and there is $160k in extra value provided by PokerStars for players walking the Power Path.
2023 New Year Series at a Glance
- Dates – Dec 24 – Jan 16
- Total Gtd – $35,190,000
- Total Games – 351
- Games/BI Level – 96
- Individual Games – 63
- Average GTD – $100,543
- Median GTD – $70,000
- Average Buy-In – $302.14
- Median Buy-In – $55
- Avg Value – $2,396.52 $GTD/$BI
- Median Value – $1,136.36 $GTD/$BI
- Deposit $20 and get $30 worth of free play
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- Biggest MTT guarantees
24 Days of New Year
There is a massive New Year’s party setting up on the PokerStars online poker client. Starting on Dec 24, there are 24 days of poker fun planned going into 2024.
One of the things that sets PokerStars’ series apart is the triple-stream format with Low, Medium, and High buy-in ranges and each tournament running in all three ranges. In addition to the three buy-in streams, a fourth stream has 63 individual tournaments that only come in a single buy-in.
2023 New Year Series BI Level Breakdown
| BI Level | Games | Guaranteed | Buy-In Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 96 | $5,666,500 | $2.20 — $109 |
| Medium | 96 | $13,013,500 | $22.00 — $1,050 |
| High | 96 | $12,392,500 | $215.00 — $10,300 |
| Individual | 63 | $4,117,500 | $11.00 — $5,200 |
| Totals | 351 | $35,190,000 | $2.20 — $10,300 |
First Mystery Bounty Games on PokerStars
Among the highlights of the New Year Series is the introduction of the Mystery Bounty format to PokerStars’ tournament ecosystem. There are two versions of the format planned for the big year-end festival with a total of $1.25 million guaranteed.
Both of the new games run on Jan 7 with the biggest version being the $109 Mystery Bounty Sunday Million Special Edition with $1 million guaranteed. For players with smaller bankrolls, an $11 version on the same day guarantees $250k.
The quarter-million dollar guarantee puts the $11 Mystery Bounty at the top of the list for high-value games in this series, as measured by dollars guaranteed for every dollar of buy-in ($GTD/$BI). Players can expect at least $22,727.27 in value for each dollar they spend to get into the game, the highest-value game by a long shot.
Nearly $1.5 Million in New Year Specials
Another big highlight for the series comes on Jan 1 with three New Year Special tournaments at the traditional three buy-in levels. With buy-ins themed for the new year at $20,24, $202,40, and $2,024, the three special games guarantee $1.45 million between them.
Of special note is the Low version with $300k guaranteed for $20.24. That puts the game second on the value list with a return of $14,822.13 $GTD/$BI.
2023 New Year Special Games
| Date | Event | Name | Guarantee | Buy-In | Value ($GTD/$BI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan, 01 12:30 | New Year Series 51-L | New Year Special | $300,000 | $20.24 | $14,822.13 |
| Jan, 01 12:30 | New Year Series 51-M | New Year Special | $750,000 | $202.40 | $3,705.53 |
| Jan, 01 12:30 | New Year Series 51-H | New Year Special | $400,000 | $2,024.00 | $197.63 |
Big Value Games
In addition to the two biggest already highlighted above, there are a few other games to watch for where the guarantees outsize the buy-ins. There are a total of four games that have five-digit values with a couple of honorable mentions that just missed that mark.
2023 New Year Series Best Value Games
| Date | Event | Name | Guarantee | Buy-In | Value ($GTD/$BI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan, 07 12:30 | New Year Series 93-L | Progressive KO | $250,000 | $11.00 | $22,727.27 |
| Jan, 01 12:30 | New Year Series 51-L | New Year Special | $300,000 | $20.24 | $14,822.13 |
| Jan, 07 10:05 | New Year Series 91-L | Warm-Up | $60,000 | $5.50 | $10,909.09 |
| Jan, 14 10:05 | New Year Series 139-L | Warm-Up | $60,000 | $5.50 | $10,909.09 |
| Jan, 07 12:30 | New Year Series 93-M | Sunday Million SE | $1,000,000 | $109.00 | $9,174.31 |
| Jan, 14 12:30 | New Year Series 141-L | Main Event | $1,000,000 | $109.00 | $9,174.31 |
In terms of guarantees, four games guarantee at least $1 million with the best two reserved for the High and Medium Main Events. All three Main Events make the top-four guarantees list with the Low version of the Main coming in tied for third at $1 million guaranteed. See below for a look at all the games guaranteeing at least $500k.
2023 New Year Series Biggest Guarantees
| Date | Event | Name | Guarantee | Buy-In | Value ($GTD/$BI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan, 14 12:30 | New Year Series 141-H | Main Event | $1,500,000 | $5,200.00 | $288.46 |
| Jan, 14 12:30 | New Year Series 141-M | Main Event | $1,250,000 | $1,050.00 | $1,190.48 |
| Jan, 07 12:30 | New Year Series 93-M | Sunday Million SE | $1,000,000 | $109.00 | $9,174.31 |
| Jan, 14 12:30 | New Year Series 141-L | Main Event | $1,000,000 | $109.00 | $9,174.31 |
| Jan, 01 12:30 | New Year Series 51-M | New Year Special | $750,000 | $202.40 | $3,705.53 |
| Jan, 09 12:30 | New Year Series 108-H | Super Tuesday High Roller | $600,000 | $10,300.00 | $58.25 |
| Jan, 07 12:30 | New Year Series 93-H | Progressive KO | $500,000 | $1,050.00 | $476.19 |
| Jan, 15 14:05 | New Year Series 01 | Phase 2 | $500,000 | $55.00 | $9,090.91 |
Get into the New Year for Less
While the Low buy-in range already offers some pretty inexpensive ways to get into the New Year Series, as always, PokerStars has a few ways to get into some of the bigger games for less than the advertised prices.
- Traditional Satellites: Direct qualifiers running from $.55
- Special Edition Spin & Go: $0.75 and $4 games award Main Event entries, New Year Series tickets and cash
- Power Path
- $109 tickets for Bronze Pass
- $160k in added value with New Year Series tickets in Step 3 and 4, including Main Event tickets
- Silver Pass bundles to the New Year Series worth $2,500
- Freeroll
- Play three or more New Year Series games to earn Freeroll ticket
- Freeroll: $20K GTD New Year Series Freeroll on January 1
- Winners get New Year’s Special and New Year Series tickets
If you are looking for a way to work off the holiday tryptophan hangover, PokerStars’ New Year Series could be a lucrative way to pass the time. Games are running throughout the holiday season from Dec 24 to Jan 16 and details with a full schedule of events can be found on the PokerStars blog.
