Popular sweepstakes online poker site, Global Poker has announced the return of its flagship tournament series, Eagle Cup returning for its eighth installment.
Eagle Cup VIII, which began on October 21, features 108 Sweeps Coins (SC) trophy events running through November 10, with SC 2.3 million in guaranteed prize pools — making it Global Poker’s largest tournament series to date.
While Global Poker’s sweepstakes model does not offer direct cash prizes, Sweeps Coins can be redeemed for real money rewards at a rate of 1 SC to $1 USD.
As usual, a Gold Coins (GC) series will run alongside the SC events, offering the same number of tournaments. Unlike SC, GC is purely for entertainment and cannot be exchanged for real money prizes.
Both series are nearly identical, featuring trophies and limited-edition prizes. The Sweeps Coins events guarantee SC 2.3 million, while the Gold Coins series boasts GC 987 million in guarantees.
Eagle Cup VIII Series Details
We will be focusing on the Sweeps Coins schedule, which spans 108 tournaments. While No-Limit Hold’em dominates the lineup, there are also Omaha events, including Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better. The tournaments are divided into Low, Medium, and High tiers, giving players the chance to participate in three different versions of each event, with three distinct buy-ins.
The buy-ins are quite affordable, starting at SC 3.30 and going up to SC 99. The series kicked off on October 21 with a freeroll offering SC 5000 in prize money. If you missed it, don’t worry — two more freerolls are scheduled for Sunday, October 27, and November 3, each with SC 2000 guaranteed. These freerolls celebrate Global Poker’s parent company VGW’s partnership with Formula 1 team Scuderia Ferrari HP.
There is no shortage of variety in tournament formats, with popular options like bounties, progressive bounties, mystery bounties, rebuys, and turbos all featured.
The highlight of the series is the Main Event on November 10, which boasts an SC 99 buy-in and an SC 200,000 guaranteed prize pool—the largest of the series. It follows the classic 1R1A format, allowing one rebuy and one add-on.
Additionally, the series includes a leaderboard, with top Sweeps Coins players earning a seat at the Global Poker Championships Season Final, set to take place next year in Las Vegas.
As always, Global Poker offers plenty of extra prizes, including merchandise, customized avatars, trophies, and more.
Global Poker and How Sweepstakes Social Poker Work
Global Poker has been operating since 2016 and is available in most US states and across Canada, except for Quebec. Owned by VGW Holdings Limited, an Australian gaming giant, the platform is a major player in the sweepstakes industry. Global Poker alone contributed over $200 million in revenue in the last fiscal year.
For those unfamiliar with Global Poker’s format, the site differs from traditional online poker rooms by using a sweepstakes model where all games are free to play. It operates with two virtual currencies: Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins.
Gold Coins are strictly for entertainment purposes. Players can purchase them with real money, but they have no monetary value and cannot be redeemed. However, when purchasing Gold Coins, players often also receive an equal amount of Sweeps Coins as a bonus. These Sweeps Coins function as an internal currency, though they cannot be bought directly.
Sweeps Coins can be used to join cash games and tournaments, allowing players to win more Sweeps Coins and other prizes. They can be redeemed for real money at a 1:1 exchange rate with USD.
While Gold Coins are available for purchase across the North American region, only players in the US (excluding states like Idaho, Michigan, Montana, and Washington) and Canada (excluding Quebec) can redeem Sweeps Coins for real money, subject to account verification.
Sweepstakes poker has been quite successful in the US, offering a viable option for players in states where online poker or online casinos are not yet legalized.
For many years, Global Poker faced little competition in the sweepstakes poker space. However, the landscape is changing with the recent rise of sweepstakes-based social igaming platforms focusing on poker. In July, Clubs Poker launched as a direct competitor, offering a similar setup to Global Poker but with a wider variety of mixed games.
In September, Stake.us, a popular sweepstakes casino platform that launched in the US two years ago, added online poker to its lineup. Another competitor is on the horizon, as the World Poker Tour (WPT) plans to expand its sweepstakes poker offerings with ClubWPT Gold, set to debut in early 2025. Currently, ClubWPT operates on a subscription-based sweepstakes model, but it is expected to transition to the more modern ClubWPT Gold.
History of Eagle Cup
The Eagle Cup is a standout series worth keeping an eye on, as it is one of Global Poker’s most prestigious tournaments. Since its launch, the series has seen impressive growth. The inaugural edition in 2017 offered SC 1.25 million in guarantees, though the second edition in 2018 dropped to SC 750,000. However, each subsequent edition has steadily increased in size.
Last year’s Eagle Cup VII promised SC 2.1 million in prize money, spread across nearly the same number of events.
In addition to the Eagle Cup, Global Poker hosts several other major tournament series throughout the year, including the Grizzly Games, Rattlesnake Cup, GOAT, Bounty Series, and more.
Eagle Cup VIII concludes on November 10.
Global Poker’s Eagle Cup History
| Edition | Year | Guarantee | Tournaments | Main Event | Avg Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | Oct 2 – Oct 30, 2017 | 1,250,000 | 150 | 25,000 | 8333 |
| ii | Oct 1 – Oct 21, 2018 | 750,000 | 135 | 100,000 | 5556 |
| iii | Oct 21 – Nov 10, 2019 | 1,100,000 | 156 | 100,000 | 7051 |
| iv | Oct 26 – Nov 15, 2020 | 1,200,000 | 104 | 100,000 | 11538 |
| v | Oct 24 – Nov 14, 2021 | 1,540,000 | 102 | 200,000 | 15098 |
| vi | Oct 24 – Nov 13, 2022 | 1,862,000 | 108 | 200,000 | 17241 |
| vii | Oct 23 – Nov 12, 2023 | 2,120,000 | 108 | 200,000 | 19630 |
| viii | Oct 21 – Nov 10, 2024 | 2,300,000 | 108 | 200,000 | 21296 |
