The New Year Series over at PokerStars is in full swing. With 359 total events on the schedule, the series offers a lot of action for all types of players, but with so many tournaments to choose from, picking the ones that you really want to play can be a bit of a task.
The schedule features a great variety for players of all bankrolls and game preferences, so it all boils down to combing through it and figuring out which ones fit your particular circumstances, goals, and ambitions.
To help you with that, this article brings our top picks for the PokerStars New Year Series based on several important criteria. Hopefully, this will help you navigate the long tournament list and figure out your timetable, which can be particularly tricky during holiday times.
- Deposit $20 and get $30 worth of free play
- One of the best mobile apps
- Biggest MTT guarantees
Largest Prize Pools: $250k+ Guarantees
The New Year Series features a good number of events with large prize pools. In fact, there are still a dozen tournaments remaining with prize pools of $250,000 or more, including six events with at least $1,000,000 up for grabs.
The most affordable of these is the Event #1 — High, with a buy-in of $55 and a guarantee of $1,000,000. This is a Phase event, with Phase 1 qualifiers running daily and Phase 2 taking place on Jan 13, giving you plenty of time to get involved.
For those with smaller bankrolls, the Low version of the same event comes with a buy-in of just $5.50 and a guarantee of $250,000, representing a great opportunity to give your bankroll a big boost if you make a deep run.
Of course, there are also the New Year Series versions of Sunday Million, featuring buy-ins of $215 (on Dec 29) and $109 (on Jan 5), both with the traditional guarantee of $1,000,000.
Three New Year Specials (Event #66) on Jan 1 feature guarantees of $250k+ as well, namely:
- $20.25 Event #66 L – $250,000 GTD
- $202.50 Event #66 M – $500,000 GTD
- $2,025 Event #66 H – $300,000 GTD
Wrapping things up in this category are three Main Events taking place on Jan 12 with buy-ins of $109, $1,050, and $5,200, with each tournament offering a guarantee of a cool million.
| Date | Event | Buy-in | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 29 | Event #50 – M – PKO Sunday Million | $215 | $1,000,000 |
| Dec 29 | Event #50 – H – Progressive KO | $1,050 | $400,000 |
| Jan 1 | Event #66 – L – New Year Special | $20.25 | $250,000 |
| Jan 1 | Event #66 – M – New Year Special | $202.50 | $500,000 |
| Jan 1 | Event #66 – H – New Year Special | $2,025 | $300,000 |
| Jan 5 | Event #95 – M – Sunday Million Mystery Bounty | $109 | $1,000,000 |
| Jan 5 | Event #95 – H – Sunday High Roller | $1,050 | $400,000 |
| Jan 12 | Event #144 – L – Main Event Mystery Bounty | $109 | $1,000,000 |
| Jan 12 | Event #144 – M – Main Event PKO | $1,050 | $1,000,000 |
| Jan 12 | Event #144 – H – Main Event | $5,200 | $1,000,000 |
| Jan 13 | Event #153 – M – Series Saver PKO | $215 | $250,000 |
| Jan 13 | Event #1 – L – PKO (Phase 2) | $5.50 | $250,000 |
Best Low Budget Options
For players working with smaller bankrolls and still looking to have a shot at big money, the PokerStars New Year Series also brings quite a few nice options.
In addition to the Event #1 — L, some of the best value-for-money options on the schedule include:
- Dec 29 — $11 Event #53 — L — Sunday Cooldown – $50,000 GTD
- Jan 2 — $11 Event #72 — L — Thursday Thrill with $75,000 GTD
- Jan 5 – $3.30 Event #96 — L — Mystery Bounty with $30,000 GTD
- Jan 5 — $11 Event #95 — L — Mystery Mini Sunday Million with $150,000 GTD
- Jan 7 – $5.50 Event #110 — L — Micro Bounty Builder with $40,000 GTD
- Jan 11 — $11 Event #137 — L — Big Mystery Bounty with $100,000 GTD
- Jan 12 – $5.50 Event #146 — L — Progressive KO with $50,000 GTD
There are a few more tournaments with similar prize pools within this buy-in range, but these are the ones that you should definitely give a go if you’re working with a small bankroll and are looking for a shot at big prizes.
Many of these events feature bounties in one way or another as well, which should help with the variance a little bit and give you more opportunities during the series.
Top Mixed Game Picks
If you want to expand your horizons beyond Texas Hold’em, the New Year Series by PokerStars brings a colorful selection of mixed game tournaments. The best part is that buy-ins start quite low, so this isn’t meant just for high-rollers. Everyone can join the action.
Event #119 features your traditional 8-Game mix with buy-ins of $22, $109, and $530 for each respective orbit. These tournaments take place on Jan 8 and also have an added element of progressive knockouts, which should make them a lot of fun to play.
On Jan 11, there are three HORSE tournaments featured in Event #139, with buy-ins identical to those for the 8-Game events for high, low, and medium orbits.
If you’d rather focus on a single game in a tournament instead of switching between different variations, your options are:
- Jan 1 — Event #67 — No Limit 2-7 Single Draw
- Jan 2 — Event #73 — Limit Stud H/L
- Jan 4 — Event #89 — No Limit 5-Card Draw
- Jan 7 — Event #111 — Limit 2-7 Triple Draw
All in all, the New Year Series offers plenty of action of different types to cater to different tastes and bankrolls. Hopefully, this article will help you with some planning or, at the very least, nudge you in the right direction and give you an idea of what to look for on the massive schedule!