- Starting on September 2, over $116 million will be guaranteed in prize pools of which more than $70 million will come from WCOOP alone.
- In total, there will be 182 tournaments spread across 61 events with each of them featuring three-tiered buy-ins.
- Other highlights of the series include three phase tourneys with buy-ins $2.20, $22, and $215 which will start running from mid-August.
PokerStars, as always known to raise the bar when it comes to hosting online tournament series, has released the schedule for the seventeenth edition of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) which promises to be the operator’s most ambitious series to date.
Starting on September 2, over $116 million will be guaranteed in prize pools across all global liquidity tournaments during 16 days of the festival, of which more than $70 million will come from WCOOP alone—an increase of $10 million from the previous year’s edition.
The announcement comes just two days after partypoker announced its biggest online tournament series. Powerfest will run at the same time, guaranteeing a total of $60 million in prize money across a staggering 670 tournaments.
For the first time, WCOOP will follow the same model of its compatriot SCOOP which is based on a three-tier buy-in system. In total, there will be 182 tournaments spread across 61 events with each of them featuring a low, medium and high buy-in version. The exception is the Main Event which will be offered in Low ($55 buy-in) and High ($5,200 buy-in), boasting a guarantee of $1 million and $10 million respectively.
“The three-tier buy-in system that we have introduced this year means that everyone can enjoy the WCOOP action over 16 days, giving everyone a shot at becoming a PokerStars world champion of online poker,” said Director of Poker Innovation and Operations, Severin Rasset.
