- The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) has almost concluded, and the entrance numbers are staggering.
- Every single event has smashed its guarantee—with some attracting double, even triple the expected turn-out.
- The highroller $10.3k event guaranteed a $3 million prize pool and $500k for the winner, but with 657 players attracted, over $6.5 million will be paid out in prizes—and the winner will take home $1.2 million.
The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) has almost concluded, and the entrance numbers are staggering.
SCOOP 2014 was billed as the “richest” online tournament series ever scheduled, with $40 million guaranteed across 135 events.
Yet despite these high numbers, every single event has smashed its guarantee—with some attracting double, even triple the expected turn-out.
In total, $80 million will have been won by players across the two-week series.
Big Mains
The main events—two-day tournaments that will conclude later Monday—are prime examples.
The low event, a $109-buyin with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool and $100,000 guaranteed for first, attracted over 21,000 players, amassing a prize pool of over $2.1 million. First place will take home over $215,000.
The medium level, with a $1050 buyin, also easily smashed the $2 million guarantee: 4047 players registered, making a prize pool just over $4 million and a first place prize of $635,000.
But the high level has done even better. The highroller $10.3k event guaranteed a $3 million prize pool and $500k for the winner, but with 657 players attracted, over $6.5 million will be paid out in prizes—and the winner will take home $1.2 million.
As a single point of comparison, in 2013, the SCOOP Main—won by Viktor “Isildur” Blom—had a prize pool of $5.8 million.
For the first time, SCOOP was accompanied by playSCOOP, its first ever play money tournament series. These did not have play money “guarantees,” although the main event—which had a buy-in of $10m—did amass a prize pool of 747 million play chips.
