As predicted back in November, PokerStars’ 10th anniversary Sunday Million broke its own record for largest ever prize pool for an online multi-table poker tournament. In total, over 62,000 people registered for the $215-buyin tournament making a prize pool of $12.4m.
It just surpassed the record set in the Main Event of the WCOOP in 2010, with a prize pool of $12.2m. It also topped a Sunday Million back in March, which had 60,000 participants vie for a prize pool a snip lower than $12m. That special event was held to celebrate another anniversary: five years of the Sunday Million.
The record comes exactly two weeks after the poker room broke another tournament record: on December 4, 200,000 players took part in a special $1 buyin tournament, setting a new record for most number of entrants in a paying event. The number could have been a lot higher but the number of participants was capped to ensure an overlay (and to give the PokerStars servers a fighting chance of survival).
Although impressive – especially considering PokerStars was forced to withdraw from the US market earlier in the year – the online poker room still has a long way to go to surpass live poker tournament records. The Main Event of the 2006 World Series of Poker boasted a total prize pool of $82.5m, with the event winner Jamie Gold scooping $12m for first prize.
