PokerStars Unveils 350-Event WCOOP Schedule
The 25th series runs Sept. 6-30, spans 121 events and six main events, and stretches buy-ins from $5.50 to $25,000.
PokerStars has published the full schedule for the 25th World Championship of Online Poker, and the series runs from Sept. 6 to 30 with 350 tournaments across 121 events. Buy-ins stretch from $5.50 to $25,000, and every WCOOP winner gets a trophy.
As reported in July, PokerStars had already set the dates and said the full slate would follow in the coming weeks. According to PokerStrategy, the new release confirms 121 events and 350 tournaments in total.
The six flagship main events are split between no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha. The NLH side begins on Sept. 27 at $109, $1,050 and $10,300, with guarantees of $1.25 million, $2 million and $2.5 million. The PLO side starts on Sept. 28 at the same buy-ins, with guarantees of $100,000, $250,000 and $400,000. Together, the six main events carry more than $6.5 million in guaranteed prize money.
Beyond that, PokerStars has set aside 10 World Championship events across different variants and formats. Those include 6-Max, HORSE, Razz, Triple Draw, PLO8, Progressive Knockout, 8-Game and a Women’s Championship.
Qualifying action is already part of the package. Satellites start at $0.55, Spin & Go qualifiers begin at $0.75, and PokerStars says special WCOOP satellite paths are running around the clock. The festival also adds $500,000 in WCOOP Lucky Dip tournament tickets and more than $175,000 in Power Path Express ticket bundles and Main Event entries. Leaderboards across the Low, Medium and High tiers add another $100,000 in prizes.
PokerNews quoted Steve Clarricoats, PokerStars associate director of online scheduling, saying a WCOOP victory is “a piece of poker history” and that every champion joins an exclusive group of players who have conquered one of the toughest online tournament series in the world. He also said the title can be one of the most important of a professional player’s career and a dream result for recreational players. Poker.org added that WCOOP first ran in 2002 and that Main Event first-place prize money has topped $1 million every year since 2007 except last year, when it was $736,000. Pokerology noted that the calendar leaves Sept. 11, 18 and 25 open as rest days between weekends.
