The online poker spotlight turns to PokerStars this weekend for the highly anticipated World Championship of Online Poker. The event is set to begin tomorrow, Friday September 4th, starting at 14:30 EST with a $215 buyin NL Hold’em 6-max tournament with a $1 million guarantee. The series features 33 events with a combined $30 million in guarantees, making this year’s WCOOP the biggest online tournament series yet.
The schedule this year features several new games that were not found in last year’s lineup. These include a NL Hold’em 4-max event, a Mixed Hold’em 6-max tournament, a NL 2-7 Single Draw tournament, and an 8-game Mixed Event that should prove very interesting. There are also some high buy-in tournaments that should attract a good bit of attention. Two events with a $10,300 buy-in are offered this year — Event #5, a High Roller NL Hold’em tournament with a $2 million guaranteed, and Event #32, a HORSE tournament with a $1.6 million guarantee. The highest buy-in on the schedule is sure to be a fan favorite. Event #19 is a NL Hold’em Heads Up tourney sporting a hefty $25,500 buy-in and a $1.6 million guaranteed prize pool.
Sundays are highlighted by NL Hold’em tournaments with big guarantees. In a somewhat surprising move, PokerStars has made these tournaments into 2-day events, with play continuing into Mondays. This decision caused a bit of a stir in the online poker community, with many players voicing their opinion that the 2-day events should run Saturday/Sunday rather than Sunday/Monday.
Stars is also offering 2nd Chance tournaments for each event this year. These are tournaments that start a few hours after their corresponding event. They have a slightly smaller buy-in and offer you another shot at your chosen game if you happen to be among the unfortunates that bust out early in the WCOOP events.
WCOOP comes to a close with the Main Event on Sunday September 21st. This year’s ME is also a 2-day event, $5,300 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with a record $10 million guaranteed prize pool. The payouts for winning the Main Event have been steadily increasing year to year with the increase in the prize pools. In 2006, pro player J.C. Tran took down the top spot for $650,000. Last year’s Main Event had 2,998 entries and a prize pool just shy of $7.5 million. The winner, “Ka$ino”, took away $1,378,330 for his efforts. The top prize for the winner this year may approach $2 million.
Check out the full schedule below, and stay tuned to FTR Poker Community News for coverage of the individual events.
September 5th, 14:30 ET – Event 1 $215 NLH 6-Max ($1,000,000)
September 5th, 16:30 ET – Event 2 $215 PL 5-Card Draw ($100,000)
September 6th, 14:30 ET – Event 3 $215 LH ($300,000)
September 6th, 16:30 ET – Event 4 $215 2-7 Triple Draw ($100,000)
September 7th, 14:30 ET – Event 5 $10,300 NLH ($2,000,000)
September 7th, 16:30 ET – Event 6 $530 NLH ($3,000,000)
September 8th, 14:30 ET – Event 7 $215 PLO 6-Max ($300,000)
September 8th, 16:30 ET – Event 8 $320 8-Game Mixed ($200,000)
September 9th, 14:30 ET – Event 9 $215 NLH 4-Max ($400,000)
September 9th, 16:30 ET – Event 10 $215 Razz ($100,000)
September 10th, 14:30 ET – Event 11 $320 PLO8 ($300,000)
September 10th, 16:30 ET – Event 12 $320 Mixed Hold’em 6-Max ($300,000)
September 11th, 14:30 ET – Event 13 $215 NLH +R ($1,000,000)
September 11th, 16:30 ET – Event 14 $320 7CS ($100,000)
September 12th, 14:30 ET – Event 15 $320 NLH Heads Up ($500,000)
September 12th, 16:30 ET – Event 16 $215 PLO +1R/1A ($500,000)
September 13th, 14:30 ET – Event 17 $530 PLH 6-Max ($400,000)
September 13th, 16:30 ET – Event 18 $215 HORSE ($300,000)
September 14th, 14:30 ET – Event 19 $25,500 NLH Heads Up ($1,600,000)
September 14th, 16:30 ET – Event 20 $1,050 NLH ($3,000,000)
September 15th, 14:30 ET – Event 21 $530 7CS8 ($200,000)
September 15th, 16:30 ET – Event 22 $530 Mixed Omaha8 6-Max ($200,000)
September 16th, 14:30 ET – Event 23 $530 NLH +1R/1A ($500,000)
September 16th, 16:30 ET – Event 24 $530 NL 2-7 Single Draw ($200,000)
September 17th, 14:30 ET – Event 25 $320 PLO +R ($500,000)
September 17th, 16:30 ET – Event 26 $320 NLH 6-Max ($500,000)
September 18th, 14:30 ET – Event 27 $530 NLH 3x Shootout ($300,000)
September 18th, 16:30 ET – Event 28 $530 LO8 ($400,000)
September 19th, 14:30 ET – Event 29 $530 NLH 6-Max +R ($400,000)
September 19th, 16:30 ET – Event 30 $1,050 PLO ($500,000)
September 20th, 14:30 ET – Event 31 $1,050 LH 6-Max ($500,000)
September 20th, 16:30 ET – Event 32 $10,300 HORSE ($500,000)
September 21st, 16:30 ET – Event 33 $5,200 NLH Main Event ($10,000,000)