The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, one of online poker’s premier tournament series, returns for its 20th year, kicking off on August 22 and featuring more than $100 million in overall guaranteed prize money.
Running from August 22 through September 15, PokerStars aims to make the 2021 version of WCOOP its biggest and best yet. The schedule features 102 events, each with PokerStars’ signature three-tiered buy-ins of High, Medium, and Low. That’s 306 total tournaments with entry fees ranging from as little as $5.50 and running up through the $25,000 buy-in Super High Roller.
The series will conclude with six Main Events, three No Limit Hold’em and three Pot Limit Omaha, at each of the different buy-in tiers. However, traditionally, all eyes will be on the NLHE Main Event High – a $5,200 buy-in event with a $10 million guarantee. The tournament, which begins on September 12, will instantly become one of the largest online tournaments of all time with the winner almost assuredly earning more than a million dollars for first.
In 2020, the WCOOP High Main Event drew 1,977 runners (providing a $115,000 overlay) and ended with Andre Marques, Tonio Roder, and Tuen Mulder agreeing to a three-handed deal that secured each of them at least $1 million. After playing it out for the win, Marques emerged as the champion and not only took home the WCOOP trophy but a career-high score of $1,147,270.
Players can, once again, expect a No Limit Hold’em heavy schedule but one of PokerStars’ strengths is the ability to offer a wide variety of poker tournaments and the WCOOP schedule obliges. Titles will be awarded in nearly every variant including Pot Limit Omaha, No Limit 2-7 Single Draw, Fixed Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, Razz, PLO8, Badugi, Seven Card Stud, Short Deck (6+), and H.O.R.S.E. among others.
The schedule brings players in with Event #02 (WCOOP Kickoff), a pair of major $700K GTD Progressive KnockOut tournaments in Event #03 Medium and High (PKO, Sunday Warm-Up), and Event #4, a trio of 8-Max events that all boast no less than $1 million guarantees. The action in the early events will help PokerStars reach the incredible milestone of more than $1 billion in lifetime WCOOP prize pools.
There is likely to be a tournament of interest for every poker enthusiast over the course of WCOOP’s 25 days. For those looking to play for a trophy on a budget, the series has 62 tournaments that can be entered for less than $11. On the other end of the scale, online poker’s elite will have plenty to fight for with five tournaments with a buy-in of $10,300 as well as the aforementioned $25,000 Super High Roller. The schedule also caters to players who are short on time. Most WCOOP events are (at least) two-day affairs but in 2021 there are 13 Turbo events (39 tournaments) all of which will complete on the same day.
Everything gets started with Event #-01, the series long Phased tournament which has starting flights throughout the duration of the series and ultimately wraps up on September 13. The Phased tournament buy-in are $5.50, $22, and $109 for Low, Medium, and High respectively and each comes with a $1 million guarantee. Players are permitted to enter as many Phase 1 flights as it takes in order to survive with chips to Phase 2, which plays as a freezeout.
Satellites for the Main Event, as well as other WCOOP events, will be available in the lobby to help players on a budget find their way into an event on the cheap.
PokerStars 2021 WCOOP Complete Schedule
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