The month of September holds a special treat for the poker players of New Jersey courtesy of an upcoming tournament series. The Championship of Online Poker (COOP) will be held in the three markets that PokerStars operates in. For 18 days during the month of September 2021, NJ, MI, and PA COOP chapters will be up for grabs as players battle out for an accumulative guarantee of $4.5 million.
The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is at the moment taking place at the global level. The betting provider, PokerStars, is back to the American gambling landscape but this time around, as a set of three tournaments in various locations. This is a training ground as well as a prowess flexing stage for all interested poker players in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan. .
A total of 190 events will take place in the three states by the time the tournaments come to a conclusion. Each of these events will feature a main event where the buy in is $300. By taking part in the Main Event, players are guaranteed a win of between $100,000 and $200,000. There is a significant difference in the prize guarantee for the three states which is based on the size of market.
Pennsylvania is the largest market, followed by Michigan and the New Jersey gambling hub. This means that the guarantee prize money will be highest in PA and lowest in NJ. If you miss out on the main events for one reason or the other, you are free to play in the many high value games offered by the casino giant.
Apart from the main events which will take place independently in each of the three states, the organizers have slotted in several games with a high value attached to them. Ordinarily, the games in the lineup are familiar to most poker players but have been juiced up a bit. If you are a regular of poker championship, you will hear a familiar ring to the mention of upper Tuesday, Thursday Thrill and Sunday Special.
What we cover
New Jersey Version Series
As this is the smallest of the three PokerStar markets in the United States, NJ gets to hold a proportionately small series of the COOP. The entire tournament comprises 60 events and a total of $1 million in prize guarantees. These figures are small compared to what the other two markets will be offering.
Although the number of games and guaranteed prize money differs for the three states, the casino games are more or less the same. One outstanding difference is that a PKO High Roller game is missing from the NJ series but appears on the other two.
Michigan Version Series
Right at the middle of the PokerStars markets is Michigan which will feature a total of 65 games in the MICOOP. This lineup of games is similar to what will be offered in the PACOOP series. The total prize guaranteed to be paid out to participants is $1.5 million. It is interesting to note that games such as the Big Kickoff will require players to pay more to buy in for the PA series compared to the NJ and MI markets.
The PokerStars series in Michigan has been running legally on a giant scale to offer the poker lovers of Michigan a legal and regulated environment to operate in. The platform offers an enticing welcome package that is activated when a player pays for their first single hand.
Pennsylvania Version Series
The largest PokerStars market in the US is Pennsylvania. Although the number of games scheduled for this tournament will be 65 just like for Michigan, the prize guarantee for this market will be $2 million. This means that some games will require players to pay in at a varied cost compared to those in the other two markets.
To get a picture of just how large a difference the buy-ins for the different states will be, let us consider the big kickoff. For the MI and NJ markets, this will be $100 for a chance to win a guaranteed $50,000. In the PA market, the same $50,000 is available to players at a buy-in of just $50.
Poker players have a championship holiday this September as they take part or spectate on the action that is bound to take place on the play tables. For players in MI and NJ, the betting provider will be offering a complementary Spin & Go ticket that will give a chance for players to win up to $5,000 instantly. This win amount will be for players to increase their success rate on COOP by buying more entries; players are generally free to use it as they wish.
Early in the year, PokerStars had organized a similar event covering the three states. The events, which were coordinated by SCOOP branding, were quite a huge success; over 117,000 entries were recorded and an estimated $6.35 million paid out as prize money.
The current poker series is a bit toned down compared to that earlier event but it is still early to speculate the actual outcome of the entire tournament. For those who would like to participate or follow up on the action of the COOP series, the schedules have already been put up in the various state platforms lobby.
Conclusion
Poker is getting tons of publicity no wonder the average age of the modern poker player is way lower than it was a few years ago. The uptake of gambling on the digital scale has to a large extent fuelled this shift and it is going to be interesting to watch how the game unfolds in the future. For now, the buy-ins are the only barrier between remaining stagnant or flexing your poker muscles in the hope of being the next champion. There is every gain in trying your luck at the tables; if you do not win, at least you learn a new trick or two.
