The 15-day, 50-event Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker wrapped up Monday on PokerStars PA. It was a big final week for the 2020 PACOOP, with consistently large fields for all events and ultimately over $2 million awarded for the series.
All guarantees exceeded during final week, over 21K total entries
During the early going, five events had small overlays. But the latter half of the series saw all of the tournaments exceed their guarantees, in most cases by wide margins.
All told, there were 21,326 entries (including re-entries) in the series, an average of 426 per event.
Collectively, PACOOP’s 50 events had guarantees totaling just over $1.5 million. The last couple of events pushed the overall amount awarded over the $2M mark. In the end, players collectively cashed in for $2,039,132.90.
That total amount awarded is a little more than what was won during the 70-event Bounty Builder Series on PokerStars PA in July. Meanwhile, the 100-event PASCOOP in the spring awarded more than $3.2 million.
PACOOP Main Event draws over 1,000 entries, awards $283K
The two-day $300 Main Event featured a $200,000 guarantee, and with over 1,000 total entries, the prize pool ultimately totaled just over $283,000.
Sporting an appropriate username, “LetMeWin3437” triumphed to win the Main Event and earn a first prize worth more than $46,000. The winner only entered once, and there was no final table deal.
The Mini Main, a $50 version of the Main Event with a $40,000 guarantee, also attracted a large field. With more than 1,150 total entries, the Mini Main paid out more than $52,000.
Other marquee events during the final week featured large turnouts as well. That included the $500-pot-limit Omaha High Roller and its $35,000-plus prize pool, well over the $25,000 guarantee.
Other online rooms, live poker on the horizon in PA
As the only operating online poker room in the state, PokerStars PA has experienced consistent traffic this year. That has especially been the case over the last seven months, during which the coronavirus pandemic has forced live poker rooms to close in the state.
PokerStars PA may soon lose its monopoly, however, as both partypoker and WSOP.com are getting closer to opening online poker rooms in Pennsylvania. WSOP’s software provider, 888 poker, recently received license approval in PA.
Live poker may also be returning as an option sooner rather than later, with some PA poker rooms planning to reopen within the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, poker players in New Jersey are readying for the start of their own COOP series this weekend. The New Jersey Championship of Online Poker takes place Oct. 10-26, with events already available for registration in the PokerStars NJ client.
The NJCOOP schedule has 54 events, a $300 Main Event with a $125,000 guarantee and overall guarantees totaling $1 million.
Here’s a rundown of the participation and prize pools for the 2020 PACOOP.
2020 PACOOP by the numbers
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Entries | Re-Entries | Prize Pool | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: NLHE (Nightly Stars - PACOOP Warm-Up) | $100 | $50,000 | 401 | 231 | $58,017.60 | |
| 2: NLHE (8-Max, PACOOP - Warm-Up) | $50 | $30,000 | 537 | 271 | $36,764.00 | |
| 3: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Deepstack) | $100 | $35,000 | 226 | 121 | $35,000.00* | |
| 4: NLHE (6-Max) | $50 | $20,000 | 271 | 163 | $20,000.00* | |
| 5: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO) | $150 | $30,000 | 180 | 94 | $37,729.80 | |
| 6: NLHE (Sunday Special SE) | $100 | $100,000 | 673 | 444 | $102,540.60 | |
| 7: PLO (6-Max) | $100 | $15,000 | 135 | 56 | $17,533.80 | |
| 8: NLHE (8-Max, Sunday SuperSonic SE) | $50 | $10,000 | 210 | 55 | $12,057.50 | |
| 9: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO, Battle Royale SE) | $50 | $30,000 | 524 | 281 | $36,627.50 | |
| 10: PLO8 (8-Max) | $75 | $12,000 | 145 | 70 | $14,673.75 | |
| 11: NLHE (Super Tuesday SE) | $200 | $40,000 | 205 | 120 | $60,450.00 | |
| 12: NLHE (Mini Super Tuesday SE) | $20 | $15,000 | 667 | 375 | $18,964.40 | |
| 13: NLHE (8-Max) | $150 | $15,000 | 121 | 50 | $23,546.70 | |
| 14: NLHE (6-Max, High Roller) | $500 | $50,000 | 116 | 53 | $79,430.00 | |
| 15: NLHE | $150 | $15,000 | 135 | 55 | $26,163.00 | |
| 16: NLHE (Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill SE) | $200 | $40,000 | 196 | 90 | $53,196.00 | |
| 17: NLHE (Progressive KO, Mini Thrill) | $20 | $20,000 | 738 | 511 | $22,731.80 | |
| 18: PL 5-Card Draw (8-Max, Turbo) | $100 | $10,000 | 62 | 25 | $10,000.00* | |
| 19: 8-Game | $200 | $15,000 | 70 | 23 | $17,298.00 | |
| 20: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo) | $150 | $20,000 | 157 | 69 | $31,120.20 | |
| 21: NLHE (8-Max, Deepstack) | $100 | $35,000 | 321 | 157 | $43,880.40 | |
| 22: NLHE (Saturday Speedway SE) | $50 | $15,000 | 322 | 156 | $21,749.00 | |
| 23: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Marathon) | $100 | $35,000 | 231 | 134 | $35,000.00* | |
| 24: PLO (8-Max, Turbo) | $100 | $10,000 | 78 | 34 | $10,281.60 | |
| 25: NLHE (6-Max) | $150 | $25,000 | 128 | 68 | $26,989.20 | |
| 26: NLHE (Sunday Special SE) | $100 | $100,000 | 653 | 424 | $100,000.00* | |
| 27: NLHE (Progressive KO) | $200 | $35,000 | 146 | 64 | $39,060.00 | |
| 28: NLHE (Sunday SuperSonic SE) | $75 | $12,000 | 162 | 40 | $14,241.00 | |
| 29: NLHE (4-Max) | $200 | $25,000 | 147 | 78 | $41,850.00 | |
| 30: PLO (6-Max, High-Roller) | $500 | $25,000 | 50 | 26 | $35,720.00 | |
| 31: NLHE (Hyper-Turbo, Super Tuesday) | $250 | $40,000 | 189 | 99 | $68,400.00 | |
| 32: NLO8 (8-Max) | $100 | $10,000 | 105 | 63 | $15,422.40 | |
| 33: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo) | $30 | $20,000 | 595 | 349 | $25,771.20 | |
| 34: NLHE | $200 | $30,000 | 130 | 54 | $34,224.00 | |
| 35: Stud Hi/Lo | $100 | $10,000 | 81 | 29 | $10,098.00 | |
| 36: NLHE (Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill) | $250 | $40,000 | 179 | 89 | $62,444.00 | |
| 37: NLHE | $150 | $20,000 | 147 | 56 | $27,953.10 | |
| 38: FLHE (6-Max, Turbo) | $200 | $10,000 | 48 | 19 | $12,462.00 | |
| 39: NLHE (Hyper-Turbo) | $200 | $15,000 | 82 | 20 | $19,380.00 | |
| 40: NLHE (6-Max) | $300 | $40,000 | 120 | 61 | $50,680.00 | |
| 41: NLHE (6-Max) | $75 | $20,000 | 284 | 131 | $28,323.75 | |
| 42: NLHE (Turbo, Progressive KO, Deepstack) | $100 | $25,000 | 322 | 153 | $43,605.00 | |
| 43: NLHE (Main Event) | $300 | $200,000 | 626 | 387 | $283,640.00 | |
| 44: NLHE (Mini Main Event) | $50 | $40,000 | 730 | 427 | $52,643.50 | |
| 45: NLHE (Progressive KO) | $100 | $30,000 | 252 | 94 | $31,762.80 | |
| 46: PLO (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo) | $100 | $10,000 | 81 | 30 | $10,545.00 | |
| 47: NLHE (Sunday SuperSonic SE) | $75 | $10,000 | 172 | 51 | $15,721.50 | |
| 48: NLHE (Nightly Stars SE - PACOOP Wrap-Up) | $100 | $35,000 | 379 | 207 | $53,794.80 | |
| 49: NLHE (8-Max, Phase 2) | $50 | $50,000 | 1,892 | 0 | $86,086.00 | |
| 50: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Deep Hyper Turbo) | $100 | $15,000 | 185 | 63 | $23,560.00 | |
| TOTAL | $2,039,132.90 |
*Events with overlays: Event No. 3 – $3,145.40; Event No. 4 – $253.00; Event No. 18 – $2,013.40; Event No. 23 – $1,493.00; Event No. 26 – $1.131.40.
