The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers might have both come up short yesterday. But the ongoing Pennsylvania Online Championship of Online Poker at PokerStars PA continues to be a consistent winner among poker players in the Keystone State.
Through the first 10 days of PACOOP, players have won almost $1.3 million in 41 events. There is still just over a week left to go in the series, including the $300 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed Main Event coming this weekend.
Continued hot pace could make 2021 PACOOP largest ever
PokerStars Pennsylvania is currently staging the third running of the popular PACOOP series. To this point the 41 events have attracted over 14,700 entries (including re-entries), building prize pools adding up to $1,272,471.40.
That total well exceeds the just over $1 million in guaranteed prize pools so far. Ultimately the 69-tournament series features $2 million in total guarantees, meaning this year’s running of PACOOP is currently on pace to hit $2.4 or $2.5 million by the finish.
That total would exceed the 2020 PACOOP during which players won just over $2 million. The first PACOOP in late 2019 awarded just over $1.56 million.
It would also challenge the $2.64 million won in this year’s Pennsylvania Spring Championship of Online Poker in April-May. This years’ PACOOP likely won’t reach the heights of the first PASCOOP from 2020, however, in which players took away $3.2 million.
Nearly all of the PACOOP events so far have exceeded their guarantees, with only four having small overlays. A couple of PACOOP Championship Trophies, a new feature at PokerStars PA, have been won as well.
Player “161joe161” won the first-ever PACOOP trophy for taking down the Big Kickoff event early in the series. “TheBigSlick74” claimed the second trophy for winning the pot-limit Omaha High Roller event.
Five more PACOOP trophies will be awarded in the coming days. Among tournaments designated as “trophy events” are both the $1,000 buy-in High Roller and $300 Main Event coming Sunday, Sept. 26. Check out the full PACOOP schedule here.
Comparing COOPs: Pennsylvania leading all three PokerStars US sites
There are COOP series running on all three PokerStars US sites during the same 18-day period this month. So far, PokerStars PA is outpacing the other two sites in terms of total entries and prize pools.
Over in Michigan, the MICOOP on PokerStars MI has also enjoyed healthy participation during the first 40 tournaments. More than 11,000 entries in those events has meant almost $1 million in prize money has been awarded so far.
In New Jersey, the NJCOOP on PokerStars NJ has seen smaller fields and prize pools. Over there 35 tournaments have completed with almost 6,000 entries. So far New Jersey players have won a little more than $655,000 in NJCOOP events.
PACOOP Main Event starts Sunday with $200,000 guarantee
All three sites also have two-day COOP Main Events scheduled to start this Sunday, Sept. 26. While the NJCOOP Main has a $100,000 guarantee and the MICOOP Main a $150,000 guarantee, the PACOOP Main has the largest guaranteed prize pool of $200,000.
There are several satellites running for the $300 Main Event this week to enable players a less expensive way to participate. PokerStars PA players can also win entries via the PACOOP Depositor Freeroll taking place earlier in the afternoon on Sunday, Sept. 26.
By depositing $30 or more using the promo code “PACOOP,” PokerStars PA players receive an entry into the Depositor Freeroll. The top 50 finishers will then earn Main Event seats, meaning there is $15,000 worth of tickets up for grabs.
Players can also win Main Event seats in $3 Spin & Go’s if they are lucky enough to play one in which a Main Event seat is the prize.
Meanwhile the Second Chance Freerolls continue this week as well. Anyone busting from a PACOOP event without making the money automatically wins entry into the following day’s Second Chance Freeroll. Those freerolls are awarding a total of $5,000 in PACOOP tickets over the course of the series.
Here is a rundown of all the field sizes and prize pools from 2021 PACOOP events so far.
PACOOP by the numbers (through Event #41)
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Entries | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: NLHE (PACOOP Warm Up) | $10 | $10,000 | 1,230 | $11,193.00 |
| 2: NLHE (PACOOP Big Warm Up) | $100 | $25,000 | 466 | $42,778.80 |
| 3: NLHE (PACOOP Turbo Warm Up) | $30 | $7,500 | 483 | $13,185.90 |
| 4: NLHE/PLO (8-Max, PACOOP Mixed Game Warm Up) | $30 | $5,000 | 222 | $6,060.60 |
| 5: NLHE (8-Max, PACOOP Big Kickoff - Championship Trophy Event) | $50 | $50,000 | 1,033 | $50,000.00* |
| 6: NLHE (Escalating Antes) | $150 | $35,000 | 204 | $35,000.00* |
| 7: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller) | $500 | $50,000 | 109 | $51,230.00 |
| 8: PL 5-Card Draw | $50 | $5,000 | 138 | $6,279.00 |
| 9: NLHE (COOP Marathon) | $100 | $30,000 | 316 | $30,000.00* |
| 10: HORSE (6-Max, HORSE) | $100 | $7,000 | 81 | $7,435.80 |
| 11: NLHE (Sunday Special) | $100 | $100,000 | 1,095 | $100,521.00 |
| 12: PLO (8-Max) | $100 | $15,000 | 174 | $15,973.20 |
| 13: NLHE (6-Max, High Roller) | $500 | $50,000 | 144 | $67,680.00 |
| 14: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Sunday Second Chance) | $50 | $10,000 | 391 | $17,790.50 |
| 15: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO, Super Sonic) | $75 | $10,000 | 207 | $14,593.50 |
| 16: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Battle Royale, Turbo Edition) | $30 | $12,500 | 549 | $14,987.70 |
| 17: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale) | $200 | $40,000 | 261 | $48,546.00 |
| 18: PLO8 (8-Max) | $100 | $10,000 | 168 | $15,422.40 |
| 19: NLHE (8-Max, Bigstack) | $200 | $50,000 | 344 | $63,984.00 |
| 20: FLHE (6-Max, Limit Hold 'em) | $100 | $6,000 | 78 | $7,160.40 |
| 21: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $50 | $8,000 | 311 | $14,150.50 |
| 22: NLHE (6-Max) | $30 | $15,000 | 596 | $16,270.80 |
| 23: NLHE (Single Re-entry) | $100 | $20,000 | 330 | $30,294.00 |
| 24: NLHE (6-Max, Championship Trophy Event) | $250 | $40,000 | 247 | $57,551.00 |
| 25: NLHE (Heads-Up, Turbo, Progressive Total KO, Zoom) | $100 | $25,000 | 286 | $26,254.80 |
| 26: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Deepstack $50 Bounty) | $200 | $40,000 | 238 | $44,268.00 |
| 27: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Deepstack) | $75 | $20,000 | 444 | $30,303.00 |
| 28: Stud (6-Max) | $50 | $3,500 | 115 | $5,232.50 |
| 29: NLHE (Progressive KO, Nightly Stars SE, PKO Edition) | $100 | $30,000 | 429 | $39,382.20 |
| 30: NLHE (4-Max) | $200 | $35,000 | 196 | $36,456.00 |
| 31: NLHE (Afternoon Deepstack) | $30 | $10,000 | 419 | $11,438.70 |
| 32: Stud Hi/Lo (6-Max) | $100 | $8,000 | 69 | $8,000.00* |
| 33: NLHE (8-Max, Duel Threat) | $50 | $20,000 | 490 | $22,295.00 |
| 34: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Duel Threat) | $50 | $20,000 | 503 | $22,886.50 |
| 35: PLO (6-Max, PLO High Roller - Championship Trophy Event) | $250 | $20,000 | 99 | $23,067.00 |
| 36: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Zoom) | $100 | $20,000 | 237 | $21,756.60 |
| 37: NLHE (Bigstack Marathon) | $100 | $30,000 | 353 | $32,405.40 |
| 38: NLHE (Sunday Special SE) | $200 | $100,000 | 564 | $104,904.00 |
| 39: NLHE (Mini Sunday Special) | $30 | $20,000 | 877 | $23,942.10 |
| 40: NLHE (High Roller) | $500 | $50,000 | 125 | $58,750.00 |
| 41: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Sunday Second Chance) | $100 | $17,500 | 251 | $23,041.80 |
| TOTALS | 14,872 | $1,272,471.70 |
*Events with overlays: Event No. 5 – $2,998.50; Event No. 6 – $6,909.20; Event No. 9 – $991.20; Event No. 32 – $1,665.80.
Lead image via Dreamstime.
