PokerStars decided to “COOP” it up across all three of its American sites in September, running concurrent Championship of Online Poker series in Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Jersey.
Of the three series, the Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP) posted the highest numbers. PACOOP players won nearly $2.38 million across the 18-day, 69-tournament series at PokerStars PA, besting the totals of both PokerStars MI and PokerStars NJ.
Biggest PACOOP ever in terms of total prize pools, Main Event awards $238K
Over the course of the series, PACOOP events drew consistently large turnouts with over 25,500 total entries across the 69 tournaments. The $2,378,151.65 won in those events represents the most of any PACOOP so far in this, the third running of the series.
Shortly after PokerStars PA first launched, the inaugural PACOOP came in Nov.-Dec. 2019. That series featured 50 events and awarded nearly $1.56 million. Following that, the second PACOOP in Sept.-Oct. 2020 also had 50 events and awarded close to $2.04 million.
In the end most of the 69 events exceeded their guarantees, in some cases by wide margins. Only six events had overlays totaling about $14,000. In fact, nearly half of that total came in just one of the early tournaments (the $150 “Escalating Antes” event).
Among the final PACOOP events was the $300 buy-in, two-day Main Event with a series-high $200,000 guarantee. There were 851 total entries, making the prize pool $238,280. Player “Hondoribbia” earned the largest share of that money, taking away about $36,400 for the win.
“Hondoribbia” also took away a special PACOOP championship trophy. In all, seven different players won PACOOP trophies in designated events.
PokerStars PA tops both MI, NJ in competing COOPs
As noted, PokerStars ran similar COOP series on all three of its US sites from Sept. 10-27. Keep in mind that PokerStars PA, PokerStars MI, and PokerStars NJ are each ring-fenced, meaning players can only play against others in their own state.
When comparing the three series, the PACOOP had the most total entries and awarded the most prize money. After that PokerStars MI was next in line with its 68-event MICOOP series. There, Michigan players won almost $1.79 million with over 18,600 total entries taking part.
Trailing both PA and MI was PokerStars NJ. The NJCOOP at PokerStars NJ featured 60 tournaments. Those events attracted almost 10,600 total entries with players earning just over $1.1 million across the series.
Look below for a rundown of all the fields and prize pools for all 69 PACOOP events.
2021 PokerStars PACOOP by the numbers
| 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 |
| 42: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Nightly Stars SE, Battle Royale Edition) | $100 | $30,000 | 342 | $31,395.60 |
| 43: NLHE (COOP Freezeout) | $200 | $20,000 | 126 | $23,436.00 |
| 44: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Progressive Total KO) | $50 | $12,500 | 429 | $19,519.50 |
| 45: NLHE (Super Tuesday, PACOOP Special Edition) | $250 | $55,000 | 237 | $55,221.00 |
| 46: NLHE (4-Max, Progressive KO) | $50 | $20,000 | 461 | $20,975.50 |
| 47: NLHE (Turbo, Super Tuesday, Late Edition) | $75 | $20,000 | 292 | $20,000.00* |
| 48: NLHE (6-Max, Nightly Stars SE, 6-Max Edition) | $100 | $30,000 | 424 | $38,923.20 |
| 49: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Zoom) | $100 | $25,000 | 300 | $27,540.00 |
| 50: NLHE (Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill, PACOOP Special Edition - Championship Trophy Event) | $250 | $55,000 | 335 | $78,055.00 |
| 51: NLO8 (8-Max) | $50 | $5,000 | 186 | $8,463.00 |
| 52: NLHE (Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill, Late Edition) | $75 | $20,000 | 405 | $27,641.25 |
| 53: NLHE (4-Max, Stars SE, 4-Max Edition) | $100 | $20,000 | 239 | $21,940.20 |
| 54: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Deepstack) | $200 | $30,000 | 178 | $33,108.00 |
| 55: NLHE (Heads-Up, Turbo, Progressive Total KO, Zoom) | $20 | $7,500 | 533 | $9,700.60 |
| 56: NLHE (Afternoon Bigstack) | $75 | $20,000 | 272 | $20,000.00* |
| 57: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Bigstack) | $200 | $30,000 | 202 | $37,572.00 |
| 58: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Bigstack) | $50 | $20,000 | 542 | $24,661.00 |
| 59: 5-Card PLO (6-Max) | $100 | $10,000 | 110 | $10,098.00 |
| 60: NLHE (Deepstack, Sunday Marathon SE) | $100 | $25,000 | 326 | $29,926.80 |
| 61: NLHE (Main Event - Championship Trophy Event) | $300 | $200,000 | 851 | $238,280.00 |
| 62: NLHE (Mini Main Event) | $50 | $40,000 | 1,012 | $46,046.00 |
| 63: NLHE (8-Max, High Roller -Championship Trophy Event) | $1,000 | $75,000 | 114 | $108,300.00 |
| 64: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Deepstack) | $100 | $15,000 | 195 | $18,525.00 |
| 65: NLHE (8-Max, PACOOP Wrap Up) | $100 | $40,000 | 470 | $43,146.00 |
| 66: NLHE (8-Max, Mini Wrap Up) | $10 | $5,000 | 603 | $5,487.30 |
| 67: NLHE (Phase 2) | $50 | $50,000 | 1,205 | $54,827.50 |
| 68: 8-Game (Championship Trophy Event) | $200 | $20,000 | 140 | $26,040.00 |
| 69: NLHE (7-Max, Turbo, Last Chance) | $150 | $20,000 | 195 | $26,851.50 |
| TOTALS | 25,596 | $2,378,151.65 |
*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; Event No. 47 – $71.00; Event No. 56 – $1,436.00.
Lead image via Dreamstime.
