Michigan’s first-ever major online series wraps up with guarantees surpassed across the board
The first five weeks of Michigan’s regulated online gaming industry included the launch of the state’s first online poker site, as well as its inaugural major online tournament series.
That series, the PokerStars Michigan Championship of Online Poker ( MICOOP), came to an end Monday, and both the players and the series operator likely came away optimistic about the future of online poker in Michigan.
The 2021 MICOOP $300 Main Event concluded Monday, capping off a series that saw several guarantees eclipsed. The $300 buy-in MICOOP Main Event drew 1,284 entries, pushing the final prize pool to $359,520.
The tournament originally guaranteed $200,000, but big attendance caused that figure to soar well past the $200k mark. Player ‘smftt’ took down the tournament, earning a $56,398 payday in the process.
2021 MICOOP $300 Main Event final table results*
| Place | Player Name | Prize |
| 1 | ‘smftt’ | $56,398 |
| 2 | ‘zscoro’ | $40,202 |
| 3 | ‘cbauer6789’ | $28,657 |
| 4 | ‘LayThePipeDream’ | $20,427 |
| 5 | ‘nldoublej’ | $14,561 |
| 6 | ‘GigglyGrizzlies’ | $10,380 |
| 7 | ‘PuntnStacks’ | $7,399 |
| 8 | ‘Ryan Haury’ | $5,274 |
| 9 | ‘sexycaitlyn’ | $3,759 |
MICOOP Main Event and overall series guarantees smashed
The $300 Main Event played as a two-day tournament and the centerpiece of the MICOOP schedule. The 2021 MICOOP featured 60 events overall, with the $56,398 first-place prize bagged by ‘smftt’ representing the biggest payout across the series.
Other five-figure winners included ‘PowerRanges,’ who won the series kickoff event. That tournament offered a $100 buy-in, with ‘PowerRanges’ topping a field of 883 entries to come away with a $13,652 payday.
Including the kickoff tournament and the Main Event, nine of the 60 MICOOP tournaments awarded five-figures for first place. Overall the series guaranteed $1.4 million, but the actual final combined prize pools went over the $2.2 million mark.
Prospects for Michigan’s regulated poker industry
The MICOOP numbers mark a promising start for Michigan’s regulated online poker market. Michigan’s legal online gambling platforms made their long-awaited debut on Jan. 22, with PokerStars MI going live on Jan. 29.
Michigan represents the third different U.S. market for PokerStars, which also operates in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. BetMGM Poker is expected to debut in Michigan soon, as the Wolverine State continues to expand into one of the nation’s potentially biggest poker markets.
Michigan’s recently passed multijurisdictional poker bill could allow both PokerStars MI and BetMGM Poker MI to merge player pools with their respective New Jersey platforms. Such mergers could make Michigan part of the biggest regulated online poker network in the U.S.
Featured image source: Twitter
