Spring often represents a period of renewal, change, or revitalization.
The flowers are in bloom, birdsong fills the air, but it's the sweet, sweet scent of hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed prize pools that truly consumes the senses - each one just waiting to be plucked from the branches of the poker tree. In the online poker world, springtime is the most wonderful time of the year as across both live and online felts the action heats up to a boiling point.
From the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker to the GGPoker World Festival to the ACR Poker Online Super Series XL to the 888poker XL Spring Series, there's a perfect storm of online poker brewing.
And it's not just online this spring.
Let's not forget Hustler Casino Live's upcoming Million Dollar Game, a breath of fresh air for cash game fans amidst the overwhelming tournament pollen in the air.
And how could we not mention the 55th annual edition of the World Series of Poker? Yes, we know that most poker enthusiasts consider the WSOP a summertime event, but technically spring doesn't end until June 21, well into the WSOP schedule.
1. PokerStars SCOOP
While it's not the series with the largest overall guarantee, it's definitely the most prestigious tournament series on the docket. PokerStars 2024 SCOOP kicks off this Sunday, May 5 and offers up a whopping $75,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools across the series.
The highlights of the comprehensive schedule are undoubtedly the Main Events, which come in both No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha variants and offered at Low, Medium, and High buy-in levels.
- $109 NLHE Main Event Low with $2 million GTD
- $1,050 NLHE Main Event Medium with $3.5 million GTD
- $10,300 NLHE Main Event High with $5 million GTD
- $215 PLO Main Event Low with $250k GTD
- $1,050 PLO Main Event Med with $400k GTD
- $5,200 PLO Main Event High with $500k GTD
There are a few key players to keep an eye on as SCOOP grinds on -- PokerStars Team Pro Lex Veldhuis will stream his gameplay live on his Twitch and YouTube channels; current all-time COOP title holder Benny Glaser will look to extend his record of 25 titles and, perhaps, seek redemption after failing to win the 2023 WCOOP Player of the Series award despite claiming an unparalleled seven titles; Patrick Leonard managed to snag the aforementioned Player of the Series title from Glaser with a last-minute victory, to add to his three other titles, and will surely be in the mix battling all series.
2. GGPoker World Festival
GGPoker's World Festival boasts the largest overall series guarantee of the lot – an eye-watering sum of $250,000,000. Also kicking off this Sunday, May 5, GGPoker's World Festival returns after a smashing success last year, which sees the site raising the stakes from 2023's $200,000,000 guarantee.
The World Festival will run events across four buy-in tiers: Low Tier ($2.50+), Medium Tier ($25+), High Tier ($150+), and Super Tier ($1,050+). Plus, with countless satellite tournaments running throughout the series, players can win their way into the higher buy-ins on the cheap. The World Festival also offers players a shot at claiming their piece of the $2,500,000 GGPoker World Festival leaderboard.
GGPoker Global Ambassador Daniel Negreanu expressed his excitement for the series, stating, "Let the festivities begin on May 5 as we continue our tradition of revolutionizing poker year-on-year! We made history in 2023, and now, with $50 million in additional prize guarantees, the GGPoker World Festival is bigger and better than ever!”
3. ACR Poker's OSS XL
Hot off the finish of its largest-ever flagship Venom tournament, ACR Poker has wasted no time in offering up a massive tournament series to its player base. With $40,000,000 in guarantees up for grabs, the OSS XL is the perfect opportunity to bounce back for those that didn't win big during the Venom Fever.
The OSS XL also kicks off Sunday, May 5 and offers a variety of events spread across Small, Medium, and Large buy-in levels. The three No-Limit Hold'em Main Events each boast a seven-figure guarantee, while the Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event carries a $500,000 guarantee.
- $215 buy-in - $1,000,000 GTD
- $1,050 buy-in - $2,000,000 GTD
- $2,650 buy-in - $2,500,000 GTD
- $2,650 buy-in - $500,000 GTD (PLO)
Also highlighting the OSS XL schedule is the Mystery Bounty event, a $109 buy-in with a $1,500,000 guarantee. Add to all of these events the $60,000 up for grabs via the OSS XL leaderboard and you've got a series worth fighting for.
4. 888poker XL Spring Series
888poker's latest XL Spring Series may not boast similarly massive guarantees to some of the other series on this list, but that doesn't diminish the quality of the poker tournaments offered by the site. Plus, with over $2,300,000 in guaranteed prize pools, this series is nothing to turn your nose up at.
Running from May 12-28, the XL Spring Series boasts 43 events and kicks off with three mystery bounty events as the site embraces the latest trend in the tournament streets.
The highlight of the XL Spring Series schedule comes in the form of the $1,000,000 GTD Mystery Bounty Main Event, with a $100,000 jackpot bounty. Players can jump into Day 1 action now, with entry priced at $888.
5. Big-time live poker takes spring through to summer
The Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar Game is back and it runs across the opening few days of the WSOP, May 28-31. Last year the action was wild, with Tom Dwan winning the biggest televised pot of all time for a cool $3.1M against Wesley Fei.
Dwan is back for more and all eyes will be on him to see if the record is going to be broken again. Other big names include Doug Polk, Jungleman and Rampage. PokerOrg will be there to bring you all the action as it happens.
And the 55th WSOP kicks off at the same time, with 99 bracelet events playing out from May 28 through to July 17, when the Main Event champion will be crowned. Check out all of the details ahead of what is set to be another record-breaking series in Vegas.
