Have you drafted your Pick 3 SCOOP team yet? All you need to do is pick three players for the 2026 SCOOP festival and you could win a $5K Irish Open package! Hurry – the deadline is March 1 at 8am ET.
If poker was easy to predict, selecting your Pick 3 team would be simple. But the game would be very boring if every team just featured the top three players from last year's leaderboards.
There are, of course, thousands of variables in this game we love, making a scientific approach to Pick 3 selection all but impossible. There's really no way of knowing for sure who's going to be this year's five-time winner and who's going to be wrecking their bankroll.
You must, however, work with the information you're given. And in addition to cold statistical analysis, here are some other unquantifiable factors you may wish to consider.
Clashes on the poker calendar
You will no doubt notice when examining the Big Hitters list that many of the world's established poker elite do not feature. Indeed, none of the top 50 players on The Hendon Mob's money list are included.
The reason is simple. These players almost certainly won't be playing SCOOP, or will play, at best, only a handful of events. Many of them will instead probably be in Jeju, South Korea, playing the Triton Super High Roller Series. That effectively rules them out of most SCOOP action.
There was once a time when the poker calendar very rarely featured significant clashes. Players used to have only one destination to gather. But that's not the case anymore. It's important to figure out which players are actually going to be available to play SCOOP before drafting your Pick 3 team.
That's why even previous COOP stalwarts such as Adrian 'Amadi_017' Mateos, Artur 'mararthur1' Martirosian and Mike 'SirWatts' Watson are not listed, and why you should make a judgment over stars like Yuri 'theNERDguy' Dzivielevski, Ognjan 'cocojamb0' Dimov, Juan 'Malaka$tyle' Pardo, Andras 'probirs' Nemeth and Joao 'Naza114' Vieira. Although we think these guys will probably favor SCOOP, they have also all played Triton at one time or another.
Significant change in circumstances
Both player lists in the Pick 3 game have been compiled based on players' COOP achievements over the past two or three years. In other words, with only a few exceptions, these are the players who have performed best in the most recent similar tournament series. But that doesn't always mean they can do it again.
Has anything changed in these players' lives that might suggest they'll play more or less than before? Have they had a life-changing score that might tempt them into the high rollers? Are they a recent parent, for whom priorities quickly shift?
It may also be worth taking into account the handful of players who played in the PokerStars WCOOP and SCOOP Leagues over the past year but who no longer have that specific incentive to put in the volume. This particularly applies to Fintan 'easywithaces' Hand and Parker 'tonkaaaa' Talbot, who were previously captains of teams and played everything as a result. Neither player represents PokerStars in an official capacity anymore, so they may reduce their game time this SCOOP.
Licensing and relocations
Following on from the above, do you know of any players who have been forced by circumstances out of their control to change their SCOOP schedule this year?
PokerStars prides itself on offering games only in countries where they have full and clear licensing approval, removing access to the platform when this cannot be assured. As a result, many high-volume pros have needed to relocate to a different country to continue playing – and, for some, they have opted for a different pastime/employment instead.
Tobias 'Senkel92' Leknes is a great example. He was a COOP crusher of many years standing, regularly jousting with the likes of Benny 'RunGodlike' Glaser in the mixed games. But when shutters came down on online poker in Leknes' native Norway, 'Senkel92' withdrew from COOP contention.
Keep abreast of the latest developments like these. As far as we know, all the players available for selection in Pick 3 are cleared to play. But perhaps you know better. Make the most of this information.
Which leads us to...
Gather some insider info
Just as in poker itself, knowledge is power when it comes to fantasy games. If you have any insider info as to which players have cleared their schedule to play everything, or maybe which are under some bankroll pressure and will give it a miss, you should take full advantage when picking your team.
Scour social media. Read the forums. Listen to gossip.
It may be something as seemingly benign as a wedding invitation or a kid's birthday party. But if a Big Hitter is going to take a weekend off the grind, they're going to be losing points. One tiny scrap of info that you have and a rival doesn't could tip the balance.
Draft your 2026 SCOOP Pick 3 team now and you could win a 2026 $5K Irish Open package.
