September marks the 25th edition of the World Championship of Online Poker, the annual tournament series at PokerStars that awards one of the most prestigious titles in the online game: that of World Champion.
The 350-event series runs from September 6-30 on the operator’s global platform.
WCOOP, as it’s known, was first played in 2002 in the early days of PokerStars’ existence — the site first went live with real-money play just the year before — and was a statement of intent to the wider world: Poker was a game worthy of a world championship, even when played online, and anyone could take their shot.
In the years since, that statement has been proved right again and again. The list of Main Event winners is a healthy mix of unknowns and recognizable names, from JC Tran to Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Fedor Holz. Barring last year ($736K), first place prize money in the Main Event has topped $1 million every year since 2007.
But as is clear in the full series schedule — now available at PokerStars — WCOOP is much more than a single tournament; it’s a series packed with 121 different events, most of them played at a choice of three different buy-in levels.
10 chances to become a world champion
Of the 350 different tournaments on the schedule, 10 have been dubbed World Championship events. These run across a range of different variants and formats, and include the High Main Events for both no-limit hold’em (NLH) and pot-limit Omaha (PLO).
WCOOP 2026 — World Championship events
- September 6: $5,200 NLH 6-Max Championship - $400K GTD
- September 7: $1,050 HORSE Championship - $50K GTD
- September 10: $1,050 Razz Championship - $40K GTD
- September 13: $1,050 NLH PKO Championship - $50K GTD
- September 15: $1,050 Triple Draw Championship - $40K GTD
- September 17: $1,050 PLO8 Championship - $100K GTD
- September 20: $215 Women's NLH Championship - $10K GTD
- September 24: $2,100 8-Game Championship - $80K GTD
- September 27: $10,300 NLH Championship (Main Event) - $2.5M GTD
- September 28: $10,300 PLO Championship (Main Event) - $400K GTD
Six Main Events from September 27
Like most tournaments on the schedule, both the NLH and PLO Main Events will be available at three buy-in levels: Low ($109), Medium ($1,050) and High ($10,300).
All three of these NLH tourneys start on September 27, with guaranteed prizepools of $1.25M, $2M and $2.5M across the three levels.
The PLO Main Events start the day after, on September 28, with respective guarantees of $100K, $250K and $400K.
Leaderboards will be running across the three buy-in levels throughout the entire series, with an additional $100K to be won among those who occupy the top spots at the series’ end.
Additionally, WCOOP tickets are being added as prizes to the Power Path Express rewards program, special $0.75 spin & Goi’s will award more entries, and the daily WCOOP Lucky Dip promo will give everyone who plays a WCOOP event a free shot at another entry.
To sign up, play or check the full schedule, head to PokerStars now.
