North America’s Spring Championship of Online Poker (NASCOOP) is building to its big finale, but there’s a lot more to it than the Main Events and their $1.3m in guaranteed prize money.
If you’re in Michigan, New Jersey, Ontario or Pennsylvania and looking to win the showpiece event and any titles, trophies and big money that goes with it, we understand - you’ll have your Sunday evening planned out already.
But if you’re looking for more to play as SCOOP winds down for another year, there’s way more than the Main Events still to check out. Here are a few of our picks for the best of this weekend’s NASCOOP action.
The Deepstack Championship
A lot of chips usually means a lot of play, giving you more bang for your buck. If that sounds like your kind of jam, Saturday’s Deepstack Championship is one tournament you shouldn’t overlook.
Running at a ‘Regular’ speed as opposed to many of the faster Turbos on the SCOOP schedule, the Deepstack Championship is a Saturday evening tournament to savor. It’s also available across all the states and regions where SCOOP is taking place, albeit with slightly different guaranteed prize pools to play for.
As with all SCOOP events, there are three different buy-in levels to choose from (though no one will stop you if you want to play all three): the Low is $20 (starting at 7pm), the Medium is $50 (7:30pm) and the High is $200 (7pm).
Here’s how the guarantees work out across the three different regions:
| Region | Buy-in Level | Guaranteed Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey / Michigan | Low | $10k |
| New Jersey / Michigan | Medium | $20k |
| New Jersey / Michigan | High | $35k |
| Pennsylvania | Low | $7.5k |
| Pennsylvania | Medium | $15k |
| Pennsylvania | High | $27.5k |
| Ontario | Low | $10k |
| Ontario | Medium | $15k |
| Ontario | High | $30k |
6-Max Turbo Zoom
If deepstacks and a slow structure aren’t your bag, you’ll probably prefer the frenetic pace of Saturday night’s 6-Max Turbo Zoom tourney. Just look at the name of this tournament; it’s only three words long, but two of those words mean ‘fast’!
With only six players to a table, the action will move quickly, and the Zoom format - where you’re moved to a new table as soon as you fold - means there’s no time to dawdle. If you want your poker served with a side of adrenaline, check this one out.
Saturday at 10pm is when this one goes off, available in the Low buy-in level only for just $10 (the Medium and High events ran earlier in the series). Guarantees are as follows:
| Region | Guaranteed Prize Pool |
|---|---|
| New Jersey / Michigan | $5k |
| Pennsylvania | $3k |
| Ontario | $2.5k |
Mixed Game Monday - HORSE
If all these recommendations seem a little hold’em heavy, here’s the antidote. Starting on Monday at 6pm, this limit tournament is a great way to come down from a hectic weekend, or soothe the sting of a bad beat in the Main Event.
HORSE, or course, combines hold’em with omaha, razz, seven-card stud and seven-card stud hi/lo, making it a great format for all-rounders. If you’re a mixed game enthusiast, this is definitely one for the diary.
The Medium and Low runnings of this tournament took place earlier on this month, so Monday’s event is the $100 High incarnation. Once again, the guarantees vary per region, and look like this:
| Region | Guaranteed Prize Pool |
|---|---|
| New Jersey / Michigan | $8k |
| Pennsylvania | $5k |
| Ontario | $7.5 |
These are our picks for some fun tourneys to close out the SCOOP season in North America, but there’s still more to discover. Check out the full schedules for New Jersey/Michigan, Ontario and Pennsylvania to see what else is in store.
And don’t forget - you can still win entry to SCOOP events by running up your free Power Path tickets. See here for more.
