PokerStars US will serve up a trifecta of its famed "COOP" (Championship of Online Poker) series in September. Stars will offer one series each in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey, the three U.S. states where the global online-poker giant is licensed to operate.
Each of the three single-state series begins on September 10, 2021, and ends on September 27. The three series each stretch for 17 days and offer a collective $4.5 million in guaranteed prize money.
The Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP) will be the largest of the three series, awarding at least $2 million in prizes. The Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) offers another $1.5 million. Both the PACOOP and the MICOOP, according to PokerStars, will include at least 65 events.
The New Jersey Championship of Online Poker's $1 million guarantee is actually the smallest of the three series, despite it also being the oldest of the three. The NJCOOP, which dates to 2016, will include at least 60 events in this edition.
$300-entry main events highlight each COOP series
Though complete schedules have yet to be released, the three series are expected to offer highly similar tourneys. Among the first specifics released by PokerStars is that each of the three COOP series will feature a $300 buy-in main event.
The PACOOP, MICOOP, and NJCOOP main events each begin on Sunday, September 26. Each is a two-day main event as well. However, each of the three main events will offer a different prize-pool guarantee. As with the overall series guarantees, the PACOOP main event leads the way with the largest single-event guarantee:
- PACOOP Main Event: $200,000 guaranteed prize pool
- MICOOP Main Event: $150,000 guaranteed prize pool
- NJCOOP Main Event: $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
The main event winners in all three states also earn a special COOP trophy, and a similar keepsake will be awarded to six other event winners in each state as well. That means 21 trophies will be distributed to event winners across the three U.S. COOP states.
Satellite entries available
As is traditional with all online-poker series and championships, these three COOP offerings will be supported by a full family of satellite opportunities. The PokerStars blog already lists the three primary ways in which players can win COOP main-event seats on the cheap.
The channels available to players include $3 Spin & Gos, where random main-event seats will spin up as prizes in addition to this jackpot format's other possible winnings. Each state's site will also offer a depositor freeroll where another 50 main-event seats are to be awarded. Lastly, non-cashing players in preliminary COOP events will be entered into second-chance drawings for still more main-event seats.
Featured image source: PokerStars.com
