PokerStars WCOOP 2017

PokerStars is the world’s premier destination for online poker. The site controls an estimated two-thirds of the online poker market with over 15,000 daily players playing with real money. PokerStars hosts daily tournaments as well as the two biggest online poker tournaments in the world, the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). The World Championship of Poker, held every September, is the company’s flagship event and the 2017 edition is shaping up to be their biggest one yet.

Online Poker's Biggest Competition

The first PokerStars WCOOP took place in 2002 and consisted of 9 events with a prize pot of more than $730,000. The first event was the $100+9 Limit Hold’em which attracted an impressive 565 players. The inaugural tournament was won by Swedish player MultiMarine who scooped the top prize of $65,450. PokerStars also awarded $5,000 in cash to the Best All Round Player, The Beat, who won 3 of the 9 events of the series.

Since then the event has grown exponentially, last year a total of $773,504,875 was awarded in prizes across 82 events. The Main Event attracted more than 2,000 players and was won by German player IIJaYJaYII who took home a massive $1.5m, the largest ever prize won at the tournament. Elsewhere Dan ‘djk123’ Kelly claimed his 5th WCOOP title and Daniel Negreanu won in dramatic fashion over Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom in the $2,100 HORSE Championship.

The WCOOP has seen a lot of winners over the years but some players have also emerged as tournament specialists. Austrian pro Fedor ‘CrownUpGuy’ Holz the Main Event winner in 2014 is the tournament’s most successful having won a total of more than $2.5m at the WCOOP. Dan ‘djk123’ Kelly tops the list of most events won with 5 while Andy McLeod and Kroko-dill are share top place for most appearances at final tables with 12 each. Canadian players have won the most money at the tournament, $79,292,772.66, almost $9m more than their American neighbours. Over the last 14 years, a total of 140,345 Americans have entered the WCOOP, the most entrants from any country.

Anyone with a PokerStars account can take part in the tournament. If you don’t have an account you can download the free poker software and set one up. You then have the option of buying into the tournament directly or qualifying for by winning a satellite tournament for as little as $0.11.

WCOOP 2017

The 15th instalment of the competition promises to bigger and better than ever. The tournament will run from September 3rd to 25th with a full schedule of events. The main event will start on September 24th and run for three days. Players can buy into the main event for$5,200 to play for a guaranteed prize pot of $10 million. A HORSE “Phase” Event will also be part of the WCOOP with each Phase 1 being played for a full day, Super Tuesday and Thursday special editions to vary each week. There will be a half prize for the first week ($525), a regular prize for week 2 ($1050) and a double prize for week 3 ($2100). The tournament is sure to be a breath-taking experience for all the player involved.