The massive payouts in international tournament series continued over the last month and that certainly included PokerStars. The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) came to a close last week with all three Main Event winners crowned and $100 million awarded to players.
That total exceeded the original $80 million guarantee with 1,148,057 entries across the 75-event schedule.
WCOOP main events pay out big cash
The series featured three main events and tournaments for all levels of bankroll. Portuguese player Andre “PTFisherman23” Marques took down the $5,200 High Main Event for more than $1.1 million.
The title came after the final three players cut a deal. Marques, who has $144,000 in live tournament winnings, topped a 1,977-entry field.
It marked the 14th consecutive year the High Main Event winner has earned a seven-figure prize. The runner-up and third-place winners also all took home more than $1 million.
In the $530 Medium Main Event, “1mSoWeeeaK” started as final table chip leader and went on to win the title. The Thai player topped a field of 7,105 entries for $504,584.
Russia’s “Y.Zakharov” took runner-up for $359,680 while Germany’s “$harkFlo” finished third for $256,392. All top-five finishers collected six-figure prizes as well.
In the $55 Low Main Event, “klimono” capitalized on entering the final table as chip leader as well. This Polish player went on to take the championship for $186,841 in under 90 minutes.
The champion eliminated seven of eight final table opponents single-handedly. “klimono” accumulated almost 90% of all chips before heads-up play against Belgium’s “Tangawi26,” which lasted only one hand.
“Tangawi26” added $132,092 for runner-up and the United Kingdom’s “ID IMPOSS” for $93,403. The event attracted a massive field of 38,660 and $1.9 million prize pool.
A look at some other PokerStars winners
The WCOOP title came with some unique twists this year. PokerStars offered 15 champions exclusive “2021 Slam Packages” to any player winning a “Sunday Slam” WCOOP tournament.
The packages give these winners Main Event High entries into 2021 WCOOP, SCOOP, and Stadium Series. The packages were a nice added bonus for players.
In the battle for WCOOP Player of the Series, “Zapahzamazki” earned the top spot. On the country leaderboard, Brazil won with 35 event titles.
PokerStars ambassador Ben “Spraggy” Spragg also picked up his first ever WCOOP title. On the opening night of the series, he won Event 5-L for $4,349 over 12,192 other entries.
The series is part of a massive September for PokerStars. The company has more than $200 million in guarantees spread across its platforms throughout the month.
Another upcoming PokerStars series hasn’t been announced yet. But with online poker surging during the Coronavirus pandemic, there’s a good shot more is right around the corner.
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