The 37th installment of Wrestlemania takes place in Tampa, Florida in a couple of weeks. That’s currently well ahead of PokerStars Pennsylvania and its popular Pennsyl-MANIA series. But PokerStars is working hard to catch up.
This Sunday, April 4, PokerStars PA hosts the fourth running of Pennsyl-MANIA. Like the first three events, the fourth Pennsyl-MANIA is a two-day no-limit hold’em tournament with a big guarantee.
However there are a few differences for Pennsyl-MANIA 4. Sunday’s event features a $300 buy-in, up from $200. Also, there is a $400,000 guaranteed prize pool this time around.
Tournament details for the fourth Pennsyl-MANIA
Aside from the buy-in and guarantee, the format for this weekend’s Pennsyl-MANIA follows that of previous iterations. Here are the particulars:
- Day 1 start time: Sun., Apr. 4, 5 p.m. ET (ends 7 hrs., 45 min. later)
- Day 2 start time: Mon., Apr. 5, 7 p.m. ET
- Re-entries: Up to five re-entries during late registration period (first 4 hrs., 35 min.)
- Starting stack: 100,000 chips (200 big blinds)
- Levels: 15 minutes
Any final-table deal requires players to set aside at least $10,000 to go to the eventual champion.
The field should be a big one, if the recently completed PokerStars PA Bounty Builder Series is any indication. The 75-event series that took place from Feb. 20-March 8 awarded more than $2 million across all tournaments.
Satellites, a special mega satellite, and a depositor freeroll
As before, there are plenty of ways for PokerStars PA players to be part of Pennsyl-MANIA without paying full price for that $300 buy-in.
Multiple satellites are happening each day on the site with buy-ins of $25 or $30, each of which guarantees at least two seats into Pennsyl-MANIA.
On the evening of Sat., Apr. 3 at 8:15 p.m. ET there is a special Pennsyl-MANIA Mega Satellite. That event costs $30 to play and guarantees at least 20 seats into Sunday’s big event.
Finally, on Sun., Apr. 4 at 2 p.m. ET there is also a Pennsyl-MANIA Depositor Freeroll. Any PokerStars PA player who deposits at least $30 while using the code “MANIA” at any time up until 1:59 p.m. ET on Sunday earns entry into the freeroll.
The top 150 finishers in the freeroll will win Pennsyl-MANIA seats, which means PokerStars PA has added $45,000 worth of value to the event.
First Pennsyl-MANIA still holds record for largest prize pool
As happens with most film franchises, the first Pennsyl-MANIA was the best, at least in terms of size.
The tournament was held in May 2020 and featured a $200 buy-in and $250,000 guarantee.
Ultimately the event attracted close to 2,800 entries, which meant a prize pool of $515,964 or more than twice the guarantee. That remains the largest prize pool of any tournament on PokerStars PA since its Nov. 2019 launch. “D-Low1527” won the tournament following a heads-up deal, taking away $69,670.69 for the win.
PokerStars PA decided to run it twice and scheduled a second Pennsyl-MANIA in Aug. 2020. The buy-in stayed at $200 with the guarantee was upped to $350,000.
There were just over 2,000 entries, creating a prize pool of $376,836. The tournament ended in a four-way chop with “SlotWinna777” ultimately winning out and claiming a $44,641.87 first prize.
The third Pennsyl-MANIA in late Dec. 2020 also had a $200 buy-in, and in that instance PokerStars PA aimed high with a $500,000 guarantee.
Despite attracting just over 2,300 entries, the tournament was still around 380 entries shy of hitting the guarantee. That meant the $500,000 prize pool included an overlay of just over $70,000. “PokerAnomoly” ultimately took the top prize of $74,147.85.
Big weekend for PokerStars US sites
Interestingly, this Sunday’s tournament is taking place alongside simultaneous events on both PokerStars Michigan and PokerStars New Jersey.
On PokerStars NJ, the New Jersey Classic features a $500 buy-in and $100,000 guarantee. Meanwhile on PokerStars MI the first ever Michigan Classic will take place with a $300 buy-in and $500,000 guarantee.
Both events happen Apr. 4-5 at the same time as Pennsyl-MANIA. Thus will this weekend’s tournament be compared both to earlier Pennsyl-MANIAs and to the other big events on PokerStars’ US sites.
We’ll see just how big the fourth Pennsyl-MANIA turns out to be. There won’t be any pile drivers or body slams like in Tampa a couple of weeks from now. But there should be plenty of interesting battles nonetheless.
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