The transition from summer to fall typically means a couple of things, at least here in the United States: the kids go back to school (by the way, my kids started back to school this week, the first week of August – how insane is that?) and American football starts up again! Yay! But poker players outside of the U.S. have another big thing to look forward to: the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).
Last Friday, PokerStars provided a look at the tentative schedule for the 2016 WCOOP and is asking for feedback from players. As of now – and this likely won’t change – the WCOOP is scheduled to run from Sunday, September 4th through Monday, September 26th. It is noticeably larger than last year’s WCOOP, too, as it now consists of 82 events, a dozen more than in 2015.
As usual, the headline event is the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship Main Event, which will be held on the penultimate day of the series and feature a $1.5 million guaranteed prize pool. One re-entry is allowed per player.
PokerStars is also one-upping itself this year. Last year, it was proud to unveil a $51,000 Super High Roller tournament, the most expensive online poker tournament of all-time. That is gone this year, but it is replaced with one that is twice as pricey: a $102,000 Super High Roller event. It will be interesting to see how many entrants it attracts. Oh, there is also a maximum of one re-entry on this tourney, too, because heaven forbid someone pay that buy-in more than twice.
PokerStars also said that it will be running a Mini-WCOOP for the first time ever. As opposed to the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), which has multiple buy-in levels for each event, Mini-WCOOP “….is not in any way intended to be another stakes level of WCOOP itself, but instead a companion series run at 1/100th of the buy-in of most WCOOP Events, at 1/1,000th for some, etc.”
Very possibly meant to replace the Mini-FTOPS now that Full Tilt is no longer an independent poker room, the buy-ins of Mini-WCOOP will range from $1.10 to $11, except for the Main Event, which will be $50.
Below is the proposed schedule – in its fourth iteration – of the 2016 PokerStars WCOOP, as posted on the PokerStars blog.
2016 World Championship of Online Poker
Sunday, 04 September
08:00 ET — Ev 01: $109 NL Hold’em [Sunday Kickoff SE, Final Day 1]
11:00 ET — Ev 02: $215 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Sunday Warm-Up SE] (max re-entries: 2)
12:30 ET — Ev 03: $1,050 NL Hold’em [Marathon Event Day 1]
14:00 ET — Ev 04: $215 NL Hold’em [Sunday Million SE] (max re-entries: 2)
17:00 ET — Ev 05: $320 NL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max]
Monday, 05 September
10:00 ET — Ev 06: $215 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Rebuys]
13:00 ET — Ev 07: $700 PL Omaha [3-Max, Progressive Knockout, Zoom]
16:00 ET — Ev 08: $700 NL Hold’em [8-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout]
Tuesday, 06 September
10:00 ET — Ev 09: $1,000 NL Single Draw 2-7 Championship (max re-entries: 1)
13:00 ET — Ev 10: $1,050 NL Hold’em [Super Tuesday SE]
16:00 ET — Ev 11: $320 FL Hold’em [6-Max]
Wednesday, 07 September
10:00 ET — Ev 12: $1,000 NL 5-Card Draw Championship (max re-entries: 1)
13:00 ET — Ev 13: $215 NL Hold’em [Progressive Super-Knockout]
16:00 ET — Ev 14: $215 NL Hold’em [Big Antes] (max re-entries: 3)
Thursday, 08 September
10:00 ET — Ev 15: $215 PL Omaha [1R1A]
13:00 ET — Ev 16: $1,050 NL Hold’em [Progressive Super-Knockout, Thursday Thrill SE]
16:00 ET — Ev 17: $320 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo
Friday, 09 September
10:00 ET — Ev 18: $320 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up]
13:00 ET — Ev 19: $1,000 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship (max re-entries: 1)
16:00 ET — Ev 20: $320 NL Hold’em [3-Max, Progressive Knockout, Zoom]
Saturday, 10 September
04:00 ET — Ev 21: $109 NL Hold’em (max re-entries: 3)
07:00 ET — Ev 22: $215 PL 5-Card Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max] (max re-entries: 3)
10:00 ET — Ev 23: $10,300 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up, High-Roller, No Late Registration]
13:00 ET — Ev 24: $530 NL Hold’em [Progressive Knockout]
16:00 ET — Ev 25: $1,000 NL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship [6-Max] (max re-entries: 1)
Sunday, 11 September
08:00 ET — Ev 26: $215 PL Omaha [6-Max, Progressive Knockout]
11:00 ET — Ev 27: $215 NL Hold’em [Deep Payouts, Sunday Warm-Up SE] (max re-entries: 2)
12:30 ET — Ev 28: $10,300 NL Hold’em [8-Max, High-Roller] (max re-entries: 1)
14:00 ET — Ev 29: $700 NL Hold’em [Sunday Million SE]
17:00 ET — Ev 30: $109 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Sunday Cooldown SE]
Monday, 12 September
10:00 ET — Ev 31: $320 NL Hold’em [8-Max]
13:00 ET — Ev 32: $320 PL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max, Monday PLO8 SE]
16:00 ET — Ev 33: $1,050 FL Hold’em Championship [6-Max] (max re-entries: 1)
Tuesday, 13 September
10:00 ET — Ev 34: $215 PL Omaha [6-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout]
13:00 ET — Ev 35: $1,575 NL Hold’em [Super Tuesday SE]
16:00 ET — Ev 36: $320 NL Hold’em [6-Max] (max re-entries: 3)
Wednesday, 14 September
10:00 ET — Ev 37: $215 NL Hold’em [2R1A]
13:00 ET — Ev 38: $700 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Shootout, No Late Registration]
16:00 ET — Ev 39: $1,000 FL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship [8-Max] (max re-entries: 1)
Thursday, 15 September
10:00 ET — Ev 40: $700 Players’ Choice Event #1 [NL Hold’em]
13:00 ET — Ev 41: $1,575 NL Hold’em [Progressive Super-Knockout, Thursday Thrill SE]
16:00 ET — Ev 42: $320 Eight-Game
Friday, 16 September
10:00 ET — Ev 43: $1,000 Triple Draw 2-7 Championship (max re-entries: 1)
13:00 ET — Ev 44: $700 Players’ Choice Event #2 [non-NL Hold’em]
16:00 ET — Ev 45: $320 NL Hold’em [Ante Up, Progressive Knockout]
Saturday, 17 September
04:00 ET — Ev 46: $215 NL Hold’em [4-Max]
07:00 ET — Ev 47: $1,000 Badugi Championship (max re-entries: 1)
10:00 ET — Ev 48: $215 NL Hold’em [Rebuys]
13:00 ET — Ev 49: $320 NL Hold’em [Mix-Max, Final Part 1, 8-Max]
16:00 ET — Ev 50: $320 HORSE
Sunday, 18 September
08:00 ET — Ev 51: $1,050 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Ultra-Deep]
11:00 ET — Ev 52: $215 NL Hold’em [Sunday Warm-Up SE] (max re-entries: 2)
12:30 ET — Ev 53: $102,000 NL Hold’em [8-Max, Super High-Roller] (max re-entries: 1)
14:00 ET — Ev 54: $2,100 NL Hold’em [Sunday Million SE]
17:00 ET — Ev 55: $530 NL Hold’em (max re-entries: 3)
Monday, 19 September
10:00 ET — Ev 56: $215 NL Hold’em [Progressive Knockout]
13:00 ET — Ev 57: $1,000 PL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship [6-Max]
16:00 ET — Ev 58: $320 Razz
Tuesday, 20 September
10:00 ET — Ev 59: $320 NL Hold’em [Win the Button] (max re-entries: 3)
13:00 ET — Ev 60: $2,100 NL Hold’em [Super Tuesday SE]
16:00 ET — Ev 61: $1,000 Razz Championship (max re-entries: 1)
Wednesday, 21 September
10:00 ET — Ev 62: $530 NL Hold’em [Rebuys]
13:00 ET — Ev 63: $2,000 PL Omaha Championship [6-Max] (max re-entries: 1)
16:00 ET — Ev 64: $320 7-Card Stud
Thursday, 22 September
10:00 ET — Ev 65: $700 NL Hold’em [Ultra-Deep]
13:00 ET — Ev 66: $2,100 NL Hold’em [Progressive Super-Knockout, Thursday Thrill SE]
16:00 ET — Ev 67: $1,000 7-Card Stud Championship (max re-entries: 1)
Friday, 23 September
07:00 ET — Ev 68: $320 PL Omaha [6-Max, Rebuys]
10:00 ET — Ev 69: $700 NL Hold’em [6-Max, 5-Stack]
13:00 ET — Ev 70: $21,000 PL Omaha [6-Max, High-Roller] (max re-entries: 1)
16:00 ET — Ev 71: $2,000 HORSE Championship (max re-entries: 1)
Saturday, 24 September
07:00 ET — Ev 72: $109 NL Hold’em [Final Day 1]
10:00 ET — Ev 73: $700 PL Omaha [Heads-Up]
13:00 ET — Ev 74: $10,000 Eight-Game Championship (max re-entries: 1)
16:00 ET — Ev 75: $700 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout]
Sunday, 25 September
08:00 ET — Ev 76: $320 PL Omaha [Mix-Max, Final Part 1, 9-Max]
11:00 ET — Ev 77: $215 NL Hold’em [8-Max, Sunday Warm-Up SE]
14:00 ET — Ev 78: $5,000 NL Hold’em Championship Main Event – $1.5M Gtd to Champion! (max re-entries: 1)
17:00 ET — Ev 79: $320 NL Hold’em (max re-entries: 3)
Monday, 26 September
10:00 ET — Ev 80: $700 NL Hold’em [1R1A]
13:00 ET — Ev 81: $320 PL 5-Card Omaha [6-Max] (max re-entries: 3)
16:00 ET — Ev 82: $1,050 NL Hold’em [WCOOP Wrap-Up] (max re-entries: 1)