PokerStars Guarantees For April’s PASCOOP Among Largest In Modern US Online Poker

Alex Weldon Posted on Mar 31, 2020 08:49 PDT - Updated on Apr 1, 2020 12:05 PDT@benefactumgames

Last week, PokerStars announced the schedule for the fifth annual New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJSCOOP) and promised details about the inaugural equivalent in Pennsylvania.

As revealed previously, the Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PASCOOP) will indeed begin on April 4 and offer $2 million in combined guarantees across its events. There will be 100 events in total, consisting of 50 tournaments with two buy-in tiers apiece. The series runs until April 20.

Since NJSCOOP begins on April 11, there are 10 days of overlap between the two series. This would ordinarily make it easy for players to cross between the two states in order to participate in both series. Social distancing measures and travel restrictions due to COVID-19 could make that difficult in this instance, however.

You can find the full schedule for the 2020 PASCOOP below.

PASCOOP bigger, faster, more progressive

The schedule PokerStars drew up for the 2020 PASCOOP closely mirrors its NJ counterpart. Buy-ins start from $5 for the low tier and $50 for the high tier.

There aren’t quite as many large buy-ins in Pennsylvania, however, and the ceiling is lower. For instance, NJSCOOP’s High Roller and 8-Game events have high tier buy-ins of $1,000 and $500 respectively, while PASCOOP’s are $500 and $200.

There’s a one-to-one correspondence between most events in terms of scheduling and game type, and many of the buy-ins line up as well. The main difference between the two schedules is that most PASCOOP events have higher guarantees than their NJSCOOP equivalents.

With $2 million in guarantees, PASCOOP will be PokerStars’ biggest US online poker series to date. That’s still not as much as the $3.5 million that WSOP offered for its online championships in 2019. PokerStars, however, doesn’t have the twin advantages of interstate liquidity sharing and a world-renowned live tournament series pulling in players from around the world.

There are also considerable differences in terms of specific formats. Overall, the schedule for PASCOOP is a bit more varied. NJSCOOP has only 10 PKOs and 11 turbos or hyper-turbos in 48 events. PASCOOP’s 50 events include 17 PKOs and 15 turbos or hyper-turbos.

PASCOOP’s opening weekend also includes one more event each day than NJSCOOP’s — three on Saturday and six on Sunday.

50 Main Event seats up for grabs

The promotions for PASCOOP are also similar to NJSCOOP’s.

There is a Main Event Depositor Freeroll on Sunday, April 19, which will award 50 seats to the following day’s high tier Main Event worth $300 apiece. That’s 20 more than are being given away in New Jersey.

Pennsylvania players also get the same consolation prize as their NJ peers. Anyone busting out of a PASCOOP event without making the money gets a free entry to a $1,000 all-in shootout freeroll. Entry is automatic, and the player doesn’t even need to be logged in for their chance to win a prize.

PASCOOP Main Events have the same buy-ins as NJSCOOP but bigger guarantees. The low tier has a $50 buy-in while the high runs at $300. Their guarantees are $50,000 and $200,000 respectively, compared to $30,000 and $100,000 in New Jersey.

Full 2020 PASCOOP schedule

Here is the schedule for the 2020 PASCOOP on PokerStars:

Date	#	Tier	Buy-in	Event	Guarantee
April 4	1	High	$100	NLHE [Nightly Stars - PASCOOP Warm-Up]	$50,000
April 4	1	Low	$10	NLHE [PASCOOP Warm-Up]	$10,000
April 4	2	High	$50	NLHE	$35,000
April 4	2	Low	$5	NLHE	$6,000
April 4	3	High	$200	NLHE [6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$25,000
April 4	3	Low	$20	NLHE [6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$10,000
April 5	4	High	$100	NLHE [8-Max, DeepStack]	$40,000
April 5	4	Low	$10	NLHE [8-Max, DeepStack]	$8,000
April 5	5	High	$50	NLHE [6-Max]	$30,000
April 5	5	Low	$5	NLHE [6-Max]	$6,000
April 5	6	High	$150	NLHE [Progressive KO]	$35,000
April 5	6	Low	$15	NLHE [Progressive KO]	$8,000
April 5	7	High	$100	NLHE [Sunday Special SE]	$70,000
April 5	7	Low	$10	NLHE [Mini Special]	$10,000
April 5	8	High	$100	PLO [6-Max]	$15,000
April 5	8	Low	$10	PLO [6-Max]	$5,000
April 5	9	High	$50	NLHE [Hyper-Turbo, Sunday SuperSonic SE]	$15,000
April 5	9	Low	$5	NLHE [Hyper-Turbo, Mini SuperSonic]	$3,000
April 6	10	High	$50	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale SE]	$30,000
April 6	10	Low	$5	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO]	$3,500
April 6	11	High	$150	NLO8 [6-Max]	$15,000
April 6	11	Low	$15	NLO8 [6-Max]	$3,500
April 7	12	High	$250	NLHE [Super Tuesday SE]	$50,000
April 7	12	Low	$25	NLHE [Mini Super Tuesday]	$20,000
April 7	13	High	$150	NLHE [Escalating Antes]	$20,000
April 7	13	Low	$15	NLHE [Escalating Antes]	$6,000
April 7	14	High	$75	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO]	$17,500
April 7	14	Low	$7.5	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO]	$5,000
April 8	15	High	$500	NLHE [6-Max, High Roller]	$50,000
April 8	15	Low	$50	NLHE [6-Max]	$25,000
April 8	16	High	$100	NLHE [Progressive KO]	$30,000
April 8	16	Low	$10	NLHE [Progressive KO]	$7,500
April 9	17	High	$250	NLHE [Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill SE]	$50,000
April 9	17	Low	$25	NLHE [Progressive KO, Mini Thrill]	$20,000
April 9	18	High	$150	PLO [8-Max]	$15,000
April 9	18	Low	$15	PLO [8-Max]	$4,000
April 9	19	High	$75	NLHE [Turbo]	$15,000
April 9	19	Low	$7.5	NLHE [Turbo]	$3,500
April 10	20	High	$200	8-Game	$17,500
April 10	20	Low	$20	8-Game	$4,000
April 10	21	High	$150	NLHE [Turbo, Progressive KO]	$22,000
April 10	21	Low	$15	NLHE [Turbo, Progressive KO]	$7,500
April 11	22	High	$100	NLHE	$25,000
April 11	22	Low	$10	NLHE	$5,000
April 11	23	High	$200	NLHE [4-Max]	$30,000
April 11	23	Low	$20	NLHE [4-Max]	$12,000
April 11	24	High	$150	NLHE [Turbo, Progressive KO, BigStack Turbo]	$25,000
April 11	24	Low	$15	NLHE [Turbo, Progressive KO, BigStack Turbo]	$10,000
April 11	25	High	$50	NLHE [8-Max, Turbo]	$12,000
April 11	25	Low	$5	NLHE [8-Max, Turbo]	$3,000
April 12	26	High	$150	NLHE [Marathon]	$35,000
April 12	26	Low	$15	NLHE [Marathon]	$8,000
April 12	27	High	$50	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO]	$22,000
April 12	27	Low	$5	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO]	$3,000
April 12	28	High	$200	NLHE [Sunday Special SE]	$50,000
April 12	28	Low	$20	NLHE [Mini Special]	$15,000
April 12	29	High	$150	NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, Big Antes]	$25,000
April 12	29	Low	$15	NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, Big Antes]	$6,000
April 12	30	High	$75	NLHE [Hyper-Turbo, Sunday SuperSonic SE]	$12,500
April 12	30	Low	$7.5	NLHE [Hyper-Turbo, Mini SuperSonic]	$5,000
April 13	31	High	$200	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO]	$20,000
April 13	31	Low	$20	NLHE [6-Max, Progressive KO]	$5,000
April 13	32	High	$150	PLO [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo]	$20,000
April 13	32	Low	$15	PLO [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo]	$5,000
April 14	33	High	$200	NLHE [Super Tuesday SE]	$45,000
April 14	33	Low	$20	NLHE [Mini Super Tuesday]	$17,500
April 14	34	High	$75	NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$17,500
April 14	34	Low	$7.5	NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$5,000
April 15	35	High	$100	NLHE	$20,000
April 15	35	Low	$10	NLHE	$5,000
April 15	36	High	$200	NLHE [Heads-Up, Progressive Total KO, Zoom]	$25,000
April 15	36	Low	$20	NLHE [Heads-Up, Progressive Total KO, Zoom]	$7,500
April 16	37	High	$200	NLHE [Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill SE]	$35,000
April 16	37	Low	$20	NLHE [Progressive KO, Mini Thrill]	$15,000
April 16	38	High	$100	NLHE [8-Max]	$12,000
April 16	38	Low	$10	NLHE [8-Max]	$2,000
April 17	39	High	$50	Stud Hi/Lo [6-Max, Turbo, Fast Friday SE]	$10,000
April 17	39	Low	$5	Stud Hi/Lo [6-Max, Turbo]	$2,500
April 17	40	High	$100	NLHE [8-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO]	$15,000
April 17	40	Low	$10	NLHE [8-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO]	$3,500
April 18	41	High	$100	NLHE [6-Max, Deepstack]	$40,000
April 18	41	Low	$10	NLHE [6-Max, Deepstack]	$8,000
April 18	42	High	$150	NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO]	$30,000
April 18	42	Low	$15	NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO]	$7,500
April 18	43	High	$75	NLHE [Turbo, Zoom]	$25,000
April 18	43	Low	$7.5	NLHE [Turbo, Zoom]	$6,000
April 19	44	High	$100	NLHE [Progressive KO, DeepStack]	$30,000
April 19	44	Low	$10	NLHE [Progressive KO, DeepStack]	$6,000
April 19	45	High	$300	NLHE [Main Event]	$200,000
April 19	45	Low	$50	NLHE [Main Event]	$50,000
April 19	46	High	$100	NLHE	$25,000
April 19	46	Low	$10	NLHE [Progressive KO]	$6,000
April 19	47	High	$75	NLHE [Hyper-Turbo]	$15,000
April 19	47	Low	$7.5	NLHE [Hyper-Turbo]	$5,000
April 20	48	High	$100	NLHE	$40,000
April 20	48	Low	$10	NLHE	$8,000
April 20	49	High	$100	NLHE [Phase Day 2]	$50,000
April 20	49	Low	$10	NLHE [Phase Day 2]	$10,000
April 20	50	High	$150	NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PASCOOP Wrap-Up]	$20,000
April 20	50	Low	$15	NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PASCOOP Wrap-Up]	$5,000

Alex Weldon - Alex is a freelance writer and artist living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He has been doing data-based analysis of the online gaming industry since 2016.