NJCOOP 2020 Arrives This Weekend With A Crowd-Pleasing Schedule

Alex Weldon Posted on Oct 9, 2020 14:05 PDT@benefactumgames

PokerStars’ New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOOP) kicks off this weekend. It’s the fifth run of the annual fall series in the Garden State.

NJCOOP will run from Oct. 10 through 26 and features a total of 54 events. The guarantees total $1 million, as has been the norm most years.

Buy-ins range from $20 up to $1,000. The Main Event starts on Oct. 25, has a $300 buy-in, guarantees $125,000, and runs over the course of two days. Its Mini cousin starts at the same time and has the same structure, but costs a mere $50 and guarantees $25,000.

For those on a budget, there’s a Main Event Depositor Freeroll at 1:59 p.m. the same day, requiring only a $30 deposit using the appropriate PokerStars bonus code. There’s also a special NJCOOP Spin & Go priced at $3, with cash prizes and a 2.5% chance of playing for a Main Event ticket.

Finally, there are the now-standard Second Chance All-in Shootout Freerolls, running daily. Anyone busting an NJCOOP event without cashing gets a free entry, and each freeroll awards $20,000 in tickets to try again.

Next door in Pennsylvania, PACOOP wrapped up on Monday. Slightly larger than its New Jersey cousin, it guaranteed $1.5 million and ultimately paid out over $2 million in prizes.

What’s new this year

In broad strokes, this year’s NJCOOP schedule isn’t too different from previous years’. The total guarantees, range of buy-ins, approximate number of events, and focus on No-Limit Hold’em are all standard at this point.

That said, there have been some significant changes. PokerStars is pushing hard on those formats most preferred by players. This year’s schedule features:

33 short-handed events, more than half the schedule, up from 19 last year
16 progressive knockouts, more than triple the five last year
16 turbo or hyper-turbo tournaments, up from nine in 2019

There are a few new games in the mix as well: Badugi, H.O.R.S.E., and 5-Card Omaha. To make room, some less-popular novelty formats are out. The two Bubble Rush events are gone, as are Win the Button, Escalating Antes, and a Mixed NLHE/PLO tournament.

As far as guarantees go, the Main Event, Mini Main Event, and Phase tournament all promise to be bigger this year. Conversely, PokerStars has lowered its expectations for the two High Rollers somewhat.

Full NJCOOP 2020 schedule

Here’s the full list of events with their dates, buy-in, format, and guarantee. Good luck at the tables!

Date	Buy-in	Event Name	Guarantee
10-Oct	$100	01: $100 NLHE	$25,000
10-Oct	$50	02: $50 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$12,500
11-Oct	$150	03: $150 NLHE [8-Max, Deepstack]	$20,000
11-Oct	$100	04: $100 NLHE [Progressive KO]	$15,000
11-Oct	$200	05: $200 NLHE	$400,000
11-Oct	$50	06: $50 NLHE	$15,000
11-Oct	$100	07: $100 PLO [6-Max]	$8,000
11-Oct	$150	08: $150 NLHE [Hyper-Turbo]	$12,000
12-Oct	$50	09: $50 NLHE [8-Max, Big Antes]	$10,000
12-Oct	$100	10: $100 NLHE [4-Max, Progressive KO]	$20,000
13-Oct	$250	11: $250 NLHE	$40,000
13-Oct	$30	12: $30 NLHE	$10,000
13-Oct	$100	13: $100 NLHE [6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$10,000
14-Oct	$100	14: $100 NLHE [Progressive KO]	$20,000
14-Oct	$1,000	15: $1,000 NLHE [6-Max, High Roller]	$45,000
14-Oct	$100	16: $100 PLO [6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$7,500
15-Oct	$200	17: $200 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO]	$20,000
15-Oct	$20	18: $20 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO]	$8,500
15-Oct	$100	19: $100 NLHE [7-Max, Turbo]	$10,000
16-Oct	$200	20: $200 8-Game	$12,500
16-Oct	$150	21: $150 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo]	$10,000
17-Oct	$100	22: $100 NLHE [8-Max, Deepstack]	$12,500
17-Oct	$100	23: $100 NLO8 [6-Max]	$7,500
17-Oct	$200	24: $200 NLHE [Turbo, Bigstack Turbo]	$10,000
18-Oct	$100	25: $100 NLHE [Marathon]	$10,000
18-Oct	$150	26: $150 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO]	$22,000
18-Oct	$300	27: $300 NLHE	$50,000
18-Oct	$100	28: $100 5-Card PLO [6-Max]	$6,500
18-Oct	$200	29: $200 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$15,000
18-Oct	$100	30: $100 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo]	$10,000
19-Oct	$500	31: $500 PLO [6-Max, PLO High Roller]	$15,000
19-Oct	$150	32: $150 NLHE [8-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO]	$10,000
20-Oct	$200	33: $200 NLHE	$35,000
20-Oct	$20	34: $20 NLHE	$8,500
20-Oct	$150	35: $150 NLHE [6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO]	$15,000
21-Oct	$200	36: $200 NLHE [8-Max]	$20,000
21-Oct	$100	37: $100 HORSE	$30,000
22-Oct	$250	38: $250 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO]	$30,000
22-Oct	$30	39: $30 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO]	$10,000
22-Oct	$150	40: $150 NLHE [Turbo]	$15,000
23-Oct	$150	41: $150 FLHE [6-Max]	$6,000
23-Oct	$200	42: $200 NLHE [7-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO]	$12,000
24-Oct	$200	43: $200 NLHE [8-Max, Deepstack]	$15,000
24-Oct	$100	44: $100 PL Badugi [6-Max]	$6,000
24-Oct	$75	45: $75 NLHE [8-Max, Zoom]	$15,000
25-Oct	$100	46: $100 NLHE [Progressive KO, Big Antes]	$12,500
25-Oct	$300	47: $300 NLHE [Main Event]	$125,000
25-Oct	$50	48: $50 NLHE [Mini Main Event]	$25,000
25-Oct	$100	49: $100 PLO [6-Max]	$7,500
25-Oct	$200	50: $200 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo]	$15,000
25-Oct	$75	51: $75 NLHE [Hyper-Turbo]	$10,000
26-Oct	$100	52: $100 NLHE	$22,000
26-Oct	$100	53: $100 NLHE [8-Max, Phase, Day 2]	$35,000
26-Oct	$150	54: $150 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo]	$12,500

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.