Pokerstars awards over $1.5 million to players during PACOOP

FOX Bet and PokerStars' inaugural Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP) attracted more than 12,600 entries resulting in over 1,700 cashes and a massive $1,559,576 prize pool, beating its $1,225,000 guarantee, which was increased from $1 million.

The player who took the biggest first-place prize from the debut Championship was ‘Gyea08’, after they turned a free entry into $31,335.64. He outlasted 639 entries in the $300 buy-in Main Event, which saw the original $100,000 guarantee balloon to $179,200.

The state’s very own online poker championship took place from 30 November to 16 December at PokerStars.bet, and saw such success within its opening weekend that PokerStars increased the $1 million guarantee by $100,000 on 2 December. The world’s most popular online poker operator then raised the guarantee again two days later on 4 December by $125,000, following ongoing exceptional performance.

“After the incredible number of players that joined together online in the first few days of the tournament, we knew we needed to increase the prize pools to match their enthusiasm,” said Matt Primeaux, President, FOX Bet. “PACOOP exceeded all our expectations. We’re very proud to be the only place you can play poker legally online and look forward to poker’s future here in Pennsylvania."