Another big tournament series is in the books at PokerStars PA. And once again, online poker players in the Keystone State came out to play.
The 17-day Pennsylvania Spring Championship of Online Poker ended on Monday night. PASCOOP began strong with large turnouts early on, and kept up that pace right through to the end.
Ultimately players won just over $2.64 million in the series, well over the approximately $2.1 million in total guarantees.
Biggest series of year so far for PokerStars PA
Such numbers exceed the totals of other 2021 tournament series on PokerStars. By comparison, the Winter Series in Jan.-Feb. awarded $1.7 million while players won just over $2 million in the Bounty Builder Series in Feb.-March.
While the 2021 PASCOOP total indicates a successful series for PokerStars PA, it doesn’t match the $3.2 million awarded during the first PASCOOP in April 2020.
That first PASCOOP featured 50 events, each with two buy-in “tiers” to total 100 tournaments.
The 2021 version followed the traditional three-tiered format of SCOOP series on PokerStars’ global site with a “High,” “Medium,” and “Low” buy-in for each event. Originally there were 40 events and 120 tournaments scheduled. However, an extra pot-limit Omaha hi-lo event was added midway through the series to make 41 events and 123 tournaments altogether.
Those events attracted just over 47,000 total entries, or 48,257 altogether counting the rebuys and add-ons from the three Event #14 tournaments.
Main Event attracts 1,000+ entries, features $284K prize pool
Unsurprisingly, the series’ largest prize pool came in the “High” version of the Main Event, a $300 buy-in two-day tournament completed last night.
That tournament came with a series-high $200,000 guarantee. With 1,015 total entries, the prize pool totaled $284,200. In the end, player “kingboss93” won the event, taking away just over $46,000 in first-place prize money with no final table deal made.
That Main Event total prize pool was well shy of the largest tournament on PokerStars PA, the $500,000 Pennsyl-Mania event in late Dec. 2020.
Among other tournament results, PokerStars PA Ambassadors Keith “whoopsboom” Becker and Mark “naigo1” Foresta continued their respective attempts to land PASCOOP titles right to the end.
Becker ultimately came the closest, adding a runner-up in Event #33-M to a couple of third-place finishes earned earlier in the series.
Overlays Scattered Among Events Total $54K
In a few instances, prize pools doubled their guarantees. That happened three times, all in “Low” buy-in events (Events #24-L, #26-L, and #29-L). That said, there were numerous overlays throughout PASCOOP, although most were small relative to the prize pools.
Ultimately 37 of the 123 tournaments (about 30%) failed to meet their guarantees. Many overlays were for only a few hundred dollars. The largest came in the “High” version of Event #32, a $100 buy-in “Win the Button” tournament. That event featured $25,000 guarantee and the overlay exceeded $6,000.
Interestingly, the largest overlays tended to come in tournaments featuring non-standard formats such as Win the Button. Four-handed tournaments, turbo progressive knockouts, Zoom (fast-fold) events, and 8-game events all had overlays as well.
In all, overlays added up to just over $54,000. However, as noted the instances where prize pools exceeded guarantees more than offset that deficit.
The 2020 PASCOOP had only four overlays totaling less than $5,000 in its 100 total tournaments.
PokerStars will be staging similar series on its other two US sites in May, with both the MISCOOP on PokerStars MI and NJSCOOP on PokerStars NJ happening May 8-24. The Michigan series will provide an interesting comparative for PASCOOP, at it follows a very similar 40-event, 120-tournament schedule.
Take a look below at all of the turnouts, prize pools, guarantees, and overlays for the 2021 PASCOOP.
2021 PASCOOP by the numbers
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Entries | Prize Pool | Overlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-H: NLHE (Nightly Stars SE) | $100 | $30,000 | 530 | $48,654.00 | n/a |
| 1-M: NLHE | $30 | $15,000 | 842 | $22,986.60 | n/a |
| 1-L: NLHE | $10 | $6,000 | 866 | $7,880.60 | n/a |
| 2-H: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Zoom) | $100 | $20,000 | 262 | $24,051.60 | n/a |
| 2-M: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Zoom) | $30 | $10,000 | 453 | $12,366.90 | n/a |
| 2-L: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Zoom) | $10 | $4,000 | 718 | $6,533.80 | n/a |
| 3-H: NLHE (Sunday Marathon SE) | $100 | $25,000 | 368 | $33,782.40 | n/a |
| 3-M: NLHE (Sunday Marathon) | $30 | $12,500 | 630 | $17,199.00 | n/a |
| 3-L: NLHE (Sunday Marathon) | $10 | $5,000 | 731 | $6,652.10 | n/a |
| 4-H: NLHE (Sunday Special SE) | $100 | $75,000 | 1,013 | $92,993.40 | n/a |
| 4-M: NLHE (Sunday Warm Up SE) | $30 | $25,000 | 911 | $25,000.00 | $129.70 |
| 4-L: NLHE (Sunday Storm SE) | $10 | $10,000 | 956 | $10,000.00 | $1,300.40 |
| 5-H: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $50 | $7,500 | 222 | $10,101.00 | n/a |
| 5-M: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $15 | $3,500 | 293 | $3,999.45 | n/a |
| 5-L: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $5 | $1,500 | 302 | $1,500.00 | $80.60 |
| 6-H: NLHE (Turbo, Second Chance) | $50 | $10,000 | 218 | $10,000.00 | $81.00 |
| 6-M: NLHE (Turbo, Second Chance) | $15 | $5,000 | 243 | $5,000.00 | $1,683.05 |
| 6-L: NLHE (Turbo, Second Chance) | $5 | $2,000 | 289 | $2,000.00 | $685.05 |
| 7-H: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Sunday Supersonic SE) | $50 | $7,500 | 172 | $8,084.00 | n/a |
| 7-M: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Sunday Supersonic) | $15 | $3,500 | 210 | $3,500.00 | $633.50 |
| 7-L: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Sunday Supersonic) | $5 | $1,500 | 271 | $1,500.00 | $266.95 |
| 8-H: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale SE) | $100 | $25,000 | 388 | $35,618.40 | n/a |
| 8-M: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale) | $30 | $15,000 | 665 | $18,154.50 | n/a |
| 8-L: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale) | $10 | $5,000 | 645 | $5,869.50 | n/a |
| 9-H: NLHE (Escalating Antes) | $50 | $15,000 | 300 | $15,000.00 | $1,350.00 |
| 9-M: NLHE (Escalating Antes) | $15 | $7,000 | 474 | $7,000.00 | $529.90 |
| 9-L: NLHE (Escalating Antes) | $5 | $2,500 | 473 | $2,500.00 | $347.85 |
| 10-H: NLHE (Super Tuesday SE) | $200 | $35,000 | 258 | $47,988.00 | n/a |
| 10-M: NLHE (Mini Super Tuesday SE) | $50 | $20,000 | 654 | $29,757.00 | n/a |
| 10-L: NLHE (The Big $20 SE) | $20 | $7,500 | 687 | $12,503.40 | n/a |
| 11-H: NLHE (8-Max, High Roller) | $2,000 | $100,000 | 53 | $100,700.00 | n/a |
| 11-M: NLHE (8-Max, High Roller) | $500 | $50,000 | 142 | $66,740.00 | n/a |
| 11-L: NLHE (8-Max) | $200 | $30,000 | 221 | $41,106.00 | n/a |
| 12-H: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, H Roller Second Chance) | $200 | $20,000 | 118 | $21,948.00 | n/a |
| 12-M: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo) | $50 | $10,000 | 302 | $13,741.00 | n/a |
| 12-L: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo) | $20 | $4,000 | 351 | $6,388.20 | n/a |
| 13-H: NLHE (Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill SE) | $200 | $35,000 | 256 | $47,616.00 | n/a |
| 13-M: NLHE (Progressive KO, Mini Thursday Thrill SE) | $50 | $20,000 | 642 | $29,211.00 | n/a |
| 13-L: NLHE (Progressive KO, Bounty Builder $20 SE) | $20 | $7,500 | 731 | $13,304.20 | n/a |
| 14-H: NLHE (Rebuy) | $50 | $20,000 | 398 | $20,000.00 | $1,891.00 |
| 14-M: NLHE (Rebuy) | $15 | $10,000 | 723 | $10,000.00 | $131.05 |
| 14-L: NLHE (Rebuy) | $5 | $4,000 | 775 | $4,000.00 | $473.75 |
| 15-H: NLHE (4-Max) | $100 | $15,000 | 238 | $21,848.40 | n/a |
| 15-M: NLHE (4-Max) | $30 | $7,500 | 459 | $12,530.70 | n/a |
| 15-L: NLHE (4-Max) | $10 | $3,000 | 496 | $4,513.60 | n/a |
| 16-H: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Bigstack) | $200 | $25,000 | 177 | $32,922.00 | n/a |
| 16-M: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Bigstack) | $50 | $15,000 | 456 | $20,748.00 | n/a |
| 16-L: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Bigstack) | $20 | $7,500 | 602 | $10,956.40 | n/a |
| 17-H: 5-Card PLO (6-Max) | $100 | $10,000 | 114 | $10,465.20 | n/a |
| 17-M: 5-Card PLO (6-Max) | $30 | $5,000 | 191 | $5,214.30 | n/a |
| 17-L: 5-Card PLO (6-Max) | $10 | $2,000 | 274 | $2,493.40 | n/a |
| 18-H: NLHE (Heads-Up, Turbo, PKO, Zoom, Total KO) | $50 | $15,000 | 262 | $15,000.00 | $3,079.00 |
| 18-M: NLHE (Heads-Up, Turbo, PKO, Zoom, Total KO) | $15 | $7,500 | 414 | $7,500.00 | $1,848.90 |
| 18-L: NLHE (Heads-Up, Turbo, PKO, Zoom, Total KO) | $5 | $2,500 | 484 | $2,500.00 | $297.80 |
| 19-H: NLHE (Bigstack, Sunday Marathon SE) | $100 | $25,000 | 388 | $35,618.40 | n/a |
| 19-M: NLHE (Bigstack) | $30 | $12,500 | 599 | $16,352.70 | n/a |
| 19-L: NLHE (Bigstack) | $10 | $5,000 | 734 | $6,679.40 | n/a |
| 20-H: NLHE (Sunday Special SE) | $200 | $100,000 | 598 | $111,228.00 | n/a |
| 20-M: NLHE (Sunday Warm Up SE) | $50 | $35,000 | 748 | $35,000.00 | $966.00 |
| 20-L: NLHE (Sunday Storm SE) | $20 | $12,500 | 876 | $15,943.20 | n/a |
| 21-H: PLO (8-Max) | $100 | $12,500 | 118 | $12,500.00 | $1,667.60 |
| 21-M: PLO (8-Max) | $30 | $7,500 | 217 | $7,500.00 | $1,575.90 |
| 21-L: PLO (8-Max) | $10 | $2,500 | 255 | $2,500.00 | $179.50 |
| 22-H: NLHE (Turbo, Second Chance) | $100 | $20,000 | 211 | $20,000.00 | $630.20 |
| 22-M: NLHE (Turbo, Second Chance) | $30 | $10,000 | 354 | $10,000.00 | $335.80 |
| 22-L: NLHE (Turbo, Second Chance) | $10 | $3,000 | 343 | $3,121.30 | n/a |
| 23-H: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PKO, Sun. Supersonic SE) | $50 | $7,500 | 202 | $9,494.00 | n/a |
| 23-M: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PKO, Sun. Supersonic) | $15 | $3,500 | 252 | $3,553.20 | n/a |
| 23-L: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PKO, Sun. Supersonic) | $5 | $1,500 | 303 | $1,500.00 | $75.90 |
| 24-H: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $200 | $25,000 | 231 | $42,966.00 | n/a |
| 24-M: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale SE) | $50 | $15,000 | 478 | $21,749.00 | n/a |
| 24-L: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $20 | $5,000 | 566 | $10,301.20 | n/a |
| 25-H: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $100 | $10,000 | 116 | $10,648.80 | n/a |
| 25-M: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $30 | $5,000 | 272 | $7,425.60 | n/a |
| 25-L: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $10 | $2,000 | 264 | $2,404.40 | n/a |
| 26-H: NLHE (Super Tuesday SE) | $300 | $40,000 | 203 | $56,840.00 | n/a |
| 26-M: NLHE (Mini Super Tuesday SE) | $75 | $25,000 | 480 | $32,760.00 | n/a |
| 26-L: NLHE | $30 | $8,000 | 599 | $16,532.70 | n/a |
| 27-H: NLHE (6-Max, High Roller) | $1,000 | $75,000 | 75 | $75,000.00 | $3,750.00 |
| 27-M: NLHE (6-Max) | $250 | $35,000 | 162 | $37,746.00 | n/a |
| 27-L: NLHE (6-Max, Wedenesday 6-Max SE) | $100 | $20,000 | 334 | $30,661.20 | n/a |
| 28-H: 8-Game | $200 | $15,000 | 64 | $15,000.00 | $3,096.00 |
| 28-M: 8-Game | $50 | $7,500 | 133 | $7,500.00 | $1,448.50 |
| 28-L: 8-Game | $20 | $3,000 | 167 | $3,039.40 | n/a |
| 29-H: NLHE (Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill SE) | $300 | $40,000 | 229 | $64,120.00 | n/a |
| 29-M: NLHE (Progressive KO, Mini Thursday Thrill SE) | $75 | $25,000 | 518 | $35,353.50 | n/a |
| 29-L: NLHE (Progressive KO) | $30 | $8,000 | 588 | $16,052.40 | n/a |
| 30-H: NLHE (Progressive KO, 25% PKO | $200 | $25,000 | 161 | $29,946.00 | n/a |
| 30-M: NLHE (Progressive KO, 25% PKO) | $50 | $15,000 | 383 | $17,426.50 | n/a |
| 30-L: NLHE (Progressive KO, 25% PKO) | $20 | $6,500 | 469 | $8,535.80 | n/a |
| 31-H: HORSE (6-Max) | $100 | $8,000 | 105 | $9,639.00 | n/a |
| 31-M: HORSE (6-Max) | $30 | $4,000 | 181 | $4,941.30 | n/a |
| 31-L: HORSE (6-Max) | $10 | $1,500 | 279 | $2,538.90 | n/a |
| 32-H: NLHE (6-Max, Win the Button) | $100 | $25,000 | 205 | $25,000.00 | $6,181.00 |
| 32-M: NLHE (6-Max, Win the Button) | $50 | $15,000 | 299 | $15,000.00 | $1,395.50 |
| 32-L: NLHE (6-Max, Win the Button) | $10 | $4,000 | 480 | $4,368.00 | n/a |
| 33-H: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, High Roller) | $500 | $50,000 | 95 | $50,000.00 | $5,350.00 |
| 33-M: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO) | $200 | $35,000 | 163 | $35,000.00 | $4,682.00 |
| 33-L: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO) | $50 | $20,000 | 464 | $21,112.00 | n/a |
| 34-H: NLHE (4-Max, Turbo) | $50 | $25,000 | 420 | $25,000.00 | $5,890.00 |
| 34-M: NLHE (4-Max, Turbo) | $15 | $5,000 | 301 | $5,000.00 | $891.35 |
| 34-L: NLHE (4-Max, Turbo) | $5 | $2,000 | 408 | $2,000.00 | $143.60 |
| 35-H: NLHE (Deepstack, Sunday Marathon SE) | $100 | $25,000 | 299 | $27,448.20 | n/a |
| 35-M: NLHE (Deepstack) | $30 | $12,500 | 517 | $14,114.10 | n/a |
| 35-L: NLHE (Deepstack) | $10 | $5,000 | 615 | $5,596.50 | n/a |
| 36-H: NLHE (PASCOOP Main Event) | $300 | $200,000 | 1,015 | $284,200.00 | n/a |
| 36-M: NLHE (PASCCOP Main Event – Mid) | $75 | $40,000 | 816 | $55,692.00 | n/a |
| 36-L: NLHE (PASCOOP Main Event – Mini) | $30 | $20,000 | 1,006 | $27,463.80 | n/a |
| 37-H: PLO (6-Max) | $200 | $15,000 | 87 | $16,182.00 | n/a |
| 37-M: PLO (6-Max) | $50 | $7,500 | 144 | $7,500.00 | $948.00 |
| 37-L: PLO (6-Max) | $20 | $2,500 | 211 | $3,840.20 | n/a |
| 38-H: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Bigstack, Sun. Super. SE) | $100 | $10,000 | 164 | $15,580.00 | n/a |
| 38-M: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Bigstack) | $30 | $6,000 | 274 | $7,726.80 | n/a |
| 38-L: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Bigstack) | $10 | $2,000 | 310 | $2,914.00 | n/a |
| 39-H: NLHE (Nightly Stars SE) | $100 | $25,000 | 438 | $40,208.40 | n/a |
| 39-M: NLHE | $30 | $10,000 | 533 | $14,550.90 | n/a |
| 39-L: NLHE | $10 | $5,000 | 528 | $5,000.00 | $195.20 |
| 40-H: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO, Mach 50) | $50 | $7,500 | 184 | $8,648.00 | n/a |
| 40-M: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO, Mach 15) | $15 | $3,000 | 228 | $3,214.80 | n/a |
| 40-L: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO, Mach 5) | $5 | $1,500 | 284 | $1,500.00 | $165.20 |
| 41-H: PLO8 (6-Max) | $100 | $10,000 | 118 | $10,832.40 | n/a |
| 41-M: PLO8 (6-Max) | $30 | $4,000 | 206 | $5,623.80 | n/a |
| 41-L: PLO8 (6-Max) | $10 | $1,500 | 267 | $2,429.70 | n/a |
| TOTALS | $2,112,500 | 48,257 | $2,642,485.55 | $54,376.75 |
Lead image via Dreamstime.
