Today is the summer solstice, meaning we’re officially crossing from spring to summer. Meanwhile last night the PokerStars Summer Stacks Festival on PokerStars Pennsylvania crossed its halfway mark where the action continues to heat up along with the temperatures outside.
PokerStars PA players have won more than $639,000 through the first nine days of the 17-day series. So far the Summer Stacks Festival has attracted more than 18,900 total entries with more than a week’s worth of events still to go.
First week highlights include Sunday Special win for ambassador ‘NaigoPA’
The 100-tournament festival features relatively lower buy-ins than most series on PokerStars PA. All tournaments cost $100 or less to play. Additionally, most feature speedy structures designed to enable events to complete quickly.
The lower buy-ins haven’t prevented some big prize pools, however, such as the more than $70,000 awarded in the first $100 buy-in Sunday Special event. That’s the largest prize pool so far through 55 events.
The second Sunday Special yesterday drew a big field as well although came up just shy of drawing enough to exceed its $65,000 guarantee. In fact, PokerStars PA Ambassador Mark “NaigoPA” Foresta broke through to win that event, topping a 676-entry field to capture a handsome first prize of just over $11,000.
That results will serve Foresta well in his good-natured rivalry with fellow site ambassador Keith “AccidentalGrenade” Becker who plays as “whoopsboom” on PokerStars PA. Becker has several deep runs as well so far, including multiple final tables and one third-place finish.
Yesterday’s Sunday Special was one of 16 events so far that have resulted in overlays. Most of the overlays have been on the small side, however, averaging just over $950 per instance.
PA outpacing MI and NJ in Summer Stacks Festival money awarded
PokerStars is running Summer Stacks Festivals on all three of its US sites during June, each featuring similar 100-event schedules.
At PokerStars Michigan the schedule is almost identical with its $1 million in guarantees coming in just under the $1,045,000 in guarantees at PokerStars PA. Meanwhile at PokerStars New Jersey they are also playing 100 tournaments during the same 17 days. At PokerStars NJ, the guarantees add up to $500,000.
All three series have staged 55 events so far. To this point, PokerStars PA is winning the competition with over $639,000 awarded.
PokerStars MI is next, with players having won a little more than $545,000 in Summer Stacks events to this point. PokerStars NJ players have won just over $301,000 in their series.
$100K guaranteed Main Event, Depositor Freeroll coming Sunday
Among the remaining highlights at PokerStars PA will be the $100 buy-in, two-day Main Event that starts Sunday, June 27 at 6 p.m. That tournament features a series-high $100,000 guarantee.
PokerStars PA players have plenty of freerolls available to them as well. The Second Chance Freerolls continue each day for players who bust out of events without cashing. Those are awarding a total of $10,000 in Summer Stacks Festival tournament tickets.
Also, the Main Event Depositor Freeroll happens Sunday, June 27 at 2 p.m. PokerStars PA players who deposit at least $30 using the bonus code “SUMMER21” by 1:59 p.m. on Sunday will receive a seat in the freeroll. The top 100 finishers in the Depositor Freeroll win entry into that evening’s Main Event, a total of $10,000 in value.
Check out the remaining PokerStars PA Summer Stacks Festival by clicking here. Below find all the turnouts and prize pools for events so far.
PokerStars PA Summer Stacks Festival by the numbers (Events #1-55)
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Entries | Prize Pool | Overlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: NLHE (Summer Stacks Warm Up – Stars-B-Que) | $10 | $4,000 | 658 | $5,987.80 | n/a |
| 2: NLHE (Summer Stacks Kick Off) | $100 | $30,000 | 347 | $31,854.60 | n/a |
| 3: NLHE (Summer Stacks Mini Kick Off) | $30 | $10,000 | 555 | $15,151.50 | n/a |
| 4: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $12,500 | 335 | $15,242.50 | n/a |
| 5: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) | $5 | $1,000 | 292 | $1,328.60 | n/a |
| 6: NLHE | $50 | $8,000 | 229 | $10,374.00 | n/a |
| 7: Razz (6-Max) | $10 | $1,000 | 138 | $1,255.80 | n/a |
| 8: Stud Hi/Lo (6-Max) | $50 | $3,500 | 85 | $3,867.50 | n/a |
| 9: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Sunday Storm – PKO Edition) | $10 | $3,000 | 402 | $3,658.20 | n/a |
| 10: NLHE (Sunday Special) | $100 | $60,000 | 764 | $70,135.20 | n/a |
| 11: NLHE (Mini Sunday Special) | $25 | $10,000 | 744 | $16,926.00 | n/a |
| 12: NLHE (Micro Sunday Special) | $5 | $3,500 | 722 | $3,500.00 | $214.90 |
| 13: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $12,500 | 366 | $16,653.00 | n/a |
| 14: NLHE (The Big Freeze) | $100 | $15,000 | 181 | $16,615.80 | n/a |
| 15: PLO (6-Max) | $30 | $4,000 | 140 | $4,000.00 | $178.00 |
| 16: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale Early Edition) | $10 | $3,500 | 492 | $4,477.20 | n/a |
| 17: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $10,000 | 426 | $19,383.00 | n/a |
| 18: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale) | $50 | $20,000 | 393 | $20,000.00 | $2,118.50 |
| 19: NLHE | $5 | $1,500 | 432 | $1,965.60 | n/a |
| 20: PLO8 (8-Max) | $20 | $2,500 | 214 | $3,894.80 | n/a |
| 21: NLHE (Super Tuesday Early Edition) | $10 | $3,500 | 554 | $5,041.40 | n/a |
| 22: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $10,000 | 423 | $19,246.50 | n/a |
| 23: NLHE (Mini Super Tuesday) | $30 | $10,000 | 509 | $13,895.70 | n/a |
| 24: NLHE (6-Max, Summer Freeze) | $50 | $5,000 | 137 | $6,233.50 | n/a |
| 25: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO) | $10 | $1,500 | 357 | $3,248.70 | n/a |
| 26: NLHE (6-Max) | $20 | $5,000 | 255 | $5,000.00 | $359.00 |
| 27: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $10,000 | 356 | $16,198.00 | n/a |
| 28: NLHE (6-Max) | $100 | $20,000 | 190 | $20,000.00 | $2,558.00 |
| 29: NLHE | $30 | $6,000 | 254 | $6,934.20 | n/a |
| 30: 8-Game | $50 | $4,000 | 89 | $4,049.50 | n/a |
| 31: NLHE (Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill Early Edition) | $10 | $4,000 | 527 | $4,795.70 | n/a |
| 32: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $12,500 | 461 | $20,975.50 | n/a |
| 33: NLHE (Progressive KO, Mini Thursday Thrill) | $30 | $10,000 | 485 | $13,240.50 | n/a |
| 34: NLHE (Summer Freeze) | $25 | $3,500 | 218 | $4,959.50 | n/a |
| 35: PLO (6-Max, Turbo) | $5 | $1,000 | 210 | $1,000.00 | $44.50 |
| 36: NLHE (4-Max, The Big $10 – 4-max Edition) | $10 | $3,000 | 298 | $3,000.00 | $288.20 |
| 37: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $10,000 | 295 | $13,422.50 | n/a |
| 38: NLHE (8-Max, Mega-Stack Turbo) | $100 | $20,000 | 278 | $25,520.40 | n/a |
| 39: NLHE | $20 | $4,000 | 278 | $5,059.60 | n/a |
| 40: NLHE (6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Progressive KO) | $5 | $1,000 | 255 | $1,198.50 | n/a |
| 41: NLHE | $10 | $3,000 | 282 | $3,000.00 | $433.80 |
| 42: NLHE (6-Max, Saturday Warm Up) | $20 | $5,000 | 247 | $5,000.00 | $504.60 |
| 43: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $50 | $12,500 | 277 | $12,603.50 | n/a |
| 44: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Bigstack) | $100 | $30,000 | 327 | $30,018.60 | n/a |
| 45: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Bigstack) | $30 | $10,000 | 422 | $11,520.60 | n/a |
| 46: NLHE (6-Max, Summer Freeze) | $30 | $4,000 | 108 | $4,000.00 | $1,051.60 |
| 47: 5-Card PLO (6-Max) | $10 | $1,500 | 138 | $1,500.00 | $244.20 |
| 48: HORSE (6-Max) | $50 | $5,000 | 63 | $5,000.00 | $2,133.50 |
| 49: NLHE (6-Max, Sunday Storm) | $10 | $3,000 | 259 | $3,000.00 | $643.10 |
| 50: NLHE (Sunday Special) | $100 | $65,000 | 676 | $65,000.00 | $2,943.20 |
| 51: NLHE (Sunday Special – Mid) | $30 | $15,000 | 559 | $15,260.70 | n/a |
| 52: NLHE (Sunday Special – Low) | $5 | $3,500 | 635 | $3,500.00 | $610.75 |
| 53: PLO (6-Max) | $30 | $3,500 | 95 | $3,500.00 | $906.50 |
| 54: NLHE (8-Max, Nightly Summer Stack) | $20 | $3,000 | 217 | $3,949.40 | n/a |
| 55: NLHE (Summer Freeze) | $50 | $10,000 | 286 | $13,013.00 | n/a |
| TOTALS | 18,935 | $639,156.60 | $15,232.35 | ||
Image via Dreamstime.
