PokerStars MICOOP Awards Nearly $1M So Far, Final Week Includes $150K Main Event

Written By Martin Harris on September 20, 2021
PokerStars MICOOP Michigan Report September 2021

The second running of the Michigan Online Championship of Poker (MICOOP) at PokerStars Michigan has moved into its final week.

Players have won almost $1 million so far in the MICOOP, with the two-day $300 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed Main Event among the highlights still to come.

Most guarantees met through first 40 PokerStars MICOOP events

To be precise, Michigan online poker players have won $978,712.20 so far in MICOOP events. The first 10 days of MICOOP events have attracted more than 11,000 entries overall, including re-entries.

With 40 of 68 tournaments completed, MICOOP only just crossed its halfway mark over the weekend. So the series is well on its way to eclipsing the just over $1.5 million in total guaranteed prize pools by the conclusion.

The fields in most events so far have been large enough to push prize pools up over their guarantees. Only six events of the 40 have had overlays. The largest overlay of about $5,700 came in the tournament featuring the largest guarantee so far, yesterday’s $90,000 Sunday Special.

So far, just two MICOOP Championship Trophies have been won. Player “Pillzebub” won the first in the Big Kickoff event, then “TWOsl0w4u” claimed the second in a pot-limit Omaha High Roller event.

There are five more designated “trophy” events still on the schedule. These include a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold-’em High Roller and the $300 Main Event (details below), both coming Sunday, Sept. 26. Click here to see the full MICOOP schedule.

MICOOP close to pace of first series earlier this year

When compared with the first MICOOP that ran on PokerStars MI back in February and March shortly after the site’s launch, the second MICOOP is performing almost as well in terms of turnout.

That first MICOOP featured 60 events and ultimately awarded over $2.2 million. A fast start to that first series caused PokerStars MI to increase guarantees during the series’ latter half, upping them from $1 million originally to almost $1.43 million.

Comparing prize pools so far against guarantees, the MICOOP’s current pace suggests the series will ultimately award around $1.8 million. That said, many popular tournaments remain on the schedule, including those aforementioned trophy events.

Michigan COOP behind Pennsylvania, ahead of New Jersey

PokerStars is running parallel COOP series at both of its other US sites during these same dates. As of now, Pennsylvania is leading the trio in terms of entries and money awarded, with Michigan not far behind and New Jersey trailing both.

In Pennsylvania, players in the PACOOP on PokerStars PA have already won just over $1.27 million through 41 events. Those tournaments have attracted nearly 15,000 entries. The PACOOP guarantees total $2 million.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the NJCOOP on PokerStars NJ has awarded a little more than $655,000 with 35 events completed and close to 6,000 total entries. The total guarantees in the NJ series add up to $1 million.

MICOOP Main Event, Depositor Freeroll coming Sunday

As noted, the MICOOP Main Event is still to come starting this Sunday, Sept. 26. The $150,000 guaranteed event has a $300 price tag to play, but there are several ways to get a seat for less.

One is via a MICOOP Depositor Freeroll scheduled earlier in the afternoon on the 26th. PokerStars MI players only have to deposit at least $30 using the promo code “MICOOP” to earn entry into the freeroll. The top 50 finishers in the freeroll win seats in the Main Event.

Players can win Main Event seats via $3 Spin & Go’s this week as well. There are also numerous satellites to the Main Event and other MICOOP tournaments happening all week.

Don’t forget the Second Chance Freerolls for players who bust shy of the money in any MICOOP event. Players eliminated without cashing in an event automatically receive an entry into the following day’s Second Chance Freeroll. Those freerolls are awarding $5,000 in MICOOP tickets over the course of the series.

Take a look below at all the turnouts and prize pools thus far in the fall 2021 edition of MICOOP.

MICOOP by the numbers (through 40 events)

Event Buy-in Guarantee Entries Prize Pool
1: NLHE (MICOOP Warm UP) $10 $10,000 1,225 $11,147.50
2: NLHE (MICOOP Big Warm Up) $100 $20,000 343 $31,487.40
3: NLHE (Turbo, MICOOP Turbo Warm Up) $30 $6,000 321 $8,763.30
4: NLHE/PLO (8-Max, MICOOP Mixed Game Warm Up) $30 $4,000 160 $4,368.00
5: NLHE (8-Max, MICOOP Big Kickoff – Championship Trophy Event) $100 $50,000 578 $53,060.40
6: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller) $500 $40,000 81 $40,000.00*
7: PL 5-Card Draw $50 $4,000 96 $4,368.00
8: NLHE (MICOOP Marathon) $100 $25,000 279 $25,612.20
9: HORSE (6-Max, HORSE) $100 $6,000 58 $6,000.00*
10: NLHE (Sunday Special) $100 $75,000 777 $75,000.00*
11: PLO (8-Max) $100 $12,000 150 $13,770.00
12: NLHE (6-Max, High Roller) $500 $40,000 104 $48,880.00
13: NLHE (8-Max, Sunday Second Chance) $50 $8,500 258 $11,739.00
14: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Super Sonic) $75 $8,000 130 $8,872.50
15: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Battle Royale, Turbo Edition) $30 $10,000 413 $11,274.90
16: NLHE (6-Max, Progressive KO, Battle Royale) $200 $30,000 219 $40,734.00
17: PLO8 (8-Max) $100 $8,000 155 $14,229.00
18: NLHE (8-Max, Bigstack) $200 $32,500 248 $46,128.00
19: FLHE (6-Max, Limit Hold ’em) $100 $5,000 46 $5,000.00*
20: PLO (6-Max, Progressive KO) $50 $6,500 217 $9,873.50
21: NLHE (6-Max) $30 $12,000 468 $12,776.40
22: NLHE (Single Re-entry) $100 $15,000 277 $25,428.60
23: NLHE (6-Max, Championship Trophy Event) $250 $30,000 198 $46,134.00
24: NLHE (Heads-Up, Turbo, Progressive Total KO, Zoom) $100 $10,000 132 $12,117.60
25: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Deepstack $50 Bounty) $200 $22,500 163 $30,318.00
26: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Deepstack) $75 $15,000 266 $18,154.50
27: Stud (6-Max) $50 $3,000 66 $3,003.00
28: NLHE (Progressive KO, Nightly Stars SE, PKO Edition) $100 $20,000 292 $26,805.60
29: NLHE (4-Max) $200 $25,000 163 $30,318.00
30: NLHE (Afternoon Deepstack) $30 $8,500 384 $10,483.20
31: Stud Hi/Lo (6-Max) $100 $6,500 65 $6,500.00*
32: NLHE (8-Max, Duel Threat) $50 $15,000 420 $19,110.00
33: NLHE (8-Max, Progressive KO, Duel Threat) $50 $15,000 400 $18,200.00
34: PLO (6-Max, PLO High Roller – Championship Trophy Event) $250 $15,000 124 $28,892.00
35: NLHE (6-Max, Turbo, Zoom) $100 $17,500 197 $18,084.60
36: NLHE (Bigstack Marathon) $100 $25,000 310 $28,458.00
37: NLHE (Sunday Special SE) $200 $90,000 453 $90,000.00*
38: NLHE (Mini Sunday Special) $30 $15,000 734 $20,038.20
39: NLHE (High Roller) $500 $40,000 97 $45,590.00
40: NLHE (8-Max, Turbo, Sunday Second Chance) $100 $12,500 196 $17,992.80
TOTALS 11,263 $978,712.20

*Events with overlays: Event No. 6 – $1,930.00; Event No. 9 – $657.60; Event No. 10 – $3,671.40; Event No. 19 – $777.20; Event No. 31 – $533.00; Event No. 37 – $5,742.00.

Photo by Dzmitry Skazau/Dreamstime
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Martin Harris

Martin Harris is a writer and teacher who has reported on poker, online gambling, and sports betting since the mid-2000s. Once a full-time academic (Ph.D., English), he currently teaches part-time in the American Studies program at UNC Charlotte. In 2019, his book Poker & Pop Culture was published by D&B Books.

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