The first major online poker series in Michigan is finished and PokerStars should be proud of the results. There were a total of 60 tournaments in the Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) and it was the first series to take place in the state since online poker gaming was launched. The total prize pool guarantees for the series was set at $1 million but soon after launching, PokerStars realized they could have increased this amount quite a bit.
Details of the MICOOP
The MICOOP began just a few weeks after the online poker industry started in Michigan and players wasted no time in taking part. The festival finished up on Monday and it was then we were able to see just how successful the series was.
According to Pokerfuse PRO, the operator handed out $2.2 million in total prize money, across the full 60 events. This was $1.2 million more than the original guarantee for the series. Almost 29,000 in entries were seen during events.
One of the largest events in the series was the Main Event. Of course, most every player wants a shot at this event in a series, and satellites were on offer so players could win a seat or pay the direct buy-in of $300.
This was relatively affordable and a total of 1284 entries were registered in the event. The tournament was supposed to have a $200,000 prize pool but with so many players competing, the total came to almost $360,000. In general, it was one of the largest poker tournaments hosted by PokerStars in the United States.
The winner of the Main Event earned $56,000 in prize money which was the largest prize provided thus far to a single winner in the state’s online poker history. The Mini Main Event had a lower buy-in of $50 and drew a total of 1201 entries. This number busted the $50,000 guarantee by $4000.
Sunday Majors
Like all PokerStars sites, the Michigan platform offers traditional online poker events that run every week. The Sunday Majors are an important staple on the schedule and something that players can take part in when there are not big events like the MICOOP.
Each Sunday, PokerStars features the Sunday Warm-Up, the Sunday Storm, Sunday Special, and Sunday High Roller. There is also the Sunday Supersonic. Each event offers something different and with varying buy-in levels, players of all bankrolls have an event to take part in.
There are also daily tournament options on offer so players can enjoy taking part in tournament events mid-week too. Of course, any player who has access to PokerStars in Michigan must be located within the state. When visiting, simply create an account and start playing.
It will be interesting to see how the state fares in the coming weeks and months as online poker continues to gain ground. Will new tournament series be just as popular? Or was the MICOOP a big hit due to the newness of the industry? Only time will tell!
