POKERSTARS TO HOST ONLINE POKER TOURNAMENT WITH THE BIGGEST EVER BUY-IN
$51,000 buy-in for WCOOP Super High Roller event
ONCHAN, Isle of Man – July 13, 2015 – The biggest ever buy-in for an online poker tournament will take place on September 20, 2015, as part of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand. The $51,000 buy-in Super High Roller No Limit Hold’em tournament will have a guaranteed prize pool of at least $1 million.
The previous record for the biggest ever buy-in for an online poker tournament was $25,000, which was shared by Heads-Up tournaments in the World Championship (2008, 2009, 2010) and Spring Championship of Online Poker (2009, 2010, 2011). There have also been a number of non-Heads-Up events with a buy-in of $10,000.
The World Championship of Online Poker is the world’s most prestigious online poker tournament series. This year will be the 14th World Championship, which has grown from a total prize pool of $730,000 in 2002, to a whopping $61,934,886 last year, and continues to attract the best poker players in the world.
“Over the last few years we have seen the emergence of Super High Roller events at live events across the globe,” said Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who was recently named Global Poker Index ‘Player of the Decade’. “I think it only makes sense that the world’s largest poker site is also the host of the largest buy-in online poker tournament ever. I'm excited to test my skills against the best of the best, online.“
Fellow Team PokerStars Pro member, Jason Mercier, who has two World Championship of Online Poker, three World Series of Poker, and four Spring Championship of Online Poker wins, said, “I'm really excited about playing in the biggest buy-in online tournament ever. It'll be an awesome challenge to go up against such tough competition for the biggest stakes! I can't wait!"
EVENT DETAILS
DATE: September 20, 2015
TIME: 12:30 US ET; 17:30 British Summer
Time; 18:30 Central European Summer Time
FORMAT: No Limit Hold’em; 8-Max
LOCATION: PokerStars.COM/.EU/.BE/.EE/.DK/SH/.BG/.UK
BUY-IN: $50,000
+ $1,000 fee
PRIZE POOL: Guaranteed minimum of $1 million
The Super-High-Roller event will take place a week before the WCOOP Main Event, which will be held on Sunday September 27 with a $5,200 buy-in, and guaranteed prize pool of at least $10 million. Players can win entries into the Main Event of the World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars now, with satellites starting from just $1.
For further information, please contact: press@pokerstars.com
About PokerStars
PokerStars operates the world’s most popular online poker sites, serving the global poker community. Since it launched in 2001, PokerStars has become the first choice of players all over the world, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the best security online. More than 130 billion hands have been dealt on PokerStars, which is more than any other site.
PokerStars.com and PokerStars.eu operate globally under licenses from the Isle of Man and Malta governments, respectively. PokerStars also holds separate government licenses in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
PokerStars is the key brand of Rational Group, which operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Rational Group companies in the UK and Isle of Man won recognition as one of the best workplaces in the UK being awarded a top 25 position by the Great Place to Work Institute’s Best Workplaces – Large category rankings. Rational Group entities in Costa Rica and Dublin also achieved the same accolade in their respective local rankings in 2014. PokerStars is owned by Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA).