Landmark Online Poker Series Features 350 Total Tournaments, 121 Events, and a $5 Million Guaranteed Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Opener
PokerStars has officially announced the complete tournament schedule for the milestone 25th edition of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), set to run from September 6 through September 30, 2026. The prestigious online festival will feature 121 individual events across High, Medium, and Low tiers, culminating in 350 total tournament variations.
Across the series, PokerStars will crown 350 distinct world champions across a wide array of poker variants, including No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE), 8-Game, HORSE, Progressive Knockout (PKO), and Mystery Bounty formats. Buy-ins for the series cater to a broad spectrum of bankrolls, ranging from $5.50 up to $25,000.
Opening Day Highlights and Main Event Structure
The festival kicks off on opening day with the Phase 2 Finals of the Sunday Million 20th Anniversary, which carries an impressive $5 million guaranteed prize pool. Daily $109 Phase 1 Heats are currently underway and will continue running through September 6.
The centerpiece of the schedule features six premier WCOOP Main Events boasting a combined guaranteed prize pool of $6.5 million:
- NLHE Main Events: Scheduled to run on September 27.
- PLO Main Events: Scheduled to run on September 28.
- Official World Championship Events: The High-tier editions of these tournaments double as official World Championship events, alongside standalone championships including NLHE 6-Max (September 6), HORSE (September 7), Razz (September 10), NLHE PKO (September 13), Triple Draw (September 15), PLO8 (September 17), and 8-Game (September 24).
- Women’s Championship: A dedicated $215 Women’s NLHE Championship is slated for September with a $10,000 guarantee.
Reflecting on the historical significance of the festival, Steve Clarricoats, PokerStars Associate Director of Online Scheduling, stated:
“A WCOOP victory is a piece of poker history. Every champion joins an exclusive group of players who have conquered one of the toughest online tournament series in the world.”
Accessibility and Qualification Pathways
To ensure broad accessibility for players of all bankrolls, PokerStars has established multiple qualification avenues leading into the series:
- Satellites: Direct satellite qualifiers starting from as low as $0.55.
- Spin & Go’s: Special edition WCOOP Spin & Go tournaments starting from $0.75.
- WCOOP Lucky Dip & Power Path: Additional entry paths via the Power Path Express WCOOP Edition.
Furthermore, PokerStars will distribute $500,000 in WCOOP tickets through the “Lucky Dip” promotion running from September 6 to September 26, alongside $100,000 in cash prizes allocated across Low, Medium, High, and Player of the Series leaderboards.
