7th Annual WCOOP kicks off Friday with $30 million at stake

ISLE OF MAN, U.K. -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Seventh Annual PokerStars.com World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) begins on September 5th with a guaranteed prize pool of $30 million - double the total of last years' tournament. The WCOOP is truly a world championship series featuring a menu of 33 different events in total, covering a wide range of poker games including Hold'em, Omaha, Stud, Razz, HORSE, 2-7 Draw and several new events including:

·     $10,300 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em
·     Eight-Game Mixed Tourney
·     Four-Max No-Limit Hold'em
·     Mixed Hold'em
·     Pot Limit Omaha with one rebuy, one add-on
·     $25,500 High-Roller Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em
·     Six-Max Mixed Hold'em
·     No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw
·     Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em w/ rebuys 

This year's WCOOP is the biggest online poker tournament series in the world, and will attract players from across the globe --all competing for WCOOP championship gold bracelets and millions in cash prizes. Each event has a guaranteed prize pool, with many reaching more than $2 million. This year's Main Event winner will share in a $10 million prize pool.

"This year's WCOOP is set to be bigger and better than ever," said Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. "When playing online, you really have to focus more on playing the game well. Playing in the WCOOP has definitely helped me become a better player."

Hosted by PokerStars.com, the world's largest poker site, the WCOOP will run over 16 days, from September 5-22, starting with the $215 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament. The 2007, WCOOP attracted more than 17,000 unique players in 23 events. With this year's WCOOP boasting 33 events.

PokerStars estimates a whopping 20,000 people will be playing in the World Championship event. The series culminates with the $10 million guaranteed No Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event on September 21-22. Last year's Main Event was won by 'Ka$ino', who took away the first place prize of $1,378,330.

The WCOOP is a popular event with both the established and the up-and-coming poker player. PokerStars satellites to the major events are available with buy-ins starting as low as $2.20 and Frequent Player Point satellites from just 100 FPPs. As a bonus to loyal players, PokerStars will also be investing $1.5 million toward free entries.

To register for a WCOOP satellite tournament, open the PokerStars lobby, click 'Events' then 'WCOOP' and use the Event Filter to quickly find the exact satellite needed. For a complete schedule of this years' World Championship of Online Poker go to http://www.pokerstars.com/wcoop.