PokerStars guarantees $40 million across 66 world championship events this September

ONCHAN, Isle of Man -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- PokerStars today announced that the World Championship of Online Poker will return from September 7-28, with 66 events, $40 million in guaranteed prize money and, for the first time in its 13-year history, a full webcast of the $5,200 Main Event final table.

The two-day Main Event, featuring a $10 million guarantee, will take place September 28-29 and have a cards-down webcast of the final table. This will create an enhanced viewing experience for audiences, with the commentary team of EPT Live regulars James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton, plus members of Team PokerStars, bringing a new dimension to the action.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The World Championship is renowned for the vast array of games, tournaments and formats that it comprises, and this year is no exception. The opening day sees three Sunday Major special editions – including a 6-Max version of the Sunday Warm-Up – and a total of more than $3 million guaranteed. Other signature events include:

WCOOP-09: $1,050 NL Hold’em [Super Tuesday SE]
WCOOP-18: $320 NL Hold’em, [Turbo, Zoom]
WCOOP-23: $10,300 NL Hold’em [8-Max, Re-Entry, High Roller]
WCOOP-44: $10,300 NLHE [High Roller, Heads-Up]
WCOOP-63: $2,100 HORSE
WCOOP-65: $10,300 8-Game [High Roller, Re-Entry]
In addition there are also six Progressive Super Knockout events, which proved extremely popular when they were run for the first time in last year’s World Championship, plus a host of other formats like Ante Up, Big Antes, 4-Max, 6-Max, Shootouts and more. Games include Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Draw, Stud, Razz and many more. Check out the full tournament schedule at http://psta.rs/1p4haKf.

THE PROTÉGÉ
For the first time in the World Championship, PokerStars is running a side promotion that will see four protégés win training from Team PokerStars Pros (Andre Akkari, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov and Vanessa Selbst), and receive buy-ins to three events, including the $5,200 Main Event. The public vote to see who gets chosen to become the four protégés will begin on August 15. Check out the PokerStars.net Facebook page from August 15 for more information and how to vote.

satellites
Online qualifiers to all the events are running now, with cash buy-ins starting from less than $1 and Frequent Player Point satellites from just 1 FPP. Go to http://psta.rs/SsxMhz for more satellite information, or click on ‘Online Events’ > ‘WCOOP’ > ‘All’ in the client.

player of the series
In addition to the huge sums of money up for grabs in individual events, PokerStars also rewards players for consistency in the series with big tournament package prizes. For full details, go to http://psta.rs/1o64GSf.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The World Championship of Online Poker, which began in 2002, is not only the longest-running online poker series but also the richest, with well over $350 million in prize money awarded to date. It has long been regarded by players and media as a ‘must-play’ event that pitches world-class poker pros against aspiring recreational players, all in pursuit of life-changing sums of money. The World Championship gold and diamond bracelets awarded to event winners are the most iconic prizes in online poker.

The World Championship of Online Poker is awash with great champions, from high-profile winners like JC ‘area23JC’ Tran, who was a World Championship Main Event winner in 2006, and Yevgeniy ‘Jovial Gent’ Timoshenko, who took down a $1.7 million victory in the 2009 Main Event, to have-a-go hero stories like recreational Russian player ‘maratik’, who won $1 million after qualifying for just 40 Frequent Player Points.