The WCOOP is the biggest online poker event of the year, bar none, and it starts on the 8th of September, 2013.
This stands for the ‘World Championship Of Online Poker’ and is a series of big prize poker tournaments, with 68 events spanning 3 weeks. Every year novice players win themselves life changing money, semi-pros hit the headlines and – often – their careers explode from there.
Qualifier games are key for most of us, these enable people to win tickets into the games, which cost anywhere between $109 and $5,300 to enter direct. This post outlines the very best options available to players looking to qualify cheaply and take their shot at the big time.
US Players have an event starting on the 8th too – this is the awesome Poker Maximus at Carbon Poker, you can find out more in this post from last week.
World Championship Of Online Poker – What Qualifiers Are Available
I have divided the qualifiers into 3 types. First the cash satellites, where you buy in to a tournament of sit n go – possibly working through several rounds of games to get your ticket. Second, the VIP qualifiers, these are for players in the PokerStars loyalty scheme, and includes a game which offers an incredible 100 seats in the $5,300 Main Event. Finally, a mention for ‘Steps Sit N Goes’ which are a great way to qualify for those players who don’t have the time for the longer multi-table tournaments.
One more note: If you do not play at PokerStars already then you can grab and extra $20 free on top of your first deposit to check out the games. Just register with Marketing Code PSP3108, and then deposit using the bonus code FREE20 and you’ll get the extra in your account. See PokerStars.com for more on this great offer.
Cash Buy-In Qualifiers To The WCOOP 2013.
Even a quick look at the ‘Events’ tab on the PokerStars lobby followed by the ‘WCOOP’ tab reveals a sea of orange listings – each a qualifier to one of the championship events. Next to each in green is a number of guaranteed seats, most qualifiers ensure at least one seat in the event or next round satellite is filled.
There are plenty of variations, ranging from the standard tournament format, through turbos, 2x and 3x turbos (these are extended rebuy tournaments, you should usually bank on rebuying several times in these). There are 6-max games, deep stacked games and even short-stacked ‘hyper turbo; variations to choose from.
The number of seats depends on the field size and buy-in, with weekend games being very busy (next weekend, just before the championship kicks off will be crazy!). Many of the smallest buy-in games will give you seats in bigger buy-in qualifiers. PokerStars always run ‘supersatellites’ giving away 100’s of seats in the days running up to the events – these can be very profitable, since there are more players to make those big and expensive mistakes at the bubble!
WCOOP Qualifiers – VIP Club (Loyalty Points) Qualifiers
If you have been playing at Stars for any time, you will have accumulated points through their VIP club loyalty scheme. This is the best out there in terms of different bonuses and rewards, and offers you the chance to win a seat in the World Championship too. If you have not yet played at PokerStars then head on over and start collecting points ahead of the next tournament event (probably the Micro-Millions, I’ll keep you posted).
The big qualifier costs 25,000 Frequent Player Points to enter, and guarantees 100 seats to the $5,300 main event. You can join sub-qualifiers to this game for 500 points, which are running every day. That’s a cool $530,000 in free seats just in one qualifier… hopefully this shows you how well PokerStars treat their players!
There are plenty more points qualifiers to the other smaller buy-in events too, these can be found by clicking Events –> WCOOP –> FPP Satellites on the lobby.
Best Qualifiers For The 2013 World Championship Of Online Poker – Steps Sit N Goes
Steps are 1 table tournaments, finishing in the top 2 spots gives you a ticket to the next buy-in level up – and the 3rd / 4th spots often give you ‘try again’ tickets for the same level. You can work your way up the buy-ins and then use tickets from the higher levels to enter the big multi-table tournaments. Usually, people use this to enter the $215 Sunday Million (Step 4 ticket will do it). During the WCOOP you have chances to enter even bigger events!
That’s my pick of the different qualifiers, now, what are you waiting for – head on over to PokerStars.com and get your ticket in one of the big events, the prize money will change the poker careers and lives of a lot of people – starting September 8th!