The PokerStars Winter Series Offers Michigan Players a Prize Pool of $2.25 Million
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Michigan poker players have January circled on their calendars in expectation of the PokerStars Winter Series. The operator announced this week that the online tournaments will be on the schedule between January 12 and 29, offering a shared liquidity for Michigan and New Jersey of $2.25 million guaranteed across 85 events.
Players must deposit $50 for a ticket to a freeroll to earn access to the Main Event, and winners of every series leaderboard will win $10,000. Poker players eliminated from the tournament can earn a $5 Michigan online casino bonus. The program is headlined by a $300 Main Event with $250,000 guaranteed, a $50 Mini Main Event with $50.000 guaranteed, and a $2,000 High Roller Event with $100,000 guaranteed, all scheduled for January 28.
The total guaranteed prize for the North American market is $5 million, and aside from Michigan and New Jersey, it encompasses Ontario and Pennsylvania. Ontario receives C$1.7 million across 120 events, while $1.5 million gets allocated to the Pennsylvania market.
Aside from the cash payouts, select Winter Series events will reward winners with 10 special edition watches to commemorate this poker series. The full schedule is available on the Poker Stars website, including dates and prizes.
The Most Recent State to Join the Series
PokerStars debuted its Winter Series in Michigan in 2022 after running the tournament in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania markets in several previous years. PokerStars launched in Michigan at the end of January 2021, at a time when the Winter Series was already running in other U.S. markets. The Michigan online casinos opted to run the MICOOP as its first tournament series.
The inaugural Winter Series in the Great Lakes State was held between January 22 and 30, 2022, and spread over 42 events with $650,000 in guaranteed funds. In the same year, the combined guaranteed funds for the three U.S. markets was $2 million.
Growing Prize Pool
Before the establishment of shared liquidity between PokerStars’ Michigan and New Jersey operations, players from the Garden State had a chance to participate in seven installments of the Winter Series, starting in 2017, with a prize of $275,000.
After the Michigan Legislature made provisions in 2020 for a multijurisdictional poker compact, the Michigan Gaming Control Board decided to participate in the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement and officially signed the agreement in May 2023, opening the door for PokerStars to merge player pools from the Great Lakes State with its platform from the Garden State.
The move drastically increased PokerStars traffic in 2023, with a 32% increase compared to 2022. Shared liquidity will only increase the guaranteed prizes for the upcoming Winter Series, which is popular among Michigan poker players in cold January.
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