The annual Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) concluded at PokerStars last week after paying out almost $140 million. The turnout provided for a significant bump to the original $100 million guarantee.
The series began on April 4 and attracted 1,731,546 entries across 102 low, medium, and high buy-in events. As well as the title and prize money, champions also receive a special SCOOP trophy to commemorate their win.
This year’s series brought some extra cachet by topping the $1 billion mark for the series.
“It has been amazing to see the PokerStars community come out in force for SCOOP and enjoy the schedule, promotions, and giveaways we have put together,” PokerStars managing director and commercial officer Severin Rasset said in a news release.
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“SCOOP is one of our most popular series and players look forward to it all year. This year’s series brings the total prize pools awarded to SCOOP players over the years to more than $1 billion, which is a huge achievement and all thanks to our community. Here’s to next year.”
A look at the PokerStars SCOOP numbers
This year’s SCOOP featured six main events. All of those surpassed their guarantees, awarding more than $19.1 million.
The biggest of those came with five-figure buy-ins and produced nice payouts. The $10,300 Eight-Max Main Event High produced 664 entries for a $6.6 million prize pool. “kZhh” took the title for $878,781.
The $10,300 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max Main Event High brought in 134 entries for a $1.3 million prize pool. “Kaju85” came out on top for $263,099. Here’s a look at the the other four main events:
- $1,050 Eight-Max Main Event Medium (5,903 entries, $5.9 million prize pool) – “livinmydream1” took first for $838,908.
- $109 Eight-Max Main Event Low (38,913 entries, $3.9 million prize pool) – “Cantaloupe91” won for $376,086.
- $1,050 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max Main Event Medium (935 entries, $935,000 prize pool) – “Odonkor1” scored the win for $153,356.
- $109 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max Main Event Low (4,391 entries, $439,100 prize pool) – “DaCus3” topped the field for $59,989.
SCOOP success stories
Plenty of interesting storylines emerged from this year’s series. That included some especially nice runs from PokerStars ambassadors.
Fintan Hand secured his second title by winning Event 82-H for $232,156. He won his first SCOOP title last year for $73,652.
Fellow ambassador Mason Pye won his first SCOOP title after taking down Event 69-M for $6,729.
Several other players had big finishes as well. The United Kingdom’s Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser won his sixth SCOOP title, taking down Event 68-H for $29,549. Glaser has won at least one SCOOP title every year since 2018.
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SCOOP title #6, for $29.5k! 😀It's been a rough SCOOP so far, so I'm happy to get this one! 😊 pic.twitter.com/bsEZGsMwEI
— Benny Glaser (@BennyGlaser) April 21, 2021
Teun “tinnoemulder” Mulder has been on a quite a heater as well. He added a SCOOP title by winning Event 33-H for $247,089.
Over the past 18 months, Mulder has won SCOOP, Stadium Series, Blowout Series, and WCOOP titles. A few other storylines included:
- “Zapahzamazki” was crowned Player of the Series and won the High SCOOP leaderboard.
- “FONBET_RULIT” topped the Low SCOOP leaderboard.
- “aleksandrs10” won the Medium SCOOP leaderboard.
- Brazilian players secured the most SCOOP wins with 50 titles throughout the series.
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Numbers in Southern Europe, United States
SCOOP in Southern Europe also wrapped up recently for players in France, Spain, and Portugal. The series awarded more than €17.8 million, exceeding the original €15 million guarantee.
In the United States, the Pennsylvania SCOOP (PASCOOP) is also underway. That festival had already awarded $1.3 million across the first 69 tournaments.
The New Jersey and Michigan SCOOPs run simultaneously from May 8-24 with $1.2 million and $2 million guaranteed, respectively.