GGPoker World Festival vs. PokerStars SCOOP 2025

The spring of 2025 saw two amazing online poker series: GGPoker’s World Festival (GGWF) and PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP).

Both series concluded with record-breaking numbers, but as the dust settled, the differences in scale, structure, and reach stood out more than ever.

Head-to-Head: Series Overview

GGPoker World Festival 2025

GGPoker’s GGWF 2025 ran from May 4 to June 10, offering a $250 million guaranteed prize pool across more than 1,400 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $2.50 to $25,500.. The series ultimately awarded $324.7 million in prizes, surpassing its guarantee by nearly 30% and marking the second-largest online poker series in history, only trailing its own 2024 edition.

• Record Entries: 5.6 million, the highest in GGWF’s three-year history.
• Tournament Variety: Events included everything from micro-stakes to high rollers, with six headline events (buy-ins $5.50–$10,300) accounting for over $41 million in prize money.
• Main Events: The $1,500 GG World Championship drew 7,695 entries and a $10.58 million prize pool. The $10,300 GGMillion$ Super Main Event was the largest single event, generating an $11.2 million prize pool.
• Average Prize Pool: $228,874 per tournament, up from 2024’s $204,1961.
• Series Legacy: Over the past three years, GGWF has paid out nearly $900 million, with a total of 13.8 million entries, and is on track to surpass $1 billion in 2026.

GGWF’s success is driven by its massive schedule, multi-flight events, and broad buy-in ranges, making it accessible to players of all bankrolls. The series also features separate leaderboards for each buy-in tier, with $3 million in leaderboard prizes up for grabs.

Leaderboards: Extra Incentives for Grinders

A major driver of GGWF’s success is its tiered leaderboard system, which rewards consistent performance across the series. Each buy-in level—Super High, High, Medium, and Low—features its own leaderboard, with millions in additional prizes up for grabs.

Super High

• Winner: Samuel Vousden (3,728.62 points) – $100,000 (C$97,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
• Runner-up: Vladimir Minko (3,532.77 points) – $80,000 (C$77,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
• Third: Niklas Astedt (3,304.30 points) – $70,000 (C$67,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
  

High

Winner: B Botteon (6,444.10 points) – $60,000 (C$57,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
Runner-up: E Narmontas (6,391.23 points) – $50,000 (C$47,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
Third: Jacopo Olivieri (5,966.81 points) – $40,000 (C$37,500 + $2,500 Ticket)

Medium

Winner: LambKiller97 (7,677.32 points) – $50,000 (C$47,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
Runner-up: Bowrot- (7,629.35 points) – $40,000 (C$37,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
Third: Igor Zemtsov (7,512.58 points) – $30,000 (C$27,500 + $2,500 Ticket)

Low

Winner: GiveRolleBack (8,150.59 points) – $30,000 (C$27,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
Runner-up: Farsa_44 (8,117.30 points) – $20,000 (C$17,500 + $2,500 Ticket)
Third: Survivor39 (8,062.19 points) – $10,000 (C$7,500 + $2,500 Ticket)

These leaderboards add a layer of competition and reward for players who consistently perform across multiple events, further boosting participation and engagement throughout the series.

PokerStars SCOOP 2025

PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker ran from May 5 to May 28, offering $60 million in guarantees across 380 tournaments—a notable reduction from previous years, largely due to PokerStars’ ongoing exit from gray markets. The series ultimately awarded $70.6 million in prizes, exceeding its guarantee by 17%.

• Tournament Structure: Three tiers (Low, Medium, High) with buy-ins for all bankrolls.
• Main Events: The three No-Limit Hold’em Main Events drew over 24,000 entries and awarded nearly $9 million, with buy-ins at $109, $1,050, and $5,300.
• Average Prize Pool: $185,939 per tournament, with an average of over 2,700 entrants per event.
• Series Legacy: Over 17 years, SCOOP has awarded $1.48 billion across 3,681 tournaments, with 15.8 million total entries.
• Player Achievements: Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson set a new record with 14 career SCOOP titles.

Despite a smaller footprint and reduced guarantees, SCOOP remains a prestigious and highly anticipated event, known for its elite competition and the coveted SCOOP trophies.

Comparing the Giants

Scale and Reach

• GGWF is the largest online poker series by far, with prize pools, entries, and guarantees dwarfing even the most successful SCOOP editions.
• SCOOP retains its prestige and tradition, but its influence has waned as GGPoker’s series has grown exponentially.

Structure and Accessibility

• GGWF offers a sprawling schedule with thousands of events, multi-flight tournaments, and buy-ins from micro-stakes to high rollers, making it accessible to a global audience.
• SCOOP focuses on a curated, elite schedule with a strong emphasis on multi-tiered events and a leaderboard system for consistent performers.

Prize Money and Participation

• GGWF 2025: $324.7 million awarded, 5.6 million entries, 1,419 tournaments.
• SCOOP 2025: $70.6 million awarded, 1 million+ entries, 380 tournaments.

Concluison

GGPoker’s World Festival has established itself as the leading online poker series, excelling in both prize money and player participation. Its rapid growth and massive guarantees have redefined the spring poker calendar.

At the same time, the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker remains a respected and prestigious event, albeit on a smaller scale.

As GGPoker World Festival approaches the $1 billion mark in total prize money after just three years, it is clear that the landscape of online poker has shifted—GGPoker is now the standard-bearer for large-scale tournament series. The gap between it and PokerStars is only widening.

However, both series continue to offer players amazing opportunities to compete and win.

If you want to play GGPoker’s amazing online poker festivals, sign up using our exclusive GGPoker bonus code SMPBONUS and read our review!