In this column, we deliver you the latest and most interesting online poker industry news from across the world and all platforms.
Winamax Poker Tour returns in France
French online poker giant Winamax is booked once again to host its unique live offering this 2022 in its home location following a four year break. Dubbed as the “the biggest live poker circuit ever organized for free”, the Winamax Poker Tour is making way for a total of 40 live qualifiers held all over France. The festivities kicking off this October 29 will boil down to the Grand Final in Paris set for February 2023 where €1,000,000 in guaranteed prizes will be awarded.
Players interested in the free entry live tour can begin qualifying via the Winamax online platform through a variety of ways. For verified players, they instantly receive a ticket and can kickstart their journey by winning one “Starting Block” Sit & Go from then on. Completing tour challenges available online additionally awards successful players extra “Starting Block” Sit & Go tickets to increase their chances of qualifying for the Winamax Poker Tour. Tournament runners can win as many as 17 “Starting Block” tickets weekly through cash games, MTT’s, Sit & go’s, and even just overall poker activity on the site. Participants who wish to skip the whole freeroll process can also do so by jumping directly onto the Final for a buy-in of €500.
PokerStars’ WCOOP sees smashing opening day
Already halfway through its four-week schedule, PokerStars’ prestigious World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is back in full swing, carrying a mighty $85M in total guarantees for the season. The festival kicked off its opening day last September 4th and impressively awarded over $8 million in prizes across the day’s 19-tournament lineup. Three big events saw its prize pools swell to a seven-figure amount whilst also seeing slight overlays in five of its offerings. The popular $109 Sunday Million undoubtedly met the largest turnout for its first Sunday and racked up a total of 12,612 entries to generate a $1,261,200 prize pool well above its $1M guarantee.
With its welcomed success, the online poker giant continues on with its fall festivities and two more weeks of action left on schedule. The massive lineup showcases a combined 322 tournaments featuring Low, Medium, and High tier buy-in levels, and an additional 12 World Championship tournaments to add on to the excitement. Moreover, six Main Events comprise this season’s highlights with over $14M in prizes to be awarded in these tournaments alone.
2022 WCOOP Main Events
| Date | Event | Buy-in |
| September 25, 2022 | WCOOP 92-L Main Event, $2.5M Gtd | $109 |
| WCOOP 92-M Main Event, $4M Gtd | $1,050 | |
| WCOOP 92-H World Championship of NLHE/Main Event, $6M Gtd | $10,300 | |
| WCOOP 94-L PLO Main Event, $250K Gtd | $109 | |
| WCOOP 94-L PLO Main Event, $600K Gtd | $1,050 | |
| WCOOP 94-L PLO Main Event/World Championship, $1M Gtd | $10,300 |
2022 WCOOP World Championship Events
| Date | Event | Buy-in |
| September 14, 2022 | Razz Championship | $1,050 |
| September 18, 2022 | Women’s Championship | $1,050 |
| September 19, 2022 | 8-Game Championship | $1,050 |
| September 20, 2022 | NLHE Heads-Up Championship | $10,300 |
| September 22, 2022 | NL 2-7 Single Draw Championship | $1,050 |
| September 25, 2022 | NLHE Main Event / Championship | $10,300 |
| September 25, 2022 | PLO Main Event / Championship | $10,300 |
$20M GTD OSS Cub3d Encore underway
A follow-up on last month’s concluded OSS Cub3d festival, another series is back on US-friendly Winning Poker Network for an encore performance. This time around, the OSS Cub3d Encore running through the 27th sees an equally notable guarantee amounting to an ambitious $20 million across its four week lineup. Similarly, players of all bankrolls are welcome to join and will find a selection of games suitable to their budgets with buy-ins covering a wide range from $11 to as high as $2,650. Satellites for the bigger events are also available on the daily, allowing those of lesser bankrolls a shot of the jackpot payouts.
The Encore’s highlights include three bigger field multi-flight tournaments with the first one – $1M guaranteed event, already concluded. Two more are left on schedule, both of which carry $2M guarantees.
$2,000,000 GTD ($2,650 buy-in)
Day 1A on Sunday, Sept 18th
Day 1B on Sunday, Sept. 25th
Day 2 on Monday, Sept. 26th
$2,000,000 GTD ($630 buy-in)
34 Flights from Sept. 11th to 25th
Day 2 on Monday, Sept. 26th
Chico Network’s COPS lists $2M in guarantees
Joining the online poker celebration this month of September is last but not the least, Chico Poker Network with its signature Championship Online Poker Series (COPS). The festival running from September 18 through October 2nd, lists $2.3 million in prize guarantees spread out across its 15-day schedule. Any player looking to jump in will find a variety of tournament formats including PKOs, rebuys, re-entries and deep stacks as well as PLO and PLO8 events. Buy-ins begin at a modest $11 to its highest $320 with a number of satellites and shootouts for those looking to extend their bankroll.
Amongst the 145-tournament lineup, the crown jewel of the series remains to be the $300,000 guaranteed Main Event happening on October 2nd. Entry fee is listed at $109 with a more affordable option ($22) playing through coincidently for a lesser $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. Aside from its last day festivities, four other Main Events complete the schedule with details listed below.
2022 COPS Main Events
| Date | Event | Buy-in |
| September 18, 2022 | Main – $175,000 GTD | $109 |
| Main – $30,000 GTD | $22 | |
| September 25, 2022 | Main – $200,000 GTD | $109 |
| Main – $40,000 GTD | $22 | |
| October 2, 2022 | Main – $300,000 GTD | $109 |
| Main – $50,000 GTD | $22 |
