The rivalry between PokerStars and partypoker has been growing for a while now, and with each tournament series, it seems to intensify. The latest chapter in this ongoing competition was announced this week, with both poker rooms releasing details of a future tournament series that aims to be bigger and better than its previous installments.
The WCOOP and Powerfest schedules are now here, and this is our pick of the events to look out for.
WCOOP 2018: $116 million in guarantees
In a detraction from the usual WCOOP format, PokerStars has taken the three-tier system from the SCOOP series and adopted it for the WCOOP. Players will now be able to take part in a lower tier of each event for $2.20-$55, go for the middle tier which is $22-$2,100 or buy into the higher tiers which command buy ins of between $530 – $25,000.
PokerStars has guaranteed over $116 million for the series, with many events offering a $1 million prize pool for the highest tier.
– The first event is a NLHE with buy ins between $11 and $1,050 which kicks off September 2nd at 8am (ET).
– The first non-Hold’em event arrives in the form of a 6-max PLO tournament with buys ins ranging between $11 and $1,050, starting at 3pm (ET).
– Many games will be represented during this series, as usual. With 2-7 draw, Omaha hi/lo, Razz, HORSE, 8-Game, 5 Card Draw, and Stud hi/lo all making an appearance.
– September 4th at 1pm (ET) the first High Roller event will get underway, with buy ins ranging from $109 to $10,300 for this Hold’em event.
– September 5th sees the PLO 6-Max High Roller get started at 1pm (ET), with buy ins falling between $215 and $25,000. There will be a heads-up Hold’em event following two hours later.
– Another 6-Max PLO High Roller starts at 2:30pm (ET) on September 8th with buy ins of $55 – $5,200, with a Turbo 8-Max Hold’em High Roller with the same buy in amounts following at 4pm (ET)
– September 12th sees an even larger 8-Max Hold’em High Roller event take place, with buy ins of $215 – $25,000 and a start time of 1pm (ET). The lower tiers of this event carry a $1 million guarantee, while the higher tier guarantees $2 million.
– September 15th brings an 8-Game High Roller with it, ranging from $109 to $10,300 in terms of buy ins. This begins at 2:30pm (ET).
– September 16th sees the Main Event kick off, with buy ins of between $55 and $5,200. The event will begin at 1pm (ET).
More: WCOOP complete schedule
Powerfest 2018: $60 million in guarantees
Running at virtually the same time as the WCOOP, Powerfest will be in direct competition with the series running at PokerStars and will offer $60 million in guarantees between September 2nd and 23rd. This is a bold move by partypoker, which has increased its overall guarantee by 50%.
– Like the WCOOP at PokerStars, there will be a three-tier system in place during Powerfest, with many events at the highest tier offering prize pools of $1 million.
– There will be a $5,200 buy in event on September 2nd, 4th,6th,9th,11th,13th and 16th all starting at 6pm (CET)
– September 18th features a $10,300 buy in Super High Roller event at 6pm (CET), along with a $10,300 PLO Super High Rolller at 8:30pm (CET).
– September 20th brings a $25,500 Super High Roller event, which begins at 6pm (CET) and has a $3 million guarantee.
Partypoker will be running a player of the series leaderboard through the series, along with happy hour promotions for cash tables.
Partypoker are currently keeping players busy and happy with their Monster Series, but this upcoming Powerfest series will dwarf Monster, and all other series’ hosted by partypoker previously, in terms of guarantees on offer.
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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