Flutter-Owned Company, PokerStars, to Host Maiden Tournament Series for Combine Players Pools

By Scott Bowen,
Editor at online-gambling.com

Scott Bowen Editor at online-gambling.com

Scott Bowen is a casino expert and editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He is one of the most valuable members of our team at online-gambling.com. Bowen specializes in writing on a variety of subjects, including roulette, blackjack, video poker, sports betting, and more.

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Last updated: January 11, 2023

PokerStars is making the most of the MGCB (Michigan Gaming Control Board) decision to reinstate online poker. The Flutter-owned company will host a multistate online poker tournament series for poker fans in New Jersey and in Michigan. Nearly 12 years after the online poker industry in the United States was crippled by poker’s Black Friday, the game is making a comeback.

Several platforms, including PokerStars, were compelled into exile in the United States in April 2011. As online poker grows in popularity in the US, PokerStars has the chance of restoring itself to a leading role thanks to the comeback of online poker tournaments in the country via MSIGA (Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreements).

Online Poker Makes a Comeback

When it is a combined player pool, the prize pools are often larger than they would be if players just faced opponents from their own states. A combined sum of $2.5 million in guarantees is up for grabs in the upcoming events.

The PSPC Online series starts on Friday, January 13. It will run till January 30. Players should not be confused into assuming that this is related to the PokerStars Players Championship, which is also commonly abbreviated as PSPC. It appears like PokerStars is just capitalizing on the latter’s name recognition.

The Main Event for the New Jersey-Michigan PSPC Online will be a $250 buy-in event with a guarantee of $300k. In contrast, the Main Event for the other PSPC which will be hosted by PokerStars in the Bahamas later this month, has a $25K buy-in.

A “Mini Main Event” will also be organized. It will have a $50 buy-in. Also, there will be a $2,500 High Roller Main Event. The combined guarantee for these events is $200K. In total, poker players can choose from 85 events in New Jersey and Michigan.

The decision of the MGCB to collaborate with other US states that also permit online poker has made player pooling possible. The regulator started making advances about a year ago when pooling became something real. Then, it signed an agreement to include its poker pool with New Jersey’s. The deal went into effect at the start of this year.

Pennsylvania may eventually join the fray, once the state approves its own player liquidity agreement with the other two. But for now, it has its own PSPC from PokerStars, offering 72 events and guaranteed cash of $1.5 million.

PokerStars Is Testing the Waters

PokerStars feels confident that any overlays will be prevented by the response to the upcoming series. Once New Jersey and Michigan commenced player pooling at the start of the year, it conducted a test to determine the response, and it was pleased with the results.

Two multistate tournaments were offered, one with a $100 buy-in and a $100K guarantee and the other with a $10 buy-in and a guarantee of $50K. Both were enormous successes that cleared their guarantees with ease.

A smaller audience attended the $10 event, and it did not really cover the $50k, but the $100 event exceeded the guarantee. It received far more entries than was required, resulting in a prize pool that doubled the guarantee.