Every poker tournament player knows that Sundays are the best day of the week to exercise. Next Sunday, October 1is the Sunday that no multi-table tournament grinder can miss because it is the day on which the 2023 World Online Poker Championship (WCOOP) Main events are mixed and handled PokerStars.
The high-profile main event of every WCOOP is the online poker tournament everyone dreams of winning. Being named WCOOP Main Event Champion brings incredible praise from the poker community, and has been since 2006 a seven-figure grand prize.
All three 2023 WCOOP No-Limit Hold’em Main Events explode in action 5:30pm BST on October 1st, with the Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event trio starting a little later at 8:05pm BST. The No-Limit Hold’em editions come with buy-ins of $109, $1,050 and a whopping $10,300, as well as guarantees of $2.5 million, $4 million and a whopping $6 million respectively.
Each participant in the $10,300 NLHE Main Event sits down armed with 250,000 chips and plays for 30 minutes, with blinds starting at 500/1,000/125a. On Day 1, participants will battle through 15 levels before the tournament pauses until October 2nd at 5:35pm BST. Late registration is possible up to five minutes before the start of day 2.
Day 2 continues until only 40 players remain, with play resuming on October 3rd at 5:30 p.m. Day 3 ends when the nine-handed final table is set, with that final table starting at 5:30pm BST on October 4th. and continue until a player has all of the chips in play in their stack.
Follow the action from the $10,000 NLHE and PLO WCOOP Main Event
PokerNewsThe live reporting team is on site providing industry-leading coverage of the $10,300 NLHE Main Event and that $10,300 PLO Main Event from the first cards to the announcement of the champion.
Of course, PokerStars being PokerStars, there are a variety of discounted satellites that get into the WCOOP main events, starting at just $0.55. You can also redeem passes you have won Valuable Power Path advertising for WCOOP Main Event tickets.
Former WCOOP NLHE Main Event Champions
Luis “luis_faria” Faria is one of the players guaranteed to compete in the 2023 WCOOP $10,300 NLHE Main Event because he is the defending champion. Since the inaugural event in 2002, no one has managed to successfully defend their title and become champions in a row. Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza has won two Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) main events in a row, so such an unlikely event is possible, and Faria is a talented grinder.
Faria collected $1,293,825 for his victory in 2022, the 16th consecutive year the champion became an instant millionaire. Six WCOOP Main Event champions have seen amounts in excess of $1.5 million land in their PokerStars accounts, including $2,278,097 Tyson “POTTERPOKER” trademarks The amount collected in 2010 is a record amount.
Every WCOOP Main Event is memorable simply because of the huge prizes the tournament awards, but some stand out from the crowd, and not always for the right reasons.
The 2007 and 2018 WCOOP Main Events were marred by controversy as their original champions were later disqualified and new champions were installed. The above-mentioned marks raised almost $2.3 million in 2010 and 2014, the German phenomenon Fedor “CrownUpGuy” wood emerged as the winner.
However, no one can forget Marat “maratik” Sharafutdinovs win in 2012. The Russian micro-stakes grinder typically played more than his fair share of $1 and $2 tournaments when he won a $5,200 WCOOP Main Event seat via a 40 FPP satellite.
Sharafutdinov was in second place when the final six players began contract negotiations. PokerStars software suggested an ICM payout of $922,907.26 for the Russian, who milled micro bets and was known to type into the chatbox “I wont [sp] Million” sparked a million and one memes. Despite wanting a million, Sharafutdinov agreed to forgo $22,000 of his life-changing payout, largely to appease the chip leader and online legend Michael “MünchenHB” Telker. The deal left him $100,000 more than the eventual champion, and as luck would have it, Sharafutdinov won and got his million, $1,000,907 to be exact.
| Year | Buy in | Participant | Price pool | champion | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $10,300 | 760 | $7,600,000 | Luis “luis_faira” Faria | $1,293,825 |
| 2021 | $5,200 | 1,965 | $10,000,000 | CrazyLissy | $1,499,942 |
| 2020 | $5,200 | 1,977 | $10,000,000 | Andre “PTFisherman23” Marques | $1,147,270 |
| 2019 | $5,200 | 2,236 | $11,180,000 | Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell | $1,665,962 |
| 2018 | $5,200 | 2,044 | $10,220,000 | Ezequiel “eze88888” Waigel | $1,529,000* |
| 2017 | $5,200 | 2,183 | $10,915,000 | Steven “SvZff” Van Zadelhoff | $1,624,502 |
| 2016 | $5,200 | 2,091 | $10,052,879 | Jonas “llJaYJaYll” Lauck | $1,517,541 |
| 2015 | $5,200 | 1,995 | $10,000,000 | Kristof “Coenaldinho7” Coenen | $1,300,000 |
| 2014 | $5,200 | 2,142 | $10,710,000 | Fedor “CrownUpGuy” wood | $1,300,000 |
| 2013 | $5,200 | 2,133 | $10,665,000 | David “PlayinWasted” Kaufmann | $1,493,499 |
| 2012 | $5,200 | 1,825 | $9,125,000 | Marat “maratik” Sharafutdinov | $1,000,907 |
| 2011 | $5,200 | 1,627 | $8,135,000 | Thomas “Kalllle” Pedersen | $1,260,018 |
| 2010 | $5,200 | 2,443 | $12,215,000 | Tyson “POTTERPOKER” trademarks | $2,278,097 |
| 2009 | $5,200 | 2,144 | $10,720,000 | Yevgeny “Jovial Gent” Tymoshenko | $1,715,200 |
| 2008 | $5,200 | 2,185 | $10,925,000 | Carter “ckingusc” King | $1,265,432 |
| 2007 | $2,600 | 2,998 | $7,495,000 | Kyle “ka$ino1” Schroeder | $1,378,330* |
| 2006 | $2,600 | 2,510 | $6,275,000 | JC “area23JC” Tran | $670,194 |
| 2005 | $2,600 | 1,494 | $3,735,000 | Jordan “Panella86” Berkowitz | $577,342 |
| 2004 | $2,600 | 843 | $2,104,500 | Edgar “Radge” Skjervold | $424,945 |
| 2003 | $1,050 | 891 | $891,000 | Joseph “DeOhGee” Cordi | $222,750 |
| 2002 | $1,050 | 238 | $238,000 | MultiMarine | $65,450 |
*promoted to champion after original champion was disqualified
Use the PokerNews online tournament calendar to plan your WCOOP
Although you can always bookmark this article and take a look at the 2023 WCOOP schedule, you should also check out the incredible PokerNews Tournament Calendar.
Our free tool has multiple filters that make finding your perfect poker tournament, be it a WCOOP event or another, a breeze. The PokerNews The online tournament calendar allows you to register for tournaments with just a few clicks of the mouse, so you never have to miss anything again.
