PokerStars has learned from recent experiences (cough-Supernova Elite-cough) that making big decisions without customer input is no longer a good idea. It may take a little time to reach out to the poker community for input, but the company’s reputation is worth the effort.
So, on February 26, PokerStars tournament administrator Brian posted on the 2+2 poker forums about the upcoming Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). He not only revealed the entire preliminary schedule, but he asked for comments and questions.
Complete with new formats, multi-day tournaments, and new game mixes, the tentative schedule is as follows, each tournament represented with low/medium/high buy-in levels:
Sunday, May 8
Event 1: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE w/Reentries (maximum 3)
Event 2: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE 8-Max Progressive Super Knockout)
Event 3: $27/$215/$2,100 NL Draw w/Reentries (max 3)
Event 4: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE
Event 5: $7.50/$82/$700 NLHE w/1R1A
Monday, May 9
Event 6: $7.50/$82/$700 NL Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max Ante-Up
Event 7: $7.50/$82/$700 NLHE w/Rebuys
Event 8: $11/$109/1,050 NLHE Heads-Up
Tuesday, May 10
Event 9: $7.50/$82/$700 NLHE/PLO 6-Max
Event 10: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE
Event 11: $11/$109/$1,050 PLO 6-Max
Wednesday, May 11
Event 12: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE
Event 13: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE 6-Max Shootout
Event 14: $27/$215/$2,100 NL Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max Turbo Zoom
Thursday, May 12
Event 15: $7.50/$82/$700 NLHE Players’ Choice
Event 16: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE Progressive Super Knockout
Event 17: $27/$215/$2,100 PLO Heads-Up
Friday, May 13
Event 18: $7.50/$82/$700 NLHE
Event 19: $11/$109/$1,050 w/Rebuys Big Antes
Event 20: $27/$215/$2,100 FL Omaha Hi/Lo 8-Max
Saturday, May 14
Event 21: $7.50/$82/$700 5-Card PLO 6-Max w/1R1A
Event 22: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE 4-Max
Event 23: $27/$215/$2,100 Badugi
Event 24: $7.50/$82/$700 NLHE w/Reentries (3 max) Ante Up
Event 25: $7.50/$82/$700 NLHE 6-Max Ultra-Deep
Sunday, May 15
Event 26: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE 8-Max Tiered Payouts
Event 27: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE 6-Max
Event 28: $27/$215/$2,100 Triple Draw 2-7
Event 29: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE
Event 30: $27/$215/$2,100 PL Mixed Omaha 6-Max Turbo Zoom
Monday, May 16
Event 31: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE 5-Stack
Event 32: $7.50/$82/$700 5-Card PLO Hi/Lo 6-Max w/Rebuys
Event 33: $27/$215/$2,100 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo
Tuesday, May 17
Event 34: $27/$215/$2,100 PLO 6-Max w/Reentries (3 max)
Event 35: $11/$109/$2,100 NLHE
Event 36: $27/$215/$2,100 FL Hold’em 6-Max
Wednesday, May 18
Event 37: $27/$215/$2,100 Razz
Event 38: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE w/Reentries (3 max)
Event 39: $27/$215/$2,100 NL Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max w/Reentries (3 max)
Thursday, May 19
Event 40: $27/$215/$2,100 8-Game
Event 41: $11/$209/$1,050 NLHE Progressive Super Knockout
Event 42: $27/$215/$2,100 PLO Hi/Lo 6-Max
Friday, May 20
Event 43: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE w/2R1A
Event 44: $11/$109/$1,050 HORSE
Event 45: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE 3-Max Turbo Shootout Progressive Super Knockout
Saturday, May 21
Event 46: $55/$530/$5,200 PLO 6-Max 5-Stack
Event 47: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE Mix-Max 9-Max/6-Max
Event 48: $27/$215/$2,100 7-Card Stud
Event 49: $215/$2,100/$21,000 NLHE Heads-Up High Roller
Event 50: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE 6-Max Progressive Super Knockout
Sunday, May 22
Event 51: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE Final Phase 1
Event 52: $27/$215/$2,100 NLHE
Event 53: $27/$215/$2,100 NL 2-7 Single Draw w/Reentries (3 max)
Event 54: $109/$1,050/$10,300 3-Day NLHE Main Event w/Reentry ($1M GTD)
Event 55: $11/$109/$1,050 NLHE Turbo Ultra-Deep Progressive Super Knockout w/Reentries (3 max)
Whew! That’s a lotta poker.
New Events Explained
The most-discussed of the new events on the schedule thus far is Event 15 on May 12. Players’ Choice, as explained by PokerStars, is to take shape via player suggestions via email. The game must be a form of No Limit Hold’em, and all suggestions will then be deployed to the PokerStars client for voting. Players can then register for one of the choices, and the one with the highest number of registered players will be the format of the tournament. There will be a $.02 buy-in listed for each choice, but players will receive that money back once the tournament begins.
Event 26 on May 15 offers tiered payouts, which means that payouts will be similar to large MTT satellites in that prize monies will be the same for various tiers of finishing places, such as 9th place through 80th place at one payout, 81st through 160th place at another payout, etc. The final table will be paid as a normal tournament, though. And PokerStars notes that it will be testing this before implementing in the SCOOP event.
On that same day, Event 30 will be a Pot Limit Mixed Omaha tournament, which will simply alternate between PLO and PL 5-Card Omaha from one level to the next.
Event 47 on May 21 of the final weekend of SCOOP shows a NLHE event played as Mix-Max, meaning that each tournament will actually offer two events within, one for the 9-Max at the beginning and another for the 6-Max portion that will start after approximately four to six hours of play.
And on the final day of action, Event 51 offers a NLHE Final Phase 1 tournament. The low, medium, and high buy-in events are each the first phase. Low will have multiple first phases before moving to Phase 2, Medium will have several, and High will have the fewest. The first phase of each will actually begin around May 8, and further details will be released when the final SCOOP schedule is complete.
Players are welcome to send their feedback to PokerStars via email at scoop at pokerstars dot com