The much-anticipated PokerStars New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOOP) poker series kicks off October 15 and runs until the end of the month. Competitors will be treated to a series of events totaling at least $1.2 million in prize pool money, including a $500 buy-in Main Event starting October 29.
At the end of the series, the NJCOOP will have surpassed its rival site partypoker/Borgata and the PokerStars NJ Spring Championship of Online Poker (NJSCOOP) for the largest online poker series in New Jersey’s three-year history of legalized internet gambling.
The NJCOOP was created for all types of players. Buy-ins range from $15 to $1,000. The series begins with $100, $150, $200, and $250 buy-in events. Each of the 43 tournaments over 17 days has a minimum guaranteed prize pool, ranging from $7,500 to $200,000.
Wide Range of Tournaments
No-limit hold’em isn’t the only game featured during the NJCOOP. Players will have an opportunity to partake in pot-limit Omaha, pot-limit Omaha high-low, limit hold’em, stud, and mixed games.
There are three tournaments that will receive more attention than others. On October 17, a $500 buy-in PLO High Roller event has a $30,000 guarantee. Eight days later, the $1,000 buy-in High Roller NLH tournament kicks off with $100,000 prize money guaranteed. And then, of course, everyone will be looking forward to the $500 Main Event to conclude the series.
This series is New Jersey’s version of the recently completed PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), on a smaller scale. In the WCOOP, millions of dollars were awarded to players in one of the most popular annual poker events in the world. The NJCOOP is available to those located in the Garden State only, as players in New Jersey (or anywhere in the US) cannot access the global PokerStars website.
Brand Recognition: How Effective Is It?
PokerStars didn’t enter the New Jersey market until March 2016, two years behind its competitors. But most folks expected the world’s largest online poker brand to take over the NJ online poker scene. That hasn’t been entirely the case,however.
PokerStars still (barely) tops the Garden State charts for online poker traffic. But WSOP/888 and partypoker/Borgata don’t appear to be losing as many customers as some expected when PokerStars opened its doors in late March.
The NJCOOP could help convince some poker players on other sites to make the switch to PokerStars. There will be many non-New Jersey residents traveling to the state during the NJCOOP to play online poker.
They’ll be coming up against a bevy of PokerStars Team Pros, such as Chris Moneymaker, of course. Which is both exciting and intimidating for the average recreational player. Just remember that once upon a time, Moneymaker was just like you.
