Coronavirus Boosts Online Poker: Sunday Million Smashes Records

The Sunday Million tournament on PokerStars celebrated its 14th anniversary on March 23, 2020, with a record-breaking prize pool of $18,603,200. The tournament attracted 93,016 entries, making it one of the largest online poker tournaments in history.

The increase in online poker activity is attributed to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent home isolation measures. PokerStars saw a significant increase in active players, nearly doubling the average number in the second half of March.

Partypoker extended its Powerfest series and increased guarantees, while GG Network announced a new GGSeries with $50,000,000 in guarantees. MountainRose noted a significant increase in traffic, with many people turning to online tournaments due to boredom during home isolation. Pads, partypoker's representative, announced the Powerfest series in early March and extended it due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in Italy.