WCOOP History: From Humble Beginnings to Million-Dollar Tournaments

The WCOOP series will begin on Sunday and run until September 15, 2021. The series will feature 306 tournaments, with buy-ins ranging from $5.5 to $25,000. The main event with a $5,200 buy-in and a $10 million guarantee will start on September 12. The total guaranteed prize pool for the series is $100,805,000. The most expensive tournament, a super high roller for $25,000 with a $3 million guarantee, will take place on August 29.

The leaderboard will offer $100,000 in prizes across three categories, with the overall winner receiving $25,000. Zapahzamazki won the overall leaderboard in the previous series.

The first WCOOP series took place in the summer of 2002, featuring 9 tournaments with a total prize pool of $730,000. The winner of the main event in 2002 received $65,000. In 2003, the series featured 11 tournaments with a total prize pool of $2.7 million. Erik «Erik123» Saagstrom won an NLHE tournament with a $320 buy-in, receiving $101,850. Joseph «DeOhGee» Cordy won the main event with a $1,000 buy-in, receiving $222,750. In 2004, the total prize pool for the series exceeded $6 million, with the main event having a $2,600 buy-in. Edgar Shervold won the main event, receiving $425,000. In 2005, the total prize pool for the series was $12 million, with the main event having 1,494 participants. Jordan Berkowitz, an 18-year-old student, won the main event, receiving $577,000. In 2006, the main event had 2,510 participants, and JC Tran won after a deal in the top 3, receiving $670,000. Kyle «kwob20» Boucher won two tournaments: Omaha Hi-Lo and Stud Hi-Lo, each with a $530 buy-in. In 2007, the series featured 23 tournaments with a total prize pool of $24 million. Kyle «ka$ino» Schreder won the main event, receiving $1.2 million. In 2008, the series introduced two tournaments with a $10,000 buy-in. The main event had a $5,200 buy-in, and Carter «ckingusc» King won, receiving $1,265,432. Vadim Markushovsky finished in 4th place, receiving $961,718, the largest online win for a Russian-speaking player at the time.