Online Poker Tournament Events
There are now many online poker tournament events, multi-day festivals which feature mid-to high buy-in tournaments, often with huge guaranteed prize pools. These are popular among players and are usually known by their acronyms such as 'FTOPS', 'WCOOP' or 'UBOC'. Satellite qualifiers offer players with large and small bankrolls alike the chance to enter these events. This article gives you a summary of the 5 largest along with pros and cons which can help you to decide whether each event would suit your personal situation.
#1 - The Pokerstars World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP)
The WCOOP is the biggest online tournament event of all and starts each year in early September. A staggering $40 million in prize money was guaranteed last time, over 3 weeks. Buy-ins to the events, which feature almost every popular poker variation, range from around $215 - up to the pro event with a $10,000 entry.
Pros of the World Championship are the large number of events, biggest guaranteed prizes anywhere online and large number of qualifiers. Cons are the size of the fields, which can reach many thousands in each game.
#2 - The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS)
FTOPS takes place around 4 times a year and features a 2 week tournament schedule with each event hosted by a poker celebrity from Full Tilt's large stable of pros. Big guarantees, a good variety of games (including Rush Poker) and lots of opportunities to win your seat are just three reasons to play. Winners also get to use a special 'FTOPS Avatar' at the tables after the event! Full Tilt also run a 'Mini-FTOPs' after the main event, with the same schedule at 10% of the buy-in ensuring some large fields.
Pros for the Full Tilt Online Poker Series include the variety of games including Rush and even a 2-day event. Multi-million dollar prize pools also act as a big incentive. Cons for this event include the fact that running it so many times each year tends to dilute the 'special event' feeling.
#3 - The European Championship Of Online Poker (ECOOP)
This event is for players outside of the US Only. The European Championship Of Online Poker is run on the iPoker Network, including big brands like Titan Poker and Mansion Poker. This event is smaller than the longer established events above and features very soft fields of mainly recreational poker players and some generous guaranteed prizes too. Qualifiers to these events are in a nicely structured 3-stage event, ensuring that smaller bankroll players get to participate. The ECOOP runs irregularly, with 3 events per year appearing as the current pattern.
Pros of the European Championship have to focus on the easy games, with less pros and more recreational players found at the tables. Cons are the fact that US poker fans are excluded from this network and the relatively plain poker software compared to other sites.
#4 - The Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP)
Back to Pokerstars for the 4th online poker tournament event in our list. The Spring Championship Of Online Poker runs in April each year and features a unique '3-teir' system of buy-ins. Low ($20+), Mid ($200+) and High ($2000+) tiers are available for every event - meaning novices and seasoned pros alike get the opportunity to participate. Again this online festival runs for 3 weeks and again satellite qualifiers are heavily promoted, allowing players to take a shot at higher buy-in events than their normal bankrolls might have allowed.
Pros of this event include the variety - not only of buy-ins, but game choices too. Cons include the fact that the Pokerstars lobby fills up with so many satellites that it can be difficult to find the events, and the large field sizes - especially in the lower and mid buy-ins.
#5 - The Ultimate Bet Online Championship (OBOC)
Last but not least we come to the Ultimate Bet Online Championship, a relative newcomer to the online events world, with the 5th running about to start at the time of writing. Again this event occurs several times each year. Ultimate Bet pros are heavily featured in 2-weeks worth of higher buy-in tournaments, including Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth. Guaranteed prize pools are growing all the time, and the fields in the UBOC are notoriously soft when compared to some of the other events featured.
Pros are focused on the soft fields for these events, though the satellites are very good too. Cons are the smaller guarantees compared to the other events.
#1 - The Pokerstars World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP)
The WCOOP is the biggest online tournament event of all and starts each year in early September. A staggering $40 million in prize money was guaranteed last time, over 3 weeks. Buy-ins to the events, which feature almost every popular poker variation, range from around $215 - up to the pro event with a $10,000 entry.
Pros of the World Championship are the large number of events, biggest guaranteed prizes anywhere online and large number of qualifiers. Cons are the size of the fields, which can reach many thousands in each game.
#2 - The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS)
FTOPS takes place around 4 times a year and features a 2 week tournament schedule with each event hosted by a poker celebrity from Full Tilt's large stable of pros. Big guarantees, a good variety of games (including Rush Poker) and lots of opportunities to win your seat are just three reasons to play. Winners also get to use a special 'FTOPS Avatar' at the tables after the event! Full Tilt also run a 'Mini-FTOPs' after the main event, with the same schedule at 10% of the buy-in ensuring some large fields.
Pros for the Full Tilt Online Poker Series include the variety of games including Rush and even a 2-day event. Multi-million dollar prize pools also act as a big incentive. Cons for this event include the fact that running it so many times each year tends to dilute the 'special event' feeling.
#3 - The European Championship Of Online Poker (ECOOP)
This event is for players outside of the US Only. The European Championship Of Online Poker is run on the iPoker Network, including big brands like Titan Poker and Mansion Poker. This event is smaller than the longer established events above and features very soft fields of mainly recreational poker players and some generous guaranteed prizes too. Qualifiers to these events are in a nicely structured 3-stage event, ensuring that smaller bankroll players get to participate. The ECOOP runs irregularly, with 3 events per year appearing as the current pattern.
Pros of the European Championship have to focus on the easy games, with less pros and more recreational players found at the tables. Cons are the fact that US poker fans are excluded from this network and the relatively plain poker software compared to other sites.
#4 - The Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP)
Back to Pokerstars for the 4th online poker tournament event in our list. The Spring Championship Of Online Poker runs in April each year and features a unique '3-teir' system of buy-ins. Low ($20+), Mid ($200+) and High ($2000+) tiers are available for every event - meaning novices and seasoned pros alike get the opportunity to participate. Again this online festival runs for 3 weeks and again satellite qualifiers are heavily promoted, allowing players to take a shot at higher buy-in events than their normal bankrolls might have allowed.
Pros of this event include the variety - not only of buy-ins, but game choices too. Cons include the fact that the Pokerstars lobby fills up with so many satellites that it can be difficult to find the events, and the large field sizes - especially in the lower and mid buy-ins.
#5 - The Ultimate Bet Online Championship (OBOC)
Last but not least we come to the Ultimate Bet Online Championship, a relative newcomer to the online events world, with the 5th running about to start at the time of writing. Again this event occurs several times each year. Ultimate Bet pros are heavily featured in 2-weeks worth of higher buy-in tournaments, including Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth. Guaranteed prize pools are growing all the time, and the fields in the UBOC are notoriously soft when compared to some of the other events featured.
Pros are focused on the soft fields for these events, though the satellites are very good too. Cons are the smaller guarantees compared to the other events.
