Winter Poker Series Highlighted on US-Regulated Sites
There are a limited number of states that have state-regulated online poker, which limits the number of sites and tournament options available for players. However, residency is not required, so anyone of legal age can travel to a state that offers said tournaments and participate in potentially lucrative series. Those states are Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
The Winter Series ran on WSOP.com during the first two weeks of 2024. But as the year picks up steam and poker players emerge from their holiday stupor, big series await. And alongside PokerStars USA and BetMGM Poker, WSOP will offer its WSOPC Online Circuit series.
PokerStars Winter Series
Dozens of tournaments and a million and a half dollars guaranteed make for a good tournament. PokerStars USA is offering just that with its Winter Series for poker players in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey. (Michigan and New Jersey players compete in the same player pool, while Pennsylvania remains separated.)
The series runs January 12-29, plenty of time to get in on some of the 75 tournaments and $1.5M guaranteed. There are buy-ins at all levels, but players can win seats for a fraction of any buy-in via satellites starting at $1 and special Spin & Gos at $3.
Ultimately, the Main Event will be a $300 buy-in affair with a $200K guarantee on January 27.
BetMGM Winter Online Championships
As January continues on, BetMGM Poker swoops in at the end of the month with the Winter Online Championships. The January 28 start date is just two days after the Borgata Winter Poker Open ends in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The online series will run through February 10 with a variety of tournaments on the schedule and more than $700K guaranteed.
The two highlighted tournaments will be the Main Event with a $75K guarantee and a High Roller with $100K as its guarantee.
One special feature of this series is Early Bird Registration, which allows players who register on time for the tournaments to receive 100% rakeback. Another is that a Player of the Series Leaderboard will award $5K and a special trophy for the top performer in trophy events.
Players in Pennsylvania can compete, as can a combined field of players from Michigan and New Jersey.
WSOP Online Circuit
As the WSOP Online action wound down from its first series of the year, players can jump right in to the WSOPC series online. The January 12-23 WSOP Online Circuit Event will offer 12 events, each with a WSOP gold ring for the winner.
Players in Pennsylvania can play, as can players in Michigan – in separate player pools – and those in Nevada and New Jersey can compete together. The Michigan series guarantees $320K across its series, as does Pennsylvania, and NV/NJ combined guarantee $1M.
The series are different for each state, though each offers 12 ring events. The Main Event options on January 21 will be:
- Michigan WSOPC Online Main Event = $525 buy-in / $50K GTD
- Pennsylvania WSOPC Online Main Event = $525 buy-in / $50K GTD
- Nevada and New Jersey WSOPC Online Main Event = $525 buy-in / $200K GTD
Players who win WSOPC rings will receive an invitation to play in this summer’s WSOP Tournament of Champions. This special live tournament will offer a WSOP gold bracelet and a $1M prize pool – a freeroll for all qualifiers.
