PokerStars Cancels WCOOP Main Events after Disconnections
Yesterday, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, was supposed to be one of the biggest days of the year in online poker. GGPoker hosted its penultimate World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online bracelet side event in the WSOP Online $400 Closer with the $20 million guaranteed WSOP Online $5,000 Main Event moving onto Day 2 on Monday. 888poker hosted its first every Mystery Bounty event while partypoker was hosting some of the final opening flights for the $3,200 buy-in $2 million guaranteed Main Event and the $320 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed Mini Main Event.
It was planned to be one of the biggest days of the year at PokerStars, with three no-limit hold'em World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Events and three pot-limit Omaha WCOOP Main Events scheduled to kick off on Sunday. However, that all changed at around 8:30 p.m. CEST (2:30 p.m. ET) when players were experiencing disconnections from this event and the entire client themselves.
We have paused all tournaments on the .com client whilst we deal with some technical issues. We will update here as soon as we can, sorry for any inconvenience.
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) September 25, 2022
This can be frustrating for both professional and recreational players alike. Not just those that decided to play the WCOOP Main Event or qualified for the biggest event of their lives, but also those planning a normal Sunday schedule at PokerStars.
This can and has happened to all major operators over the years and is something that PokerStars would have obviously not liked to see happen on its big day. That being said, props to PokerStars for keeping its players in the loop via social media while the issues were being further investigated.
We mean if possible, to RESUME. sorry!
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) September 25, 2022
Cancelation Announced
As promised, PokerStars updated via social media less than 25 minutes after the previously shared Tweet. However, it wasn't the news most players were looking for as PokerStars announced the cancelation of all previously running events.
We are extremely sorry but we have had to cancel all tournaments currently running, with prizes awarded in accordance with our tournament cancellation policy (this will be done inline with our policy, which you can find here https://t.co/F3ZZKPUZbh). (1/2)
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) September 25, 2022
According to the link to the PokerStars cancelation policy, it appears that the remaining players in the WCOOP Main Events when the disconnections took place first got their buy-in back with half of the remaining prize pool is split evenly with the other half being split based on chip counts.
10.2 Roll Forward (No Players in the Money): If a tournament is canceled and we do a 'roll forward' before the players are in the money, we refund each remaining player his tournament fee (and knockout bounty if appropriate), and then divide up the prize pool based on the following formula: 50% of the award pool is distributed evenly among all remaining players, and 50% of the award pool is distributed proportionally according to the chip count.
PokerStars Cancelation Rules 10.2
The frustration of poker players was understandably high on social media for those that planned to play on PokerStars on Sunday. PokerStars Ambassador Lex Veldhuis held a no-delay stream to allow his fans to ask questions or relay concerns.
If you have any questions or concerns, I'm going live on no delay so I can help you understand.https://t.co/NFvUBRrHJ9 https://t.co/yBICFo22Jk
— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) September 25, 2022
PokerStars has yet to announce their plans for the WCOOP Main Events and other canceled WCOOP events but it would be hard to see a year pass by that the Main Event didn't occur. Therefore, it wouldn't be surprising to witness PokerStars announce in the coming days a rescheduled WCOOP Main Event. Stay tuned at PokerListings for updates.
Canceled 2022 WCOOP Main Events
| WCOOP Main Event | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| #92-L: NLHE Main Event | $109 | $2,500,000 |
| #92-M: NLHE Main Event | $1,050 | $4,000,000 |
| #92-H: NLHE Main Event | $10,300 | $6,000,000 |
| #94-L: PLO Main Event | $109 | $250,000 |
| #94-M: PLO Main Event | $1,050 | $600,000 |
| #94-H: PLO Main Event | $10,300 | $1,000,000 |
*Any mention of a bonus or discussion of such terms is not in relation to the province of Ontario.
