9 NLHE tournaments you won’t want to miss this WCOOP

The 20th anniversary of PokerStars’ prestigious World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) runs from August 22 to September 15 with more than $100 million guaranteed in prizes across 102 events (306 tournaments). Take down a title and you’ll not only win the prize money and a shiny trophy, you’ll also go down in WCOOP history.

The best part? There are No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) tournaments for every bankroll, so whether you’re a low-stakes crusher, a mid-stakes grinder, or a high roller specialist, you can plan out a schedule that’s perfectly suited to you.

We’ve taken a look through the full schedule (which you can find here) and picked out what we think are the juiciest NLHE tournaments for all bankrolls.

Here are nine NLHE tournaments you won’t want to miss this WCOOP.

SMALL BANKROLLS

In an online series like WCOOP, a small buy-in doesn’t mean small prizes. In fact, due to the large number of players these events attract, the prize pools often equal those in larger buy-in tournaments.

Take the first tournament on our list, for example: the #01-L: $5.50 [Phase 2]. This event comes with a whopping $1 million prize pool (how often can you say that for a $5.50 buy-in?) and as it’s a Phase tournament it runs throughout the entire series. You can expect tens of thousands of entries in this edition.

How do Phase tournaments work, you ask? Well, instead of having one starting flight like most tournaments, Phase tournaments have multiple starting days running frequently every day throughout WCOOP (in fact, they’re already running prior to the series kick-off). If you don’t make it through to Phase 2 (a freezeout) on your first attempt, you can play as many Phase 1s as you like. End Phase 1 with chips, however, and you’re through. There’s also a #01-M: $22 [Phase 2] running with another $1 million prize pool for which all the same rules apply.

Then there’s the #04-L: $55 High Roller which also has $1 million guaranteed. While this is the lowest version of these High Roller events, the price tag and prize pool will ensure all of the world’s best players (plus plenty of recreational players with little experience) will be in the mix. If you’ve ever wanted to battle against the best but you’ve never had a bankroll big enough, this is a great tournament to take your shot in.

Speaking of taking shots, you simply can’t miss playing in the #91-L: $55 WCOOP Main Event. It comes with a $1.5 million prize pool and last year’s winner “kimono” banked $186,841, a very healthy ROI indeed. With satellites running constantly throughout WCOOP, don’t miss your shot at becoming a world champ.

WCOOP 01-L: $5.50 NLHE [Phase 2], $1M Gtd – Phase 2 begins Mon, 13 Sep, 2.05pm ET
WCOOP 04-L: $55 NLHE 8-Max High Roller, $1M Gtd – Sun, 22 Aug, 1.05pm ET
WCOOP 91-L: $55 Main Event, NLHE 8-Max, $1.5M Gtd – Sun, 12 Sep, 1.05pm ET

MEDIUM BANKROLLS

Moving up in stakes, you’re really spoiled for choice. There are attractive Medium and High tournaments every day of the series. But which ones should you highlight on your calendar?

Well, we’d start off with the #04-M: $530 NLHE 8-Max High Roller (the Medium edition of the aforementioned $55 High Roller). It comes with yet another $1 million in the prize pool and falls at the beginning of the series where bankrolls are healthiest and therefore field sizes are healthier.

Then we recommend the #34-L: $215 NLHE 8-Max, which at first looks like we’ve downgraded a little in stakes. But that’s only because we’ve yet to mention the $1.25 million prize pool that’s guaranteed. Sure, the $215 buy-in might not seem as sexy, but with an extra $250K added you can be sure the field is going to be massive and subsequently soft.

Naturally, we’re going to round off the medium bankroll suggestions with the #91-M: $530 Main Event which boasts a $2.5 million prize pool guaranteed and will almost certainly see the winner collect around half a million. Last year’s champion “1mSoWeeeaK” did just that, defeating 7,105 entries to win $504,538.

WCOOP 04-M: $530 NLHE 8-Max, $1M Gtd – Sun, 22 Aug, 1.05pm ET
WCOOP 34-L: $215 NLHE 8-Max, $1.25M Gtd – Sun, 29 Aug, 1.05pm ET
WCOOP 91-M: $530 Main Event, NLHE 8-Max, $2.5M Gtd – Sun, 12 Sep, 1.05pm ET

HIGH ROLLERS

Let’s be honest, this is where things get really exciting.

Not all of us will be able to participate in these events (although satellites are running throughout WCOOP), but we can at least live vicariously through the BBZ Team who will likely be streaming them live on Twitch, including coaches Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet and Jargo “bungakat” Alaväli, plus BBZ students and PokerStars Team Pros Lex Veldhuis, Fintan “easywithaces” Hand, and Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg.

The first event we’ll cover is obvious: the #91-H: $5,200 WCOOP Main Event. It’s simply one of the most prestigious titles to take down in all of online poker, and one of the most lucrative too, with $10 million guaranteed in the prize pool. Last year’s champ Andre ‘PTFisherman23’ Marques overcame a 1,977-entry field to win a mouthwatering $1,147,270.

We’re also going to highlight the #63-H: $10,300 NLHE 8-Max PKO High Roller, the first Progressive Knockout event on this list. Again there’s $1 million guaranteed and each player will start with an enormous $2,500 bounty on their heads which is sure to create some incredible action. The 2020 champ, “LeslieGroves”, emerged victorious to not only win $111,206 for first but also $152,421 in bounties ($263,627 total).

Finally, it’s the biggest buy-in of them all: the #34-H: $25,000 NLHE 8-Max Super High Roller with $3 million guaranteed. This event always brings out the very best and last year attracted 106 total entries. It takes a special player to navigate their way through such a tough field and that was certainly true in 2020 when Adrian “Amadi_017” Mateos took it down for $543,685.

WCOOP 91-H: $5,200 Main Event, NLHE 8-Max, $10M Gtd – Sun, 12 Sep, 1.05pm ET
WCOOP 63-H: $10,300 NLHE 8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller, $1M Gtd – Sun, 05 Sep 1:05 ET
WCOOP 34-H: $25,000 NLHE 8-Max, Super High Roller, $3M Gtd – Sun, 29 Aug, 1.05pm ET

REMEMBER: If these buy-ins are too big for your bankroll, make sure you check the satellite schedule. You could win a seat for a fraction of the price.

It’s going to be a great series. To make sure you’re as prepared as can be, check out our article: ‘3 ways to prepare for WCOOP’.

Best of luck to the entire BBZ community!