Action-Packed SCOOP Kicks Off with Millions of Dollars on the Line

One of the biggest online poker tournament series of the year, the Spring Championship of Online Poker, kicked off at PokerStars last Sunday and will be running for the rest of the month.

Not even a week into the action, the SCOOP has already brought plenty of big stories, with major names like PokerStars Team Pro Lasse Jagd Lauristen taking down a title and both Lex Veldhuis and Ben Spragg making deep runs in some early events.

If early days are anything to go by, we are looking at one of the most memorable online series of 2023, as all the biggest events are still on the schedule and remain to be played.

If you want to jump into some online poker MTT action, head on over to PokerStars and open up the tournament lobby for instant access to today’s SCOOP events, or keep reading to find out what’s still in store.

Pros Impress in Early SCOOP Events

SCOOP has historically been one of those tournament series that bring a lot of pros together and have them shine, as the multitude of mix game events and large buy-ins typically mean we will see more big names making big runs.

The 2023 SCOOP kicked off that way as well, as Danish PokerStars Pro Lasse “Wistern” Jagd Lauristen took down the $109 Sunday Warm-Up for an impressive $56,462 in the early hours of the series.

🏆WE ARE #SCOOP CHAMPIONS! 🏆
💰$56k 💰

It's really a dream come true!

Thank you so much for all the kind words and congratulations last night. And a special thanks goes to my Twitch community for your constant support.

I can't wait to play more SCOOP! @PokerStars pic.twitter.com/HivlI5xPnb

— Wistern (@WisternJL) May 9, 2023

The win was Wistern’s first SCOOP title ever, and quite an impressive one at that, as the field he beat was massive and the game in question was No Limit Texas Hold’em.

Tuesday, May 9, was an exciting day for the high rollers, as a handful of $1k events played out.

Stefan “baeks22” Schillhabel took down the $1k Sunday Warm Up for over $87k, “WhatifGod” won the $1k 7-Max Turbo PKO for $51k, and Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky took home the title in the other $1k 7-Max Turbo PKO of the day for $54k.

Yet, the big winner of the day was a player from Kyrgyztan going by the screen name “Ant1K1ller.” He dominated the first Sunday Million field of this year’s SCOOP and won over $138k in total, along with his first SCOOP title.

The likes of Fintan “easywithaces” Hand, Ben “Spraggy” Spragg, and Lex Veldhuis all made deep runs on Thursday, but failed to seal the deal and add to their impressive resumes, despite all booking solid cashes to kick off the series.

So close yet so far away.

Super happy with $72,000 for 2nd though!!

Back Saturday! pic.twitter.com/JtgWBVsS6S

— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) May 11, 2023

Popular Brazilian player Yuri “theNERDguy” Dzivielevski managed to book his second SCOOP title after defeating a star-studded final table in the $10k High Roller played the same night and won over $200k for his troubles.

Plenty of Action Still Remaining, Including Massive Main Events

This year’s SCOOP has only just begun, as another three weeks of action remain and hundreds of events remain to be played.

SCOOP Event 01-H is likely one of the most interesting that you might want to get involved with. Phase 1 legs of this $55 tournament play out every day until May 29, and a massive $1 million guaranteed prize pool offers a huge potential return on a reasonable investment.

You will have plenty of opportunity to play games of your choice and at any buy-in level you pick during SCOOP, as tournaments ranging from $2.20 to $25k in buy-ins will be available daily.

The SCOOP will culminate in the three Main Events, all scheduled to kick off on May 28, play out over four days, and give away massive prize pools.

You can play the following three SCOOP Main Events this year:

SCOOP 108-L: $109 Buy-in – $2 Million Guaranteed
SCOOP 108-M: $1,050 Buy-in – $4 Million Guaranteed
SCOOP 108-H: $10,300 Buy-in – $5 Million Guaranteed

For the fans of the great game of Pot Limit Omaha, PokerStars have prepared the following Main Events:

SCOOP 110-L: $109 Buyin – $200k Guaranteed
SCOOP 110-M: $1,050 Buyin – $500k Guaranteed
SCOOP 110-H: $10,300 Buyin – $800k Guaranteed

Win Your Way into Major SCOOP Tournaments

As you may have guessed, PokerStars is offering ample opportunity for players to qualify for the bigger buy-in events through satellite tournaments running on the platform daily.

It might be a #SCOOP rest day, but you can still Fast Track your way into the Main Event.

Enter at any buy-in level

Round 1️⃣ $1.50 Sit & Go or MTT
Round 2️⃣ $20
Round 3️⃣ $109
Round 4️⃣ $1,050

Click the SCOOP Fast Track tab for full details. pic.twitter.com/skaWsb0V72

— PokerStars (@PokerStars) May 12, 2023

If you are looking to play in this year’s SCOOP, check out the PokerStars satellites lobby, and you will find satellites with buy-ins starting as low as $5.50 and offering direct entry into $109 events, along with plenty of ways to win your way into the $1,050 and $10,300 tournaments.

This is the best time of the year to play at PokerStars, so head on over and check out the SCOOP schedule yourself to find the right tournament to play and potentially win the first SCOOP title of your career.