by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Jul 15, 2021 | Updated on Jul 15, 2021
PokerStars is taking things up a notch in a bid to reclaim its status as the king of online poker.
The online poker giant’s latest MicroMillions series will award over $10 million in guarantees, spread out across three separate festivals. PokerStars is banking on the success and popularity of its classic low-stakes series to stay ahead of the competition.
That’s after major rival GGPoker recently overtook PokerStars’ position as the world’s leading online poker site.
The latest MicroMillions series will have three versions. First, PokerStars will host a MicroMillions festival for its dot.com players, with $4.5 million in guaranteed prize pool up for grabs. It will run from July 15 to 27, featuring 122 tournaments.
Those in Southern Europe will also have their own edition of the MicroMillions. Players in the shared liquidity markets of Spain, Portugal, and France will compete in a total of 174 MTTs, from July 18 to August 1. PokerStars is also running a separate festival for its Italian players on the same dates, with the schedule featuring 90 tournaments. The European festivals have a combined guarantee of $4.9 million.
PokerStars Steps Up as Competition Intensifies
GGPoker is a relatively new player in the market, having launched only in 2014, initially serving Asian players. Its main competitors certainly have the edge in terms of experience, with some of them already in operation since the 2000s. But despite being a novice in the industry, GGPoker showed great potential, especially when it began expanding globally in 2017.
Some analysts have predicted that the fast-rising online poker site will eventually topple PokerStars off the top spot and it’s looks like that is happening slowly but surely. Based on the latest figures from online poker traffic monitor PokerScout, GGPoker is now the world’s biggest online poker site, recording a seven-day average of 5,000 cash game players. PokerStars trails behind with 4,800. This represents a major shakeup in the online poker market.
PokerStars has held on to the no.1 spot for a quite long time. It needs to step up its efforts if it wants to regain the dominant position in the global online poker market.
PokerStars’ MicroMillions series could play a vital role in achieving that goal. The festival’s main market are the low-stakes, casual/recreational players, and if PokerStars continues to attract massive interest from this particular sector, it could very well get back to the top.
