by Mario Alfonsi | Published on May 13, 2020 | Updated on May 13, 2020
After running the hugely successful Pennsylvania Spring Championship of Online Poker (PASCOOP) last month, PokerStars PA has announced another brand-new tournament for online poker players and fans in the Keystone State. “Pennsyl-MANIA” features a cool $250,000 guarantee – the biggest-ever guaranteed prize pool to be awarded in a single online poker tournament in Pennsylvania.
Pennsyl-MANIA will be a two-day affair, running on May 17-18 with a $200 buy-in. Players are allowed up to five re-entries until the end of late registration which is available during the first five hours of the tournament.
Players will battle it out until Level 20 on the first day, with the survivors reconvening the following day to play down to a winner.
Players may also enter the tournament for a cheaper price by taking part in satellites, with buy-ins starting from as low as $10. So far, the $250,000 guarantee is the largest ever in the short history of online poker in the state.
Pennsyl-MANIA Could Set New Prize Pool Record
At the end of November 2019, less than a month after becoming the first online poker room to go live in Pennsylvania, PokerStars PA hosed its first online tournament series, the Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP). The series was headlined by the $300 buy-in Main Event which had an initial $125,000 guarantee, however due to strong participation numbers, the event ended up awarding a total of $179,200 in prize money.
Just last month, PokerStars PA also hosted PASCOOP. The main highlight of the series was the $300 buy-in, $200,000-GTD Main Event, which previously held the record for the largest-guaranteed single tournament in Pennsylvania. The event drew a total of 1315 entries, generating $368,200 in total prize pool, almost double the initial guarantee.
The $100 buy-in Sunday Special, which awards $100,000 in prize money every week, is currently the biggest tournament on PokerStars’ PA’s weekly schedule.
With Pennsyl-MANIA featuring a lower entry fee than the high-tier PASCOOP Main Event, it will need to attract a bigger field to be able to hit a similar prize pool. But in terms of the guarantee on offer for such a buy-in, the tournament could end up attracting more players, and could potentially surpass PASCOOP Main Event’s total prize pool.
Cardex Promo Is Back
Additionally, PokerStars PA is also bringing back its popular Cardex promotion, which first ran on the PA market back in February. To be eligible, players must opt in by opening the Challenges Window on the PokerStars PA lobby. Players will win a cash prize when they match 5 Cardex cards to their NLHE hole cards. The promo is valid until May 24, and will award daily cash prizes of up to $5,000.
