World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars

WCOOP 2026 features

• 

  4.5

  #1

  4.5

  PokerStars

  Independent

  

  Bonus

  100% up to $600

  

  Rakeback

  up to 60%

  ReviewSign up

  

  United States is not accepted

  18+ | T&C applyPlay Responsibly

  Details

WCOOP 2026 stands out not only for the scale of its schedule but also for its wide range of formats and buy-in levels. The series features tournaments for players with different bankrolls, dedicated championships in less common poker disciplines, and major events with multi-million-dollar guarantees.

Below are the key features of WCOOP 2026:

1. The schedule features 350 tournaments, including 121 numbered events across three buy-in levels: Low, Medium, and High.
2. Buy-ins start at $5.50 and go up to $25,000. Most tournaments have buy-ins under $1,050.
3. About 20% of the schedule consists of tournaments of rare disciplines, including NLO8, HORSE, 8-Game, 2-7 Triple Draw, Stud, Razz, and Badugi. Many of these formats are rarely, if ever, featured in major online poker series.
4. The winner of each tournament receives a special WCOOP trophy.
5. WCOOP 108-H will be the series' flagship event. The buy-in is $10,300, and the guaranteed prize pool is at least $2.5 million. Last year, Gilles "TaxationIsTheft" Simon won this event out of 407 entries and earned $736,327.
6. WCOOP Games. A competition between ambassador teams. The main prizes are $1,050 tickets to Main Event 108-M.

The full schedule for the 2026 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)

World Championship Events

• $5,200 NLHE 6-Max Championship $400,000 GTD, September 6
• $1,050 HORSE Championship $50,000 GTD, September 7
• $1,050 Razz Championship $40,000 GTD, September 10
• $1,050 NLHE PKO Championship $500,000 GTD, September 13
• $1,050 Triple Draw Championship $40,000 GTD, September 15
• $1,050 PLO8 Championship $100,000 GTD, September 17
• $215 Women’s NLHE Championship $10,000 GTD, September
• $2,100 8-Game Championship $80,000 GTD, September 24

Main Events

All major tournaments will start on September 27. As usual, players will be able to choose from three No-Limit Hold’em events at different buy-in levels: 

1. 108-L: NLHE Main Event, $109 – $1.25M Gtd
2. 108-M: NLHE Main Event, $1,050 – $2M Gtd
3. 108-H: NLHE Main Event, $10,300 – $2.5M Gtd

And three in Omaha:

1. 111-L: PLO Main Event, $109 – $100K Gtd
2. 111-M: PLO Main Event, $1,050 – $250K Gtd
3. 111-H: PLO Main Event, $10,300 – $400K Gtd

It will be possible to qualify for events via step satellites from the very beginning of the series.

Satellites

Satellites for all WCOOP tournaments are available with buy-ins starting from $0.55.

One of the fastest ways to win a ticket to a WCOOP event is via special Spin & Go tournaments, with buy-ins starting at $0.75.

From September 6 to 26, the WCOOP Lucky Dip will award tournament tickets worth a total of $500,000. The rules are simple: players only need to participate in any WCOOP tournament for a chance to win an additional ticket to the next event through the daily Lucky Dip.

On September 6, the $55 Power Path Express will take place. It will award WCOOP Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pass packages worth more than $175,000 in total, as well as Main Event tickets.

WCOOP Games

WCOOP Games is a team competition in which four teams, built around PokerStars ambassadors, compete through a series of Face-Off challenges.

The teams are led by:

• Team Spraggy: Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg
• Team Marle: Marle "MarlzTV" Spragg
• Team Seb: Sebastian "peace&loove" Huber
• Team Del & Phil: Brazilian PokerStars commentators Del & Phil

Each team will have three Centrolls with a buy-in of just $0.01. A total of 12 qualifying tournaments will take place, with three for each team. The dates are August 23, August 30, and September 6. The winner of each Centroll earns a spot on the corresponding team. As a result, each team will consist of three Centroll winners.

Importantly, once a player has qualified for one team, they can’t qualify for another. The team competition begins after the qualification stage. The three qualifiers from each team are automatically registered for the corresponding $109 WCOOP tournament.

The winner is determined according to the Last Player Standing format: the team whose final remaining player lasts longer in the tournament than the last player from the opposing team wins.

All three players on the winning team in the finals will receive a $1,050 ticket to the WCOOP Main Event 108-M.

Additional Freerolls

• $3,500 for the community of the team that won the match between Team Spraggy and Team Del & Phil.
• $3,500 for the community of the team that won the match between Team Marle and Team Seb.
• $7,000 for the community of the team that won the final match.

WCOOP 2026: Our Opinion of the Series

WCOOP has long been considered a benchmark for tournament series and remains a unique event in modern online poker. In our view, its main advantage lies not only in the number of tournaments and prize pool sizes but also in its capacity to bring players with vastly different interests and bankrolls together at the same tables. The WCOOP 2026 schedule includes affordable tournaments with buy-ins starting at $5.50, top high-roller events costing $25,000, and an extensive satellite network. Around 20% of the MTTs feature rare poker variants.

One of the key strengths of WCOOP 2026 is its range of additional activities, including the Lucky Dip with $500,000 worth of tournament tickets, Power Path Express, special Spin & Go tournaments, and the WCOOP Games team competition. These activities add a competitive element to the series and allow less experienced players to qualify for top-tier events.

Overall, we believe WCOOP 2026 is a full-scale poker festival designed to appeal to the widest possible audience. It offers accessible qualification routes, major guarantees, less common poker variants, championship titles, and additional promotions. The balance between mass-market tournaments and high-stakes events remains WCOOP’s main competitive advantage, helping PokerStars maintain the series’ status as one of the largest events of the year in online poker.

Got a question?

Let's chat:

Got a question? Let's chat:

Anton

online

Head of Partnerships & Support

Live chat

messengerEmailmessengerTelegrammessengerWhatsappmessengerDiscordmessengerTeams