PokerStars Launches 25th WCOOP With $40 Million in Guarantees
PokerStars fired up the 25th World Championship of Online Poker on September 6, and the anniversary edition runs through September 30. The 2026 WCOOP packs 121 numbered events into 350 individual tournaments, with total guarantees near $40 million, according to a tally by Poker Industry PRO. Every tournament winner takes home a WCOOP trophy, so 350 players will end the month as champions of one of online poker’s longest-running series.
Inside the 25th Edition of the WCOOP
WCOOP is one of the anchors of the PokerStars calendar, and the 25th running is a genuine milestone for the series. PokerStars built the schedule around 121 numbered events that break down into 350 separate tournaments.
Buy-ins start at just $5.50 and climb to a $25,000 Super High Roller, so the series leaves room for micro-stakes grinders and deep-pocketed pros. Most events run Low, Medium, and High buy-in tiers.
The $40 million guarantee figure includes the $5 million Sunday Million 20th Anniversary event, which shared opening day on September 6.
The 2026 series produced a headline fast. As WCOOP got underway, Espen Jorstad picked up his third career WCOOP title, according to PokerNews.
Six Main Events Carry $6.5 Million in Guarantees
The centerpiece is a set of six Main Events with a combined $6.5 million guaranteed. PokerStars splits them across two days, with No-Limit Hold’em on September 27 and Pot-Limit Omaha on September 28.
Here is how the six break down:
- NLHE, Sep 27: $109 Low, $1.25 million guaranteed
- NLHE, Sep 27: $1,050 Medium, $2 million guaranteed
- NLHE, Sep 27: $10,300 High, the World Championship of NLHE, $2.5 million guaranteed
- PLO, Sep 28: $109, $100,000 guaranteed
- PLO, Sep 28: $1,050, $250,000 guaranteed
- PLO, Sep 28: $10,300, $400,000 guaranteed
The $10,300 NLHE High event wears the World Championship of NLHE label, making it the flagship of the whole schedule. The Pot-Limit Omaha crowd gets its own championship day right after. If you are still learning four-card poker before firing one of those, our Omaha poker rules guide covers the basics.
A Schedule Spanning At Least 18 Poker Variants
WCOOP is a mixed-game player’s playground. The 2026 schedule spans at least 18 poker variants, so you can jump well beyond Hold’em without leaving the series.
Alongside No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, the lineup includes PLO Hi-Lo (PLO8), NLO8, HORSE, Razz, Badugi, Stud, 8-Game, and both 2-7 Lowball draw games. Formats reach past standard freezeouts into Progressive Knockout and Mystery Bounty events.
Recurring PokerStars staples also sit on the calendar, including the Thursday Thrill, Super Tuesday, and Sunday Warm-Up.
The First WCOOP on the New PokerStars Network
This is the first WCOOP played under the newly formed PokerStars Network. Betfair Poker UK moved onto PokerStars software and now shares a single player pool with PokerStars (dot-com).
A larger shared pool means bigger fields, which helps PokerStars back guarantees at this scale. For readers weighing where the action lives now, our guide to the best online poker sites lays out the choices.
One note for US readers. WCOOP runs on the international PokerStars platform, which is separate from the US-regulated PokerStars on FanDuel rooms, so players in regulated states cannot buy into the dot-com series.
Why the 25th WCOOP Matters
A WCOOP trophy still carries real weight in the online game, and PokerStars leaned into that history for the 25th edition. Steve Clarricoats, the room’s Associate Director of Online Scheduling, framed the stakes plainly.
“A WCOOP victory is a piece of poker history. Every champion joins an exclusive group of players who have conquered one of the toughest online tournament series in the world,” Clarricoats said. He added that for professional players it can be one of the most important titles of a career. For recreational players, he said, it is an achievement they have dreamed of.
Last year, Gilles Simon won the 2025 WCOOP $10,300 Main Event, a reminder of what is on the line when the flagship plays out. With 350 titles up for grabs before September 30, the 2026 series has plenty of history left to write.
