PokerStars PA is hosting another huge tournament this May! “Pennsyl-MANIA” will take place on May 17-18, featuring $250,000 in guaranteed prize pool, by far the biggest single-tournament guarantee offered in the Keystone State since it opened its regulated online poker market in 2019.
Pennsyl-MANIA features a $200 buy-in, and kicks off Sunday night, May 17 at 5:00pm. Players will compete in the first 20 levels which will run for approximately seven hours. Surviving players will resume the action on Monday, May 18 at 7:00pm, during which a winner will be determined.
PokerStars PA is also hosting a series of satellites until Sunday, with affordable buy-ins. For as low as $10, players can earn a seat to Pennsyl-MANIA and win a share of the hefty $250K guarantee. Players can re-enter up to five times, within the late registration period (first five hours of the tournament). This will be another huge opportunity for Pennsylvanians to compete for big prizes and boost their bankroll.
Pennsyl-MANIA Could Smash PASCOOP’s Prize Pool Record
Apart from offering the largest guarantee of $250,000, Pennsyl-MANIA could also set a new record for total prize pool. Last month, PokerStars PA hosted the first-ever Pennsylvania Spring Championship of Online Poker (PASCOOP) which culminated in the record-breaking $300 buy-in Main Event. The event had an initial guarantee of $200,000, but ended up attracting 1315 players to generate a total prize pool of $368,200, that’s about 84% higher than the original guarantee.
While the upcoming Pennsyl-MANIA will need to draw more entries to match such a huge prize pool, it’s entirely possible for it to smash that record because of its price point. Compared to the PASCOOP Main Event and the $100 buy-in $100K-GTD Sunday Special, there’s certainly bigger value to be won in Pennsyl-MANIA, and this will likely entice more players.
Cardex Promotion Returns
PokerStars PA has also reintroduced its Cardex promotion which gives online poker players in Pennsylvania the chance to win up to $5,000 in daily cash prizes. The popular promo, which was first rolled out in the PA market in February, is also currently running in other PokerStars’ regulated markets all over the globe.
To be able to participate, players must register to the promo first. This can be done by logging in to the PokerStars PA lobby and then opening the “Challenges” window. After opting-in, players are then assigned their first Cardex card of a particular rank. The ranking of the Cardex cards is similar with the regular deck of cards, only that the Cardex cards come in either of two colors – black or red.
To win a prize, the player must match the Cardex card with one of their hole cards while playing in a No-Limit Hold’em cash game with at least three players. The player only needs to match the rank and color — for instance if you are dealt a king of hearts or a king of diamonds and your Cardex card is a red king, then a match is made.
If you are able to match five Cardex cards, you will receive a random cash prize which can go as high as $5,000! Players can win a cash prize via the Cardex promo every day until May 24.
PokerStars PA Continues To Grow
PokerStars PA only launched in November 2019, becoming the first and currently the only online poker room to go live in the state. The site has continued to attract high traffic especially since mid-March when land-based casinos were temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, PokerStars PA recorded its biggest revenue of more than $3.13 million, and that figure was most likely surpassed in April when the site hosted PASCOOP. According to online traffic monitoring site PokerScout, PokerStars PA is currently enjoying a seven-day average of 850 players, with the number peaking to over 1,700 players within 24 hours, a significant increase from the seven-day average of 350 players and 24-hour peak of 800 players recorded in mid-February