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August has arrived, and with it comes scorching temperatures in most parts of the country. However, Michigan has experienced relatively milder weather in recent weeks. Despite this, the competing online poker sites in Michigan have organized tournament series, providing players with a compelling reason to stay indoors.
Last week, PokerStars Michigan’s Champions Preseason series and BetMGM Poker Michigan’s latest edition of its BetMGM Online Poker series clashed. While PokerStars MI maintained its advantage in terms of participant numbers and total prize pools, BetMGM Poker MI had its most impressive performance to date with the monthly series.
PokerStars MI Champions Preseason series awards $460K
From Aug. 13-23, the Preseason series of the 24-tournament Champions was held on PokerStars MI. The series showcased a wide range of buy-ins, starting from $1 and $2 and going all the way up to a high roller event with a buy-in of $300.
The Michigan online poker series with a football theme seems to have made a big impact in the local scene. Each of the 24 events managed to gather enough participants to surpass their guarantees. In the end, the tournaments attracted a total of over 6,000 entries, resulting in players collectively winning a prize pool of just over $460,000 throughout the series.
The Main Event, a guaranteed tournament with a $12,500 prize, concluded on Monday after a two-day duration. With a buy-in of $200, a total of 266 entries were recorded, resulting in a prize pool that exceeded the guarantee by almost double, reaching an impressive amount of nearly $24,500.
Ultimately, “HarryTheHammer” emerged victorious, securing the coveted first place and receiving a generous reward of almost $14,500 through a negotiated agreement among the final four players. Alongside the substantial cash prize, “HarryTheHammer” also earned a bonus of two tickets to attend any professional football match, which hold an approximate value of $1,000.
The Champions Preseason series events came with several side promotions, including free tickets. As part of the series, there was an early freeroll tournament where the top 100 players won a $10 “Freebet” to be used in the FOX Bet Sportsbook. Additionally, players had the chance to win free tickets to the Michigan Championship of Online Poker.
Let’s take a glance at the participation rate and reward funds for the 24-event PokerStars MI Champions Preseason series.
PokerStars MI: Champions Preseason series by the numbers
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Entries | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: NLHE Champions Preseason Kickoff | $100 | $12,500 | 221 | $20,287.80 |
| 2: NLHE Champions Preseason Mini Kickoff | $30 | $6,000 | 374 | $10,210.20 |
| 3: NLHE Friday Night Light, Turbo | $1 | $250 | 319 | $290.29 |
| 4: NLHE Spiked! Fast Friday, 6-Max, Turbo | $75 | $5,000 | 126 | $8,599.50 |
| 5: NLHE Pick Six: Win the Button, 6-Max | $30 | $2,500 | 158 | $4,313.40 |
| 6: NLHE $40 Dash: 6-Max, Turbo, Zoom | $40 | $7,500 | 254 | $9,245.60 |
| 7: NLHE Sunday Special, Preseason Edition | $100 | $50,000 | 624 | $57,283.20 |
| 8: NLHE Sunday Second Chance, Turbo | $50 | $5,000 | 190 | $8,645.00 |
| 9: NLHE Two Minute Drill: 6-Max, 2-Min. Levels, Hyper | $20 | $2,000 | 122 | $2,293.60 |
| 10: NLHE Spiked! Battle Royale: Bigstack, 6-Max, PKO | $200 | $20,000 | 130 | $24,180.00 |
| 11: PLO8 8-Max | $30 | $2,000 | 189 | $5,159.70 |
| 12: Mixed NLHE/PLO The Audible: 6-Max | $30 | $3,000 | 118 | $3,221.40 |
| 13: NLHE Spiked! BigStack Super Tuesday | $200 | $25,000 | 164 | $30,504.00 |
| 14: NLHE The Big Game: BigStack High Roller | $300 | $30,000 | 145 | $40,600.00 |
| 15: NLHE $2 Conversion Turbo Progressive Total KO | $2 | $500 | 368 | $669.76 |
| 16: NLHE Spiked! Mini Thursday Thrill PKO | $75 | $12,500 | 322 | $21,976.50 |
| 17: NLHE 4-Max | $75 | $8,000 | 196 | $13,377.00 |
| 18: NLHE Bounty Builder Bowl PKO | $200 | $25,000 | 153 | $28,458.00 |
| 19: NLHE Mini Bounty Builder Bowl PKO | $20 | $4,500 | 523 | $9,518.60 |
| 20: H.O.R.S.E., 6-Max | $30 | $2,000 | 104 | $2,839.20 |
| 21: NLHE Main Event | $200 | $80,000 | 626 | $116,436.00 |
| 22: Preseason PLO | $100 | $10,000 | 152 | $13,953.60 |
| 23: NLHE The Final Cut | $100 | $12,500 | 266 | $24,418.80 |
| 24: NLHE The O.T., 6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PKO | $20 | $1,500 | 211 | $3,966.80 |
| TOTALS | 6,055 | $460,447.95 |
During the same period, PokerStars organized parallel tournaments on its Pennsylvania and New Jersey platforms. In Pennsylvania, player participation exceeded that of Michigan, resulting in a collective prize pool of over $592,000 across 25 events. On the other hand, the 20-event series on PokerStars NJ awarded players a total of slightly over $195,000.
BetMGM Online Series awards new high of $432K despite overlays
In addition to the ongoing series hosted by PokerStars MI, BetMGM Poker MI also held its monthly BetMGM Online Series from Aug. 15-22. Traditionally consisting of 10 tournaments, this month’s series included an extra 11th event. This decision proved beneficial as the total number of participants reached nearly 3,800, resulting in a total prize pool exceeding $432,000. These figures mark the highest amount awarded thus far in the five editions of the BetMGM Online Series.
The amount awarded during the first BetMGM Online Series in April, just over $360,000, was surpassed by the current amount. Additionally, the total guarantees of $330,000 were easily exceeded, despite overlays occurring in six out of the 11 tournaments. These overlays required BetMGM Poker MI to contribute an extra $46,500 to the prize pools.
The most significant overlay occurred during the recent event, specifically the finale with a buy-in of $1,060 and a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000. However, since only 85 participants joined, there was a generous $15,000 overlay.
In the meantime, two events exceeded their expected outcomes. Firstly, the initial $215 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, which was supposed to have a $20,000 guarantee, witnessed a surprising turn of events. With a total of 407 entries, the prize pool skyrocketed to $81,400, surpassing the original amount by over four times.
Additionally, the $20 “mini” event once again attracted a massive number of participants. BetMGM Poker MI decided to raise the event’s guarantee to $15,000, a significant increase from its previous guarantee of $5,000. Surpassing expectations, the event garnered 2,249 entries, resulting in a prize pool exceeding $41,000.
The turnout and prize pools for the August edition of the 11-event BetMGM Online Poker series concluded as follows.
BetMGM Poker MI: BetMGM Online Series by the numbers
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Entries | Prize Pool | Overlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: NLHE 8-Max | $535 | $50,000 | 72 | $50,000 | $14,000 |
| 2: NLHE 1/2 Prize | $109 | $35,000 | 307 | $35,000 | $4,300 |
| 3: NLHE 8-Max | $215 | $20,000 | 407 | $81,400 | n/a |
| 4: NLHE 6-Max | $215 | $20,000 | 135 | $27,000 | n/a |
| 5: NLHE 8-Max | $215 | $20,000 | 130 | $26,000 | n/a |
| 6: PLO 8-Max | $109 | $10,000 | 82 | $10,000 | $1,800 |
| 7: NLHE 6-Max Turbo | $109 | $10,000 | 113 | $11,300 | n/a |
| 8: NLHE 8-Max Progressive KO Bounty | $215 | $25,000 | 87 | $25,000 | $7,600 |
| 9: NLHE 6-Max | $215 | $25,000 | 106 | $25,000 | $3,800 |
| 10: NLHE 8-Max Mini | $20 | $15,000 | 2,249 | $41,606.50 | n/a |
| 11: NLHE 8-Max | $1,060 | $100,000 | 85 | $100,000 | $15,000 |
| TOTALS | 3,773 | $432,307 | $46,500 |
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