World Championship Of Online Poker

The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is a series of poker tournaments hosted by the popular online poker room "PokerStars." The WCOOP takes place through the Internet, where poker players from all around the world can come together to compete for the millions of dollars in cash prizes that are awarded through the many tournaments in the World Championship of Online Poker. Read on to learn more about the World Championship of Online Poker and how it has evolved over the years into one of the most popular poker tournaments in the world.

The history of the World Championship of Online Poker

The WCOOP had its debut season in 2002. At this time, there were nine events that players could enter into. The buy-in for most of the events ranged between $109 and $530, with the buy-in for the No Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event pegged at $1,050. The entry numbers for each event in the 2002 WCOOP stayed in the hundreds. The $109 Limit Texas Hold'em event had the most entries this year, at 565, while the Main Event had 238 entries.

One year later, the WCOOP expanded in size, adding two additional events. 2003 is also the first year that the WCOOP would attract more than 1,000 entries in a single event. Both the $109 Limit Texas Hold'em event and the $320 No Limit Texas Hold'em event attracted more than 1,300 entries. In 2003, there were two $109 events, three $320 events, five $530 events, and the $1,050 Main Event.

The WCOOP more than doubled in size in 2004, attracting thousands of entrants across 12 events. This is the first year that the buy-in for the No Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event would be raised from $1,050 to $2,600. Although the entries for the Main Event dropped by nearly 50, almost all of the other events experienced an increase in the number of entrants. The 2004 WCOOP had three $215 events, two $320 events, five $530 events, and one $1,050 event, aside from the $2,600 Main Event. Ever since the 2004 WCOOP, there have been no more $109 events.

In 2005, the total prize pool for all of the events in the WCOOP would double from the 2004 prize pool of over $6 million. Over $12 million in prize money was spread over 15 events of the 2005 WCOOP. With its increasing success and popularity, the WCOOP was set to take on an even larger number of entries in 2005. This would be the first year that the WCOOP would have more than 2,000 entries in one event. In fact, both the $215 Pot Limit Texas Hold'em short-handed event and the $215 No Limit Texas Hold'em with rebuys had more than 2,000 entries. The $530 No Limit Texas Hold'em event had the most number of entries in 2005, with over 3,000 players. The 2005 $2,600 No Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event had nearly 1,500 entries.

The 2006 WCOOP had 18 events scheduled between September 16 and September 30, with the series culminating at the Main Event on the first of October. With 18 events in total, the 2006 WCOOP was set to break more records. 2006 is the first year that the WCOOP would have more than 4,000 entries in one event. The $530 No Limit Texas Hold'em had 4,495 entries, while the Main Event attracted over 2,500 entries. The $5,200 HORSE event was a new addition in the 2006 WCOOP, and this was the biggest buy-in for any event in WCOOP history. Two players made WCOOP history in 2006: one for being the first player to win 2 WCOOP bracelets and the other for being the first player to win 2 WCOOP bracelets in one year.

In 2007, the WCOOP did not slow down one bit. A total of 23 events were open for players to join. To date, the 2007 WCOOP holds the record for having the most entries in a WCOOP Main Event, coming just two entries shy of 3,000. The $530 No-Limit Hold'em event continued to be a successful event, attracting 6,025 entries. In the 2006 WCOOP, there were eight $215 events, five $320 events, six $530 events, two $1,050 events, one $5,200 event, and the $2,600 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event. Controversy arose in the 2007 WCOOP Main Event when the original winner was disqualified after an investigation by PokerStars. Instead, the prize went to the runner-up.

The 2008 WCOOP featured 33 events. As a testament to the continuing growth of the WCOOP, the 2008 WCOOP $530 No-Limit Hold'em event holds the record for having the most entries in WCOOP event history. A few changes were made in 2008, including an increase in a few of the event buy-in prices. The buy-in for the Main Event was increased from $2,600 in the previous year to $5,200 in 2008.

Winners in the World Championship of Online Poker

A list of the Main Event winners:
* 2002 – MultiMarine won $65,450.00
* 2003 - DeOhGee won $222,750.00
* 2004 - Ragde won $424,945.26
* 2005 – Panella86 won $577,342.00
* 2006 – area23JC won $670,194.00
* 2007 – ka$ino won $1,378,330.50
* 2008 – ckingusc won $1,265,432.23

Currently, USA holds the record for the most bracelet winners by country with 78. Sweden comes in second place with 12 bracelet winners and Canada comes in third with 9 bracelet winners.

Entering into the World Championship of Online Poker

Basically, anyone who owns an account at Poker Stars is eligible to join in WCOOP events, as long as your account is in good standing with PokerStars. There are a number of ways to enter into a WCOOP event. The first option is to register and pay for the event buy-in. There are three modes of payment: cash, T$, and W$. T$ and W$ are a form of payment that was invented by PokerStars. T$ refers to “poker tournament dollars,” which players can use to enter into any PokerStars tournament, including the WCOOP. W$, on the other hand, can be used to join into special events sponsored by PokerStars, like the WCOOP, the World Series of Poker, the European Poker Tour, and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Players can also win their WCOOP event seat by winning one of the many satellite tournaments that are affiliated with the WCOOP. Satellite tournaments usually have substantially lower buy-in rates than the buy-ins of the actual WCOOP events. Another option is to try and win a spot in a WCOOP event through free tournaments. If you have acquired enough Frequent Player Points at PokerStars, you can enter into freeroll tournaments. Check out the PokerStars website to find the satellite events and freeroll tournaments that you might be eligible for so you can start playing your way to an event seat.

As one of the largest and most popular online poker sites in the world, PokerStars definitely has what it takes to offer a quality tournament series like the WCOOP to its millions of members. Throughout the years, the WCOOP has continued to expand and develop to take in more entries and offer bigger prizes. It seems as though the WCOOP will continue to grow in the upcoming years as PokerStars gets ready for the 2009 WCOOP.