Every poker tournament player knows that Sundays are the best day of the week to get their grind on. This coming Sunday, October 1, is the Sunday that no multi-table tournament grinder can afford to miss because it is the day that the 2023 World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Events shuffle up and deal at PokerStars.
The high edition Main Event of any WCOOP is the online poker tournament everyone dreams of winning. Becoming the WCOOP Main Event champion comes with a ridiculous amount of kudos from the poker community and, since 2006, a seven-figure top prize.
All three 2023 WCOOP No-Limit Hold’em Main Events explode into action at 5:30 p.m. BST on October 1, with the trio of Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event commencing slightly later at 8:05 p.m. BST. The No-Limit Hold’em editions come with buy-ins of $109, $1,050, and a whopping $10,300, and guarantees of $2.5 million, $4 million, and a cool $6 million, respectively.
Everyone in the $10,300 NLHE Main Event sits down armed with 250,000 chips, and plays to a 30-minute clock where the blinds start at 500/1,000/125a. Day 1 sees entrants fight their way through 15 levels before the tournament pauses until 5:35 p.m. BST on October 2. Late registration is permitted up to five minutes before the start of Day 2.
Day 2 continues until only 40 players remain, with play resuming at 5:30 p.m. on October 3. Day 3 concludes when the nine-handed final table is set, with that final table kicking off at 5:30 p.m. BST on October 4, and continuing until one player has all of the chips in play in their stack.
Follow the $10K NLHE and PLO WCOOP Main Event action
PokerNews‘ live reporting team is on hand bringing industry-leading coverage of the $10,300 NLHE Main Event and the $10,300 PLO Main Event from the first cards being pitched to the champion becoming known.
Of course, PokerStars being PokerStars, there are a plethora of cut-price satellites feeding into the WCOOP Main Events, starting at only $0.55. You can also redeem passes won from the value-packed Power Path promotion for WCOOP Main Event tickets.
Past WCOOP NLHE Main Event Champions
Luis “luis_faria” Faria is one player who is guaranteed to play in the 2023 WCOOP $10,300 NLHE Main Event because he is the defending champion. Nobody has managed to successfully defend their title and become a back-to-back champion since the inaugural event in 2002. However, Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza won two consecutive Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Events, so such an unlikely event is possible, and Faria is a talented grinder.
Faria banked $1,293,825 for his victory in 2022, the 16th straight year the champion has become an instant millionaire. Six WCOOP Main Event champions have seen scores of over $1.5 million land in their PokerStars account, with the $2,278,097 that Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks collected in 2010 being the record sum awarded.
Every WCOOP Main Event is memorable, if only for the massive prizes the tournament awards, but a handful stand out from the crowd, and not always for the right reasons.
The 2007 and the 2018 WCOOP Main Events were shrouded in controversy when their initial champions were later disqualified and new champions installed. The aforementioned Marks banked almost $2.3 million in 2010, and in 2014, the German phenom that is Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz emerged victoriously.
However, nobody can forget Marat “maratik” Sharafutdinov‘s victory in 2012. The Russian micro-stakes grinder was usually found playing more than his fair share of $1 and $2 tournaments when he won a $5,200 WCOOP Main Event seat via a 40 FPP satellite.
Sharafutdinov was in second place when the final six players began deal negotiations. The PokerStars software suggested an ICM payout of $922,907.26 for the micro-stakes-grinding Russian, to which he famously typed in the chatbox “I wont [sp] million” sparking a million and one memes. Despite wanting a million, Sharafutdinov agreed to give up $22,000 of his life-changing payout, mostly to appease chip leader and online legend Michael “MunchenHB” Telker. The deal left $100,000 more than the eventual champion, and as luck would have it, Sharafutdinov came away with the victory and he got his million, $1,000,907, to be precise.
| Year | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $10,300 | 760 | $7,600,000 | Luis “luis_faira” Faria | $1,293,825 |
| 2021 | $5,200 | 1,965 | $10,000,000 | CrazyLissy | $1,499,942 |
| 2020 | $5,200 | 1,977 | $10,000,000 | Andre “PTFisherman23” Marques | $1,147,270 |
| 2019 | $5,200 | 2,236 | $11,180,000 | Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell | $1,665,962 |
| 2018 | $5,200 | 2,044 | $10,220,000 | Ezequiel “eze88888” Waigel | $1,529,000* |
| 2017 | $5,200 | 2,183 | $10,915,000 | Steven “SvZff” Van Zadelhoff | $1,624,502 |
| 2016 | $5,200 | 2,091 | $10,052,879 | Jonas “llJaYJaYll” Lauck | $1,517,541 |
| 2015 | $5,200 | 1,995 | $10,000,000 | Kristof “Coenaldinho7” Coenen | $1,300,000 |
| 2014 | $5,200 | 2,142 | $10,710,000 | Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz | $1,300,000 |
| 2013 | $5,200 | 2,133 | $10,665,000 | David “PlayinWasted” Kaufmann | $1,493,499 |
| 2012 | $5,200 | 1,825 | $9,125,000 | Marat “maratik” Sharafutdinov | $1,000,907 |
| 2011 | $5,200 | 1,627 | $8,135,000 | Thomas “Kallllle” Pedersen | $1,260,018 |
| 2010 | $5,200 | 2,443 | $12,215,000 | Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks | $2,278,097 |
| 2009 | $5,200 | 2,144 | $10,720,000 | Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko | $1,715,200 |
| 2008 | $5,200 | 2,185 | $10,925,000 | Carter “ckingusc” King | $1,265,432 |
| 2007 | $2,600 | 2,998 | $7,495,000 | Kyle “ka$ino1” Schroeder | $1,378,330* |
| 2006 | $2,600 | 2,510 | $6,275,000 | JC “area23JC” Tran | $670,194 |
| 2005 | $2,600 | 1,494 | $3,735,000 | Jordan “Panella86” Berkowitz | $577,342 |
| 2004 | $2,600 | 843 | $2,104,500 | Edgar “Radge” Skjervold | $424,945 |
| 2003 | $1,050 | 891 | $891,000 | Joseph “DeOhGee” Cordi | $222,750 |
| 2002 | $1,050 | 238 | $238,000 | MultiMarine | $65,450 |
*promoted to champion after original champion disqualified
Use the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar to Plan Your WCOOP
Although you can bookmark this article and cast your eye over the 2023 WCOOP schedule whenever you wish, you should also check out the incredible PokerNews Tournament Calendar.
Our free-to-use tool has several filters that make finding your perfect poker tournament, be that a WCOOP event or otherwise, a breeze. The PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar allows you to register for tournaments with a couple of mouse clicks, so you need never miss out ever again.