PokerStars SCOOP Pays $90 Million in Prizes - Statistics

PokerStars’s iconic SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker) is over for this year. While it’s not the largest SCOOP tournament the brand has hosted, it’s certainly not a small one. We look at this year’s performance compared to last year’s and what it means for the Championships.

The 2024 SCOOP is the 16th edition of this event, with a $90 million prize pool. Its prize pool was the seventh-largest Championship. However, its participation levels made it the fifth-largest Championship. It started on May 5th and boasted 25 days of action.

This Championships closely mirrored last year’s edition, but it had more numbered events. With 128 numbered events, all having three buy-in tiers, there were 384 events in total.

Of these tournaments, most surpassed their guaranteed prize pools, including the Main Events. However, 9% of the tournaments (around 34 events) overlaid, resulting in a shortfall of about $354,000. 

This shortfall was mainly due to the lower participation figures in mid and high-tiered events. Despite the lower participation in these events, the overall participation was still excellent. The interest was primarily due to the low buy-in of $109 for the Main Event.

The overall Spring Championships statistics show that the Championship has paid out just over $1.4 billion in guarantees. It also boasts over 14.8 million participants over its lifetime. Other statistics to know are:

• Number of Events: 3301
• Avg Guarantee/Series: Over $88.4 million
• Avg Guarantee/Tournament: Over $428k
• Avg Participants/Tournament: 4499

The overall SCOOP has experienced a slight decline compared to last year. In 2023, the total guarantee paid out was almost $92 million, with 1.27 million series entrants. 

The total number of series entries remains the same for 2024, but its average entries per tournament dropped by 5.5%. This drop is mainly due to the broader schedule of tournaments, which features an additional 21 events compared to 2023.

The combined prize pools of the three Main Events also dropped from around $12.3 million to $11.7 million in 2024. Lastly, the average prize pool per event saw a 7% decrease from $253k to $235k. Despite these figures, the overall series had a solid finish. 

Around 23 of the tournaments boasted a minimum of 10,000 participants. Further, around 11 events had a prize pool exceeding $1 million. Considering the collected rake and $354k overlay, PokerStars still made about $6 million in profits.

Though SCOOP is over, the fun is still going strong. Players can participate in the SCOOP Afterparty, which started on June 2nd and will run till the 10th. It’ll pay out around $9 million over nine days and has 51 numbered events. 

However, there are 136 events, as not all 51 will have the three buy-in tiers. The buy-ins range between $2.20 and $1,050, with $1.5 million in guarantees for the Mystery Bounty Main Events. 

Still, it cannot compare to GGPoker’s GG World Festival, which boasts a record-breaking $250 million guarantee. This ongoing event will continue until June 11th, once again setting the scene for the future of online poker.