PokerStars WCOOP 2026 lines up $6.5m in Main Event guarantees for Sept 27-28

PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) 2026 moves into its final stretch this week, with six Main Events scheduled for September 27-28 and a combined $6.5 million in guarantees. The festival runs through September 30, 2026.

PokerStars said WCOOP 2026 includes 121 events and 350 total tournaments across High, Medium, and Low tiers. Buy-ins range from $5.50 to $25,000, spanning multiple poker formats.

The operator highlighted early-series results from several high-profile online pros. Patrick “pads1161” Leonard won the $530 NLE Turbo for $15,428, taking his WCOOP title count to 15—one behind Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser, according to PokerStars. Joao “Naza114” Vieira won the $1,050 PLO8 World Championship for $27,202 (121 entries) for his 14th WCOOP title. Niklas “Lena900” Astedt collected two titles—$1,050 PLO and $5,200 Thursday Thrill HR PKO—for $103,281 in combined prize money and bounties, reaching 14 career WCOOP titles and tying Denis “aDrENalin710” Strebkov in second on PokerStars’ all-time list.

In other results cited by PokerStars, Ole “wizowizo” Schemion won the $10,300 PKO High Roller for $139,969, while Renan “Internett93o” Bruschi won the $1,050 NLHE Turbo for $21,190 for his 12th career WCOOP title and third of the series. Vanessa “Niffller” Kade won the $215 Women’s World Championship for $4,049 (75 entries), with PokerStars Ambassador Marle “MarlzTV” Spragg finishing third for $2,269. PokerStars also said Brazilians lead the WCOOP 2026 country leaderboard with 58 titles, followed by the UK with 32 and Austria with 16.

The six Main Events start with three NLHE tournaments on September 27, followed by three PLO tournaments on September 28. PokerStars listed the schedule as: $109 NLHE Main Event L ($1.25M gtd), $1,050 NLHE Main Event M ($2M gtd), and $10,300 NLHE Main Event H/NLHE Championship ($2.5M gtd) on September 27; then $109 PLO Main Event L ($100,000 gtd), $1,050 PLO Main Event M ($250,000 gtd), and $10,300 PLO Main Event H/PLO Championship ($400,000 gtd) on September 28. The company said players can qualify via satellites from $0.55, special edition Spin & Go’s from $0.75, and WCOOP Lucky Dip, where $500,000 in WCOOP tickets are available.