Less than a month after its launch, PokerStars Michigan has now recorded the highest online poker traffic in the whole of US. The immediate success enjoyed by PokerStars in the Wolverine State paved the way for the first-ever Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) which is currently underway and offers over $1 million in guarantees.
Online poker traffic portal PokerScout stated that PokerStars MI currently attracts an average of 500 concurrent cash game players, more than double the number playing on WSOP.com’s shared pool combining New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware. The triumvirate is currently recording an average of just 230 players across the three markets.
PokerStars MI also surpasses its Pennsylvania counterpart, which previously topped the online traffic rankings with a seven-day average of 400 players. PokerStars NJ lags far behind with just 130 players.
The rapid surge in traffic may be attributed to the fact that Michigan is a relatively new market, with games running for just less than a month. The enthusiasm is certainly high, with local players now allowed to play regulated online poker after a long wait.
With PokerStars being the only online poker site currently operating in Michigan, it is absorbing all of the massive traffic, and while its monopoly might end soon, the operator wants to enjoy the moment and maintain the numbers by bringing its popular tournament series to the state.
MICOOP With $1M GTD Underway
MICOOP kicked off on February 20, and will run until March 8, featuring a huge guarantee of $1 million, spread out across a total of 60 events. The schedule offers a wide range of buy-ins of between $10 and $500, with plenty of variants and formats to choose from, including no-limit hold’em, progressive knockout, Omaha, draw, stud, mixed games, re-entries and freezeouts.
The series will culminate in the $300 buy-in Main Event which comes with $125,000 in guaranteed prize pool. It has a mini version as well, which has an entry fee of only $50, and a guarantee of $35,000. Both events will get underway on March 7.
Michigan Set to Welcome New Online Poker Room
Poker players in Michigan can only play on PokerStars at the moment, but that could change soon, with at least two more operators poised to join the market.
BetMGM is expected to become the second online poker room to launch in the state, after obtaining approval from the gaming regulators, though no official timeline has been announced yet. 888 also applied for a license and are now awaiting approval.
