- After setting new records in the SCOOP, PokerStars’ most prestigious tournament suffered a rare overlay last week.
- The tournament needed 10,000 entries but it attracted just 8984 entries.
- It is the biggest overlay since the infamous Anniversary edition of the Sunday Million in February 2018.
Just a week after PokerStars set new records in awarding over $105 million during the SCOOP series, the operator’s most prestigious tournament of the week, the Sunday Million, suffered a rare overlay—it missed its guarantee by a six-figure amount.
Needing to require 10,000 total entries to cover the $1 million guarantee, the tournament could attract just 8984 (6996 unique players and 2018 re-entries), leaving a $101,600 overlay and falling short of its guarantee by over 10%.
It is the biggest overlay since the infamous Anniversary edition of the Sunday Million in February 2018, which caused a huge $1.2 million overlay. This remains today the largest overlay in an online poker tournament by any operator.
Last Sunday’s tournament also marks the first overlay at its new buy-in. In January, PokerStars cut its buy-in to $109 from the traditional $215, the biggest change to its format in more than a decade.
Such a move was taken in hopes to make the tournament appeal to “more and more players,” it was said at the time.
Declining activity at this time of year is not new, particularly after such a successful SCOOP series. However, its week-over-week drops raises the question whether the operator will continue with this format over the coming months.
