The Winter Series at PokerStars Ontario concluded last weekend, with the three Main Events playing down to the winner, alongside a few remaining tournaments.
The series, which kicked off on Dec 26, featured a generous prize pool of over CAD $1.3 million and dozens of tournaments across all buy-in levels. Everyone could get involved at a comfortable level, from casual players and micro-stakes grinders to high rollers.
Although there was plenty of hot Ontario online poker action to be had over the three weeks, it was the final weekend of the series that PokerStars Ontario players were looking forward to. Namely, on Sunday, Jan 8, three Main Events featured extensive guarantees and promised an exciting end to the Winter Series.
- Excellent tournament schedule
- The best variety of game types
- #1 Rated online poker room in Ontario by pokerfuse.com
Big Prizes and Small Overlays
Players gathered on Sunday to compete in one, two, or all three Winter Series Main Event tournaments. These featured buy-ins of CAD $50, $300, and $1000, with guaranteed prize pools of CAD $30,000, $150,000, and $75,000, respectively.
Surprisingly, only the $1000 High Roller Main Event surpassed its guarantee, attracting 98 players for a final prize pool of just over $93,000. The eventual winner took home $22,133 for his efforts.
The other two Main Events failed to attract enough entries to cross their guarantees, albeit by a small margin. The $300 guaranteed $150k and saw 480 entries, while the $50 Main with $30k guaranteed attracted 625 entries. The winners took home $23,526 and $5262, respectively.
Despite these and a few other overlays across the entire series, it was a successful one for the operator, especially since it took place over the winter holidays, a period during which even the most hardcore grinders take their foot off the gas to spend some time away from the virtual felt.
PokerStars Ontario Winter Series Main Events Breakdown
| Buy-in | GTD | Entries | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50 | $30,000 | 625 | $5262.94 |
| $300 | $150,000 | 480 | $23,526.23 |
| $1000 | $75,000 | 98 | $22,133.53 |
- Excellent tournament schedule
- The best variety of game types
- #1 Rated online poker room in Ontario by pokerfuse.com
Phase Event #1 Breaks Guarantees
In addition to the Main Events, one tournament that was interesting to keep up with was Phase Event #1. The event featured two tiers, high ($50 buy-in) and low ($5 buy-in), with Phase 1 games scattered throughout the series.
For an event with so many starting phases, guarantees were somewhat conservative, i.e., $30,000 and $6,000, so it was no surprise they were broken by Monday, Jan 9, when both Phase 2 games kicked off to play down to the winner.
The Low Event attracted 2084 entries for the final prize pool of $9.4k, $1.5k of which went to the winner. The High Event ended up with 857 entries for the prize pool just shy of $40k, awarding $5261 to the last player standing.
The good news for all tournament fans is that PokerStars Ontario is not done for January. The Chinese New Year Series kicks off on Jan 13. The new series will run for ten days and will feature 75 individual tournaments. Buy-ins range from $5 to $1000, so, once again, there will be something for everyone.
If you missed out on the Winter Series, head over to PokerStars Ontario, create your player account, and jump straight into the action with the Chinese New Year Series!
Learn more about tournaments, cash games, and more in our comprehensive PokerStars Ontario Review.
