PokerStars kicked off the 25th edition of its World Championship of Online Poker on September 6, 2026, and the series runs through September 30. WCOOP is one of the longest running marquee series in online poker, first launched by PokerStars in 2002, so a 25th edition is a natural moment to look at how the format is structured today and at the first result that has people talking.
The shape of the 2026 series
According to PokerNews’ coverage of the schedule, the 2026 WCOOP features 121 events across High, Medium and Low buy-in tiers, with buy-ins ranging from $5.50 up to $25,000. At least 350 players will earn a world champion title across the various disciplines on the schedule, which includes 6-Max, HORSE, Razz and 8-Game formats alongside the headline No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha events.
The structure works the same way it has for years. Each event is run at up to three tiers, Low, Medium and High, so a recreational player and a high stakes regular can both play for the same “WCOOP” title at completely different price points. That is why a single series can produce hundreds of champions while still keeping the top events feeling exclusive.
Six Main Events and where the money is
The series ends with its Main Events on September 27 and 28. The No Limit Hold’em Main Events run on the 27th and the Pot Limit Omaha Main Events follow on the 28th, and together they carry more than $6.5 million in guarantees:
| Main Event | Tier | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| $109 NLHE | Low | $1,250,000 |
| $1,050 NLHE | Medium | $2,000,000 |
| $10,300 NLHE Championship | High | $2,500,000 |
| $109 PLO | Low | $100,000 |
| $1,050 PLO | Medium | $250,000 |
| $10,300 PLO Championship | High | $400,000 |
The low tier NLHE Main Event is worth a moment of attention on its own. A $1.25 million guarantee at a $109 buy-in means roughly 12,500 entries are needed to hit the number, assuming about $100 of each buy-in goes into the prize pool and the rest is fee. That is the kind of field only a site with PokerStars’ traffic can reliably produce. PokerStars also supports it with satellites starting at $0.55, special Spin & Go tournaments, and a WCOOP Lucky Dip promotion offering $500,000 in tournament tickets across the series.
The first story: Jorstad from behind
The series’ first widely reported result came in WCOOP 02-H, the $1,050 PKO Warm-Up. As PokerNews reported, Norway’s Espen Jorstad, playing under the alias “SamSolverel,” won the event for his third career WCOOP title. The field was 154 players and the prize pool was $154,000.
Jorstad went into heads up play on September 7 as the short stack, facing a roughly four to one chip deficit against Finland’s “realsuhisjii.” He came back to win, and PokerNews described the key hands: a king queen that beat his opponent’s king jack, a later river straight with ace four, and a final hand in which Jorstad three bet preflop with ace king, barreled all three streets and moved all in after rivering two pair, running into his opponent’s king seven.
The payout came in two parts, which is characteristic of the progressive knockout format. The winner’s prize was $14,359 and he collected another $18,891 in bounties along the way, for a total of $33,250.
A pattern, not an accident
The win is Jorstad’s third WCOOP title, and the other two also came in early events:
- 2023: WCOOP 03-H, a $3,150 PKO with 132 players, worth $122,371
- 2024: WCOOP 70-H, a $1,050 NLHE Turbo with 161 players, worth $32,459
His earlier titles were won under the username “Hymn2Ninkasi.” Three titles across three years in fields of 130 to 160 players is a small sample, but it fits the way WCOOP tends to reward players who are prepared for the format: early PKO events reward aggression and bounty awareness, and the ranges players use in those spots have become far more standardized as solver study has spread.
Familiar names elsewhere in the results
Jorstad was not the only well known name to pick up a title in the opening days. PokerNews also noted that Patrick Leonard picked up his 15th WCOOP title and Benny Glaser his 17th, while Niklas Astedt won multiple titles within 24 hours and Johannes Straver took back to back Super Tuesday victories. Counts like 15 and 17 titles show how deep the series runs: WCOOP has produced enough events over 25 years that a handful of grinders have built career totals that would be impossible to reach in most other online series.
What to watch for
With three weeks left, the interesting questions are about turnout rather than winners. The $2 million and $2.5 million NLHE Main Event guarantees are large numbers, and how comfortably they are cleared will say a lot about how healthy PokerStars’ global tournament liquidity is, particularly as the company continues to restructure its network. That restructuring is the subject of our coverage of the PokerStars on Betfair migration, and the WCOOP is exactly the kind of event that a larger shared player pool is meant to make bigger.