While the “brick and mortar” casino world continues to suffer double-figure drops in win rates and declines in attendance, September proved to be a lucrative month for PokerStars with the completion of its eighth annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). In addition to another highly successful run of the preeminent online poker series for PokerStars, the WCOOP also helped to provide another world record for the number one site worldwide.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, which verified the results, September 6th saw PokerStars defeat its own world record for most players hosted by an online poker room. On that day, during which the WCOOP was in full swing, PokerStars recorded 307,016 players taking part in tournament, cash game, and free poker games on the site. Players were arranged around 42,814 tables and, once verified by Guinness record-keepers, smashed the previous mark by over 100,000.
PokerStars, which has held the record since its inception in 2008, and its major competitor, Full Tilt Poker, went at each other only two months ago to set the previous mark for most players online at once. Back in July, both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars ran tournaments in an attempt to set the record for the largest online poker tournament ever held. PokerStars brought in a total of 65,000 players for its version of the record-breaking attempt, while Full Tilt attracted only 50,000. PokerStars was close to 200,000 total players once the tournament and other action was counted.
The most recent world record for PokerStars was more than likely due to the massive outpouring of players during the WCOOP and its various satellite events. On September 5th, WCOOP Event #6, the $109 No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament, drew an astounding 15,675 players. This didn’t take into count the number of players who were participating in Event #7, the $215 Pot Limit Five Card Draw, satellite tournaments, or play money games on the site.
On September 6th, a Sunday and the traditional “big day” for online tournament players around the world, the WCOOP featured three huge events that drew traffic. In addition to Event #9, a $215 No Limit Hold’em tournament that attracted 11,131 runners and was won by Slovakia’s “ternoplayer,” Event #10, the $10,300 High Roller tournament (299 players and won by Sweden’s “Sumpas”) and the first day of Event #11, the two day $530 No Limit Hold’em event (drawing 6219 players and won by the United States’ “hustla16”) were also in action. Once the numbers were counted up, it cracked the previous record set by PokerStars back in July.
While their physical counterparts battle through the recession, it is apparent that the online poker world is quite healthy. Congratulations to PokerStars for its most recent record, which should stand for quite some time.
