The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), hosted by PokerStars, is one of the biggest events on the poker calendar. Or at least, it used to be.
In 2020, the SCOOP event was so popular that it was expanded halfway through to accommodate more players, more chips and more action. The guarantee was increased to a record high of $135m, and 132 new tournaments were added, extending the event for a further 11 days. There was even media speculation that all of this could drive the total prize pool to over $200m.
Jump back to the present day. The 2026 SCOOP has a total prize pool of $52.7m and $8.5m in first-place prizes. This is no outlier, either, as the SCOOP has been declining for the last few years.
- In 2022, the total prize pool was $96.1m, with $14.9m going to tournament winners. There were 1,294,099 entries, including 294,573 re-entries. Finally, there were 106 events and 316 tournaments.
- In 2023, the prize pool was $91.9m, with $14.4m in first-place prizes. There were 1,277,595 entries, including 309,828 re-entries. This year saw 121 events and 363 tournaments.
- By 2025, the prize pool had fallen to $70.7m, with $10.5m in first-place prizes. The number of tournaments had increased again, this time to 380.
- And finally, this year’s SCOOP finished with $52.7m in the prize pool and $8.5m in first-place prizes. There were 870,602 total entries and 400 tournaments.
What happened to SCOOP?
The decline of SCOOP cannot be attributed to one singular factor, but perhaps many changes that have occurred in recent years.
It does not take a poker proficionado to know that more players means bigger prize pools. This is one of the quintessential aspects of the game.
However, PokerStars has slowly been retreating from grey-area markets, while also segmenting others. Over the past 10 or so years, PokerStars has changed the way it operates in Ontario, the United States, Peru, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, China, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Norway.
Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that this year’s SCOOP saw one of its most top-heavy country leaderboards in years. Brazil took 105 titles, compared to 72 in 2022. The UK was a close second with 59, followed by 22 from Finland and 21 from Sweden.
And while anyone is invited to play at SCOOP, no matter where they are from, there has to be some interest cultivated at the beginning to encourage them to grow their skills until they are ready to take these events on. If players can’t learn on $1/$2 tables, then they will likely never make it to the $5,000 tables.
As player pools have shrunk, so too have the guarantees of smaller, everyday events. It takes longer to fill up sit & go tables. Promotions have become smaller. And so, players have begun looking elsewhere.
SCOOP is not out of the race yet and PokerStars' legacy could easily be revived, especially if the brand can get itself back up on its feet through FanDuel
GG, GL IN NEXT
The SCOOP may be shrinking, but another giant has stepped up to take its place. Its long-standing rival, GGPoker, is offering $250m guaranteed for this year’s GG World Festival (GGWF).
For some context, SCOOP always traditionally ran through May, or for the pedantic, from the end of April until the start of June. But this year, the tournament was brought forward to 1-25 March. GGWF is running from 4 May to 10 June this year instead.
While PokerStars has always offered a nice range of price points for players, GGPoker has simplified this further to make it more appealing to users. There are four distinct buy-in tiers to channel players to the price points they are most interested in, including an average guarantee.
Each buy-in will also have 400 events. Each.
SCOOP or GGWF?
The figures are not looking great for PokerStars. The once prestigious tournament can only offer a fraction of the prize money that GGPoker can, but the title of ‘Spring Championship’ is not quite in the muck yet.
Flutter recently relaunched PokerStars through FanDuel in the US, promising a revamp of the product, new bonuses and combined player pools. This could drive interest in the US, and if it proves successful, then Flutter could be incentivised to reinvest in the brand worldwide.
And while SCOOP may be in a bit of a dip, it certainly is no failure, either. Attracting prize pools of $50m is still a feat and one worth praising, but it is just a shame that this is in the shadow of the $135m guarantee from a few years ago.
As the saying goes, a chip in a chair. SCOOP is not out of the race yet and PokerStars’ legacy could easily be revived, especially if the brand can get itself back up on its feet through FanDuel.
Since its inception in 2009, SCOOP has awarded more than $1.5bn in prize money to players
