Hosted by PokerStars and FOX Bet, the Winter Series for New Jersey online poker players has come to a close.
The series guarantee increased from $265,000 to $565,000 in prizes across 40 events, which is just over double that of last year. Buy-ins ranged from $20 to $750. The schedule featured a $300 buy-in Main Event with $100,000 guaranteed and the $50 Mini Main Event with $20,000.
CHECK OUT: A hard look at Atlantic City casinos over the last 40 years
New Jersey poker players qualified for the Winter Series via Second Chance Freerolls, Depositor Freerolls and Spin & Go’s.
The total prize pool for the 40 Garden State online poker events came in at $677,511 with 6,723 entries.
The main event on Jan. 31 ($300 buy-in with $100,000 guaranteed) had a prize pool of $119,280 with 299 entries and 127 re-entries with the winner — Daniel ‘loxonbagel’ Buzgon — taking home the first-place prize of $21,417.99.
The 36-year-old man from Marlton, New Jersey, won his way into the main event from a $30 satellite tournament. Buzgon, who has won multiple NJSCOOP/NJCOOP events, finished runner-up in the 2020 NJSCOOP Main Event High.
In one other notable event, ‘pegleg87’ won the $50 Mini Main Event taking home a first-place prize of $4,141.57, outlasting 510 other entries.
Bounty Builder Series Next
At least $600,000 in guaranteed prizes will be up for grabs in the third edition of the PokerStars Bounty Builder Series in New Jersey from Feb. 20-March 8.
There will be a 58-event schedule, with buy-ins also starting at $10. The $300 buy-in Main Event on March 7 features a guarantee of $75,000 and players can qualify for less via special $3 Spin & Go’s.
The PokerStars community in New Jersey will be able to win Bounty Builder Championship Belts in special Championship events throughout the series. In addition, there is a $16,000 KO Leader Board where N.J. players who knock out the most Bounty Builder Series players will win $4,000 prize each.
