PokerStars US COOP: Tentnowski Victorious; Hatmaker Wins 2nd PACOOP Title

Chad Holloway
PR & Media Manager
6 min read
Stanton "Stonniepokes" Tentnowski

The prestigious PokerStars Championship of Online Poker (COOP) is currently running in a trio of US states in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey.

All three PokerStars US-facing sites offer state-specific versions of the COOP, with each running concurrently September 10-27.

The Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP) guarantees $2 million across 69 events on PokerStars PA. The two-day PACOOP Main Event runs Sept. 26-27, with a $300 buy-in and $200,000 in guaranteed prize money on the line.

The 2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) offers 68 events, with a combined guarantee of $1.5 million. The upcoming series marks the second time the MICOOP has run on PokerStars MI, which launched in January 2021. .

New Jersey poker players are well familiar with the NJCOOP series, which returns to PokerStars NJ with a schedule of 60 events. The guarantees add up to $1 million for the 2021 NJCOOP, including the $300 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed Main Event Sept. 26-27.

PokerNews is providing live reporting coverage on selected events from all three US COOP series. Here’s a look at the most recent winners.

"santasworkshop" Wins MICOOP Event #10: $100 NLHE Sunday Special

C0LD_W0RLD eliminated in second

The 2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) rolled on Sunday with one of the signature events of the schedule, Event #10: $100 NLHE Sunday Special. Despite 777 entrants in the field between 486 players and 291 re-entries, the $75,000 guarantee was missed by $3,671, which was added by PokerStars to fill the prize pool.

After a nine-hour day on the felt, the third bullet was the charm for "santasworkshop", who made a monster run at the final table to earn the top prize of $12,632. "santasworkshop" started their rise to the top with three tables left, winning a monster pot against "BigQ1975" to leap up to the chip lead. From there, they coasted to the final table in third chip position and won two massive pots at key points in the final table to ensure their victory.

MICOOP Event #10: $100 NLHE Sunday Special Final Table Results

PositionPlayerPrize
1santasworkshop$12,632
2C0LD_W0RLD$9,024
3justinbrown69$6,447
4JJgetsCARDz$4,606
5RentedCar$3,291
6Buckeye48875$2,351
7FadeJR$1,680
8wilcohotel$1,200
9ErikBachman$857

"Pillzebub", who was the champion of MICOOP Event #05: $100 NLHE Big Kickoff Championship Trophy Event, made another deep run, but finished in 22nd place for $469. Others notables out of the 116 who made the money include "fueledbyanxiety" (10th - $701), "HarryTheHammer" (46th - $314) and Andrew "autokorekt" Korby (60th - $257).

The final table was a brisk one-hour affair, kicked off by the elimination of "ErikBachman" at the onset. The next two eliminations were filled with drama, as "wilcohotel" watched their ace-king go from worst to first to worst again against the ace-queen of "C0LD_W0RLD" to bust in eighth. Level 33, which saw four players hit the rail in short order, kicked off with "RentedCar" flopping quads with their ace-king to eliminate "FadeJR" in seventh.

From there, "Buckeye48875", "RentedCar", and "JJgetsCARDz" all fell in the next ten minutes, and even with the now deep stacks, "justinbrown69" lost a flip to "C0LD_W0RLD" to bring "santasworkshop" and "C0LD_W0RLD" heads-up with 155 big blinds between them and fairly even stacks.

One of the first hands of heads-up was a big blow to "C0LD_W0RLD", however, as they lost 66% of their stack when "santasworkshop" got big value with trip sevens. "C0LD_W0RLD" hung on for one more level, but finally got their last twenty big blinds in with a flopped double gutshot, but bricked off against the kings-up of "santasworkshop" to fall in second place.

Coverage of the 2021 MICOOP continues on Wednesday with Event #23: $250 NLHE 6-Max Championship Trophy Event, $30K Gtd, so be sure to tune in to PokerNews for all the action!

2021 MICOOP Winners Thus Far

TournamentEntriesPrize PoolWinner Prize
Event #1: $10 NLHE [MICOOP Warm Up], $10K GTD1,225$11,147.501BullSpartan
Event #2: $100 NLHE [MICOOP Big Warm Up], $20K GTD343$31,487.40PowerRanges
Event #3: $30 NLHE [Turbo Warm Up], $6K GTD321$8,763.30waverunner1976
Event #4: $30 NLHE/PLO [8-Max, Mixed Game Warm Up], $4K GTD160$4,368flopping air
Event #5: $100 NLHE [8-Max, Big Kickoff Trophy Event], $50K GTD578$53,060.40Pillzebub
Event #6: $500 NLHE [8-Max, PKO High Roller], $40K GTD81$40,000ChipzNChesse
Event #7: $50 PL 5-Card Draw, $4K GTD96$4,368goodhandyou
Event #8: $100 NLHE [MICOOP Marathon], $25K GTD279$25,612.20248donkey
Event #9: $100 HORSE [6-Max], $6K GTD58$6,000Bamboo Panda850
Event #10: $100 NLHE [Sunday Special], $75K GTD777$75,000santasworkshop
Event #11: $100 PLO [8-Max], $12K GTD150$13,770Paul "grandma1967" Mattioda
Event #12: $500 NLHE [6-Max, High Roller], $40K GTD104$48,880J_Voorhees187
Event #13: $50 NLHE [8-Max, Sunday Second Chance], $8.5K GTD258$11,739Omarrcomin
Event #14: $75 NLHE [6-Max, PKO, Super Sonic], $8K GTD130$8,872.50Mike "PeppSee" Long

Stanton "Stonniepokes" Tentnowski Wins NJCOOP Title

Stanton Tentnowski
Stanton Tentnowski

On Sunday, the 2021 NJCOOP minted a half dozen new winners starting with well-known Garden State grinder Stanton "Stonniepokes" Tentnowski, who navigated a 94-entry field to win Event #7: $200 NLHE [8-Max, Deepstack], $25K GTD for $5,924.79.

Likewise, PokerStars NJ regular Benji “OtB_RedHeron” Felson topped a 137-entry field to claim the Event #8: $150 NLHE [8-Max, PKO], $20K GTD title for $3,582, while Naichang "cncly1314" Chen bested 81 entries to win Event #12: $150 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Sunday Supersonic SE], $10K GTD for $2,815.

PokerNews will return for coverage of Event #15: $250 NLHE Super Tuesday NJCOOP Edition Championship Trophy Event on Tuesday, September 14th at 7 p.m. EST.

Recent 2021 NJCOOP Winners

Event #7: $200 NLHE [8-Max, Deepstack], $25K GTD94$25,000Stanton "Stonniepokes" Tentnowski$5,924.79
Event #8: $150 NLHE [8-Max, PKO], $20K GTD137$20,000Benji “OtB_RedHeron” Felson$3,581.88
Event #9: $250 NLHE [Sunday Special], $45K GTD194$45,202Tagubhai$8,973.34
Event #10: $30 NLHE [Mini Sunday Special], $12.5K GTD400$12,500kyleorto86$2,267.63
Event #11: $100 PLO [6-Max], $7.5K GTD73$7,500SocoMonster$1,833.05
Event #12: $150 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, Sunday Supersonic SE], $10K GTD81$11,542.50Naichang "cncly1314" Chen$2,815.33

Casey "superdonkeydave" Hatmaker Captures Second PACOOP Title

Casey Hatmaker
Casey \"superdonkeydave\" Hatmaker

Sunday was a big day in the 2021 PACOOP as seven winners were crowned. That included Casey "superdonkeydave" Hatmaker, who became the first two-time champ of the series. Over the weekend, he topped a 109-entry field to win Event #7: $500 NLHE [8-Max, PKO High Roller], $50K GTD for $13,895.77, and then on Sunday bested 207 entries to win Event #15: $75 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PKO, Super Sonic], $10K GTD for $3,327.95.

In addition, Justin “JustinLett” Lett topped a 316-entry field to win Event #9: $100 NLHE [PACOOP Marathon], $30K GTD for $5,598.38, while Michael "fubadbeatbob" McNicholas came out on top of a 144-entry field to win Event #13: $500 NLH [6-Max, High Roller], $50K GTD for $14,277.25, which included beating PokerStars PA Ambassador Mark “NaigoPA” Foresta in heads-up play. Foresta earned $10,680 for his runner-up finish.

Mark Foresta
Mark “NaigoPA” Foresta

PokerNews PACOOP coverage continues Wednesday, September with Event #24: $250 NLHE 6-Max Championship Trophy Event.

Recent 2021 PACOOP Winners

TournamentEntriesPrize PoolWinnerPrize
Event #9: $100 NLHE [PACOOP Marathon], $30K GTD316$30,000Justin "JustinLett" Lett$5,598.38
Event #10: $100 HORSE [6-Max], $7K GTD81$7,435.80Douggieboysdad$1,813.70
Event #11: $100 NLHE [Sunday Special], $100K GTD1,095$100,521Danieldanielson$16,121.29
Event #12: $100 PLO [8-Max], $15K GTD174$15,973.20RevoltingBlob12$3,218.29
Event #13: $500 NLH [6-Max, High Roller], $50K GTD144$67,680.00Michael "fubadbeatbob" McNicholas$14,277.25
Event #14: $50 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo Sunday Second Chance], $10K GTD391$17.790.50anachronismKB$3,240.19
Event #15: $75 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, PKO, Super Sonic], $10K GTD207$14,593.50Casey "superdonkeydave" Hatmaker$3,327.95

Tournament buy-ins for each COOP series begin as low as $10. Satellites qualifiers into COOP tournament also run throughout each series. Main Event tickets are on the line in $3 Spin & Go’s, which run up until the start of the Main Event on Sept. 26. ‘

Sept. 26 also sees Depositor Freeroll's at all three PokerStars US sites, with all players that deposit at least $30 using a state-specific promo code (PACOOP, MICOOP, or NJCOOP) granted entry. The top 50 finishers in each depositor freeroll win a $300 ticket to their respective Main Event.

All players eliminated short of the money ladder in any COOP event also get entry to a Second Chance Freeroll the following day. The Second Chance Freerolls will award $5,000 in COOP tickets in each state’s series.

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Chad Holloway
PR & Media Manager

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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