The biggest ever buy-in for an online poker tournament will take place on September 20, 2015, as part of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand. The $51,000 buy-in Super High Roller No Limit Hold’em tournament will have a guaranteed prize pool of at least $1 million.

The previous record for the biggest ever buy-in for an online poker tournament was $25,000, which was shared by Heads-Up tournaments in the World Championship (2008, 2009, 2010) and Spring Championship of Online Poker (2009, 2010, 2011). There have also been a number of non-Heads-Up events with a buy-in of $10,000.

The World Championship of Online Poker is the world’s most prestigious online poker tournament series. This year will be the 14th World Championship, which has grown from a total prize pool of $730,000 in 2002, to a whopping $61,934,886 last year, and continues to attract the best poker players in the world.

“Over the last few years we have seen the emergence of Super High Roller events at live events across the globe,” said Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who was recently named Global Poker Index ‘Player of the Decade’. “I think it only makes sense that the world’s largest poker site is also the host of the largest buy-in online poker tournament ever. I'm excited to test my skills against the best of the best, online.“

Fellow Team PokerStars Pro member, Jason Mercier, who has two World Championship of Online Poker, three World Series of Poker, and four Spring Championship of Online Poker wins, said, “I'm really excited about playing in the biggest buy-in online tournament ever. It'll be an awesome challenge to go up against such tough competition for the biggest stakes! I can't wait!"

EVENT DETAILS

DATE: September 20, 2015
TIME: 12:30 US ET; 17:30 British Summer Time; 18:30 Central European Summer Time
FORMAT: No Limit Hold’em; 8-Max
LOCATION: PokerStars.COM/.EU/.BE/.EE/.DK/SH/.BG/.UK
BUY-IN: $50,000 + $1,000 fee
PRIZE POOL: Guaranteed minimum of $1 million

The Super-High-Roller event will take place a week before the WCOOP Main Event, which will be held on Sunday September 27 with a $5,200 buy-in, and guaranteed prize pool of at least $10 million. Players can win entries into the Main Event of the World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars now, with satellites starting from just $1.

For further information, please contact: press@pokerstars.com