[toc] It was a slow June for online poker in New Jersey. PokerStars NJ hopes its new $300,000 Summer Series heats things up for July though.
The online poker tournament series offers $300,000 in guarantees. The action got underway on July 23 and continues through July 30.
Main Event on Sunday, July 30
Of the $300,000 in guarantees up for grabs, $75,000 is going to the series’ Main Event. That tournament runs on Sunday, July 30 beginning at 5 p.m. ET.
The tournament is a $400 buy-in event. While steeper than your average online MTT in New Jersey, the high buy-in for the series was a $1,000 High Roller event. That tournament boasted a $35,000 guarantee.
Here is a look at the remaining events for the PokerStars NJ Summer Series:
| 7 | NL Hold’em Deep Hyper-Turbo | $200 | July 28 | 21:00 | $10,000 |
| 8 | NL Hold’em Deepstack | $150 | July 29 | 17:00 | $20,000 |
| 9 | NL Hold’em Bubble Rush | $100 | July 29 | 20:00 | $7,500 |
| 10 | NL Hold’em, Progressive KO, 6 Max | $200 | July 30 | 14:00 | $25,000 |
| 11 | NL Hold’em Main Event | $400 | July 30 | 17:00 | $75,000 |
| 12 | PL 5-Card Omaha 6-Max | $100 | July 30 | 20:00 | $10,000 |
Spin and Go your way into the Main Event
If $400 is a little steep for your bankroll, there is a very cheap way to win your way into the Main Event. PokerStars is running $2.50 Spin & Go tournaments with $400 Main Event seats as prizes.
Granted, these Spin & Gos have more in common with gambling than poker. With that in mind, the chances of getting lucky and winning a seat are about 1 in 500.
In addition to the Spin & Go promotion, the site is currently offering a nice bonus for first depositors. Anyone who makes a first-time deposit of $20 or more automatically gets $30 in their PokerStars NJ account if they use the code ‘FREE30.’
$5,000 freeroll more incentive to play series
If you have not played an event in the Summer Series yet, hurry up and get in on the action. As a thank you to players, PokerStars NJ is hosting a $5,000 freeroll on July 31. The only criteria to play is taking part in one of the 12 Summer Series events.
That tournament begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.
PokerStars NJSCOOP saved May for NJ online poker
It is no wonder PokerStars is offering another tournament series. The NJ Spring Championship of Online Poker (NJSCOOP) was a life saver for online poker in May. Last month, New Jersey online poker sites had the worst month ever. In May, the sites collectively topped $2 million, thanks largely in part to SCOOP traffic.
It is worth noting that Summer Series does not come with the same lofty expectations of SCOOP. First off, it is a much smaller series in terms of events offered and guarantees than SCOOP was.
Additionally, the core of the New Jersey poker economy was out of state for a bulk of July. One notable example? Scott Blumstein, who took down the WSOP Main Event for over $8.1 million.
With that key group of full-time players out of town for the early part of July, it is unlikely even the Summer Series can turn this into a record-setting month when it comes to online poker revenue.
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