PokerStars Looking to Reclaim Industry Top Spot with Massive MicroMillions

July 13th, 2021 | by Greg Shaun

This week it’s all about small stakes players, low cost MTTs, and major value on PokerStars. From the UK to Brazil, France to Italy, MicroMillions 2021 is offering more than $10 million in guaranteed prize money.

PokerStars is rolling out the big guns and going large with its latest selection of MicroMillions festivals. (Image: Twitter/PokerStars School)

The main MicroMillions series will take place on PokerStars.com from July 15 until July 27. There will be over 100 MTTs costing between $1.10 and $22 on the roster, as well as a $4.5 million guarantee.

Outside of PokerStars’ international network, two regional MicroMillions will be open to players in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

Big Value, Micro Buy-ins

MicroMillions always aims to deliver huge value to small stakes players, and this year isn’t any different. The main festival will feature two tournaments with $1 million guarantees.

That $22 main event is the star of the show, but it’s not the only game in town. The festival will feature 121 other events, including progressive KO showdowns, three-max MTTs, and six-card Omaha tournaments.

The aim, as it’s been since the inaugural MicroMillions in 2012, is to give novices a big tournament series experience without breaking the bank.

PokerStars has the same aim in Europe. The Southern European MicroMillions consists of 174 tournaments that run from July 18 to August 1.

Players in France, Spain, and Portugal will be able to ante up from as little as €1 ($1.20) and play for €3 million ($3.5 million) in guaranteed prize money.

Rounding out this year’s MicroMillions party is the Italian series.

Running at the same time as its Southern European counterpart, this series features a €150,000 ($177,000) main event and €1.2 million ($1.4 million) guarantees spread across 90 tournaments.

Overall, the latest run of MicroMillions festivals have more than $10 million up for grabs. That’s great news for players.

However, it’s also a good look for PokerStars at a time it’s fighting to regain its position as the top online poker site in the world.

PokerStars Making Another Run for the Top

Indeed, since GGPoker overtook PokerStars, there has been an obvious but unstated effort to win over players.

As well as hosting three MicroMillions, PokerStars is trialing a new rewards system.

It’s only available to a small group of players at the moment, but the program offers an effective rakeback rate of up to 65%.

That’s an improvement on the current Stars Rewards system.

There may be some adjustments made before it’s rolled out to the masses. However, the implicit implication is that PokerStars is making changes because GGPoker is now a credible threat.

A new rakeback scheme and three lucrative MicroMillions events are bound to be the tip of a much larger iceberg.

What’s next? We can’t say for sure. What’s clear, however, is that PokerStars is on the attack.

It was top of the online poker rankings for over a decade and now it’s fighting to get back there.

MicroMillions is another step towards that goal. But, most importantly, the series is another great opportunity for low stakes players to compete for million-dollar-prizepools.