The partypoker MILLIONS Online is guaranteed to be the biggest online poker tournament ever.

With $20,000,000 guaranteed, the partypoker MILLIONS Online is going to be the single largest online poker tournament in history and a deeper look at the history of online poker tournament prize pools gives you a better understanding of just how big this is event is going to be.

Not surprisingly, the 10 biggest online tournament prize pools were all held on PokerStars. The largest ever prize pool came back in 2011 when PokerStars held their Sunday Million 10th Anniversary event. With a $215 buy-in, the event attracted an astonishing 62,116 players and generated a $12,423,200 prize pool meaning there’s a $7,576,800 difference between that and the minimum prize pool for MILLIONS Online.

Five of the top six prize pools of all time came in PokerStars Sunday Million events. The lone exception there is 2010 World Championship of Online Poker event. The $5,200 buy-in event had 2,443 players and a $12,215,000 prize pool.

DATE TOURNAMENT Buy-In PRIZE POOL
12/18/11 Sunday Million 10th Anniversary $215 $12,423,200
9/26/10 WCOOP Main Event $5,200 $12,215,000
6/3/11 Sunday Million 5th Anniversary $215 $11,825,600
4/22/18 Sunday Million Anniversary: Take 2 $215 $11,262,000
2/4/17 Sunday Million 11th Anniversary $215 $11,167,000
3/20/16 Sunday Million 10th Anniversary $215 $11,011,800
9/21/08 WCOOP Main Event $5,200 $10,925,000
9/24/18 WCOOP Main Event $5,200 $10,915,000
9/20/09 WCOOP Main Event $5,200 $10,720,000
9/28/14 WCOOP Main Event $5,200 $10,710,000

The $20,000,000 number stands out above any other online tournament ever, but even more so when compared to what partypoker has done in their history. Last year’s MILLIONS Online had a $5,000,000 guarantee and with 227 entries paying the $5,300 buy-in, ended up with  $5,135,000 in total prize money.

That event was one of only two partypoker events to ever crack the $5 million mark. The other came earlier this spring in the $25,500 buy-in Powerfest High Roller event. That event attracted 202 entries – just two more than were required to meet the $5 million guarantee.

Just three other events in partypoker’s history have even breached the  $3,000,000 mark and all three were $25,500 buy-in Powerfest Super High Roller events. In fact, nine of the top 10 prize pools in the history of the company have come in Powerfest events.

DATE TOURNAMENT BUY-IN PRIZE POOL
12/6/17 2017 MILLIONS Online $5,300 $5,135,000
5/18/18 Powerfest Event #64 (SHR) $25,500 $5,050,000
9/21/18 Powerfest Event #122 (SHR) $25,500 $3,900,000
5/17/17 Powerfest Event #301 $25,500 $3,225,000
9/27/17 Powerfest Event #254 (SHR) $25,500 $3,175,000
9/9/18 Powerfest Event #108 (SHR) $10,300 $2,080,000
5/16/18 Powerfest Event #53 (SHR) $10,300 $2,000,000
9/24/17 Powerfest Event #324 Championship Event $5,200 $1,726,500
9/24/18 Powerfest Event #142 (SHR) $5,200 $1,635,000
5/22/17 Powerfest Event #295 Main Event (HR) $1,050 $1,590,000

The winner of the MILLIONS Online event this year will take home at least $2.5 million. If the eventual champion qualified for the MILLIONS via a Jackpot Sit-n-Go they’ll earn a $2.5 million bonus. Either way – and barring a final table chop – they’re going to go down as the single biggest winner in the history of online poker.

That title currently belongs to Tyson ‘POTTERPOKER’ Marks, winner of the 2010 WCOOP Main Event for $2,278,097.50. Only one other player has taken home $2,000,000 or more in an online tournament. In December 2011, Kyle ‘First-Eagle’ Weir won the PokerStars Sunday Million 10th Anniversary event for $2,000,020.70. Weir is the only player in the top 10 of all-time biggest scores to have won his from something other than a WCOOP event.

Other big winners include Fedor Holz, Steven van Zadelhoff, Carter King and Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

DATE TOURNAMENT PLAYER FIRST PLACE
9/26/10 WCOOP Main Event Tyson ‘POTTERPOKER’ Marks $2,278,097.50
12/18/11 Sunday Million 10th Anniversary Kyle ‘First-Eagle’ Weir $2,000,020.70
9/29/13 WCOOP Main Event PlayinWasted $1,877,573.25
9/28/14 WCOOP Main Event Fedor ‘CrownUpGuy’ Holz $1,820,700.00
9/21/08 WCOOP Main Event Carter ‘ckingusc’ King $1,775,312.50
9/27/15 WCOOP Main Event Coenaldinho7′ $1,760,500.00
9/20/09 WCOOP Main Event Yevgeniy ‘Jovial Gent’ Timoshenko $1,715,200.00
9/24/17 WCOOP Main Event Steven ‘SvZff’ van Zadelhoff $1,624,502.27
9/23/12 WCOOP Main Event maratik $1,612,843.75
9/16/18 WCOOP Main Event wann2play $1,529,002.94