Is the WCOOP tougher than the WSOP?
Has the online version of the World Series of Poker become the tougher series to play?
The World Championship of Online Poker concludes this weekend and as always it was the biggest online festival of the calendar year. In particular this year because it also featured the first ever $51,000 Super High Roller event.
WCOOP and SCOOP are such big online events that the pros treat them almost like an EPT or WSOP festival. They'll block out their calendar for them and even travel to places where the time zone complements the schedule, and of course where PokerStars is allowed.
The WCOOP Schedule is almost a mirror image of the WSOP schedule. The variety of events is very similar, the structures are similar, as are the field sizes. They even have the same marquee style events (Both have a 'Main Event, the $10,300 8-Game WCOOP is the Players Championship and the $51,000 Super High Roller WCOOP is the One Drop).
The line between the major live festivals and the 'COOPs' is ever blurring, which begs the question, is the WCOOP tougher than the WSOP?
Live skills vs Online skills
Let's start with the obvious differences. The big difference between the WSOP and the WCOOP is the live aspect. In the WSOP physical tells, a slower pace and longer days all play a factor. Some would argue this makes the live event tougher, others would not.
It really depends on the type of player you are. Someone like Daniel Negreanu would find the WSOP easier because he is much more adept at spotting physical tells and reading players while he chats to them. However, one could easily argue that the WCOOP is tougher precisely because the technical side of your game needs to be much sharper, because you don't have the live reads to fall back on.
Likewise, some players struggle with the speed of online poker, whereas others don't have the patience for live poker. Some thrive playing events that last many days for long hours, others are much better playing several tournaments at a time.
The differences between live and online is already well documented and it really is comparing apples to oranges. Everyone finds one version tougher than the other.
Tougher fields?
There is a notable difference in the make up of the fields in the WSOP compared to WCOOP. The WSOP clearly has more recreational players, in particular more American recreational players who would be unable to play the WCOOP anyway. The WSOP is a 'bucket list' item for a lot of casual players, whereas the WCOOP really isn't, because the live experience is understandably much more appealing.
The WCOOP, however, has a tremendous amount of satellite qualifiers, given how ubiquitous PokerStars is and how their satellites really do run around the clock 24/7. The days of players qualifying online for the WSOP, however, are long gone.
The conventional wisdom, therefore, would suggest this makes the WCOOP softer, and it is true that this does mean you get a lot of micro stakes grinders playing in these pro-centric event where they don't have a chance. However, to dismiss all satellite winners as 'fresh meat' would be a mistake. Even at the low stakes you get some very talented grinders and the players who qualify for the $530+ events could arguably consist of tough, or at least solid, regulars. If anything the presence of a lot of online qualifiers these days makes an event tougher, not softer.
The toughest games in the world right now
It's generally agreed that the biggest online cash games are currently the toughest poker games in the world, and it is also largely agreed that the recreational players in live games are among the worst players. It's probably fair to assume that that the WCOOP is a much tougher festival to navigate through than the WSOP for this reason, and the ones mentioned above.
Though not tougher than the EPT. When you compare the WCOOP to the WSOP, it really does highlight that the European Poker Tour is the toughest series in poker. It has no recreational American players, it doesn't quite have that 'bucket list' feel that attracts as many casual players as the WSOP, and it also gets all the tough grinders and satellite winners from the PokerStars ecology.
If there is a reason to suggest the WSOP is tougher, it's because the players really want to win bracelet events more than they do the WCOOP and even the EPT. The WSOP will always be number one for everyone in poker, but the WCOOP needs to be respected as arguably second only to the EPT in terms of toughness.
Is the WCOOP tougher than the WSOP? Let us know in the comments.
