MPN’s Universal Championship of Poker returns this autumn

The Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) flagship tournament series, the Universal Championship of Poker (UCOP), returns for its fifth instalment this autumn, with €1 million guaranteed across 94 events.

Running from 15 to 29 September 2019, this year’s UCOP will feature a variety of formats, with buy-ins ranging from €2.20 to €320, hundreds of satellites, and a leaderboard with prizes worth more than €20,000.

Starting on 1 September 2019, seats can be secured to the UCOP series from as little as €0.01 in daily satellites running on all participating MPN poker rooms. The satellite schedule will include a €22 buy-in Mega Feeder on 29 September at 14:30*, guaranteeing 100 seats to the UCOP Main Event. A daily Freeroll Rebuy Feeder to the Main Event is scheduled to take place each day at 18:15, as well as direct feeder satellites to other UCOP events.

The €100,000 guaranteed Main Event on 29 September at 17:00, the €45,000 guaranteed High Roller on 29 September at 18:00, and the €30,000 guaranteed 6 Max Freezeout on 22 September at 18:00 are among the many highlights of this year’s UCOP tournament schedule. What’s more, from 1 to 29 September, players who complete certain achievements (outlined on the MPN UCOP webpage), will receive a €110 buy-in UCOP Main Event ticket.

Looking to defend his crown in this year’s series is UCOP 2018 Main Event champion, Mantas Urbonas, who comments: “UCOP is a two-week festival, and a €1 million guarantee in total prizes is a huge incentive not to miss any event. I really want to take down at least one of them! Of course, repeating last year’s success and winning the Main Event again would be fantastic, but I know the odds are very small! I am very happy that players can choose from small buy-ins to high rollers. I will try to play most of the events, even PLO. I have heard positive feedback from players so this will be my first time taking part in the whole festival.”

In addition to this year’s action-packed tournament schedule, the UCOP leaderboard will be running throughout the series. Whoever leads the pack at the end of the series will be crowned the ‘Greatest Poker Player in the Universe’, taking home the coveted trophy, a €1,550 Online Tournament Ticket package, €1,500 MPN Poker Tour (MPNPT) package, €1,000 in cash, and a Player’s Choice prize. The top eight players will also be eligible to select a Player’s Choice prize (a €1,550 Online Tournament Tickets Package, €1,500 MPNPT Package, or €1,000 in cash).

As if that weren’t enough, any player who wins a UCOP event will qualify to play in the Tournament of Champions on 6 October at 19:00, which will pay out the top eight players, including a Player’s Choice prize for first place.

For anyone looking to tune in and watch the UCOP action live, 29-year-old Betsafe player, Bobby James, will be streaming most UCOP events on his Twitch channel (‘The__BJP’). Bobby is a full-time poker professional who is well known in the UK poker community, and was one of the lucky winners from the recent MPNPT Birthday Boy or Girl competition, which gave away five special MPNPT London packages to celebrate the MPNPT’s fifth anniversary.

For further information on this year’s UCOP series, including the full tournament and satellite schedule, please visit the MPN website. For regular UCOP results and updates throughout the series, check out the MPN blog.

* All times in BST (UTC+1).

“With €1 million guaranteed across 94 events, we will be offering the biggest event series in the MPN’s history this September. We have introduced affordable lower-stakes tournaments, with buy-ins ranging from €2.20 to €320, so that players of all levels can enjoy the series over the two-week period and have the chance to claim UCOP victory. The team is looking forward to seeing all the action unfold over the coming weeks.” -said Alex Scott, Managing Director of Poker at Microgaming.