This weekend many people are gearing up for one final barbeque or picnic to celebrate Labor Day and the end of summer. Meanwhile, the online poker world is preparing to settle down in front of their computers and stay indoors– for the next two weeks. Thursday marks the start of the 7th annual PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and for the next 17 days thousands of players will flock to the virtual felt to try and win their share of at least $40 million in prize money.

There is more than money on the line when it comes to the WCOOP though. The internet equivalent of the World Series of Poker, the prestigious yearly event boasts a long list of respected and recognizable winners, including Greg Raymer, Chad Brown, James “mig.com” Mackey, JC Tran and last year’s Main Event Champion Carter “ckingusc” King. The large fields and tough competition make the WCOOP one of the premiere proving grounds for top online players and Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb, Steven “PiKappRaider” Burkholder, James “ANDY McLEOD” Obst and Scott “dorinvandy” Dorin are just a few of the names that shipped WCOOP bracelets last year.

The 2008 WCOOP featured 33 events  including a trio of “High Roller” tournaments with five figure buy-ins. The $25,500 high stakes heads-up event was a new addition to last year’s WCOOP schedule and was so popular that PokerStars had to turn players away since the tournament was capped at 64 entrants. The final heads-up match was a rapid-fire battle between PokerStars pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Steve “stevesbets” Jacobs. Jacobs got the best of Grospellier to win the bracelet and the $560,000 prize, but ElkY had an impressive WCOOP overall with $407,285 in series winnings.

While several players booked six figure scores during 2008, two players walked away from their computers as millionaires thanks to a record-breaking Main Event prize pool of $10,925,000. A chop at the Main Event final table ensured that the top five finishers would all take home at least half a million dollars and both ckingusc and the runner-up “liberace” received seven figure paydays. Liberace, who was the chip leader at the time of the chop, received the largest payout at $1,375,249 compared to ckingusc’s $1,265,432, but it was ckingusc who claimed the bracelet as the final five agreed to play it out for the remaining $200,000 in the prize pool and the title of WCOOP Champion and he came out on top.

This year PokerStars is aiming to make the WCOOP bigger and better, expanding schedule by 12 events and upping the overall guaranteed prize pool from $30 million to $40 million. The three High Rollers events and the $10 million guarantee on the $5,200 buy-in Main Event will all be back this year, as will the commemorative bracelets. WCOOP champions will have more than just the bracelet to look forward to this year too, as all of the winners will receive free trips to the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas to accept their bracelets in person at a presentation ceremony.

Those players worried about burning through their bankroll will be happy to hear that there is a $109 tournament on the WCOOP schedule for Saturday the 6th. The event features the smallest buy-in of the series, but also boasts a massive $1 million guaranteed prize pool that will make for some impressive ROIs for those at the final table. Some of the other new tournaments on the schedule include a Badugi event, more 8 Game events and a heads-up Pot Limit Omaha event.

Satellites into all of the WCOOP events are currently running around the clock and players can win their way in for as little as $7.50 through a variety of means like the popular “Steps” Sit & Gos. Players can also opt to play in direct satellites and those who are part of PokerStars VIP program can even use their Frequent Players Points to buy in to all of the events.

Event #1, a $215 NLHE 6-max event, kicks off the WCOOP at 2:30PM ET on Thursday September 3rd and the action will continue with at least two tournaments a day, culminating in the 2-day Main Event starting on Sunday September 20th.

With the two-week long series not quite underway, there is still plenty of time to get in on the action. Why not sign-up at PokerStars now and take the first step to becoming a WCOOP champion?

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