Spraggy Discusses Prestige, Legacy and the Grind Ahead of PokerStars WCOOP
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It's going to be a massive month of online poker. Don't just take our word for it, but the word of PokerStars Team Online's Ben "Spraggy" Spragg who is gearing up for the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) that starts this weekend.
Named 'Best Streamer' at the 2022 Global Poker Awards earlier this year, Spragg already has two WCOOP titles, and will be hoping to add a third this September while streaming the action over on Twitch.tv.
Getting Ready for the Grind
The game may be the same, but Spragg says that the stage is different once a big festival like WCOOP gets underway.
"A normal Tuesday grind is great fun," says Spragg. "But everyone knows that when WCOOP comes around, that's the time when you want to be making deep runs, big scores and making sure the audience is enjoying themselves.
"I know it's going to be a massive month, and the audience recognises that. Not just for me but for other poker streamers like Lex and Fintan."
Lex Veldhuis Confirms WCOOP Stream Schedule: "I Can't Wait For It To Begin!"
Spragg is no stranger to the online grind having completed various online streaming challenges and made many deep runs since joining PokerStars Team Online in 2017.
"These big events are what Twitch chat enjoys the most, and they're the ones I enjoy competing in"
In addition, he's also a two-time WCOOP champion, something he's not going to let his audience forget any time soon.
"I'm coming for the $5.50 Turbo PKO again, I tell you!" he said, having won his first WCOOP title in that event back in 2020. "Any random poker player can beat a 300-player field, but over 12,000 players? That takes something special."
Spragg was referring to his second WCOOP title, winning the $1,050 Mini Sunday Cooldown SE for $67,968.
"These big events are what Twitch chat enjoys the most, and they're the ones I enjoy competing in."
WCOOP Prestige and Legacy
The big events are ramped up even more for 2022, with PokerStars announcing 12 Championship Events spread across the 2022 WCOOP schedule.
These events run the gamut of poker disciplines, from normal PKO and 6-Max tournaments, to mixed games like HORSE, Razz and Badugi.
| DATE | TIME (ET) | EVENT | BUY-IN | GUARANTEE |
| Sun 4 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of Progressive KO NLH | $5,200 | $1,000,000 |
| Wed 7 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of HORSE | $1,050 | $100,000 |
| Thu 8 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of FL Badugi | $1,050 | $50,000 |
| Sun 11 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of 6-Max NLHE | $5,200 | $750,000 |
| Mon 12 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of PLO8 | $1,050 | $100,000 |
| Wed 14 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of Razz | $1,050 | $65,000 |
| Sun 18 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP Women's World Championship | $530 | $65,000 |
| Mon 19 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of 8-Game | $2,100 | $100,000 |
| Tue 20 Sep | 6:05 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of Heads-Up NLHE | $5,200 | $200,000 |
| Thu 22 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP World Championship of NL 2-7 Single Draw | $1,050 | $65,000 |
| Sun 25 Sep | 5:30 p.m. | WCOOP 92-H World Championship of NLHE/Main Event | $10,300 | $6,000,000 |
| 8:05 p.m. | WCOOP 94-H PLO Main Event/World Championship | $10,300 | $1,000,000 |
"I'm not going to be playing all of them," admitted Spragg. "I mean what even is a badugi? I think I'll leave the mixed game for others to win. But there are definitely events in there that I think will be prestigious and winning one will definitely be special.
"I mean, I've won two WCOOP titles but if I then get to win a third and say I'm the World Champion of something, that's pretty cool. In a way, they start a sort of legacy. So that in maybe 4-5 years you can look back at who has won these World Championship events over the years. Hopefully me!"
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
In this Series
- 1 PokerStars 2022 WCOOP Schedule is Released; $85M Gtd From September 4-28
- 2 Lex Veldhuis Confirms WCOOP Stream Schedule: "I Can't Wait For It To Begin!"
- 3 Spraggy Discusses Prestige, Legacy and the Grind Ahead of PokerStars WCOOP
- 4 Weekend Preview: ChampionChip, WSOP, WCOOP and MILLIONS Online!
- 5 Spraggy Wins Massive Bounty as Schemion Shines in the WCOOP World Championship
- 6 Super Benny Glaser Captures a WCOOP Title For the Fifth Straight Year
