European Poker Tour EPT Live Poker Tournaments
This diversity in tournament offerings ensures that BetOnline remains a favorite among online poker enthusiasts. With different betting structures like No-Limit, Pot-Limit, and Fixed-Limit, Bovada caters to a broad spectrum of poker players. Popular events such as the Weekly Guaranteed and the Black Diamond Poker Open attract large fields and promise exciting gameplay.
Play tournaments that don’t last longer than the time you can allocate for playing. You should take notes on your opponents and take advantage of the worst players who are still in the tournament, as they’re looking to gamble with all sorts of hands. Early stage in a tournament plays similarly to a cash game with deep stacks.
One of the most famous MTTs is the PokerStars Sunday Million, known for its massive prize pool and high level of competition. We encourage all users to check the promotion displayed matches the most current promotion available by clicking through to the operator welcome page. The title was captured by Bin Weng and he took home a prize of $2.2m after dominating a really tough field. The EveryOne for One Drop, had a $10,500 buy-in with a massive field of 1,676 entries, creating a $16,257,200 prize pool. Eliot Hudon ended up taking down the massive $4.1m first prize coming out on top of 2,960 entrants.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes an entry fee (a percentage between 6% and 10%, depending on the buy-in) and distributes the rest, hence the prize money increasing with more players. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions on live poker events, there was a heavy focus on online events for 2020 and 2021, with dedicated online series during both years. The main event, a £10,000 buy-in no-limit hold ’em tournament, was won by Norwegian online prodigy Annette Obrestad on the day before her 19th birthday.
An online tournament has a specific start time, and you have to keep playing if you want to see a return on your investment. Cash games are still played online today, and they can be entertaining as well as rewarding. The goal in a standard poker tournament is to win all the chips in play, leaving you as the last player standing.
Online satellites offer a cost-effective way for players to qualify for top poker tournaments. SportsBetting offers a variety of poker tournaments that appeal to a broad range of players. These platforms provide distinct features, tournament types, and prize pools, making them great options for online poker players. This guide covers the most popular poker tournaments, both online and live, and gives you essential information on formats, prize pools, and strategies.
7-CARD LO (RAZZ)Razz is a low ball game. NO LIMIT HOLD ‘EMIn a No Limit Hold ‘Em game, there are designated blinds and/or antes plus a designated opening bet. 7-CARD STUDSeven-card stud is played with two down cards and one up card, a betting round, followed by three more up cards (with betting round after each), then a final down card and a final round of betting. A qualifier of eight-or-better is usually needed to win the low hand in the split game.
- Notable events like the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, which had a €5,325,300 prize pool in 2023, highlight the tour’s prestige.
- Poker tournaments offer a thrilling and dynamic way to experience the game, with various formats and strategies to master.
- This makes it easier for players to register for tournaments in advance and plan their participation effectively.
As we go to press, there are over 150+ tournaments available for registration, with buy-ins ranging from 50 cents all the way up to $1,000. Unless you’re at the WSOP, almost all the tourneys you get to play live are No-Limit Hold’em freeze-outs. After a certain number of levels, in addition to the blinds, each player will be required to contribute a small number of chips to the pot. Once you’ve installed the software, you’ll be taken to the main lobby, where you’ll be able to log in and view the entire tournament schedule and choose the tournament you want to play in. You also don’t need to make any travel arrangements when you play online.
If you’re playing tournament poker for the very first time, playing freerolls is an excellent way to get your feet wet. Freerolls are tournaments that are free to enter, yet they have real cash as prizes. Depending on the rules, re-entry events can allow buying back in once, twice, or unlimited times. The re-entry is treated as a whole new buy-in, meaning that the player will get a new seat at a new table when re-entering the tournament. In a re-entry tournament players are allowed to buy back in if they lose all their chips, for a specific number of blind levels (for example the first 10 levels of the tournament).
Once players start to bust out of the tourney, the tables are balanced so that some of the tables are broken and the players are moved randomly to other tables with empty seats. MTTs take place over multiple tables with a specific number of players per table, usually 9. Similar to all tournaments, every player pays a buy-in fee and gets a stack of chips to play with. In online tournament series, additional prizes can be awarded through leaderboards. When entering a poker tournament, each player pays a fixed buy-in and is best poker sites given a certain number of tournament chips at the start. Players are eliminated from the tournament once they run out of chips, and only a small percentage of the player pool will win a prize.
Unlike cash games, where players can rebuy chips and continue playing, tournament players must carefully manage their stacks to survive increasing blinds and antes. Satellite events are a popular way to win entry into larger tournaments, allowing players to compete for a fraction of the usual buy-in cost. Additionally, high roller events and special tournaments like the Super Millions Poker Open provide ample opportunities for players to win big. For those eager to immerse themselves in online poker tournaments, identifying the best online poker sites is of utmost importance.
The Mad Monday series culminates in a Main Event with a guaranteed prize pool of $125,000, making it a must-play for serious competitors. In 2026, several sites stand out due to their tournament volume, variety of games, and lucrative rewards. The escalating blinds in MTTs add an extra layer of strategy, requiring players to constantly adapt their approach.
Thankfully, Wicked Chops Poker created this position for me on their weekly poker show where I popped in and gave them the major headlines from the industry for five minutes. As a tournament reporter, I was so behind the scenes and so low on the ladder that I did not feel that pressure. A lot of people would say poker was pretty nasty with misogyny during that period. I would get great stories or tips of hands we missed or a suggestion to stick around because there is a maniac at the table. But, as someone who walked by the media room a half dozen times this summer and never saw a soul inside it, I doubt people would grasp just how many people were in there.
Players can easily join these tournaments by registering through the tournament lobby on the platform. These formats cater to different play styles and strategies, making each tournament a fresh and exciting experience. Poker tournaments come in a variety of formats, each offering a unique challenge and excitement. Points earned from weekend tournaments will award one point to each Division! Players earn one point for making the final table (last 10 spots) in any qualifying tournament.
In September 2007, the first WSOP championship events outside of Las Vegas, complete with bracelets, were held. Various events led up to the Main Event, which was held from July 28 until August 10. The Rio also hosted the 2006 World Series of Poker, which began on June 25 with satellite events and formally began the day after with the annual Casino Employee event, won in 2006 by Chris Gros. The format for the Main Event as a freeze-out Texas hold ’em game came the next year.
If you play for real money, make sure that you do not play for more than you can afford losing, and that you only play at safe and regulated operators. Participants must also register and pay an entry fee, which may vary from tournament to tournament. Major tours like the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) offer online qualifiers through their platforms or partner sites. The first tournament was held in Málaga and since then the ESPT has covered many cities including Madrid, Valencia and San Sebastian. The Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) was founded in 2011 and has become an important part of the poker scene in Spain.
These tournaments are run like a cash tournament but anyone who eliminates a player also receives the losing players ‘bounty’. Generally poker sites pay 15-20% of the field – so a tournament with 100 players would pay ~ 15 to 20 players, with most of the prize money allocated to the top spots. In cash tournaments players buy-in for a nominated amount and play down to the last person. The $50,000 buy-in, being five times larger than the buy-in for the Main Event, has thus far tended to deter amateurs from playing in this event, and the variety of games played require a broader knowledge of poker. Since 1972, the Main Event of the WSOP has been the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold ’em (NLHE) tournament (in 1971 the buy-in was $5,000 and the inaugural 1970 event was an invitational with winner determined by a vote from the players).
POKER PROductions has filmed WSOP bracelet final tables and the WSOP Main Event for PokerGO, a subscription video on demand service. Former pro turned executive producer Mori Eskandani’s team pioneered the live broadcast format seen at the WSOP since 2011. The first day of the final table was aired on ESPN2 and the final day on ESPN, with both days also streamed on ESPN3 and WSOP.com. The Main Event final table was broadcast on a 15-minute delay with the same policy regarding hole cards.
WSOP Ladies Championship Events
Bovada is another top contender in the online poker world, offering a plethora of tournaments with substantial prize pools. These platforms not only offer a wide range of tournaments but also host special series and high-stakes events that attract poker enthusiasts from around the globe. These tournaments can attract hundreds or even thousands of players, all competing across multiple tables. The best place to watch live poker tournaments is usually by tuning in to live streams. Every year the World Poker Tour gathers famous poker players and amateurs alike for the chance to win huge cash prizes.
In a standard shootout tournament, 2-10 players sit on each table and the table roster remains the same until everyone but one player is eliminated. Rebuy tournaments often allow players to rebuy even if they have not lost all their chips, in which case the rebuy amount is simply added to their stack. After this so-called “rebuy period”, the play resumes as in a standard freezeout tournament and eliminated players do not have the option of returning to the game any more.
This approach makes EveryGame a welcoming and engaging platform for anyone looking to play poker online. EveryGame caters to all skill levels, ensuring novices and seasoned pros can find suitable tournaments. Its accessible design makes it ideal for both new and experienced players looking to test their skills in various formats. These promotions not only enhance the gaming experience but also offer additional value to players. Bovada’s tournaments feature popular game formats such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and various betting structures like No-Limit, Pot-Limit, and Limit Hold’em.
DeepStack Showdown Poker Series events run from one to two weeks at a time. The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is 64 players compete in heads-up matches single elimination style to determine a winner. The main live poker tournament in Africa is the All Africa Poker Tournament hosted by the Piggs Peak Casino in Piggs Peak, Swaziland. The stakes of each round, as well as blinds, bring-ins, and antes as appropriate per game, typically escalate according either to the time elapsed or the number of hands played. This effectively made it a hybrid freezeout–shootout tournament, with freezeout play at larger tables and shootout play in the heads-up phase. A typical example is the mix-max event held at the 2012 World Series of Poker, in which the first day of play was nine-handed, the second day six-handed, and the rest of the tournament heads-up.
A series of spin-off tournaments, titled the Professional Poker Tour, began filming in 2004. These cameras, built into the table, allow viewers to see the face-down hole cards dealt to each player. Following the November 2009 acquisition of the World Poker Tour by PartyGaming plc, the new owners added a second series of televised WPT events under their PartyPoker brand name. In April 2008, WPT Enterprises, Inc. settled with the five players remaining in the lawsuit. The claim of interference with contract was based on the releases’ claim to perpetual rights to the players’ likenesses for any use WPTE wished. All players at CoinPoker receive a 150% welcome bonus worth up to $2,000.
Major live poker tournaments are the pinnacle of the poker world, drawing players from across the globe to compete for prestigious titles and substantial prize pools. To qualify for a live poker tournament, players can participate in online tournaments or qualifiers that offer a chance to win a ticket to the main event. Winning an online package offers amateurs and seasoned players an affordable way to experience the thrill and prestige of major live poker tournaments.
The distribution of prizes depends on the number of entrants, and the number of payout positions increases if more participants enter the tournament. Some tournaments also offer re-buys, add-ons, or re-entries, meaning you have the option to purchase more tournament chips. Deletion of your profile will only affect your online profile and will not affect or otherwise delete your play history. This approach enhances your chances of entering significant events without the need for a substantial investment. Players can use filters on these platforms to find tournaments matching their preferences, like location and buy-in level. Turbo tournaments, on the other hand, feature faster blind levels and shorter durations compared to standard tournaments.
To combat the constant shrinking of tables and avoid having tables play with varying numbers of players, players are moved between tables, with unnecessary tables getting closed as the tournament progresses. In a tournament series, multiple tournaments are played in which prizes are awarded. A single-table tournament effectively behaves the same as the final table of a multi-table tournament, except that the players all begin with the same number of chips, and the betting usually starts much lower. A number of places (typically, two, six or nine) are allocated at a single table, and as soon as the required number of players has appeared, chips are distributed and the game starts.
Major tournament series offer huge prize pools, deep structures and the chance to compete for prestige on a global stage. While a fundamental part of the ecosystem, online poker is built around more than just daily grinders and weekly freerolls. GGPoker provides a similar opportunity, running step satellites where players can win full WSOP packages. WSOP.com just makes number one on our list, purely down to the opportunity players have to qualify for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Where GG might lack poker variants, PokerStars doesn’t and you’ll find some fun turbos and hypers across a range of different poker games.
One event that was scheduled for Biloxi, Mississippi, was canceled after the Grand Casino Biloxi, which was scheduled to host the event, suffered major damage from Hurricane Katrina. Starting in 2005, the WSOP began the World Series of Poker Circuit, a satellite series held at Harrah’s-owned properties in the United States. The WSOP added a made-for-television $2 million “freeroll” invitational Tournament of Champions (TOC) event first won by Annie Duke as a “winner-take-all” event. The winner in 1970, Johnny Moss, was elected by his peers as the first “World Champion of Poker” and received a silver cup as a prize. It was an invitational event sponsored by Tom Moore of Castle Hills, Texas, and held at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno.
Like 888poker, Party tends to lean towards higher guarantees rather than offering the volume of events that PokerStars and GGPoker does with their series. High guarantees is the name of the game, and it’s certainly one tailored more towards beginners and casual players. PokerStars is the best site to play on for major tournaments series.