Best Online Poker Tournaments
In 2023 the main event saw its biggest ever field of over 10,043 players having registered. Most Casino’s that offer poker will also allow you to play either cash game poker and or tournament poker. After many hours the final table of six players eventually gave way to start of day chip leader Jonathan Jaffe who took down a career-high score of $1,537,600. PokerNews’s Live Poker Tournament Calendar has some of the most notable locations and tournaments on the global live poker schedule. To use our Live Tournament Calendar to find poker tournaments, go to the widget above and set the filters to only see tournaments within your pre-set requirements.
Super-fast account creation and deposits mean you’ll be registering for our real money poker tournaments in moments. CoinPoker is one of the best online poker sites for tournaments because of the promotions and extra rewards. Blind Rollback and Roll Forward are complete game-changers for tournament players. CoinPoker is one of the world’s best online poker sites for tournaments. Online poker rooms run tournaments with buy-ins from anywhere between $0.5 micro stakes tournaments and $100,000 high roller events. For example, a $100k guaranteed tournament means the prize pool will be at least $100k no matter how many players enter the tournament.
Let our friendly and experienced staff help you find a game that matches your style. The prize pool depends on the number of entries, but the 2025 Main Event featured a $90.5 million pool, with $10 million awarded to the winner. Players should follow @WSOP on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram or check WSOP.com for more event news and updates. These progress into a $2 buy-in (or Step 2 ticket) Spin & Gold 6-Max SNG, then a $10 buy-in (or Step 3) Turbo Tournament, before a $150 buy-in (or Step 4 ticket) regular tournament opens the door for a WSOP bracelet pass. GGPoker sent more than 1,000 online qualifiers to the WSOP Main Event in 2025, and that impressive number is expected to increase this summer.
How did that affect the opportunities you received, the way players treated you, and how hard you had to work before people assumed you knew what you were talking about? It was simply that I knew which online screennames belonged to which real-life poker tournament participants. Ten levels are scheduled or playing down to 48 players.
- 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.
- Adapting strategies according to stack sizes and game phases helps players position themselves for success.
- While the Main Event is the biggest – according to prize pool – event in the series; the Millionaire Maker ($1,500 buy-in) is next up top with its latest edition bearing a prize pool of $14,603,565.
For players who want access to a major series at stakes that match their current bankroll, the SCOOP is the most flexible entry point into high-volume championship-level online poker. For online tournament players, the WCOOP is the closest equivalent to the WSOP in terms of prestige and breadth of events. With a $50k buyin and a mix of poker games familiar only to the top players, the Poker Players Championship is a very exclusive event.
The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Schedule
Since its inception, Stu Ungar and Johnny Moss are the only players to have won the Main Event three times. For non-players, selection is based on positive and lasting contributions to the overall growth and success of poker. There have been many memorable moments during the main events, including Jack Straus’s 1982 comeback win after discovering he had one $500 chip left when he thought he was out of the tournament. In the 2005 Main Event, US$52,818,610 in prize money was distributed among 560 players, with US$7.5 million as the first prize. Other events played in the past include Chinese poker, Five card stud, and many others. In the early 1980s, satellite tournaments were introduced, allowing people to win their way into the various events.
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).
World Series of Poker (WSOP)
This ensures that players will get eliminated if they don’t act. At most live events, the smallest buy-ins available are somewhere in the $300-to-$500 range. Thanks to the WSOP, No-Limit Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the world right now, both live and online.
The online tournament format works exactly the same as it does on the live felt. Some tournaments are over in a matter of minutes, while others can take up most of your day – sometimes several days, with breaks in between. Scheduling can be an issue; with a cash game, you can sit down at the table and get up whenever you want, and if you happen to lose your stack, you can buy right back in. Every player buys in for the same amount, which are put into the prize pool, and receives the same number of chips to start with.
Poker tournaments offer a thrilling and dynamic way to experience the game, with various formats and strategies to master. Understanding these payout structures can help players adjust their strategies to maximize their earnings in each format. Antes add to the pot size, encouraging players to contest pots more frequently. The increasing blinds in tournaments force more aggressive play and strategic adjustments. Winning a live satellite can be particularly rewarding, as it often includes travel and accommodation packages for the main event, adding an extra layer of excitement.
A multi-table tournament (MTT) is a format where players begin across several tables and compete until one final table is left. Online poker tournaments offer a chance to turn a small buy-in into a serious payday. Security teams monitor games to identify players seeking to gain an unfair advantage.
All of the 86 richest tournaments to date were played in No Limit Hold’em with more than $15,000,000 prize pool or player prize. New limits and games may be added based on player interest. In a fixed limit game, if there is an open pair on the fourth card, players have the option of making a bet or raising the higher limit.
ClubWPT™ is the official online poker game of the World Poker Tour® and operates under applicable Sweepstakes Laws. Stream instantly on your computer through the web or on your favorite devices, including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and streaming media players. All plans include unlimited access to PokerGO’s premium content library, including livestreams, original shows, and exclusive events.
Your next shot at playing on the World Poker Tour® starts online — and could end deep in the heart of Texas. The largest and most well-known tournament in Latin America is the Latin American Poker Tour Argentina event. The largest and most well-known tournament in Asia is the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau event. The 2005 World Series of Poker was the first held outside of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, though the final few days of the main event were held in the legendary Benny’s Bullpen. The venue will post tournament schedules on its website or in its poker room. For instance, it is much easier to bluff in a no-limit game, which allows aggressive betting, than in a fixed-limit game.
Cash games are more consistent, but usually don’t offer the same kind of big payday upside. In order to do so, a few key factors can help you enter tournaments that match your skill set and maximize your chances of success. A portion of each player’s buy-in becomes a bounty placed on their head. Each player starts with the same chip stack and plays until one winner (or top finishers) are left. Follow our Live events with the PokerStars Live app. Whether you’re new to the game, an experienced hand or a seasoned pro, there’s something for everyone – on and off the tables.
In the end, McKeehen outlasted 673 entries in the $5,300 buy-in to score a top prize of $462,600, which was adjusted during heads-up play. The finale started with Greufe and Hui holding most of the chips, but McKeehen crawled back from third to beat both of them in three-handed play. McKeehen outlasted a wild final table that included Loni Hui, Darren Rabinowitz, Jose Nadal, Eddie Pak, and eventual runner-up David Greufe. Meanwhile, the PLO event features a $3M prize pool, with bounties that range from $5K to $250K. Last time on Venom, a trip of big stars were on the marquee for the two final tables.
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.
By the end of Bellagio Cup, my boss Jeff Holsey offered me a full-time role, but only if I promised not to drop out of school to take it. So, by the end of my first summer, I picked up an extra gig working for the WPT as a tournament reporter for Bellagio Cup. It wasn’t I was an amazing writer or that I had some elite level of poker acumen. In the meantime, I was quietly developing a very unique skill set virtually no one else had. As a poker fan, I got behind the ropes access to everything and made money to boot, so it always felt like a blessing.
A recent innovation is the “mix-max” or “mixed max” tournament, in which the table sizes vary during the course of the event. Shootouts are also a common format for large heads-up multi-table tournaments, although these may feature double or triple elimination instead of the standard single knockout method. At the end of the rebuy period remaining players are typically given the option to purchase an “add-on”, an additional amount of chips, which is usually similar to the starting stack.
For those who prefer best poker sites the convenience and accessibility of online poker, several platforms stand out for their comprehensive tournament offerings. Additionally, short-handed play, involving fewer players per table, is another exhilarating variant, typically featuring six or four players per table. Experience top-tier gameplay and the energy of a tour that brings players together from across the world!
Most other poker rooms around town will have a regular offering of daily tournaments, and they can be convenient if you are staying nearby. For some reason, neither was inducted in the first year in a long time when there was an opportunity to induct more than one player. Now, look, I know there are a lot of other players who belong in this conversation, but I’m using Deeb and Seiver as examples because they’re two of the most recent players who I think we’d all agree deserve to be in. You don’t get punished for that as you would in no-limit, because the crux of the game is played post-flop.
Claim your slice of up to $2,500,000 in guaranteed prize pools from our Sunday Specials. Qualify through satellites from $5.50, compete across two days, and play for a real trophy and a place in CoinPoker history. We’ve collaborated with some of the most prestigious tournament brands in the world, like the Triton Poker Series and Battle of Malta. Sign up & download the Poker Software, creating a Poker nickname.Upon depositing a minimum of €10 into the poker wallet, your 200% match bonus will be automatically triggered. Any information and advice provided by Beastsofpoker.com is purely for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not legal advice. Beastsofpoker.com is not a gambling site or operator and does not provide or offer any gambling software or services.
If you can consistently final table Sunday Millions, you are ready for live major events. I point players toward the Sunday Million as a concrete target because it has a clear buy-in, a meaningful prize pool, and a field size large enough to be challenging without being unmanageable. With a $215 buy-in and a standard $1 million guaranteed prize pool (which increases significantly for anniversary editions), it is the benchmark for online tournament poker. The WSOPE is a better fit for more experienced players who want maximum prestige and are comfortable in tough fields. This is not a tournament I recommend to players who are still developing their fundamentals.
The summer then moves into the million-dollar-inspired events as the $1,500 Millionaire Maker and $1,000 Mystery Millions, get underway on June 17 and June 23. Daily Landmark Mega Satellites will run from May 26-July 13, which pay out multiples of casino value chips that can be used to buy into events. We can say for sure that the 57th annual Main Event is set to shuffle up and deal on July 2 at 11 am, with play running through July 13 when the final table will be formed. Playing just one entry in all 100 bracelet events at the 2026 WSOP would set you back a staggering $1,101,950! At the top end, there are 18 $10,000 buy-in events, six $25,000 high rollers, four $50,000 events, two $100,000 buy-ins, and the $250,000 Super High Roller standing alone at the summit. This 2026 WSOP guide covers everything you need to know including the full schedule, Main Event details, the hottest new events to watch for in 2026, and much more.
This product consolidation isn’t growing the game. But some people don’t have time for the stream. As your own questions to me attest, being a tournament reporter was always considered this horrible grunt work. The fact these episodes are lost to time guts me, as I would give a lot to be able to go back and listen. Getting to share some of the stories from a tournament day that weren’t the headlines but were memorable nonetheless was a very special opportunity. Out of all the work that I did in poker, getting asked to be part of Poker Road Radio was always the work I remember most fondly.
Here are the main features tournament players will care about. Low risk, low investment, and the chance to run it up to a big online poker tournament score. Take on the biggest names in poker for millions in prizes in this unique CoinPoker event, running multiple times a year.
I’ve done a couple of one-off gigs with Mori’s (Eslkandni) production team when I still lived in Vegas, and I can imagine a world where I offer my services as a spotter for production for the Main. If they want only the fun and sanitized poker stories, that is what you write. So, if livestreams are paramount, they can demand you delay your updates and you have to say yes.
To qualify online for WSOP 2026, please visit GGPoker to find out more about WSOP Express, or wsoponline.com if located in the United States. You’re going to need somewhere to rest and recuperate between 2026 WSOP events, and what better place to do that than at a Caesars Entertainment property? Starting May 26, the streams will bring live action from a revamped TV set featuring some of poker’s most familiar voices. WSOP Circuit tournaments usually enjoy large crowds, but the ones in Las Vegas this summer could break attendance records with so many grinders being in Sin City for the 2026 WSOP. The three-day event features two starting flights and brings GG’s flagship brand to the live stage. Last year, the Millionaire Maker was one of the most talked-about stories of the series, controversial but compelling, it remains a standout event that always draws a massive crowd.
When people remember the boom-era WSOP, they tend to focus on famous players and televised hands. Black Friday didn’t help, as the affiliate model in the US just can’t survive promoting solely regulated online poker, and there isn’t money to have competing updates teams at the WSOP anymore. Towards the tail end of my career, as Black Friday’s immediate effects had worn off and people realized the new status quo was never going to be the boom again, players became very wary of the media.