How Can You Qualify For The Best Live Poker Tournaments,
Poker Tours and Festivals

With an ever growing number of live poker events, tours and one-off live poker tournaments – there was an urgent need to have a single resource to show them all. This page is your go-to resource for live poker event listings, and is updated with the latest news and information as it comes in. What is more, I have added those upcoming live tournaments with online qualifiers in the table below – so you can win your seat in one of these big money games for just a few dollars!

Tournaments in red: players are required to complete specific challenges in order to unlock entry to tournament. ¹ Daily Hundo: See 25 hands in Gold Coin Ring Games to unlock, resets Daily 10 PM ET. ² Daily Bonanza!: See 50 flops in ANY Ring Games to unlock, resets Daily 9 PM ET. ³ Weekly Bonanza!: See 500 flops in ANY Ring Games to unlock, resets Sunday 4 PM ET. 2020 Winter Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida $1,700 WPO Main Event $200,000 Guaranteed Entries: 779 Prize Pool: $1,207,450 December 10-14, 2020. By any measure, the 2020 Winter Poker Open was a huge success and it was capped off by the $1,700 buy-in Main Event.

Best Live Poker Tournaments

There are several key ‘tiers’ of poker tours and events, which provide a handy way of organizing this page.

• Premier Tours and Events:

  Here I am referring to the tournaments which attract the stars, the press and the television cameras. Think World Poker Tour, European Poker Tour, World Series Of Poker and Aussie Millions – the crème of the poker tours and events.

• Regional Tours:

  There are now many of these including the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, Latin American Tour, UK Independent Poker Tour and many more. These are popular events and often have a lot of qualifiers online, however not quite as big as the tier 1 events.

• Smaller Tours And One-Off Events:

  Here I will include the kind of tours run by poker networks, a great example is the OnGame Network ‘Grand Series Of Poker’. Also in this section one off events will be listed, for example the Irish Winter Festival, English Poker Open or some of the increasing number of live tournaments held in Malta.

Complete List Of Live Poker Tours And Events – The Big Ones!

These are the truly global events. I will outline each one in turn and link out to the schedule page for the stops / dates. I will also show you where you can qualify online to win seats in these events.

Quick Note For US Readers: Most of the qualifiers info will necessarily be at Non-US sites, since these dominate the poker scene in 2014. You can check my US Friendly Poker Sites page here for more info on where to win seats in live events at the remaining US poker sites.

World Poker Tour

This was the original multi-country tours, featuring pro-filled final tables on prime time TV and multi-million dollar prize pools. Today the WPT is in season 11 and is bigger than ever, with many events in the $3k to $5k range in addition to the premier $10k events.

The WPT brand has was bought out by Party Poker (now part of the BwinParty group) and is promoted heavily through their poker client. This encourages 100’s of people to qualify online, which keeps the fields soft and also gives amateurs a shot at fame and potentially life-changing money.

Big events associated with the WPT include WPT Grand Prix de Paris, bwin WPT Barcelona and of course WPT LA Poker Classic. You can see the whole schedule, including the many smaller events around Europe and worldwide, on the official WPT website here.

European Poker Tour

The EPT is owned by the biggest online poker site – Pokerstars.com – and has grown to rival the WPT in terms of both prize money and glamor. Again you will find pro-filled televised events – including stops in the Bahamas, Monte-Carlo and London.

In addition to premier $10k+ buy-in events, there are a number of smaller and regional stops. These run throughout the year with the Pokerstars Caribbean adventure and Snowfest (Ski resort) tournaments showing the contrast.

Qualifying tournaments do not get any better than at Pokerstars – with a huge choice of buy-ins and sub-qualifiers. You can win ‘packages’ which include transport, hotel and expenses – as well as the tournament buy-in. There is a range of smaller and mid-sized tours which you can win seats for at Pokerstars too – check out the current list at Pokerstars.com now.

World Series Of Poker*

Many people think the world series is just one game - the ‘Main Event’, a $10,000 buy-in tournament held in Las Vegas each year to determine poker’s World Champ! The WSOP* is actually a whole month of tournaments, covering a huge number of games, betting types and structures. These range in buy-ins between $1000 and $50k, with a $1 million buy-in special added in 2012. Winners get special ‘bracelets’ which are hugely sought after, as well as life-changing prize money.

In addition to the yearly festival which starts in May of each year, there is a tour known as the ‘World Series Circuit’ which visits several cities.

Qualifiers for the World Series Of Poker is possible on almost all online poker sites, who compete fiercely each year to get new players into their satellites. I have a section of this site dedicated to the latest news and best deals for these (see it here). One word of caution, some of the biggest sites allow multiple wins (the 2^nd+ being paid in cash), which does attract pros looking for fields full of amateurs! My personal favorite to try for a seat is Titan Poker, the world’s 3^rd biggest site and member of the iPoker Network. Find out more about this great site in my review.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. or its affiliates (collectively Harrah's). HIE does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with, Sit And Go Planet or its products, services, promotions or tournaments. Any promotion or tournament on this site will not guarantee your seat or ability to register for any WSOP event or any WSOP affiliated event which is at the sole discretion of Harrah's.

Complete List Of Live Poker Tours And Events – Regional Poker Tours

One site in particular seem to have been accumulating regional poker tours! Pokerstars.com have the Latin American, Asia Pacific, Russian, Australian / New Zeeland, UK and Ireland.. Italian… French and Brazilan tours… and you can qualify for all of these online.

This is not quite a monopoly situation, there are plenty of independent tours out there – one of my favorites is the Grand Series Of Poker, and the Unibet Open events travel around some premier European destinations. There are also some North American Poker tours – such as the Bluff Mid-Stakes Poker Tour. With no online qualifiers, I will give the US tours only a passing mention for now.

Here is a list of the current tours, with the major stops, idea of the buy-in levels and (importantly!) where to qualify online for your seat.

First, the tours owned by Pokerstars

APPT, The Asia Pacific Poker Tour: Takes in New Zealand, Australia and Macau (China) with buy-ins ranging from $3000 to $25000 – includes a $100k high roller event in Macau. Currently in season 6 with qualifiers available through Pokerstars.com

LAPT, The Latin American Poker Tour: Takes in several South American countries including Chilie, Uruguay, Columbia, Panama and Peru – smaller buy-ins in the $1100 to $2500 range. This tour is now in season 5 and is hugely popular. Packages you can win online include travel and hotel, encouraging many players to treat these games as mini-vacations!

UKIPT, The United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour: Currently in season 3, these games are lower buy-in (at least compared to the poker tours listed on this page) with EUR770 buy-ins. There are 9 stops taking in Galway, Nottingham, Dublin, Newcastle, Swansea, Edinburgh, Cork and London. With reasonable prices these games attract a lot of local live players as well as qualifiers from online satellites.

Eureka Poker Tour, Covering Central And Eastern Europe. This is a relatively new event, starting out in 2011. There are currently 4 stops taking in Croatia, Bulgaria, Latvia and The Czech Republic. Buy-ins are smaller at EUR1100 and with poker taking off in the CEU region I expect these to be popular events – especially with online qualifiers running on Pokerstars!

ANZPT, Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour. Already in season 4, this tour covers major cirues in Australia and New Zealand including Sydney, Perth, Queenstown and Melbourne. Buy-ins range from $1100 to $5k).

RPS, Russian Poker Series. This one gets a mention of its own, though the other country specific series are lumped together below. The thing is that Russia do not allow live poker – so the ‘Russian’ poker series is instead held in neighboring countries, with the grand final being in the Ukraine! Season 3 awaits for this very popular tour.

Other Series: France, Italy, Brazil + Spain and Macau all get their own ‘series’ of live events run by Pokerstars, who also get involved in The ‘Holdem Challenge’ and ‘World Cup of Poker’… now that is a lot of poker tours.

Head on over to Pokerstars.com now and start the qualifiers (or sub-qualifiers for smaller bankroll players) to a tour near you – it could be the start of a glittering poker career!!

GSOP Live, The Grand Series Of Poker At OnGame Sites

Now, while I have nothing against the great work Pokerstars are doing to promote live poker tours – it is great to add one to the list that they do not actually own! The ‘Grand Series Of Poker’ is promoted on OnGame Network sites – including the awesome Red Kings. This tour jumps around European Cities and is now in season 4. The venue for the final has not been revealed as yet for 2012/13 season, however hopes are high as last time this was in the Bahamas! What I like about this one is that there are 100’s of qualifiers online, meaning a large number of players come through this way. The next stops are Prague and Dublin and buy-ins are around $1500. You can win a seat from just $1.05c at the awesome Red Kings Poker.

Unibet Open

This tour takes in some of the biggest and best cities in Europe, 2012 stops are Prague, Paris and London with Budapest a popular choice from previous years. Each event is handled as a separate stand-alone event, though with the same branding and qualifying structure this is more like a tour. Buy-ins for this one are EUR1650 with prize packages worth EUR2500 including travel + accommodation.

Live Poker Events – List Of One-Off Tournaments And Festivals

Not everything live is a tour, in this section I have listed some of the fantastic one-off events held around the world every year. Some cross-over will happen where the ‘big events’ are actually stops on the big tours. This should clarify for those of you looking for the PCA or Aussie Millions – as well as show you some more great games which you might not have been otherwise aware of.

PCA – The Annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is officially part of the European Poker Tour, though the yearly break in the Bahama’s feels like a separate event thanks to the big publicity and attractiveness of getting away from the winter each January. PokerStars are the owners / sponsors of this televised event, and also the best place to qualify for your entry + vacation package.

Aussie Millions – Another winter getaway, this time to the summer sunshine of Melbourne, Australia. This has been the biggest tournament in the southern hemisphere for some time, though is now potentially challenged by the first World Series Oz in 2014. Read more details here.

Irish Winter Festival – One of several mid buy-in events in Dublin, and a popular destination for both European and US pros. The historical party city is a big attraction. Read more here.

Morocco – 888 Run an annual escape to Morocco. This year also sees their UK based ‘Shane Warne Classic’ and qualifiers to several other small regional tourneys too.

Complete Live Tournaments And Tours List

This list will never stand still, with more tours and more one-off events happening every year. The good news for players is that you have never had more choice, and these games are no longer just for hardened poker pros thanks to the large number of qualifier games happening online.

I strongly recommend Pokerstars.com for players looking to win seats in live events. They have more choice of qualifiers and give away more prize packages than any other site. Choose ‘Affiliate Marketing Code’ and enter code PSP3108 when you register, you can then claim up to 3 welcome bonuses (bonus code STARS600) up to $600 in total. Check out the awesome qualifier schedule at PokerStars.com now!

Related Articles

Poker players in London have plenty of options when it comes to live games, and many of the 23 london casinos offer some kind of poker action. As well as the casinos, there is also a growing trend of pubs and snooker halls running low stake social games.

But where is the best place to play poker in London? Our writers, who are no strangers to the felt, have come up with this handy guide:

'The Vic' - The Grosvenor Victoria

150-162 Edgware Road, London, W2 2DT

Located about a five minute walk from Edgeware Road tube station, The Grosvenor Victoria (affectionately referred to as 'The Vic') is the undisputed daddy of London poker. The card room is located upstairs and is by far the largest in the capital.

Part of the Grosvenor group of casinos, players must register before entering the casino. Registration is free and is done once for the entire group, not per casino. If you originally registered at a different Grosvenor, you will need to swap your current membership card at the desk for one that can be used in the card room.

Cash games run 24 hours a day and blinds start at just £1-£1. Whilst the rake at these levels may seem eye wateringly high compared to online games, they are actually the best low-stake rates in town - 10% capped at £5. At the £1-£2 level the rake drops to 5% with a £10 cap, and for games of £2-£5 and over the rake is taken as a half-hourly fee.

As well as cash games, The Vic run tournaments every evening with an additional afternoon game at the weekends. It is also the home to many large poker events such as the GUKPT, the EPT and the WHUP.

Regular players can try and make it into the monthly top 100 (based on number of active days) to win a seat in the loyalty freeroll and have a stab at the £40k+ pot.

See The Vic's UK Casino Guide Listing

'The Empire' - The Casino At The Empire

5-6 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7NA

The Empire is located slap bang on Leicester Square in the former ballroom of the Empire Cinema and for a short while held the title of largest casino in London. The poker room is among the nicest we've ever seen - primarily because of the incredibly comfortable reclining leather chairs, which makes a huge difference at the end of a long session.

Registration is not required at this casino as The Empire operate a walk-in policy, but there are advantages to becoming a member, mainly through the accumulation of loyalty points as you play.

Cash games start at £1-£2 with a 5% rake (£10 cap) and go upwards from there. The Empire is also the only brick and mortar casino we know of in central London to offer a bad beat jackpot - which is paid out if a hand of four twos or greater loses. At time of writing this jackpot was over £55,000 and has previous reached nearly a quarter of a million pounds (£222,335).

Regular players can also participate in the cash race - where the top 45 players (based on playing time) compete to win a share of the Cash Race pot. In addition to this, all players earn points whilst playing cash games, which can be spent in the bar or restaurant.

The folks at the Empire certainly have asperations for tournaments, but their players seem more interested in the cash games than anything else. The 4pm scheduled start times for their daily tournaments probably aren't doing them any favours either, though this is most likely because they want the tables back to use in the evening cash games.

Poker Tournaments London Saturday Times

See The Empire's UK Casino Guide Listing

'The Fox' - The Fox Poker Club [Now Closed]

93-107 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5DY

Located on Shaftsbury Avenue, and a stones throw from Leicester Square, China Town and Soho, the Fox has an enviable location. It is, however, a members only club which means you have to pay a £10 joining fee and do a bit of paper work before you can hit the tables.

The Fox runs cash games 24 hours a day, although the volume and availability of games is far less than that of The Vic. The real reason people come to the fox are the tournaments, which are held three times a day. Whilst some poker rooms struggle to find players for their tournaments, The Fox struggle to find enough seats for the players who want to participate.

The games are dealer dealt and entries costs are normally between £10 and £250 plus a £5 registration fee (or 10% of the entry, whichever is greater). Most tournaments are in the wallet friendly £20 - £40 range and attract a lot of regulars.

Poker Tournaments London Saturday 2019

See The Fox's UK Casino Guide Listing