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You’ve got to ask yourself just one question: Are you ready to go all in? Well, are you? The name the game is poker, and it’s the world’s most popular tournament card game. Poker is a game of skill and strategy. You go head-to-head against other players for the best hand.
Various tournaments are available, including SNGs, MTTs, satellite tournaments, and heads-up poker tournaments. Let’s take a look at the 5 most incredible poker tournaments on the circuit. We begin with The World Series of Poker.
#1 – WSOP (World Series of Poker)
The World Series of Poker is regarded as the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. Truth be told, it’s not one tournament It’s dozens of poker tournaments under the umbrella of the WSOP. The 2019 World Series of Poker takes place from May 28 – July 16. The 50th annual WSOP will be played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada. An estimated prize pool of $200 million + is up for grabs.
In 2018, 123,865 entrants participated in the WSOP, with prize money in excess of $266 million. The winner of the Main Event walks away a multi-millionaire, and is crowned king of the poker ring. The Main Event World Championship features a buy-in of $10,000, a poker bracelet for the winner, and a legacy that endures for generations.
#2 – WPT (World Poker Tour)
The World Poker Tour is a glittering spectacle of poker tournaments taking place all over the world. Multiple poker events are slated for different types of tournaments, including the WPT League, WPT Regional, WPT Special Events, WPT DeepStacks, WPT 500, WPT National, and the Main Tour.
The WPT is heavily popularized across the world, featuring prominently online, on mobile, and on TV. The WPT TV show broadcasts to 150+ countries and is now in its 16th season. The players with the biggest earnings to date include Dylan Linde ($1,740,453) and David ODB Baker ($1,021,695).
#3 – The Aussie Millions
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! The Aussie Millions, otherwise known as the Australian Poker Championship, began 21 years ago in 1998. Today the Aussie Millions is regarded as the ultimate poker showdown in the region. The Aussie Millions takes place in January and February every year at the illustrious Crown Casino in Melbourne.
The Main Event is a Texas Hold’em humdinger, with a buy-in of AU$10,600, and a prize pool in the millions. The 2019 Aussie Millions winner, Bryn Kenney scooped up a whopping AU$1,850,000, and the runner-up was Mike Del Vecchio with AU$1,130,000.
#4 – The Mega Deep
With a name like The Mega Deep, you better believe that this tournament is stacked. Hosted by the legendary 888poker, The Mega Deep features prominently as the premiere Sunday Mega Series of tournaments. The difference is, this tournament has a buy-in of $215 and lots of tournament play with long blinds.
The Turbo Mega Deep features a $215 buy-in, with rapidly increasing blind levels and a chip stack of 10,000 to get you started. Plenty of fish compete at these top tournaments at 888poker. Other contests include: The Blowfish, The Catfish, The Monsoon, The Swordfish, The Twister, The Whale, and the Goldfish. The name of the game is Texas Hold’em and players are crushing it with big action.
#5 – EPT (European Poker Tour)
The European Poker Tour is a grand affair. As the leading poker tournament in Europe (on par with WSOPE), almost 1 billion people routinely watch this series of poker contests on TV. The main events comprising the EPT include the French Open, the Irish Winter Tournament, the Scandinavian Open, the Barcelona Open, and the European Poker Classics. These individual poker tournaments are showcased throughout the year in Europe.
Examples of European Poker Tour winners include Steve O’Dwyer, Antonio Buonanno, and John Juanda. Events are showcased in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Barcelona, and Sochi. To compete, players must simply register to participate in an EPT tournament. In 2018, the Monte Carlo Main event winner, Nicolas Dumont scooped up €712,000 to finish at the top of the leaderboard.