Top 5 Best Poker Tournaments You Can't Miss

19 Mar 2025

Beginner

This material is for beginner players

You can participate in poker tournaments not only on online platforms but also at live events held around the world. Every year, numerous offline events take place in various corners of the globe, offering massive prize pools, with the winners taking home multi-million-dollar payouts. In this article, we’ll first focus on the major live championships and then highlight some of the biggest online poker championships. Let’s dive in just right now!

With the rise of live poker events broadcasts, their popularity has skyrocketed, along with poker’s overall global appeal. A poker tournament is a truly thrilling and unforgettable event that draws not only a large number of participants but also a worldwide audience of spectators.

The largest poker tournaments attract players from all corners of the globe. It’s well known that the vast majority of online poker players were first introduced to the game after watching broadcasts of major competitions. Chances are, you’ve imagined yourself as the champion of one of these high-stakes battles, celebrating a massive win.

However, poker tourneys aren't just about the illusion of easy money. We’ll delve into the sacrifices players make to compete at this level and the challenges they face along the way. Get exclusive insights into the world’s most prestigious poker tournaments — only in our today's poker guide!

Offline poker events are open MTT tournaments where anyone can participate — whether they are beginners, amateurs, or world-class professionals. The only restriction is age: players under 18 are not allowed to register. Tournament organizers may set a higher age requirement depending on the laws of the country where the event takes place.

Well-known live events and series have been held for over 50 years, giving rise to numerous international and local poker championships. Some of these have gained particular popularity among players, so let’s take a deep look at the list of poker tournaments offline.

WSOP

The most famous poker competition is the WSOP, which stands for World Series Of Poker. It is also commonly referred to as the World Poker Championship or the World Series of Poker. Notably, anyone can participate in this grand event — its doors are open not only to professionals but also to amateurs. In addition to massive prize pools, the winner will be offered exclusive contracts with the largest poker rooms, cooperation with which brings even greater rewards.

The WSOP is the biggest of all US poker tournaments, which lasts about two months and includes 50 tournaments in various types of poker. The absolute world champion, according to the WSOP, will be the player who manages to win the Main Event. Its total prize pool is made up of player buy-ins, which are set at $10,000 to enter the tournament. In recent years, the prize pool for the WSOP Main Event has typically exceeded $60 million, with the winner taking home more than $8 million.

WPT

The WPT (World Poker Tour) is a global poker series that was launched in 2002. Its founder, television producer Stephen Lipscomb, also served as the CEO of WPT Enterprises until 2009. The current CEO is Adam Pliska, who was named "Person of the Year" by the American Poker Awards in 2014.

A total of 146 players registered, creating a poker tourney prize pool of $1,416,200. The winner of the inaugural event was Gus Hansen, whose aggressive playing style earned him $556,480 and the title of the first-ever WPT champion. John Juanda finished in second place, while Freddy Deeb took third. In 2002, 13 tournaments were held. The first WPT World Championship kicked off on April 14th, marking the year's final and largest event. With a prize pool of $2,716,750, 111 players competed, including poker legends Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Phil Hellmuth. Alan Gering took first place, while Russia’s Kirill Gerasimov claimed second, and Phil Hellmuth rounded out the top three.

The WPT US poker tournament has never been interrupted since its inception and continues to host annual tournaments for poker players around the world. The best players accumulate points each year through their performances, ultimately competing for the prestigious title of Player of the Year.

EPT

The idea of organizing a series of poker tournamnets to unite players from Europe came to the management of PokerStars in the early 2000s. Just a few years later, in 2004, the first season began. The European Poker Tour (EPT) tournaments took place in seven cities across the Old Continent: Barcelona, London, Dublin, Copenhagen, Deauville in France, Vienna, and concluded with the grand final in Monte Carlo.

The series continues today, and its geography keeps expanding. More and more players join the tables, new cities and countries are added, and poker is becoming more popular across Europe. Buy-ins are also becoming more accessible. Often, the stages of the European Poker Tour are combined with local festivals or the Eureka series, where the cost of participating in the main tournaments is significantly lower.

Some players who have made the most appearances at the final table include: Ole Schemion (46 times), Steve O'Dwyer (45 times), and Konstantin Puchkov (41 times). In the top 5, with a significant gap from the leaders, are Spaniard Adrian Mateos and Frenchman Jean-Noël Thorel, each with 33 final tables.

We’ve already mentioned the two-time champions of the main events. But there are also several other interesting rankings. For instance, the player who has won the most in main tournaments is Canadian Mike McDonald with $3,405,343. In second place is another Canadian, Glen Chorny, with $3,276,354. Remarkably, the fifth spot is also held by a Canadian, Puria Nazari, with exactly $3,000,000 in cash.

Among women, the undisputed leader in earnings is American Vanessa Selbst ($4,084,735), followed by Igor Kurganov’s partner Liv Boeree ($2,645,664), and completing the top three is the first two-time main event champion, Victoria Coren-Mitchell ($2,066,469).

WSOPE

Despite its wide recognition, the WSOPE (World Series of Poker Europe) is a relatively young competition in the world of professional poker, but it has been rapidly gaining popularity in Europe. It brings together the strongest players at the poker table in London.

The World Series of Poker Europe was born in 2007, when the public was surprised to hear that the gold bracelet for winning the championship would be awarded not in the United States, but in Europe. The organizers, armed with the powerful WSOP brand, decided to use the established reputation to launch a new project (the name and coveted bracelets were carried over from the original WSOP). However, the organizers wisely realized that simply copying the organizational structure of the WSOP wouldn’t be enough to attract widespread attention. In 2007, they reached an agreement with the largest betting exchange and poker room, Betfair.

Triton Poker

Triton Poker is one of the youngest but most renowned poker championships globally. The idea to create such a festival came from businessman Richard Yong in 2015. The well-known bookmaker and high roller Paul Phua quickly joined in to help bring the vision to life. In the following year, the first Triton Poker event took place in the Philippines.

The main event had a buy-in of $200,000, attracting poker stars like Phil Ivey, Dan Colman, and other offliners. The tournament’s champion was Fedor Holz, who triumphed over 51 opponents. The festival was deemed a huge success, and just six months later, the second stage took place. Interestingly, the winner of the main event at this stage was the son of the series’ founder, Wai Kin Yong. He later proved that his first victory wasn’t a fluke by winning a second title just a few months later.

In 2017, Triton Poker significantly expanded its reach. The series moved to Montenegro, where Fedor Holz claimed his second title in one of the tournaments, while the main event was conquered by another German pro, Manig Loeser, who pocketed over $2 million. By 2018, Triton Poker had begun adding not just Texas Hold'em and Omaha events, but also Short Deck tournaments, with similarly high buy-ins.

Today, Triton Poker events are held in various cities and countries, including Northern Cyprus, Madrid, Korea, Montenegro, and others. It is one of the most prestigious series, and the final tables of the poker tournaments are often streamed live on the series’ YouTube channel and the official PokerOK room channels.

Finally, let’s overview online poker tournament schedule in 2025. Usually every poker room lobby features regularly scheduled events. A series consists of multiple special multi-table tournaments (MTTs) held consecutively over two to three weeks.

Key Features:

• Each tournament comes with a guaranteed prize pool.
• The number of participants is always higher compared to similar regular tournaments.
• A dedicated tab is created in the poker room lobby.
• Buy-ins vary and are often divided into three tiers: low, medium, and high stakes.
• Most series events offer satellite qualifiers, with entry fees starting from just a few cents.

Online poker tournament calendar remains consistent throughout the year. Series events are typically announced one to two months in advance. Every poker site hosts its own long-running events. Now let’s highlight major upcoming poker tournaments you should look up to this year.

PokerStars Tournament Series

PokerStars runs a major series every 2-3 months, with some events not repeating annually. Each series features unique structures, buy-ins, and the number of tournaments.

PokerOK (GGNetwork) Tournament Series

Since 2020, PokerOK has led in tournament traffic. It is the only platform offering weekly series with multimillion-dollar prize pools.

Other Major Online Poker Series

Some ot the others biggest tournamentpoker championships in online rooms include:

These series and poker tournments consistently offer high guarantees and attract thousands of players. Whether you’re grinding online series or preparing for high-stakes live tournaments, improving your skills is key to long-term success. At our website you’ll find expert poker coaching, in-depth strategy articles, and high-quality training videos to help you dominate the tables. Ready to level up? Start learning today and crush your next tournament!