Live poker tournaments are some of the most hotly anticipated events in the gambling calendar, with world-renowned stars on show in some seriously high-stakes scenarios.
The excitement of team sports is one thing, but there is no doubt poker can produce some of the most exhilarating moments of any game – none more so than in tournament poker.
In the world of poker, certain poker tournaments have some eye-watering prize money on offer to players, with the world’s best poker events offering cash prizes that stretch well into the millions.
But what are the world’s best poker events? Below, we will review the top live poker events in the world, exploring what the best poker tournaments offer to both players and fans.
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is certainly one of the biggest poker tournaments in the world. In 2020, it consisted of up to 101 events. Taking place annually in Las Vegas from May to July, it is incredibly popular with consumers and players alike, with 2024’s attendance breaking all previous records.
The aptly named “Main Event” is the centrepiece of the series. It takes the format of Texas Hold’em poker, as do over half of the 101 events. 2024’s first-place prize hit the $10 million mark and also saw a record number of entrants as the total tipped over 10,000 for just the second time in its history – defeating 2023’s record. And with a total prize pool of $94,041,600, it’s the richest poker tournament in the world.
Jonathan Tamayo is the reigning champion, with Johnny Moss and Stu Ungar boasting the most Main Event wins in history with three.
WPT World Championship
When it comes to the world’s best poker events, the World Poker Tour’s World Championship is one of the biggest poker festivals on the planet. Taking place annually in November to December, in 2023 it headed to Las Vegas and took Nevada by storm, with over 30,000 players entering across the 20-day festival.
More than $100 million in total prize money was awarded last year, with 14 of the 23 tournaments across the festival generating a prize pool of at least $1 million. Daniel Sepiol came out on top, winning a cool $5,282,954 in the process. Known for its high-profile brand ambassadors, the event has seen the likes of world-renowned DJ Steve Aoki attend.
European Poker Tour
The European Poker Tour has been around for two decades now and is still one of the most popular poker events in the calendar. Taking the form of traditional Texas Hold’em poker, it is the largest poker tour in the world.
Over five events across last year, the winners of each of the staple EPT events (Paris, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Cyprus and Prague) took home over $5 million in prize money combined. The Paris and Monte Carlo events have already taken place in 2024, with over €2 million being dealt out so far to respective winners Barny Boatman and Derk Van Luijk.
Super High Roller Bowl
The Super High Roller Bowl is one of the newer poker tournaments on our list of the top poker events around the world, having been formed in 2015. It is a recurring high-stakes No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. As the name suggests, this is one of the more exclusive events on the list. The buy-in for Super High Roller Bowl I was $500,000.
Taking place at venues across the world, including the likes of Macau, the Bahamas, the Gold Coast, London and Sochi, the most recent event took place over three days in Las Vegas in October 2023, with the eventual winner Jared Bleznick taking home $1,292,000 of the $3.8 million prize pool. 2023 saw a record-low buy-in for the Super High Roller Bowl, although it was still an eye-watering $100,000.
Triton Super High Roller Series
With a similar name to the previous event, the Triton Super High Roller Series is a triannual, or sometimes even quarterly, series of poker tournaments. Each stop in the series features a Main Event in both No-Limit Hold’em and Short Deck Hold’em, which is a No-Limit poker game with a stripped-down deck.
Similar to the Super High Roller Bowl, the Triton events are considered some of the most exclusive, with minimum buy-ins of $15,000. The Triton Million for Charity, held in 2019, broke the record for the largest payout in poker tournament history as first and second place took home a combined total of over $20 million. South Korea, Montenegro and the Bahamas are among the venues for the 2024 series.
The Big One for One Drop
We have seen buy-ins further up our list of poker tournaments hit some seriously high heights, but the Big One for One Drop takes it all the way into the millions, with a minimum seven-figure buy-in. As is the case with many of these high stakes poker events, it follows a No Limit Texas Hold’em poker format.
After a four-year hiatus from 2018, the Big One for One Drop returned in 2023 in December in Las Vegas in conjunction with the WPT World Championship. The most recent event saw the re-introduction of the $1 million buy-in, with four eventual payouts combining for a total of just shy of $16 million. Recent winners of the tournament include Mikita Badziakouski, Steve O’Dwyer, Jonathan Jaffe, and Justin Bonomo.
PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship
The PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship is another No Limit Texas Hold’em event worth checking out. In 2023 it spanned across late-January to early-February in the Bahamas as part of the resurrected PokerStars Caribbean Adventure event, and attracted over 1,000 entrants, making it the second-largest $25,000 buy-in tournament in poker history. Aliaksandr Shylko won the 2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship event, pocketing himself a prize win of $3,121,838 for his good work.
Irish Poker Open
To round off our list of the world’s best poker events, we thought it was only right to include the Irish Poker Open. The Irish Poker Open Main Event is the oldest tournament outside of Las Vegas and the oldest in Europe, boasting a history going back more than 44 years.
Held annually in Dublin, the event has a long and illustrious history – from the earliest days when maverick bookmaker Terry Rogers launched it in 1980 to the many years when the late Liam Flood, a two-time Main Event champion, was at the helm. Flood passed away in 2014 and since 2016, the event has been run by Paul O’Reilly and JP McCann.
The Irish Poker Open is considered an absolute must on the international poker calendar and always attracts a stellar crowd, with 2024 seeing the biggest event in Irish history with 3,323 entries, a €3,152,175 prizepool and over €7,500,000 in total prizes.
2025 will mark the 45th year of the event with a festival running from April 14 to April 21 at the Royal Dublin Society.
Find out more about the Irish Poker Open here.
