Poker Tournaments - Major Tournaments

Major Tournaments

The two largest and most well-known tournaments in the USA are the World Poker Tour championship event and the World Series of Poker, both held in Las Vegas. The World Series has traditionally been featured on ESPN. In the 1980s the Super Bowl of Poker was the second largest and most prestigious tournament.

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. Later tournaments have been held at one of the Harrah's Entertainment and later Caesars Entertainment properties; since 2005, the Rio has served as the venue.

The largest and most well-known tournament in Europe is the European Poker Tour, which was founded in 2004 by John Duthie and is now the largest poker tour in the world by both total players and prize pool. The World Series of Poker Europe started in 2007 and has one stop, originally in London but since 2011 in Cannes.

The largest and most well-known tournament in Asia is the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau event.

The largest and most well-known tournament in Latin America is the Latin American Poker Tour Argentina event.

The Crown Australian Poker Championship, also known as the Aussie Millions, is the largest tournament in the Pacific region. WSOP owner Caesars Entertainment and Aussie Millions host Crown Melbourne have teamed up to launch the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific, which will hold its first edition in 2013.

In addition to these events, there are other major tournaments throughout the year. The World Poker Tour broadcasts a series of open tournaments throughout the U.S. and Caribbean with buy-ins from $5,000 to $25,000, as well as a European event with a €10,000 buy-in. Some of these events are stand alone tournaments like the Caribbean Poker Adventure, but most are held in conjunction with a tournament series being held at the host casino, like the Commerce Casino's LA Poker Classic, the Grand Sierra's World Poker Challenge and the Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker. A North American Poker Tour was launched in 2010.

Atlantic City hosts The United States Poker Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal casino, which has been broadcast by ESPN in recent years.

The main live poker tournament in Africa is the All Africa Poker Tournament hosted by the Piggs Peak Casino in Piggs Peak, Swaziland.

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is a tournament modeled similarly to the NCAA tournament for college basketball. 64 players compete in heads-up matches single elimination style to determine a winner. It is one of the most prestigious heads up poker tournaments and it is the first tournament produced by a television network.

The internet poker revolution has sparked online poker tournaments and series that have become larger than many live tournaments. The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) are two of the biggest online poker tournament series, with tournament prizes surpassing the million-dollar mark.