Poker has blown up into a total worldwide craze over the past few decades. You can see it from all the massive live and online poker tournaments popping up everywhere. The biggest live events have turned into huge festivals running for weeks and offering millions in possible winnings.
Long-running poker tours and one-time tourneys are smashing player records every year. Here we’ll highlight the seven biggest tournaments out there today, based on crazy high participation – plus those juicy prize pool guarantees that get people pumped up across the globe!
1. World Series of Poker
- Where: Las Vegas, USA
- Dates: May 28th – July 17th 2024
- Overview: The biggest, most prestigious poker party on earth just keeps getting bigger.
Odds are you already know all about the legendary World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Running every summer at the Rio Casino since 1970, the 6-week extravaganza makes every other tourney seem tiny in comparison. It crushes them all for longevity, fame, player counts, variety of games, and sheer cash up for grabs.
The WSOP keeps expanding more and more each year, smashing record after record as summers pass by. Back in 2023, they saw an insane 120K entries across more than 80 different tournaments with bracelets on the line. And based on how quickly things have grown, 2024 is shaping up to draw even larger and more pumped up fields all chasing poker immortality.
Buy-ins range from a few hundred bucks to a whopping $100K now, so they can fit all bankroll sizes. Games go far beyond just No Limit Hold’em to include Pot-Limit Omaha, Stud, Draw, and so many more mixed gameplay formats. WSOP Schedules are jam packed with special events too, drawing in Casino Employees, Seniors, Ladies, and Heads-Up diehards.
But the real main attraction is that $10K Main Event. The two week spectacle always lures thousands seeking a nine or ten digit top prize. It used to be mostly for pros only, but satellite entries have let amateur players get in on poker’s biggest stage every summer too now.
2. World Series of Poker Circuit
- Spots: Various casinos nationwide
- Dates: All year long
- Overview: Dozens of major regional WSOP tours with buy-ins starting at just $250
In addition to the OG Vegas motherland series, the WSOP brand also puts on a full international Circuit hosting more than 20 slamming events at big casinos worldwide each year too.
These open parties bring some World Series excitement to poker hotspots spanning Atlantic City to Los Angeles to New Orleans to Choctaw Durant. Top prizes at the Main Events are prestigious WSOP Circuit rings for showing everyone who the best in the region is.
Buy-ins for the prime tourneys range from around $365 up to $2,200. But they run a bunch of satellite tournaments that let amateur players leverage tiny investments into appearances at the big dances, possibly final tables with life changing money. That accessibility helps Circuit stops routinely draw between 2K to 4K runners, beating out entire years worth of turnout for some competing regional tours.
Connecting multiple stops into one huge leaderboard for the full Circuit schedule makes things really exciting too. Those who stack up the most points across the tours lock up bonus prizes plus tickets for a $1 Million year-end Grand Finale event featuring over 200 players.
3. World Poker Tour
- Killer Stops: Seminole Hard Rock, Montreal, Macau
- Places: All sorts of destinations
- Overview: World famous high roller poker tournaments
The World Poker Tour basically invented the whole game of televising major poker tournaments when they first landed on the scene back in 2002. These days they’re running dozens of destination tourneys every year across North America, Europe, Asia, plus online whenever you want.
In the online poker world, WPT competes with various poker-focused brands. For those of you looking to spin some slots instead, there’s a comprehensive list of new sweepstakes casinos in the US. Taking advantage of deposit bonuses is highly recommended!
The land based events stretch from the Bellagio fountains in Vegas to inside aviation palaces like France’s Aviation Club de France in romantic Paris. Buy-ins from $3.5K to $15K make it a battle zone for seasoned pros, but they offer enough satellite chances that amateur dreamers can try qualifying their way into the big leagues too.
Some definitely worth catching are April’s $3 million guarantee at Florida’s Seminole Hard Rock, or that record-shattering $7.3 Million WPT Heads-Up title fight slated for May.
4. Heartland Poker Tour
- Spots: Mostly U.S. Midwest
- Dates: All seasons
- Overview: The biggest regional tour packing field sizes larger than most national competition
Out in the Midwest, Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) remains a major ace on the American tourney scene. Running strong every year since 2005, they keep offering accessible big money poker hunts outside of just Vegas. Come 2024, the HPT is doubling down on its mission to provide sick poker payout chances across its many events, with total prizes locked in over $47 freaking million.
HPT buy-ins typically run cheaper than the larger national tours, ranging from just $200 up to $1.6K. That pricing means big demand in the field departments, as events routinely draw over 2,500 participants gunning for glory. Bigger turnouts than some other tours pull their entire season combined!
5. DeepStack Championship Poker Series
- Spots: Midwest/South U.S.
- Dates: 365 days a year
- Overview: This rapidly expanding poker fest has already awarded over $160 million in prizes
The DeepStack Championship Poker Series has made its name running events primarily in Southern staples like Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. Running strong every year since 2012, they first got noticed for the sheer scale and the deepest player pools for regional tours, with flagship tourneys frequently topping 2,500 entrants gunning for that trophy.
Top stops in party towns like Tampa and South Florida are slated to crush prize pools past $2 million, highlighting the appeal these series keep gaining within America’s competitive poker scene.
6. Irish Poker Open
- Where: Dublin, Ireland
- Dates: Around Easter holiday every year
- Overview: One of Europe’s oldest and best loved poker parties, blending cards tradition with competitive intensity
For the past three decades, the Irish Poker Open has earned serious street cred for its friendly yet fierce battlefield vibes. Getting its start over 30 years back, the tourney has evolved to blend that signature Irish hospitality with hardcore poker showdowns for leprechaun stacked pots of gold. Their 2024 games go down around Easter, promising another international wave of players responding to a €1.1 million guarantee up top.
Some fresh gaming regulation changes on Irish turf lately have sparked huge growth too, with the last Open nearly doubling past years’ turnout. Safe to say the tournament has arrived as a showcase for Ireland’s blossoming poker dominance and capabilities running with the world series big dogs.
7. European Poker Tour
- Legendary Stops: Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Cyprus, Prague
- Dates: 365 days a year
- Overview: Europe’s most popular poker tournaments
Ask any player across the Atlantic and they’ll say the European Poker Tour (EPT) remains one of the hottest tickets on the worldwide tournament circuit every year. Pit stops take over luxurious locales stretching from Monte Carlo to Barcelona and Mediterranean hotspots in Cyprus, with action now added in lively Prague.
Each EPT stop offers up millions in Euros just waiting to be won, pulling top worldwide talent plus dream-chasing amateurs.
They’re definitely known best for the high roller tiered buy-ins ranging from €1,100 up to €100,000. But there’s almost always satellite chances letting smaller bankrolled players qualify their way in to try hanging with giants.
That perfect mix of upscale destinations plus elite cards competition continues packing venues year after year across borders. More proof the EPT built itself into a must attend bucket list item for poker players scheming on aggressive European domination.