You don’t have to be a genius to realise that poker tournaments have gained a certain amount of traction in the previous few years, building up to even bigger and better events from various poker brands. Of course, with so many poker tournaments taking place every year, it can be difficult to decide which ones are the best to watch out for and potentially participate in.
That’s why we’re here – to provide details of the very best poker tournaments in 2019. This way, you can seek out the greatest ones.
Each of the tournaments in this list bring something different to the table, featuring various prize guarantees, buy-ins, locations and, of course, different poker companies behind the events. And with such a mass of tournaments happening in 2019, let’s get right into things and take a look at which ones are certain to be the best this year.
World Series of Poker
Las Vegas makes the perfect location for the WSOP tournament that will occur from Tuesday 28th May through to Tuesday 16th July. Emanating from the Rio All-Suit Hotel & Casino, this will mark the 50th anniversary of the event, clearly marking it out as the longest-running tournament series. Due to this, various special events are scheduled to be taking place throughout the duration of the tournament, including a celebratory gala and an awards evening, too.
While there are still a few things to be announced regarding the WSOP anniversary event, one of the most notable additions to this year’s gathering is the event known as the Big 50. This will be a $500 buy-in event, featuring a grand prize pool of a guaranteed $5 million, with $1 million of that going to the eventual winner.
Other finalised events for this tournament include the $1,500 “Millionaire Maker” offering and the Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em inclusion.
World Poker Tour: European Championship
In association with PartyPoker Live, this WPT European Championship event will take place in Nottingham, United Kingdom. The event is set to run from March 30 through to April 14, and it will be held at the Dusk Till Dawn Poker & Casino establishment.
An online event is set to kick things off for the tournament, which will then be followed by the WPT 500 featuring a guaranteed prize pool of £1 million, taking place between the 5th and 9th of April. As far as the Main Event of this tournament is concerned, that will have a buy-in of £3,300 and feature a guaranteed prize pool of £3 million.
On the final day of the tournament – Sunday 14th April – a £100,000 Pot Limit Omaha event is set to take place, as well as a £50,000 guaranteed 6 Max Turbo event.
888Poker LIVE Barcelona
The poker tournament calendar wouldn’t feel right if there wasn’t a selection of 888Poker events taking place within such. The city of Barcelona will get to experience the LIVE tour from 888, with proceedings kicking off on Wednesday 22nd May and running on through to Monday 3rd June.
The tournament is set to take place at the Casino de Barcelona, and it will act as a sort of predecessor to the annual WSOP event in Las Vegas.
Last year, the 888Poker site promised a total of $1 million in prize guarantees, and that amount was smashed throughout the course of 20 events taking place. For both the €220 Opening Event and the €2,200 High Roller, prize pools of €100,000 were guaranteed at the tournament. This year, once more, a $1 million overall prize pool is on offer. At the same time, the winner of the Main Event will be provided with a prize package allowing them to enter the aforementioned WSOP Main Event – a reward worth $12,600 altogether!
PartyPoker MILLIONS Europe
A visit to the Czech Republic is what will be necessary for this PartyPoker tournament, which will take place between the 10th and 18th August. Offering a massive €5,000,000 in guaranteed prize funds, this promises to be an epic event.
The MILLIONS Europe will occur inside the Kings Casino, based in the city of Rozvadov. Gaining access to the Main Event will require buy-ins of €10,300, but it promises to attract some of the world’s greatest poker players. To add to the overall excitement, the entirety of the tournament will employ classic freezeout rules. Therefore, re-entries will not be possible. It will just bring five days of competitive poker gameplay between August 14 and 18.
If there was ever a European poker tournament to watch out for, it’s the PartyPoker MILLIONS Europe.
Unibet Open
The Unibet Open tournament has been running since 2007, so it remains as one of the strongest poker tournaments in existence. Featuring stops in London between 23rd and 26th May and Malta from 11th to 15th September, there’s so much to look forward to with this one.
On the London stop of the tour, The Poker Room at The Grosvenor Victoria Casino will provide hosting duties. This marks the eighth time that the Unibet Open has made its way to the capital of the UK. Last year’s event saw Andreas Wiborg, a Norwegian student, claim the victory over 348 other players. He would collect a massive win of £56,807.
It will be during September that the tournament will stop in Malta though, operating out of the Casino Malta, which is based in the InterContinental Hotel in St. Julians. When the event first went to Malta in 2011, the Dutch pro Mateusz Moolhuizen claimed the victory. This marked a path for various other players to follow in his footsteps in proceeding years, including Danish pro Daniel Jacobsen.
PartyPoker MILLIONS North America
While it’s true that the European version of this event marks an outstanding occasion in itself, the North American offering of it should also be taken notice of as well. This one will take place at the Playground Poker Club in the city of Montreal, Canada, and it will run from Wednesday 22nd May through to Monday 27th.
The event saw Taylor Black triumph last year, claiming a win of $1.4 million in the process. As with the European version, all gameplay will be done with a freezeout format, ensuring that re-entries are not possible. This is what is certain to make it another popular event, as well as the guarantee of a $5 million prize pool.
