The online poker industry continues to grow at pace. In May, Polaris Market Research said it anticipates the global online poker market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% between now and 2032. This would mean the market’s value would grow from $86.12 billion in 2022 to $283.42 billion within the space of a decade.
Multi-table tournaments are one of the main drivers of interest in poker from casual players. The online poker tournament calendar is jam-packed with thousands of tournaments every week, across the leading online poker rooms. However, the best poker tournaments are those which carry life-changing prize pools and heart-pounding entertainment. It’s even possible to qualify for some of the biggest online poker events through ‘satellites’, which is basically another word for qualifiers. These satellites carry much smaller buy-ins, with those finishing towards the top of the leaderboard securing direct tickets into these huge tourneys.
If you’re new to poker, or perhaps you’ve always stuck to the cash game tables, below we’ve put together a guide to the biggest online poker tournaments, giving you the confidence to tackle them once and for all.
WSOP Online Main Event
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) smashed records for its Online Main Event, hosted by GGPoker this month. It created history by becoming the biggest single online poker tournament, attracting approximately 6,023 entries across almost 24 Day 1 flights.
Better still, the audacious number of players saw this year’s WSOP Online Main Event smash through the guaranteed $25 million prize pool, eventually reaching $28.6 million. This Guinness World Record-maker is an event to put in your diary for 2024.
PokerStars Sunday Million
The PokerStars Sunday Million is comfortably the biggest weekly poker tournament on the planet. Launching in 2006, the Sunday Million has stood the test of time for almost two decades. Each week, the event carries a guaranteed prize pool worth $1 million to set the pulses racing.
The tournament is played in a progressive knockout format, allowing you to rack up instant wins for every player you eliminate from the tournament. Satellites are scheduled in the run up to the event on Sunday evenings or you can buy in directly.
PokerStars WCOOP 2023 Main Event
The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is one of PokerStars’ flagship online poker series, alongside the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). The WCOOP high-roller Main Event is the number-one event in terms of guaranteed prize money, with $6 million up for grabs. However, it does demand a $10,300 buy in.
There is also a low-roller WCOOP Main Event, with a guaranteed $2.5 million prize pool, which has a buy in of $109. The greatly reduced buy in does attract many more players though.
GGPoker World Festival 2023 Main Event
The GGPoker World Festival carried $200 million in guaranteed prize money this year. Scheduled between May and June, this was the talk of the online poker scene in early summer. The GGPoker World Festival Main Event was the centrepiece of the entire festival.
The Main Event carried a minimum of $8 million guaranteed in prize money, with a modest buy in of $1,500.
Whichever of these poker tournaments you sample, you’re sure to enjoy pitting your wits against amateur and serious poker players from all four corners of the globe.
