Here I Compare the Options for Real-Money Online Poker Tournaments Available to US Players
Poker Tournaments For US Players
This article will not cover the regulated in-State sites – which (WSOP bracelets aside) are struggling to gain any real momentum.
Below you will find a site by site summary, using the most popular individual sites where a network is involved. After that I have gone through the US online tournaments by size (buy-in). At the end of this page you will find my overall recommendation.
Poker tournament results and schedules for upcoming events. Black Chip Poker 100% up to $1,000 Sports Betting Poker 100% up to $1,000 NLOP Free Global Poker Free Gold Coins.
- There’s some big poker tournaments coming up at Intertops Poker over the holidays: the $3000 GTD Christmas Day tournament, $1500 GTD Boxing Day, and $2500 New Year’s Day. Satellites for the holiday headliners start today. From now till Christmas, there will be six daily satellites for the $3000 GTD Christmas.
- It’s time for PACOOP 2020. Big-money poker tournaments are coming back to Pennsylvania. Don't miss the Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP). It’s your chance to win a share of $1,500,000 in total guaranteed prizes from September 19-October 5. PACOOP features 50 must-play events.Enjoy a schedule packed with different poker variants.
- Every upcoming Poker Tournament Series and Special Event in the US and Canada, WSOP, WPT and HPT events, schedules, buy-ins, starting times, prize pool guarantees, and game information.
- Poker Tournament Director Duties. A poker tournament director is in charge of coming up with a tournament structure (starting stack, blind levels) and the prize distribution. This is the part of the job before the tournament even starts. They need to come up with a tournament structure that meets the players’ expectations but also fits the.
US Online Poker Tournaments 2021 – The Contenders (Sites)
#1 – Bovada Poker Tournaments
There is no doubting that Bovada (who pool players with Ignition Poker / Bodog) are the biggest US room.
What many people do not know before they play there, is that the games are anonymous. Instead of playing with a nickname, you are assigned a new number for each tournament. This stops the tracking software which gives pro players an edge - leveling the playing field for casual players. Bovada proved the skeptics wrong, their 'recreational poker model' was a big factor in their growth.
This is the biggest US poker room (only players from the US and selected Latin American countries can join). There is a solid regular schedule, with a ton of guarantees in the $1k to $5k range (buy-ins up to $22). While for the big 'headline events' America's Cardroom are ahead, for the 'bread and butter' tournaments, I rate Bovada as the number #1. The focus is 98% on No-Limit Holdem, with Omaha the minority game type
There are already some notable highlights for tournament fans. Note that the anonymous play model is still in use. You do not get a screen name at this site – instead when you play a tournament you are assigned a number, and cash games just use the seat numbers.
- $2 Million in Guarantees every week… that’s a lot of guarantees. This is not skewed by a couple of huge games either. When you see the listing you will quickly see that most of the tournaments have some kind of guaranteed prize pool.
- $100k Sunday Major… This always beats the guarantee, there are plenty of satellites too, entry costs $162.
- Mad Monday Tournaments:... This has been a very successful promo, a lot of extra tournaments, often with big guarantees spread each Monday. The total seems to vary (holiday weekends and seasonality affect this) though expect $300,000+ in extra games and again plenty of satellites.
Bovada were good for events and for satellites to live tournaments, for example ‘Vegas Weekends’ during the World Series. I hope to bring you news on this area soon.
With easy deposits, and plenty of poker variations to choose from, I do not see Bovada losing their number one spot any time soon. Check out their busy nightly tournament schedule, and find out how much more fun those anonymous games can be for yourself now at – though I do have a feeling that it will be one of (at least) the top contenders by the end of the year! Check out www.bovada.lv to see the latest deals and tournament events for yourself.
#2 – Chico Network / BetOnline Poker
BetOnline has been looking after sports bettors from their HQ in Panama for the best part of a decade. Last year, they joined the Chico poker network, and have grown this part of their brand to become the 2nd largest US friendly poker site.
Guarantees are not yet at the level that you might expect (a lot of their players hit the cash game tables instead). Though they are already up to $250,000 a month in prize pools. If you like your tournaments with smaller fields and smaller buy-ins – then you will not find softer games than these at any US site. The secret is that a lot of the field are sports fans who have crossed over into the poker room – and not the experienced ‘pro grinders’ you might find elsewhere.
At the moment the BetOnline weekly flagship event has a guarantee of just $25,000. This does go up to $150k approximately once every month (usually on the last Sunday of the month) as part of a special promotion. BetOnline also recently introduced knockout bounty tournaments each day, these are entertaining (though lower buy-in) alternatives to the regular games.While it does not seem that the recent increase in players at Bet Online has fed through to an improved tournament schedule - there are still some good reasons to play here. The main one is that the fields are very soft, with a lot of players crossing over from the huge sportsbook part of the site.
You can check out the new bounty games, tournament leaderboard promos and date for the next $50k guaranteed over at www.betonline.ag
#3 – Winning Poker Network / America’s Cardroom
Since the last update to this page, America's Cardroom have improved their offering for tournament fans further. They regularly host events under the 'Online Super Series' name. There are bigger and smaller events, and some huge guaranteed prize pools. The most recent series ha guaranteed prizes of $4.5 million.
The Venom = ACR Poker's USA 'Sunday Million'
In 2021, ACR are guaranteeing $1,000,001 each week in a single million-and-one tournament. This is huge news for US tournament fans. If you prefer, you can hit the qualifier games and win your seat in one of the games. There continue until spring. In previous years, they did continue through the year, though were more spread out. If you want to see $1 million+ prize pools for US players continue, then do make sure that you support these events.
The video below gives you an intro to the Million Dollar Sundays, you can find the qualifiers and details over at www.americascardroom.eu
Even though this is only the 3rd largest player pool, the focus on tournaments makes the schedule here the busiest - especially when there is an event like the OSS coming up. Some of the bigger tournaments have relatively high entry prices, though there are plenty of satellite qualifiers running to give smaller bankroll players a shot at the big money. These can be entered for just $1.
In addition to this headline event, there is a 'Super Saturday' lineup, which itself has $750,000 in guarantees. There are also live tournament qualifiers. In addition to the qualifiers via regular tournaments, you can win big event entries via the Jackpot Poker (lottery SNGs). This year saw a lot of WSOP Main Event seats awarded in this way.
The regular schedule is growing, though not too packed at the moment. Again the focus is on the lower ($10 and under) end of the buy-ins. If you want to play several tournaments starting at around the same time, then you will need to mix and match those sites. A nice addition to their welcome bonus is up to $50 in 'Tournament Bucks' which are awarded semi-randomly using cards. These are a free extra and can be used to buy into any tournament with the equivalent value.
Find out when the next OSS (Online Super Series) and / or $1 million guaranteed event is on over at www.americascardroom.com
#4 – Merge Network / Carbon Poker
Carbon are now out of the picture. This is a shame as this was an excellent site not too long ago.
#5 - Other Networks
There are some smaller networks, the closest to being in contention is the Equity Poker Network. As of 2021, they are not big enough to make the list of recommendations for poker tournaments though. As I mentioned in the intro the Horizon poker network (Intertops Poker) is making some slow headway. While I am optimistic over time, it does not look like this network will cross the point where there are enough player numbers to run bigger tournaments this year!
US Online Poker Tournaments – By Buy-In Ranges
Most of us are reasonably fixed with the buy-ins we are comfortable playing. If you know what band you are looking for, here are my thoughts on how the different sites match up.
Biggest US Online Poker Tournaments 2021
Here we are talking about the Sunday Majors and special one-off events where you have a chance of winning enough money to really make a difference.
America’s Cardroom has the biggest buy-in, and by a long way with their regular $1,000,000 guaranteed. There are sub-qualifiers for this (the majority of the seats are won this way). This event happens every 3 months or so, and has already rewarded several players with 6-figure prizes. Keep an eye on America's Cardroom for the next running. More recently, there was a run of 5 Million guaranteed tournaments, which are well served by satellite qualifiers (ensuring big fields).
Bovada Poker have a weekly $100,000 guaranteed (and Mad Mondays often feature bigger games too), ACR has $50,000 (boosted around once per month to $100,000) and BetOnline chase the pack with a $25,000 guarantee. Intertops can not really be said to have a Sunday Major just yet - their bigger buy-in tournaments are still more like Multi-table Sit N Goes.
Million Dollar Sundays: As discussed above in the ACR section, from now until early March, we have a $1 million gtd tournament every Sunday at ACR. See www.americascardroom.eu for more.
Mid-Range US Poker Tournaments – the $22 to $55 Range
Players who were used to grinding this range before the big international sites left will really need to have accounts at several offshore sites to make up the volume of games needed. You’ll find 1 or 2 each evening at each site (though if you include $11 rebuys this does go up). The downside is that you will often be facing less than 100 opponents. It feels like the main sites have a plateau at $33, with the bigger games reserved for the weekend and special events.
Bovada is your best bet here by a long way – though I am hopeful the increasing number of players on the WPN network will see some expansion in this buy-in range for BetOnline in the near future. At the weekends you will find some bigger tournaments in this range at ACR too.
Small Buy-in US Online Poker Tournaments – The $11 and Under Range
Once you get to the $11 and under games, you’ll have enough opportunities that you can afford to be a little selective. Since the 150 to 250 player games at the $3 , $5 and $10 level are common, my preference is to go for those sites where your average opponents are likely to be the least experienced.
Betting giant BetOnline fits the bill for me here too. They have been building their sports betting brand for many years, and you are more likely to find an average person that enjoys the occasional poker game here, compared to other sites which have more ‘small stakes pros’. The software is pretty basic, then again, I’ll swap flashy graphics for a better chance of making the final table any day of the week.
Best Site for US Poker Tournaments – Mark’s Overall Choice
This is a genuinely tough one, all of the sites have their positive aspects.
If I had to pick one and only one place to play, then it would be America's Cardroom. The reason is that this site really appears to want to move forward with their tournament schedule. There are regular events (the Online Super Series + the $1 million guaranteed games), monthly leader board contests and plenty of action every night at the lower end of the buy-in spectrum... I'm happy that Ignition have now come into the picture to provide ACR with some stiff competition, though as of 2021, ACR are still my strong top recommendation.
Check out www.americascardroom.eu for yourself now!
Here are my reviews of the leading US facing sites in 2021
SNG Tournaments For US Players (compares the Sit N Goes at the US biggest sites)
Don't forget to bookmark this page now - I'll update on the US scene as soon as any news comes in - especially with one-off tournaments or special promotions.
From the latest in stats and who is topping the leaderboards, to new casinos and legislation and the introduction of new technology, there is always something new and interesting going on in the world of online gambling. Here we talk about big tournaments, star players and the latest news about everything poker.
The Tournaments
Taking a look back at some of the biggest and best tournaments from 2019, and at some of the biggest wins, only gets us more excited about the upcoming tournaments in 2020. There are a ton of exciting online poker tournaments that take place right here with us at BetMGM, that are guaranteed to satisfy your need for competitive online poker – they might even have you walking away with a massive pot and feeling like a professional player.
If you want to take your first step into the world of online poker tournaments, then we would suggest you start with the Daily $10K. The Daily tournament takes place from Monday to Sunday every day at 7pm and is a No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournament. Just $100+9 gets you a seat at the table with the rest of the players, and there is a massive guaranteed jackpot of $10,000. Blinds start at 25-50 and in the later levels end up as high as 30,000-60,000 and the ante at 7500.
Next up on the tournament list for us is the Mega Tuesday Tournament. The $535 buy-in Mega Tuesday Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em online tournament is great for that next step up into the tournament style of play. Grab your 75,000 starting chip stack, introduce yourself to the table, and compete for the $10,000 (or more) that is up for grabs every Tuesday from 8pm.
If you are ready for the next step up and want to get into some more serious competitive online poker territory, then you are in luck with the Network Sunday $35K Tournament. Sundays at BetMGM is when dreams come true in the $215 buy-in tournament that has a guaranteed prize pool of $35,000. This online poker tournament is one of the biggest Sunday Majors around and could see you betting and bluffing your way to massive wins and a ton of fun. Cards are in the air at 5pm, so be sure to register in time to get your seat.
If you haven’t got enough out of your weekly or daily tournaments, and you are interested in trying your luck at our brand new tournament, have a look and maybe take a seat at the first-ever PartyPoker US Network $250K Guaranteed No Limit Hold’em tournament at BetMGM. This tournament is ideal for players of any skill level with its affordable buy-in. It offers a player-favorite structure and the BetMGM signature payout structure. Enter by direct buy-in or through any of the daily qualifiers leading up to the event.
Local Poker Tournaments
MGM and the Las Vegas Raiders
It has been 3 years since the NFL approved the relocation of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas, and with the Allegiant Stadium nearing its projected construction completion target of July, NFL fans of Las Vegas ready themselves for the 2020 debut of the Las Vegas Raiders.
MGM Resorts International has since announced a partnership with the LVR franchise and is to become the team’s official gaming partner, as well as a “Founding Partner of Allegiant Stadium” and the official home of the Raiders pre- and post-game party. Keep an eye out for the MGM signage in and around the stadium. While the Raiders are eager to welcome MGM on board and look forward to the activations they have planned for Raider games and events at Allegiant Stadium, this is only the latest in a series of plays by MGM as they move in on the online sports betting scene.
MGM’s partnerships with the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer mean that MGM Resorts International is taking the sports betting scene by storm. They aren’t the only ones who are making moves though, as early last year Caesars Entertainment Corporation managed a similar partnership with the NFL.
The Upsets
Michigan has pumped the brakes on playing casino games online after Governor Gretchen Witmer signed in the state’s new Lawful Internet Gaming Act at the end of 2019 – making online poker, online sports betting and other online casino gambling illegal. Recent updates have shown that there won’t be any launches of online game rooms or casinos until at least 2021.
While online casino games might be unavailable for now, sports betting should be returning a little bit sooner – maybe even by spring this year – but the date will depend on a few factors including applications, internal control reviews and the licensing process. Online sports betting fans are looking forward to the return of their favorite pastime as college basketball’s March Madness is coming up. Casinos are also looking forward to the all-clear for sports betting – the MGM Grand Detroit has already opened a sports lounge that will serve at its sportsbook. Penn National and the Firekeepers Hotel and Casino have also expressed interest in launching their own sportsbooks.
Big Poker Tournaments Coming Up 2019
Another upset that is currently taking place is the massive loss that Phil Galfond is facing only one week into the Galfond Challenge. The mystery grinder Venividi1993 has got Galfond stuck for €379,073,77 after 4,760 of the 25,000 hands at €100/€200 pot-limit Omaha, that they have planned to play. The game is being streamed live on Twitch by Run It Once Poker, and despite a good start on day 1 of the tournament, day 3 and 5 set Venividi1993 way into the lead and after the first week, Galfond is looking at what will hopefully be an amazing comeback story.
New Jersey has also been talking about whether or not Atlantic City can continue to support 9 casinos, and if it might be time to allow for casinos to be built elsewhere in the state. Lawmakers are set to have yet another discussion about whether or not casinos should be allowed somewhere other than Atlantic City, while also keeping in mind that the state had earned its highest ever total gaming revenue since 2012. The last time this issue was brought up was in 2016 when a proposal made it all the way to the November ballot, but the votes came back with 78% of residents voting against the proposal. Some things have changed since 2016, and with the introduction of sports betting to the state of New Jersey, there might be some more to think about the next time the proposal comes around.
Play Online at BetMGM.com
Make sure that you’re up to date with everything going on in the world of online poker. Knowledge of the game and the people who play it goes a long way to improving your experience of the game, and knowing what tournaments to play, and how to qualify, is very important for anyone who wants to rub shoulders with the pros. If you have been inspired to play poker online, then visit our online poker rooms at BetMGM.com.