Over the last few years, Texas has become one of the major loci for live poker in the United States. This fact is reflected in the scale and frequency of the local poker festivals. A case in point: coming up this Thursday, the Winter Poker Open kicks off at Champions Club Texas in Houston. The festival is set to be massive with the Main Event sporting a $1 million guarantee.
Poker players in Texas will be able to take part in 16 numbered poker tournaments (including the Main Event) as well as side events, satellites, and cash games.
The action kicks off with Event #1: $400 Monster Stack event at 11 a.m. on February 5 and comes to a close with Event #16: $300 Monster Stack (Turbo) and a $25,000 Freeroll on February 18.
Between the first and last events of the festival, the schedule includes a $500 H.O.R.S.E. event, a $1,100 pot limit Omaha championship, a $2,500 no limit hold’em high roller, and a $460 mystery bounty.
The $1,000,000 Guaranteed Main Event
The Winter Poker Open Main Event will cost $1,500 to enter and, as with last year’s event, comes with a $1,000,000 guarantee and a brutalist-inspired trophy for the display case.
To accommodate the expected field size for this Main Event, the Champions Club is putting on no fewer than seven Day 1 flights. These flights are daily between February 12 and February 16, with two flights each on the 14th and 15th.
Players will be able to satellite into the Main Event for as little as $135 with daily satellites running from the start of the festival through to February 15.
At last year’s Winter Poker Open, PokerNews was on hand to provide live reporting from the event.
This year will be no different, with on-site reporters provided up to the minute reporting from the floor during the flagship events of the festival.
Read about last year’s Main Event winner here.