Poker has limited physical activity, so very little recovery is required after a long season. In fact, we will fire the starter pistol on the 2026 season in just a few days only a week after Chad Eveslage got his hands on the PGT Championship in a star-studded season finale.
Not much time for fishing trips, Cancun, or a self-actualizing trip to Tibet. We are back to the grind.
A PokerGO Tour season is easy to understand. Players participate in PGT series and other high roller events throughout the year, accumulating points and fighting for position on the year-long leaderboard. The top 40 point-getters earn a seat at the PGT Championship at the end of the year. Last season, it was a $1,000,000 freeroll.
The tour debuted in 2021 and included some of the pre-existing PokerGO events like the Super High Roller Bowl, Poker Masters, and the US Poker Open. The PokerGO Cup was added to form a group of Major Events that make up the core of the PGT schedule, along with recently added series in Texas and at Venetian Las Vegas. More than 145 events were featured on the 2025 schedule, which also included events at the summer WSOP and a new partnership with the Paradise series in The Bahamas.
Chad Eveslage will return in Avengers: Doomsday. PGT Player of the Year recipients
| Year | Champ |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Ali Imsirovic |
| 2022 | Stephen Chidwick |
| 2023 | Isaac Haxton |
| 2024 | Jeremy Ausmus |
| 2025 | Alex Foxen |
Kickoff kicks off next week
This year's season starts, fittingly enough, with the PGT Kickoff series at the PokerGO Studio from January 26-31. The opening series has six tournaments with buy-ins from $5,300 to $10,500 and the PGT points are double all week long.
PGT's Kickoff series is quickly followed by the PGT Mixed Games series with seven events from February 3-11. Buy-ins start at $5,300 and top out at $26,000 for the closing 9-game event, and this is one of the more diverse and popular series on the schedule. Mixed games players are thirsty for high-dollar tournament action throughout the year and they turn up for the PGT series in an understandably giddy mood. The series will be immediately followed by Super High Roller Bowl: Mixed Games, a double-decker with a $5,300 8-game on February 13 and the $100,000 classic from Feb. 12-14.
Mixed games are eating up more space on the PGT schedule. If you want a shot at the action, there's a $750 8-game satellite on February 2 at ARIA that awards seats into Event #1. If you're feeling extra froggy, jump into the $12,700 satellite for the $100K on Feb. 11.
Meanwhile, the PokerGO Cup is back few weeks later from March 1-15 with 10 tournaments and the PokerGO Cup Showcase, a rare multi-flight opening event at the studio. The Showcase has a $3,300 buy-in, the low end of a series that goes up to $15,700. It's the first Major of the year for the PGT, and its defending champion is Joey Weissman, who dominated the series last year with a win and three second-place finishes, despite only playing in seven of the eight events. Two satellites are available for the opener on Feruary 28 and March 1. Both are $360 and both have guaranteed seats.
PGT Championship winners
| Year | Player |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Rok Gostisa |
| 2022 | Jason Koon |
| 2023 | Daniel Smiljkovic |
| 2024 | Jeremy Ausmus |
| 2025 | Chad Eveslage |
Later in March, the tour will jump over to Venetian Las Vegas for eight PLO events from March 20-29. The PGT PLO Series is headlined by two $500K guarantees, a $3,300 Main Event and a $10,500 Championship, with a handful of satellites at Venetian from March 18-20. PGT returns to the resort after last year's Las Vegas Classic series, but that wasn't the first time the tour stopped at Venetian. The poker room hosted a few single-day $10,000 events as everyone emerged from COVID during the tour's first season in 2021.
The rest of the schedule is expected to drop in the coming months.
Lead image courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO.
