The PokerStars Live League will resume operations in 2026 with a prize structure that exceeds €250,000 in combined leaderboard rewards.
Casino di Campione in Italy hosted the opening festival from January 23 to February 1, where the €1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event carried a €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. The second season follows an inaugural year that introduced tiered competition across European stops, and the 2026 calendar adds two North American venues to the rotation.
Cédric Billot, Associate Director of Live Operations at PokerStars, said the tour “had an exceptional season last year” with strong energy from players at every stop.
The 2025 season crowned three champions across separate tiers: Enrico Camosci won the High category, Gerard Rubiralta took Medium, and Steinn Karlsson claimed Low.
What the Leaderboard Offers
Players who finish among the top three in each tier receive tournament entries worth €150,700. The structure splits competitors into groups based on buy-in levels, which allows recreational players to compete against others with comparable bankrolls rather than facing high-stakes professionals at every turn.
The top 30 finishers across all tiers qualify for an audition process. PokerStars will award a Team PokerStars Pro contract valued at €100,000 to the winner. The company expects to announce the new ambassador at EPT Paris in February.
How the League Fits Into European Poker Circuits
The PokerStars Live League joins a calendar already packed with regional and continental series. Events at Casino di Campione, Le Palais des Congrès in Paris, and stops in Monte Carlo sit alongside other poker tournaments that run year-round across Europe.
Players chasing leaderboard points in the league will often compete at the same venues hosting EPT festivals, national championships, and smaller circuit stops. The overlap creates a condensed season where consistent performers can stack results across multiple formats.
Adding Philadelphia and Maryland to the 2026 schedule extends the league beyond its European base. North American stops give players on that side of the Atlantic direct access to leaderboard contention without crossing oceans for every event.
The 2026 Festival Schedule
EPT Paris returns February 18 to March 1, 2026, at Le Palais des Congrès. The festival serves as a major accumulation point for leaderboard standings, given its size and the number of side events running throughout the 12-day stretch.
The full schedule includes stops in Campione, Paris, Monte Carlo, Namur, Ireland, Malta, Spain, and the UK.
Philadelphia and Maryland represent the first North American inclusions in the league format. Players can now build leaderboard points without restricting their travel to Europe alone.
Opening Festival at Campione
Casino di Campione sits on the shore of Lake Lugano, an Italian enclave surrounded by Swiss territory. The venue hosted the season opener with a main event that guaranteef €1,000,000.
The buy-in of €1,100 kept the event accessible to mid-stakes players while still offering a prize pool large enough to attract grinders who travel the circuit full-time.
Paris as the Leaderboard Checkpoint
The EPT Paris stop in late February functions as an early checkpoint for leaderboard standings. Players who perform well at Campione and Paris will have accumulated enough points to establish positioning before the tour moves to Monte Carlo and later stops.
The announcement of the 2025 ambassador winner at this festival adds a ceremonial element to the proceedings.
The Tiered Structure Explained
The league separates players into High, Medium, and Low tiers. Each tier maintains its own leaderboard, and players earn points based on results in events corresponding to their category.
The 2025 champions demonstrate that players from each tier can emerge with recognition and rewards without needing to compete at the highest buy-in levels.
This setup encourages participation from a wider range of bankrolls. A recreational player grinding €200 and €500 buy-ins can compete for the same ambassador audition as someone playing €5,000 events, provided they accumulate enough points within their tier.
The Ambassador Contract
The €100,000 Team PokerStars Pro contract goes to one player selected from the top 30 finishers. The audition process evaluates candidates beyond their tournament results.
PokerStars has used ambassador deals to build its brand through player representation at festivals, media appearances, and online content.
Previous Team Pro members have included high-profile names who carried the brand across broadcasts and social platforms. The league now offers a pathway into that role for players who may not have the connections or visibility to attract sponsorship through traditional channels.
North American Expansion
Philadelphia and Maryland join the tour as the first stops outside Europe. The inclusion addresses a gap in accessibility for players based in the United States and Canada.
Previously, earning leaderboard points required travel to European venues, which limited participation from those unwilling or unable to make repeated transatlantic trips.
The two North American stops allow players to earn points domestically and potentially qualify for the ambassador audition without leaving the continent.
Looking at the 2025 Results
Enrico Camosci, Gerard Rubiralta, and Steinn Karlsson finished atop their respective tiers in the inaugural season. Their results demonstrate that consistent performance across multiple stops matters more than a single large score.
Leaderboard competition rewards volume and reliability, which favors players who can maintain form across an extended calendar.
The 2026 season begins in January and runs through the year, with points accumulating at each festival. Players who start early at Campione will have the longest runway to build their totals before the final standings are calculated.
