The PokerGo Tour is easily one of the most recognizable and highly anticipated poker tournaments and for good reason. As the official tour and ranking system for the most prolific professional poker players in the world, the PokerGo Tour is a must-attend for high-roller poker professionals.
The 2023 iteration of the PokerGo Tour is the 3rd season of this momentous poker tournament. The 2023 festivities kicked off on January 11th. During the first PokerGo Tour, the first 3 finishers were all awarded prize money while during last year’s tournament, the high rollers were treated to a take-all PGT championship.
This year, its season-concluding event will offer a prize pool worth approximately $1,000, 000 for the championship. The first 40 professional poker players on the Tour will effectively earn their place in the 2023 PGT Championship. However, a few select ‘’Dream Seat’’ winners will also get the rare chance to join the championship competition.
The Dream Seats will be awarded to the various players through a series of promotions and special events. These lucky dream seat winners will be given a chance to compete in the championship, which as usual, will be held at the iconic PokerGo Studios.
The qualifying poker players kicked off this year’s PGT Championship with starting chip stacks that were based on the leaderboard points earned through the season. All players this year received a minimum of 100 massive blinds. The high roller that manages to complete the season with the highest leaderboard points will be given the title of Player of the Year and will be granted $50,000 to boot.
In addition to the $1 million PGT Championship prize pool, as well as the leader board prize which will be present all season long, PGT Championship also has bonuses worth $50,000 in place for each winner of the PokerGo cup, the Poker Masters, as well as the U.S Poker Open. An additional PGT Championship bonus of $25,000 will also be presented to all the Mixed Games and PLO series.
PGT Championships are typically awarded to the poker players that complete a series with the highest leaderboard points in various qualifying events. This year’s tournament has been unfolding since January 11, with the first tournament of the year being the PokerGo Cup.
It is worth mentioning that this year, the PokerGO Cup also features 8 high roller no-limit hold’ em poker tournaments. These poker tournaments will offer an array of buy-ins to suit a large number of players from as low as $10,000 to as high as $50,000. Each high roller no-limit poker tournament will be 2 days long and will be live-streamed on the PokerGO platform.
The 2023 PGT Championship free roll doubled this year
This year, PokerGo announced a thrilling new development for this year’s Tour Championship. The season-ending event, which is expected to take place in December, will feature an astounding prize pool of $1 million during the freeroll tournament. This boost in the pot will effectively double the stakes compared to 2022’s PGT championship.
During last year’s PGT Championship, the winner claimed a $500,000 award in a winner-take-all format. Jason Koon emerged victorious, securing the prestigious title and the cash prize. Last year Koon won shortly after beating Phil Hellmuth during the High Stakes Duel III worth $1.6 million.
With such an amazing performance last year, there is strong speculation among poker professionals that Koons will return to the PGT championship and vie for the title yet again. So other notable pros that are expected to make an appearance this year in December include Alex Foxen, Daniel Negreanu, Sean Winter, Stephen Chidwick, and more.
Typically, the PGT Championship is open to the first 40 poker players on the PGT Leaderboard. The Leaderboard is made up of an elite group of poker players that have demonstrated exceptional poker skill and consistency all through the season.
Unlike last year, this year’s Dream Seats feature has helped to add a new layer of excitement to the already massively popular tournament. With these newly added changes, the PGT Championship is expected to be the clash of the poker titans, showcasing some of the greatest poker players that the world has to offer.
Before they can secure their place in the PGT Championship freeroll, poker players are expected to excel all through the PokerGo Tour. The points earned through the tour are what earn their entry via the many promotions organized by PokerGo.
The journey this year commenced with the PokerGO Cup on January 11th. This premier annual poker tournament featured 8 tournaments that culminated in the exciting $50,000 finale. This year, the Main Event tournament was won by Isaac Haxton while the PokerGo Cup was awarded to the great Cary Katz.
Thanks to the Championship title, Katz amassed 460 leaderboard points in addition to her $50,000 championship bonus. He joins other notable players including Jeremy Ausmus and Daniel Negreanu as PokerGo champions. Negreanu was the first poker champ to take home the PokerGo Cup in 2021 when he finished with 537 points.
Last year, Ausmus finished first with the most leaderboard points- 658 in total. In 2021. Katz managed to finish in 3rd place on the leaderboard and 2022, he finished in 4th place. He is, therefore, hoping to repeat his performance this year.
As the year continues to progress, poker players can look forward to engaging in new events that are continuously added to the schedule. Some of the events that have already unfolded include the PGT Mixed Games series, which was concluded in February. This year’s schedule also includes recurrent favorites like the US Poker Open and Poker Masters.
Final Thoughts
Both the US Poker Open and Poker Masters attract top-tier poker talent and showcase the pinnacle of professional poler. This year’s Championship freeroll presents an unparalleled opportunity for power players to compete in one of the grandest stages in the world. With PokerGo continuing to push boundaries, the anticipation for the 2023 championship continues to grow. Players and fans alike are preparing for an extraordinary display of talent, strategy, and nail-biting action.
