Is Houston the next big thing in live tournament poker?
The newest poker hotspot in the U.S. continues to raise the bar, with Houston’s flourishing live tournament scene consistently escalating the guaranteed prize money.
The biggest guaranteed prize pool tournament in Texas poker history kicks off at Houston’s Champions Social poker club later this month. The Inaugural Texas State $1 Million Guaranteed Main Event plays out April 27-May 3.
The $1,300 buy-in Main Event stands as the centerpiece tournament in the Lone Star Poker Spring Series, with the festival beginning on April 15.
Champions Social $1 Million Guaranteed Main Event schedule
| Date | Flight | Start Time |
| April 27 | Flight A | 11 am |
| April 28 | Flight B | 11 am |
| April 29 | Flight C | 11 am |
| April 30 | Flight D | 11 am |
| May 1 | Flight E | 11 am |
| May 2 | Day 2 | 1 pm |
| May 3* | Day 3* | 3 pm |
Lone Star Poker Series goes big with $1 million guarantee
Champions Social will set the scene for a Main Event that could far surpass the $1 million guarantee. The seven-figure prize pool tournament features five starting flights, one per day from April 27-May 1.
Surviving players from those flights come back as a combined field on May 2, and the tournament plays to a winner on Monday, May 3.
The $1 million guaranteed Main Event will sit at the epicenter of the poker world this spring. PokerGO provides streaming coverage of the event, with commentators Jeff Platt and Brett Hanks on play-by-play duty.
Big names like Darren Elias, Matt Berkey, and former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Raymer will be among the players on hand for the $1 million guaranteed tournament.
Perhaps the most famous WSOP Main Event champion of all time, Americas Cardroom Team Pro Chris Moneymaker, also returns to the live felt for the Texas State $1 Million Guaranteed:
“I will be coming out of live retirement to come play in this awesome event,” Moneymaker tweeted Wednesday. “Can’t wait to play live poker again. Will be in the tourney and playing and commentating on the live stream.”
Rapid rise for the Houston tournament poker economy
The Lone Star Poker Series ran its inaugural event at Houston’s Prime Social poker club in November. The Main Event from that series offered a $104,000 guarantee, with the final prize pool ending up at $330,000.
That event opened the door for Houston’s emergence as a hotbed for live tournament poker. Prime Social has introduced its own line of recurring tournament series, including the Prime Signature Series in March.
That series offered a $1,100 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed Main Event, which went on to produce the largest prize pool in Texas poker history. A total of 1,079 entrants pushed the final prize pool to $1,079,000.
Prime Social has announced its own $1 million guaranteed Main Event, set for sometime in June. The details for that tournament are still to be determined.
Can Houston’s social poker club scene become the next major hub for live tournament poker? All signs point to yes, and the upcoming seven-figure guarantee tournaments might only be the beginning.
Featured image source: Twitter
