PokerStars Open Campione, scheduled to start on January 23, will represent the first PokerStars live poker event for 2026, and the start of a brand-new PokerStars Live League season.
Following a record-breaking debut season in 2025, the PokerStars Live League is back for another year of thrilling poker action and life-changing rewards — and the operator has now confirmed key details for the 2026 edition, featuring over €250,000 in total prizes and an expanded structure rewarding even more players.
The new season is set to build on last year’s momentum, with improved prize distribution, leaderboard refinements, and a renewed focus on community engagement. According to PokerStars, the Live League aims to create a more rewarding circuit experience — one where players can earn points across every major festival, chase leaderboards throughout the year, and turn consistent results into meaningful rewards on the live stage.
PokerStars Open Campione Opens a New Live Season
Following one of the most successful years ever in 2025 — which included PokerStars’ triumphant return to Italy — the PokerStars Live circuit is coming back to Campione to kickstart the 2026 season.
Taking place from January 23 to February 1 at the luxurious Casino di Campione, the festival will offer low- and mid-stakes tournament grinders and recreational players from all over Italy and Europe a chance to compete in the kind of tournament setting only found at the most prestigious poker events.
Some of the key PokerStars Open Campione events include:
| Dates | Event | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 27 – 28 | PokerStars Open High Roller | €2,200 | N/A |
| Jan 28 – Feb 1 | PokerStars Open Main Event | €1,100 | €1,000,000 |
| Jan 30 – Feb 1 | PokerStars Open Second Chance | €550 | N/A |
| Jan 31 | PokerStars Open Super High Roller | €5,500 | N/A |
| Jan 31 – Feb 1 | PokerStars Open Mystery Bounty Cup | €400 | N/A |
PokerStars returned to Italy last year, following a six-year hiatus, and found immediate success, as an incredible 2,423 players showed up to play in last year’s PokerStars Open Campione Main Event.
The events in Campione will present the first chance for players to accumulate points for the 2026 PokerStars Live League, which has now been officially confirmed to award a total of more than €250,000 in prizes across three tiers, plus an all-new €100,000 live freeroll debuting early next year.
What Is the PokerStars Live League?
The PokerStars Live League is a year-long live tournament competition launched in 2025 that allows players to collect points at major PokerStars events, including all EPT and PokerStars Open festivals. The League is played across three buy-in tiers — High, Medium, and Low — with the top players in each leaderboard receiving valuable tournament credits as their rewards.
In 2025, Enrico Comosci from Italy topped the High tier leaderboard, securing 4,025 points to narrowly beat Austria’s Klemens Roiter, with Aleksejs Ponakovs from Latvia in third place. Across all tiers, top performers received valuable PokerStars LIVE credit packages redeemable for entries into major European PokerStars events, including EPT stops and PokerStars Opens.
The formula remains largely the same in 2026, but PokerStars has fine-tuned the points system to place greater emphasis on final table finishes and titles. Buy-in levels between €1,000–€1,200 now count toward both the Low and Medium tiers, while those between €4,900–€5,500 count toward both Medium and High.
The leaderboard prizes have also been confirmed:
| Tier | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | €50,000 PokerStars LIVE credit | €25,000 | €12,500 |
| Medium | €25,000 | €12,500 | €6,250 |
| Low | €15,000 | €7,500 | €3,750 |
In total, €157,500 in PokerStars LIVE credit will be awarded across the three tiers. Additionally, the top 30 finishers in each tier will qualify to play the inaugural €100,000 live freeroll, to be held at the first EPT stop of 2027 — giving even more players a shot at added value.
Following in the Footsteps of Last Year’s Champions
The 2025 season delivered fierce leaderboard battles that went down to the final series. Among the standout performers were Enrico Comosci (High Tier Champion), Gerard Rubiralta Cortes (Medium), and Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson (Low), all earning packages worth five figures in PokerStars LIVE entries.
Their success set the stage for the 2026 season, with even bigger prizes and new incentives encouraging returning and new players alike to hit the live circuit early.
These champions set the stage for the 2026 season, with even bigger prizes and new incentives encouraging returning and new players alike to hit the live circuit early. As Willie Elliot, PokerStars Live Events Customer Engagement Manager, noted, “We’re excited to bring back the PokerStars Live League for its second edition and give our players another go at claiming the leaderboard titles. The league adds a season-long edge to every stop on the calendar and gives the community something extra to chase from the first event of the year right through to the finale.”
The 2026 Live League Brings New Sponsorship and Rewards
This season’s Live League removes the ambiguity from the prize pool — PokerStars has locked in €250,000 in confirmed total prizes, combining leaderboard credits and freeroll rewards.
While the operator has not mentioned any Ambassadorship packages for 2026, last year’s €100,000 sponsorship opportunity showed PokerStars’ willingness to expand the Live League beyond standard prize structures.
Players can track their rankings and stats through the PokerStars Live app, which updates leaderboards across all tiers in real time.
As the 2026 season kicks off at Campione, every live tournament entry counts toward the leaderboard — giving grinders and recreational players across Europe a true head start in PokerStars’ biggest live competition to date.
