PokerStars’ flagship tournament, the Sunday Million, is taking a backseat this summer.
The iconic weekly tournament, which has run almost every week for nearly two decades on the PokerStars.com platform and has awarded more than $1.4 billion in prize money, will not be held on some Sundays in the coming weeks.
Instead, it is being replaced by alternative tournaments or offered in a more flexible, phased format.
PokerStars confirmed the move to our big brother Poker Industry PRO in an exclusive, explaining that it is part of a wider summer strategy tailored to more casual players.
“[We have] dialed back a few of the bigger Sunday staples for the summer,” a PokerStars spokesperson told PRO. It’s usually a quieter time online with so many live events on and people taking holidays. The new schedule is just a better fit for that more casual, seasonal vibe.”
“We typically see a seasonal shift in activity during summer months, with casual and recreational players making up a larger share of the online pool playing,” PokerStars further told PRO. “In response, we’re adapting our summer schedule to better suit this audience, making it more accessible, entertaining, and aligned with their style of play.”
While PokerStars has occasionally skipped the Sunday Million in the past, usually to make room for a series Main Event, this is the first time in recent memory that the tournament has been pulled without a direct $1 million guaranteed replacement on the same night, pokerfuse understands.
This decision is likely driven by a shrinking player base, as the operator has exited several major markets in recent years while transitioning to operate exclusively in fully regulated jurisdictions.
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Is this the end of the Sunday Million?
Definitely not, says PokerStars. Despite the scaled-back schedule, the operator insists the Sunday Million is not going anywhere.
“The Sunday Million is one of the most iconic and beloved tournaments in PokerStars — and online poker history. It helped shape the poker landscape and remains hugely important to us and to our players,” PokerStars stated to PRO.
Instead, PokerStars is mixing things up. On some Sundays, the tournament is being replaced with alternate events, like $500,000 or $750,000 guaranteed tournaments, and on others, it is running in a phased format that spreads the action over multiple days. For example, this week the Sunday Million Phased event begins on June 8 and concludes on June 15.
The traditional $1 million guaranteed, $109 buy-in Sunday Million won’t return until July 6, when it closes out the Jet Set Season as the “Season Finale.”
While no Sunday Million events have been scheduled beyond that date, PokerStars confirmed to PRO that the regular weekly format will return after the summer. An exact date has not yet been announced.
“We are always reviewing our schedules to ensure we have the best propositions in terms of formats and tournaments for our players and consistently make adjustments,” they said. “We’ll ramp up the schedule when we feel it is the right time for our players.”
Jet Set Season Online Festival
The change coincides with the launch of Jet Set Season, a new five-week tournament series running from June 8 to July 7. The series includes 27 themed “episodes,” each with varied buy-in levels, totaling 60 tournaments with guarantees exceeding $4 million. Buy-ins range from $3.30 and go up to $1,050.
Out of five weeks, only two will feature a $1 million guaranteed Sunday Million. The first is a phased edition that begins on June 8 with multiple Day 1 flights spread throughout the week and wraps up on June 15 with Phase 2 (the final stage).
The second takes place on July 6, when the Sunday Million returns in its classic $109 buy-in format, this time rebranded as the Jet Set Season Finale and played as a progressive knockout (PKO) tournament.
Other standout events in the Jet Set Season include Super Sunday on June 22, featuring a $100,000 guaranteed PKO for just $11, and a high-stakes $1,050 NLHE tournament with a $150,000 prize pool on the same day.
Each Monday during the festival, the operator will run Mystery Bounty tournaments with rotating formats, all scheduled for 13:05 ET. The series will also spotlight special “hosted episodes” featuring PokerStars Ambassadors. Players who knock out the host during these events will win a $109 ticket to the Jet Set Season Finale, plus a fun bonus: an exclusive Parker ‘tonkaaaa’ Talbot-themed throwable.
As part of the Jet Set Season, PokerStars also introduces special promotions like Jet Set Challenge, a bingo-style scorecard offering players a shot at $300,000 in tournament tickets, and Jet Set Rush, a casino-poker hybrid with engaging mini-challenges.
