Poker Players Can Qualify Online For A Trip to BetMGM Tournament In Las Vegas

Date IconLast Updated: 
Share On Your Network
Poker Players Can Qualify Online For A Trip to BetMGM Tournament In Las Vegas
© USA Today

In June, poker players in Ontario, Canada, and some U.S. states can go online to qualify for the first-ever BetMGM Poker Championship in Las Vegas. This includes a paid trip to Las Vegas.

The $3,500 buy-in BetMGM tournament is a no-limit hold 'em event with a guaranteed $1 million prize. Often called Texas hold 'em, this card game is the standard for championship events at major tournaments.

The live BetMGM Poker Championship is set for June 23-26 at Aria Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

How To Qualify For A Las Vegas Trip

The poker players who qualify in online satellite events will receive prize packages that include a $3,500 buy-in for the inaugural BetMGM tournament in Las Vegas.

Travel expenses to Las Vegas and five-night at the Aria resort are included in the prize package, according to a BetMGM news release. At least 15 online players will be awarded a prize package. 

Players in markets where the BetMGM Poker app is legal and live are eligible to compete in daily qualifiers and weekly satellite events. 

In addition to players in Ontario, BetMGM Poker players in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan can qualify for the tournament in Las Vegas, Anthony Mallamaci of BetMGM told Gambling.com.

Qualifying events are held throughout the week, including Sunday satellite competitions on May 28, June 5 and June 12. The Sunday events begin at 8 p.m. ET and require a $500 buy-in. 

Players can register to participate in any qualifying event by logging onto their BetMGM Poker account.

BetMGM is the sports betting division of Nevada-based MGM Resorts International, a prominent gaming operator in Las Vegas and globally.

World Series Of Poker Also Scheduled

This first-year BetMGM event is occurring during some of the same summer weeks as lthe World Series of Poker. The WSOP is longtime tournament now run by another Nevada-based gaming giant, Caesars Entertainment. 

MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment are among the dominant casino operators on the Strip.

This year’s World Series of Poker runs from May 31-July 20. The main event begins July 3. 

The $10,000 main event has averaged 7,774 buy-ins every year for the past 10 years, including the largest number ever, 8,773 buy-ins in 2006, according to the WSOP website.

Legendary Poker Players

The World Series of Poker began in 1970 at the Horseshoe Casino on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas’ Glitter Gulch. 

In its early years, the World Series of Poker produced legendary card players such as Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, and Bobby Baldwin. A Hollywood biopic is in the works on the 88-year-old Brunson, known as Texas Dolly. 

During these early WSOP years, the Horseshoe was operated by Texan Benny Binion. The property now is named Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel, though the Binion family no longer owns it. It is owned by TLC Casino Enterprises.

For the past 17 years, the WSOP has been held at the off-Strip Rio hotel-casino.

This year, the tournament is moving to the Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas hotel-casino on the east side of the Strip. Aria, site of the BetMGM tournament, is on the other side of the highway.

Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas are connected by an interior walkway. Caesars Entertainment plans to rebrand Bally’s as a Horseshoe hotel-casino.