Overview

• PokerStars and PokerGO revived the championship after a more than decade-long hiatus following its last NBC broadcast in 2013.
• A live draw Thursday at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas set first-round matchups across the spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds regions.
• Defending champion Mike Matusow will face Stephen Chidwick, while other marquee early-round pairings include Erik Seidel versus Andrew Robl and Liv Boeree versus Kevin Pollak.
• The single-elimination tournament will pay the top 16 finishers, with $500,000 for the champion and $275,000 for the runner-up.
• Episodes of the championship will debut on Peacock this fall before rebroadcasts on PokerGO and PokerStars in spring 2026.