The WSOP Main Event is always going to be the hardest event to win because it has over 6,000 entrants and lasts a week, and the One Drop event will be the biggest financial risk, but which events on the poker calendar are notoriously tough to play in?
5. EPT Copenhagen
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| Mickey Petersen |
The World Poker Tour has been in Copenhagen this week and last week in our interview with Jesse May, he revealed that poker in Denmark is getting a little softer.
But this doesn't stop the annual PokerStars European Poker Tour event in Copenhagen being one of the toughest events in Europe.
The Scandinavians have long been heralded as the most talented players in Europe, and EPT Copenhagen has always been one of the most prestigious events of the year.
This is one of the smaller events on the EPT circuit, but it is made up of the strongest players from online and in Europe. Simply put, there is nowhere to hide in this event.
With gambling laws having been relaxed in Denmark recently it could be that this event will lose its intimidating image in the future, but we'll believe that when we see it.
4. World Poker Tour $25,000 Championship
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| Mad Marvin takes it down |
The final event on the World Poker Tour calendar is the championship event at the Bellagio in May.
At $25,000, this is the highest Main Event buy-in on the World Poker Tour. When you combine this with the fact that the World Series of Poker starts in the same city immediately after it, you can expect plenty of pros to enter.
Generally speaking there are not a great deal of qualification routes to this event either, which means most of the players have bought into it directly.
Finally when you add the fact that every WPT champion in the current season gets an automatic qualification into this event, you can pretty much say that this is one stacked field.
3. WSOP 6-max Championship
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| Greg Merson |
The buy-in might have changed several times (it has been $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000), but whatever the entry the biggest 6-max event of the WSOP is always the toughest Hold 'em event of the series.
Yes, the WSOP Main Event is harder to win because of its sheer size, but the 6-max event will always have the toughest tables.
This is because this is the prestige event for professional online No-Limit players. It is no doubt the most aggressive event of the year in live No-Limit.
The fact that Greg Merson took down this event the same year he won the Main Event is arguably the greatest No-Limit Hold 'em achievement ever in a single year.
2. EPT Grand Final
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| The Grand Final trophy |
Few people would question that the EPT is the toughest tour in poker and the toughest of all the stops has to be the Grand Final in Monte Carlo.
Not only is the final event of the season twice the buy-in of the usual Main Events, it is also the one event that is guaranteed to bring the biggest players in the game from their usual action in Vegas and Macau.
Perhaps the other reason why this is such a tough event is because you usually need to come at least 3rd in the event to break even on the week - Monte Carlo is one of the most expensive and exclusive destinations in the world and as a result, only the most successful of players can afford to play there, or even stay there.
1. $50,000 Poker Players' Championship
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| Michael Mizrachi wins poker's toughest tournament for the second time. |
The 6-max event at the WSOP may be the prestige event in Hold'em, but there is a reason why this next event is called the "Poker Players' Championship".
The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, previously the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E., not only has one of the biggest buy-ins of the year, it also features all of the most popular formats in poker: No-Limit Hold 'em, Limit Hold 'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, 7-Card Stud, Razz, Stud Hi/Lo and Triple Draw.
The buy-in and the format almost guarantees that only the best players in the world will take part, and thus makes it the toughest tournament of the year.
In fact it is so special that it is the only WSOP event to also include a trophy. The 'Chip Reese Trophy' is named after the late poker champion once considered by many to be the best all round player in the world.
Amazingly, despite the standard of the competition, we already have a repeat winner. Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi won the trophy in 2010 and 2012.
By Barry Carter l Barry Carter on Twitter