Best Live Tournaments to Play in January 2025

With 2024 in the books, it’s time to look forward to new challenges and go after new tournament titles. Although January 2025 isn’t the richest month in terms of live tournament offerings, for the most hardcore grinders out there, it brings a few interesting events worth checking out.

The good news is that the action will be well spread out, with poker festivals taking place in the US (WSOP Circuit), Europe (WSOP International Circuit and 888poker LIVE), and even Africa, with the WSOP visiting Morocco to hold one of its Circuit festivals there as well.

For those with deeper pockets, there are also a couple of PokerGO Tour (PGT) events taking place in January to wrap up the season and kick off the fresh year in style. For your convenience, here’s a quick breakdown of all the biggest live poker festivals happening in the first month of 2025.

January 2025 Live Poker Events

WSOP International Circuit Kicks Things Off in 2025

Players thirsty for action will not have to wait long to get involved in 2025. The first live tournament series of the year starts on Jan 1, with the first WSOP International Circuit stop playing out at the now-legendary King’s Resort & Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.

Running over the first two weeks of January, the festival brings a lot of action with 12 ring-awarding events and buy-ins ranging from €250 up to €3,000. The €1,000,000-guaranteed Main Event comes with a rather affordable admission fee of €1,100.

Two more WSOP International Circuit events will kick off in the second week of January. The first one starts on Jan 8, taking place in Calgary, Canada, offering as many as 17 tournaments and buy-ins starting at C$250.

Over on the other side of the world, another festival of poker will take place at Casino de Marrakech in the Es Saadi Marrakech Resort in Morocco. The Main Event comes with a price tag of €1,350, and there are 13 ring events in total, including the €2,700 Super High Roller.

PokerGO Tour Wraps Up & New Season Starts

PokerGO Tour will host two series in January, both taking place at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The first of these is the Last Chance Series, which belongs to the previous season and features six events with buy-ins of $10,100.

Wrapping things up will be the $1,000,000 Championship Freeroll, bringing another exciting PGT season to its end.

Shortly after, on Jan 20, a new PGT season starts with the Kickoff series. There are five tournaments on the docket, with most buy-ins being $5,100 and one priced at $10,100.

What’s important for this particular series is that it offers double points, making it quite important for those looking to capture the title at the season’s end.

Strong Start for WSOP Circuit in the US

The WSOP Circuit will be starting strong on the United States side of things as well. There are four WSOPC festivals on the docket for January, and it’s safe to assume that many mid-stakes grinders will jump at the opportunity to start their year in style.

The first of runs at the legendary Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma from Jan 8 – 18. There are 18 tournaments on the docket, highlighted by the $1,700 Main Event with a big $1,000,000 guarantee. Another tournament worth underlining is $500 Gargantuan, with a massive guarantee of $300,000.

On Jan 16, WSOPC travels to California for an event at Thunder Valley Casino. In addition to the $1,700 Main Event with $500,000 guaranteed, this particular stop will also offer a $400 Monster Stack tournament with a promised prize pool of at least $100,000.

Horseshoe Tunica will play host to a WSOP Circuit festival taking place Jan 23 – Feb 3. There will be 18 more rings up for grabs here, while some of the biggest tournaments on the schedule are the $500,000-guaranteed Main Event and $100,000-guaranteed Monster Stack and Mini Main Event.

Concluding the January action and spilling over into February is the series taking place at Harrah’s Pompano Beach in Florida. This festival comes with several big guarantees worth fighting for, including the $1M GTD Main Event, 400,000 GTD Mini Main, and $250,000 GTD Mystery Bounty and Monster Stack.

888poker LIVE Kicks Off New Season in Madrid

For players looking for some slightly more affordable action, the 2025 season of 888poker LIVE will be kicking off in Madrid.

Running Jan 12 – 19, the series takes place at Gran Via Casino and offers a schedule filled with low-priced tournaments, with even the Main Event being just €888 to participate.

For those looking to get in on the cheap, there are many qualifying opportunities available at 888poker, with various satellites running around the clock, giving you a chance to start your journey to the Main Event package for just a few cents.