On June 13, the first of the BetMGM-sponsored tournaments on the 2026 Aria Poker Classic schedule will commence.
It all kicks off with the $250K GTD, $1,100 BetMGM Pot-Limit Omaha on Saturday before the massive $300K GTD, $1,100 BetMGM Mystery Bounty gets underway on Sunday. Monday brings the $1,600 BetMGM NLH and then it's back to regularly scheduled Aria Poker Classic programming.
On June 28, the BetMGM slate restarts – and this is where the big guns come out to play. After a handful more of juicy side events, the $4M GTD BetMGM Championship starts with Day 1A action on July 1. Day 1B follows on July 2, taking players directly to Day 2 action on July 3.
And then it all plays down to a winner on Independence Day.
Championship rising
In 2025, the BetMGM Championship soared to new heights with 1,853 entries and a record-breaking $5,929,600 prize pool.
After holding just a single chip with 11 players remaining, Nguyen Le pulled off one of the most epic comebacks in poker history – surging back to the chip lead and eventually winning the event following a three-handed ICM deal.
With two massive seven-figure payouts for first and second places, the final three players opted for the route of less variance and agreed to a deal that split the remaining money evenly while setting aside a smaller sum, along with the trophy, to play for. Following Yaniv Peretz's exit in third, Le bested Asish Ghosh to claim the victory.
The collaboration between BetMGM and the Aria Poker Classic has seen the slate of events – and, most notably, the BetMGM Championship – build on its own momentum in the years since its inception in 2021.
Back then, the Championship event guaranteed a mere $1M prize pool.
Now, the series looks poised to ascend to an even higher plane.
