Venom tournaments are the flagship events for ACR Poker, and the first ones of 2026 have been announced, boasting a combined $10 million in guaranteed prize money.
And a quick note: that ‘combined’ doesn’t mean the money is spread across a series of dozens of events — in this case, there are only two: a no-limit hold’em (NLH) version, which will have an $8M guarantee, and a pot-limit Omaha (PLO) version which will award at least $2M. The August edition of the dual Venom events awarded over $700K to the NLH winner at $350K to the PLO champ.
Both will take the form of mystery bounty events, meaning truly big money can be won by anyone who makes it past the bubble, not just those who run all the way. The top mystery prizes to be won are $500K in the NLH and $200K in the PLO.
Entry is $2,650, but as always a range of satellites can get you there for far less, or even for free. These satellites run from January 12 to February 1 under the 'Venom Fever' banner.
The first starting flight for each of the Venom events takes place on January 18, with further opportunities on each Thursday and Sunday at 12:10pm ET, through to the end of the month.
Day 2 for each runs from 1:05pm ET on February 2, with final tables scheduled for February 3 at 4:05pm ET.
‘Something I’m looking to put right in 2026’
Two players we can all-but-guarantee will be contesting these huge Venom prizepools are ACR Poker ambassadors Chris Moorman and Chris Moneymaker.
PokerOrg caught up with both, looking back at 2025 as the Venom kicks off the new year at ACR.
“2025 was a mixed bag for me, poker-wise,” says Moorman. “The main highlight was coming in 2nd place in the [WSOP] $25K 6-max for $1.1 million. This is one of the toughest tournaments of the year and I was really happy with my play in it.
“In the moment it was pretty frustrating to lose heads-up after holding the chip lead from 8 players left, pretty much the whole time, and losing a big lead heads-up, but the big pots we played were pretty unavoidable and it just wasn’t meant to be.”
With many millions won, Moorman is well-known as an online beast, but 2025 wasn’t a standout year for the Brit. “Online didn’t go so well for me. I constantly fell short at the final two tables in big events and had a significant downswing.”
In addition to his bridesmaid performance at the WSOP, Moorman also came close to an online bracelet — yet with similar results.
“Near the end of the year I had a chance for a bracelet online but lost heads-up once again, although this time I was always the short stack so I couldn’t be too mad at the result.
“The Venoms on ACR were particularly disappointing for me, failing to put up a big run which is something I’m looking to put right in 2026.”
Aside from the Venoms, Moorman has another priority on which to focus in the first part of the year, and it has nothing to do with poker.
“I’m going to be having a baby boy in March so that will be my main focus for the first part of the year until the WSOP.
“I really would like to get my 3rd bracelet in 2026 so I’m hoping for some of that baby rungood to help me get over the line this time.”
‘2025 was fantastic for online poker’
While Moorman’s 2025 may not have been a standout year, his namesake Chris Moneymaker enjoyed considerable success — even if his WSOP Main Event was a bust.
“I won a couple of Moneymaker Tour events, made another nice cash in The Bahamas and won an event down in Uruguay,” says Moneymaker of his achievements on the live felt, but he also tasted success online with victory in the weekly $10K Phil’s Thrill tournament on ACR Poker (while commentating on the very same tourney).
“I get to play a $10K event online every week, in addition to the different variations of the Venom every three months, so 2025 was fantastic for online poker, and also live poker for me.
“The only really bad thing in 2025 poker-wise was my WSOP Main Event. I lasted only two levels, which was very disappointing, but after however many years it was found to happen. I won’t make a habit of it.”
Venom Fever satellites are available at ACR Poker from January 12.
