Following player feedback, PokerStars has confirmed that the buy-ins for two events at the forthcoming PokerStars Open Prague festival have been reduced.
The PokerStars Open Main Event, December 2-7, has had its price tag cut down to €1,100 from €1,650.
The Pokerstars Open High Roller, December 6-8, will have a buy-in of €2,200 — down from the originally planned €2,700.
The buy-in for the PokerStars Open Cup, December 5-6, remains unchanged at €825.
Those with long memories may recall these were the original buy-ins for these type of events, before the cost was raised. The operator claims the move is ‘in direct response to player feedback and reflects our ambition to make the tour more accessible to as many players as possible’.
PokerStars Open series often run in conjunction with larger series on the European Poker Tour (EPT), also operated by PokerStars, but exist as standalone live poker festivals too.
The change in pricing from the Prague stop onwards standardizes these buy-ins at both EPT-connected PokerStars Opens, such as Prague, and standalone series such as Aix-en-Provence this November 2-8.
The new lower buy-ins are expected to remain in place throughout 2027.
No impact on the PokerStars Live League
For those competing for the prizes on offer in the PokerStars Live League — a year-long leaderboard awarding prizes to top scorers in three different tournament buy-in categories (Low, Medium, High) — the decision will not affect any past or future rankings.
That’s because, despite being dropped by €450-500, the buy-ins for these tournaments still place them squarely in the €1K-€5K bracket (the Medium tier), where they were before.
With the live poker calendar starting to wind down, the current leaders of the PokerStars Live League are Italy’s Danilo Donnini (Low) and England’s Andrew Hulme (Medium), while Austria’s Klemens Roiter (above) leads the High leaderboard after finishing as runner-up in 2025.
The upcoming PokerStars Open Prague festival runs in conjunction with the EPT Prague stop, traditionally Europe’s final major live series of the calendar year. The full EPT Prague dates are December 2-13.
Additional images courtesy of Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
