Top 5 Live Poker Tournaments to Watch in 2018

Watching poker is a great way to learn opponents' tells, work on your strategy or just kick back with a beer. Tune in for these must-see poker tournaments in 2018.

1. World Championship of Online Poker

   PokerStars have become famous for streaming live coverage of land-based and online poker games and the brand's two biggest tournaments are well worth watching. The first of them, ‘Spring Championship Of Online Poker’ (SCOOP), takes to the screens in May 2018 with buy-ins up to $10,000. The event is a chance to see some top professionals playing online for big money.

   Then comes the even bigger PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in September 2018, with $40 million in total payouts, including the main $5 million guaranteed tournament with $1 million for the winner. Both contests are an excellent way for low level players to watch and learn from hardcore poker pros, and even take part for low stakes in the satellite tournaments.

2. $1,100 MSPT Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series

   The Venetian streams some awesome live poker tournaments and its golden event in summer 2018 is set to be one of the biggest yet. The event (June 3 to 8) is being held in a team-up with The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) and brings a guaranteed $3.5 million prize pool to the table. The Venetian will stream five tables to viewers during the finals. In 2017 there were 3,273 entries and the prize pool hit $3.2 million. Nadar Kakhmazov took home the most – reported to be just over $440,000. This year's event is predicted to have a prize fund of around $4 million and the best poker players will be looking to take home around 500 times their base level investment. Sit back and chill with a live stream at the height of summer.

3. THE BIG ONE at the 2018 World Series of Poker

   The World Series of Poker contains a lot of sub-tourneys within its structure. One welcome return for 2018 is the Big One for One Drop which hasn't been seen for four seasons. Back in 2012, Antonio Esfandiari won the first running of the contest and scooped an amazing $18,346,673, while Daniel Colman took home $15,306,668 in 2014 and Elton Tsang won the spooky amount of $11,111,111 from Monte-Carlo in 2016's VIP-only event. The three day tournament is a must watch for texas hold’em poker fans this summer and the chips start falling on Sunday 15 July 2018.

4. 2018 World Series of Poker – Vegas' Main Event

   This year sees the 49th World Series of Poker take place and yet again it will be the main event in Las Vegas, beamed via live streams. This year's event will run between May 29 and July 17, with the most famous tournament (WSOP Main Event) from July 2 to July 14. The WSOP contest will enable viewers to watch the world's best live poker from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on the Vegas strip, with registration for the satellites opening on May 29.

   Games will be viewable from May 30 across various media TV channels and live streams online. In 2017, Scott Blumstein beat 7,221 other poker players to win the World Series of Poker main event, taking $8,150,000 in prize money. Tune in to see some awesome tournament strategies.

5. Super High Roller Bowl

   If you're looking for a warm-up contest to watch before streaming the World Series of Poker 2018 then the Super High Roller Bowl is perfect. Running from the 27th-30 of May and streamed on PokerGO, the tournament is relatively new but has rapidly emerged as a serious player on the poker circuit. Players without a VIP pass (of which there are 18) need to buy-in with a cool $30,000 non-refundable deposit to take part in the event at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas.

   The brand considers the event to be one of the best high stakes poker tournaments in existence. Most of us don't have the bankroll needed to feature in the 48 player line-up, but at least we can tune in for the action. Streamers can expect to watch around 30 leading poker pros, plus those with big wallets and the desire to take their chance against the best in the game. The prize pool is expected to be over $14 million. Tune in via PokerGO and NBC Sports Network.