Bar poker leagues are a popular way for casual players to get into tournament poker, and those players will have their shot at earning big money in Las Vegas this summer at the 2022 Bar Poker Open.
The 2022 Bar Poker Open, which is scheduled to take place at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas from June 11-17, will culminate with the $230 buy-in World Championship No-Limit Hold'em World Championship June 13-16.
"We could not be more thrilled to announce our 12th Championship Event will be back at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas for our 7th Year and what is sure to be yet another record breaking event!" the Bar Poker Open website states.
Fun and Social Poker
With the Bar Poker Open back and ready for action in 2022, the league hopes to continue its mission to be "the World's Largest, The Funnest, The Most Social, and Most Rewarding Bar Poker Championship on Earth."
The championship event is only open to players from affiliate poker leagues and pre-qualified players that qualified through weekly "BPO" events hosted in local bars, as well as players who qualified through online events hosted on Bar Poker Open's poker software.
To qualify for the championship event, find a bar hosting a BPO event and finish in the top three to get a BPO token. Next use those tokens to access over $600,000 in annual prizes. Players who place approximately in the top 4% will win a seat into the championship event.
The first two flights of the World Championship will take place on June 13 at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time, respectively. Day 1B, a third flight only available to those who played Day 1A and didn't survive, will get underway the next day at 11 a.m.
Day 2, featuring a televised final table, will commence June 16 at 2 p.m. local time, and expect plenty of commentary on the Bar Poker Open's Twitch and YouTube channels.
In addition to the championship event, the Bar Poker Open will feature a number of affordable tournaments for the casual player, including a $125 buy-in Green Chip Bounty event on June 14 and a "Tag Team" event that costs $100 per person to enter.
Later in the series, on July 17, the Bar Poker Open will host a $300 buy-in Mystery Bounty event with a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000.
For more information on how to qualify for the Bar Poker Open World Championship, visit http://barpokeropen.com.
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Previous Winner
After a two and a half year hiatus, the Bar Poker Open returned stronger than ever in 2021. What makes the event so unique is that players cannot buy into the tournament. It is an invitational event and players must all earn their entry. Over 1.5 Million participants competed in bars and online to win their seat into the series.
The championship event attracted 2,386 runners and generated $458,200 in prize money, while the entire series attracted 5,874 players and generated prize pools nearing $1 Million with across 14 events (with an average buy-in of only $171), to make it the biggest Bar Poker Open to date.
In the championship, the top 10% got paid each Day 1 flight, Top 5% Advanced to Day 2 was the format. They had six starting flights across four days to fit the event across 50 tables at Golden Nugget. In total:
- 267 Players Cashed for $500 or more across 6 Day 1 Flights and 2,386 Entries
- 1st Place Won $70,047
- Final Table Players Won $227,287
- Day 2 Payouts (Top 5%) were $385,437
- Day 1 Payouts (Top 6-10% per flight) were $99,763
It was Chris Farkas of AZ Hold'Em who took down the 2021 National Championship for $70,047 and the championship trophy after defeating Dean Terry of NPPT during heads-up play. For his runner-up finish, Terry earned a payday of $42,140.
Other players who found a deep run in the 2021 championship event include Bar Leage PRO member Paul Kelly (3rd - $30,010), Patrick Martorella of NY Free Poker (5th - $17,020) and Ronald Licari and Mark Moger of Riverchasers, who respectively finished in seventh and eighth place for $10,590 and $8,250.
2021 Bar Poker Open National Championship Final Table Results
PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
1 | Chris Farkas | $70,047 | |
2 | Wilbur Terry | $42,140 | |
3 | Paul Kelly | $30,010 | |
4 | Nicholas Burnett | $22,490 | |
5 | Patrick Martorella | $17,020 | |
6 | Jacky Lau | $13,740 | |
7 | Ronald Licari | $10,590 | |
8 | Mark Moger | $8,250 |
According to live reporting of the event on the Bar Poker Open blog, Farkas built up a stack late on Day 2 and entered the final table fourth in chips. He entered three-handed play with the chip lead and eliminated Kelly to begin heads-up play with nearly a 3-to-1 chip lead.
In the final hand, Farkas got it in with ace-king against the pocket jacks of Terry and was able to win the race with a king on the flop, giving Farkas his first recorded cash on the Hendon Mob.
Highlights from the 2021 Bar Poker Open National Championship can be viewed in the video below, while the full schedule of the 2022 Bar Poker Open is also available below.
2022 Bar Poker Open Full Schedule
DATE | TOURNAMENT | BUY-IN | |
June 11 | Grand Poker Series Ultimate Re-Entry $250K GTD - Day 1A | $200 | |
June 11 | Grand Poker Series Ultimate Re-Entry $250K GTD - Day 1B | $200 | |
June 11 | Grand Poker Series Ultimate Re-Entry $250K GTD - Day 1C | $200 | |
June 12 | Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better | $300 | |
June 12 | Grand Poker Series Ultimate Re-Entry $250K GTD - Day 2 | $0 | |
June 12 | NLH $25K GTD | $200 | |
June 12 | "Cheap and Deep" NLH | $125 | |
June 13 | World Championship Day 1A - Flight 1 | $230 | |
June 13 | World Championship Day 1A - Flight 2 | $230 | |
June 13 | "Tag Team" NLH | $100 | |
June 14 | World Championship Day 1B | $230 | |
June 14 | NLH $25K GTD | $200 | |
June 14 | Green Chip Bounty NLH | $125 | |
June 15 | World Championship Day 2 | $0 | |
June 15 | NLH $50K GTD | $300 | |
June 15 | Nightly NLH $5K GTD | $125 | |
June 16 | Black Chip Bounty | $300 | |
June 16 | NLH $25K GTD | $200 | |
June 16 | World Championship Day 3 | $0 | |
June 16 | Nightly NLH $5K GTD | $125 | |
June 17 | Mystery Bounty $250K GTD - Day 1A | $300 | |
June 17 | Mystery Bounty $250K GTD - Day 1B | $300 | |
June 17 | Mystery Bounty $250K GTD - Day 1C | $300 |