European Mixed Poker Championship 2026

Last Updated on October 14, 2026 by Bala Kumar

Almost every poker festival is built around No-Limit Hold’em. The European Mixed Poker Championship does the opposite. Its schedule is made of Stud, Razz, Badugi, 2-7 Triple Draw, Big O and other non-Hold’em variants, including a few Nordic games you won’t find anywhere else.

This page brings together the official 2026 schedule and fees, plain-English explanations of each format, practical cost planning, and every past EMPC result we could verify. We’ll update the results tracker from October 26 onwards.

What Is the European Mixed Poker Championship?

The EMPC is an annual festival made only for mixed-game poker. It was started by Frode Fagerli, founder of the Norwegian Championship, and Tobias Jelsa Leknes. Its partners include POKER.NO and the host casinos.

2026 is the festival’s third host city in four years, and its first autumn edition outside Dublin.

EMPC by the Numbers 

These figures come from the official 2023 and 2025 results pages. 2024 is left out because its official page doesn’t list entries or prize pools.

What the numbers show:

• Entries grew slowly, but prize money nearly doubled because buy-ins went up.
• In 2025, 31 of the 77 Main Event entries (40%) were re-entries, so expect plenty of players to fire a second bullet.
• The 2025 Main Event pool works out to about €682 per entry. That is a useful benchmark for estimating the 2026 prize pool.

EMPC 2026 Schedule and Dates

All times are local Tallinn time (EET, UTC+2). “Late reg” is the number of levels during which you can still register.

Guarantees: none announced for any event.

Sit & Gos: these run throughout the week whenever enough players want a game. The official buy-ins are:

Players can ask for games such as 8-Game, HORSE, Dealer’s Choice or Østfold Razz.

Main Event: €800 8-Game Championship {#main-event}

How Day 1 works: both flights are on the same day, so you can play Day 1A, re-enter once, and still play Day 1B (with one re-entry there too). That’s up to four bullets at €900 each.

Can you play the Main Event and Day 2 of other events? Event #7 Day 2 starts at 12:00 and Event #8 Day 2 at 11:30, both on October 30. Players still alive in those events will have to choose between them and Main Event Day 1A, or wait for Day 1B at 18:30.

Buy-ins, Fees and Trip Cost

Every event has a registration fee on top of the buy-in. Most events also have a dealer fee of 3–5%; the official schedule doesn’t say what it’s calculated on. The totals below include buy-in plus registration fee only.

How Much Does an EMPC Trip Cost?

Tournament costs only (one bullet each):

On top of that, budget for:

• flights to Tallinn Airport (TLL)
• up to six hotel nights (October 26–31)
• meals
• a short taxi ride to and from the airport

Flight and hotel prices change daily, so check current fares when you book. Rebuy events (#1, #12) and unlimited re-entry events can cost much more than one bullet. Plan your total with our Poker Bankroll Calculator.

Which EMPC Events Suit Hold’em Players?

EMPC Games Explained {#games}

Quick explanations of the less familiar games:

• Razz: a seven-card stud game where the lowest hand wins. A-2-3-4-5 is the best hand, and straights and flushes don’t count. Official Razz guide.
• 2-7 Triple Draw: a lowball draw game with three draws. 7-5-4-3-2 is the best hand, aces are high, and straights and flushes count against you. Official guide.
• Badugi: a four-card draw game. The best hand is four low cards of four different suits.
• Badacey and Badeucey: split-pot games where half the pot goes to the best Badugi hand and half to the best A-5 or 2-7 low hand.
• Sviten Special and Courchevel: Nordic and European Omaha-style variants.
• Østfold Razz: a Norwegian twist on Razz. It’s best learned from the official explanation.

New to mixed games? The EMPC site has a beginner’s guide to live mixed games.

Registration, Payments and Satellites

• Age and ID: you must be 21+ (Olympic Park Casino’s rule). Bring a passport, driving licence or other government photo ID.
• Payment: cash, bank cards, LuxonPay or direct bank transfer to the casino. Currency exchange is free, and you can change cash back at the same rate within 24 hours.
• Payouts: in cash or by bank transfer, depending on the casino’s procedures.
• Live satellites: two €185 + €25 H.E.T.R.O.S. satellites (October 29 and 30) award Main Event seats.
• Online satellites:
  • EMPC’s own status: the official FAQ says the organisers are looking for sponsors to run online satellites.
  • Phenom Poker: ran $10 and $100 qualifiers earlier this autumn. Its last final satellite was on October 9.
• Questions: organizer@empc.live

Venue, Travel and Accommodation

EMPC describes Olympic Park as the home of the largest poker room in the Baltic region. Staying at the Hilton keeps you upstairs from the tournament floor, which is handy for long Main Event days. City-centre hotels nearby are usually cheaper.

Late October in Tallinn is cold and gets dark early, so pack warm layers.

EMPC 2026 Results and Winners

We’ll add results as each event ends. Last checked: October 14, 2026.

Previous Champions and Past Results

EMPC 2025 – JP Poker, Dublin (November 4–9)

2025 Main Event final table:

EMPC 2024 – Card Casino, Bratislava (March 11–15)

• 2024 Main Event top three: Samuel Perry, then Gunnar Wedde (€10,120), then Marcin Puczylowski (€6,745).
• Entries: the official page doesn’t list a buy-in or entry count. JP Poker reported a 161-entry field.
• 2024 Player of the Series: Eva Jiretorn.

EMPC 2023 – Card Casino, Bratislava (March 21–24)

Players to watch in 2026:

• Tobias Leknes (co-founder) and Robin Panholzer have each won two EMPC titles.
• Jens Vortmann won the 2024 Hi-Lo Mix and finished third in the 2025 Main Event.
• Eva Jiretorn was the 2024 Player of the Series.

Mixed-Game Strategy and Preparation {#strategy}

1. Learn the low-hand rankings first. Most new players’ mistakes come from misreading Razz (aces low, straights don’t count) and 2-7 (aces high, straights count against you).
2. Aim to scoop in split-pot games. In O8, Stud 8 and Badacey, hands that can only win half the pot cost money over time.
3. Bluff less in fixed-limit games. Bets are capped, so opponents with draws will call. Bet your good hands for value more often.
4. Lose less in your weakest games. In an 8-game rotation, tightening up in your worst games matters as much as pressing in your best.
5. Practise every game in the rotation. Make sure you know each one well before Day 1A.
6. Pick a few events. Mixed games demand a lot of concentration, so 3–5 events is a realistic week for most players.

Planning more events around this trip? See our October 2026 poker tournament calendar and the October–December 2026 schedule.

FAQs