PokerStars Open Campione 2027: January Dates and a New €1,250 Main Event

The 2027 live poker calendar now has its opening act. PokerStars has confirmed that the PokerStars Open will return to Casinò di Campione from January 8 to 17, 2027, and the headline event will cost more than before: the Main Event moves to a €1,250 buy-in. Here’s what that means, how Campione has performed so far, and whether it’s worth circling on your calendar.

Key facts at a glance

• Dates: January 8–17, 2027
• Venue: PokerStars Live Room, Casinò di Campione, Campione d’Italia
• Main Event buy-in: €1,250 (previously €1,100)
• Full schedule and guarantee: not yet released
• Satellites: already live on PokerStars

What PokerStars actually announced

The announcement landed on October 22, 2026, shortly after the Sunday Million Live wrapped up in the same room. PokerStars described the Main Event as “newly priced” and said the full schedule would follow later. Cédric Billot, who oversees live events operations, framed it simply as starting the year with a festival players already love.

Two things stand out. First, the dates are early. The 2025 edition ran in mid-March and the 2026 edition in late January; this one starts barely a week into the new year. Second, the buy-in rise is modest in euros but meaningful in positioning. Most standalone PokerStars Open stops have stuck to €1,100 since the tour launched in 2025. Campione is now the exception.

How Campione got here: two editions, two beaten guarantees

To understand why PokerStars feels comfortable raising the price, look at the track record. Campione didn’t just host the first-ever PokerStars Open — it set the bar for the whole tour.

Edition	Buy-in	Entries	Prize pool	Pool per entry	Winner	First prize
March 2025	€1,100	2,423	€2,326,080	€960	Adrian-Sorel State (ROU)	€363,000
Jan–Feb 2026	€1,100	1,582	€1,518,720	€960	Elvir Nuhiu (SUI)	€200,640*
January 2027	€1,250	To be announced

*After a three-way deal.

The 2025 debut was genuinely chaotic in the best way. A single Day 1 flight brought more than 1,100 entries, waiting lists ran into the hundreds, and the final field of 2,423 (1,423 unique players plus 1,000 re-entries) more than doubled the €1 million guarantee. State’s €363,000 was the largest first prize ever paid at a standalone PokerStars €1K-level Main Event.

The 2026 sequel was smaller, down about 35%, but that context matters. It ran just ten months after the first edition, in the dead of winter, and still cleared the guarantee by over half a million euros. Nuhiu’s story is also a nice reminder of who actually wins these events: by his own account he’s mainly a cash-game player who only decided to enter after driving a friend to nearby Milan.

Why raise the buy-in now?

PokerStars hasn’t given a reason, so treat what follows as analysis rather than fact. The timing is interesting because the operator just moved in the opposite direction elsewhere: the PokerStars Open Main Event at EPT Prague in December 2026 drops from €1,650 to €1,100.

PokerStars Open Main Event	Dates	Buy-in	Change
Aix-en-Provence (standalone)	Nov 2–8, 2026	€1,100	Standard price
EPT Prague (side event)	Dec 2026	€1,100	Down from €1,650
Campione (standalone)	Jan 8–17, 2027	€1,250	Up from €1,100
Irish Poker Open 2026 (sponsored)	Mar–Apr 2026	€1,250	Same tier as new Campione price

Our read: Campione has earned “premium stop” status. The PokerStars Live Room there has been open roughly a year and a half and has already filled the building repeatedly. The latest proof came in October, when the revived Sunday Million Live drew 5,213 entries across online and live flights and built a €1,119,853 prize pool against a €1 million guarantee, with Ettore Santoprete taking €100,000. A venue that can do that has some pricing power.

There’s also a practical angle. A €150 bump on a €1,100 event is about 14%. For the strong Italian, Swiss and German recreational base that powers Campione, that’s unlikely to be a deal-breaker — but for marginal travellers paying for flights and hotels, it nudges the total trip cost a little higher.

What could the prize pool look like?

PokerStars hasn’t published the rake split or guarantee yet, so this is purely illustrative. At the 2026 Irish Poker Open, a €1,250 buy-in sent €1,100 to the prize pool. If Campione uses a similar split:

• 1,582 entries (2026 turnout) → roughly €1.74 million
• 2,000 entries → roughly €2.2 million
• 2,423 entries (2025 record) → roughly €2.67 million

In other words, even a repeat of the quieter 2026 field would produce a noticeably bigger pool. Whether turnout holds at the higher price is the real question.

Practical tips if you’re planning to play

1. Start with satellites, not your wallet
Satellites are already running on the PokerStars client. This isn’t a minor detail: at the 2025 edition, more than 300 Main Event entries — close to 15% of the field — came through online qualifiers. With an extra €150 on the direct buy-in, the satellite route looks even more attractive. Look for step-style tournaments that start at a few euros and work up toward a full package.

2. Sort your paperwork early
Campione d’Italia is Italian territory completely surrounded by Switzerland. In practice that means you’ll travel through Swiss territory to get there, so carry proper ID and check entry requirements for your passport. Euros are the official currency, though Swiss francs are often accepted on site. Lugano is right next door, and Milan’s airports are within driving distance.

3. Budget for re-entries honestly
Both previous Main Events were heavily re-entry driven — 1,000 re-entries in 2025 and 745 in 2026. If your plan involves firing more than once, your real cost is €2,500 or more, not €1,250. Set that limit before you sit down, not after a cooler on Day 1a.

Writer’s note: January events tend to favour players who arrive rested and organised. Book accommodation through PokerStars Travel or nearby Lugano early — rooms around Campione went fast during the 2025 debut, and an early-January festival overlaps with the tail end of holiday travel.

4. Keep an eye on the side events
The 2026 schedule offered a €2,200 High Roller, a €550 Second Chance, a €400 Mystery Bounty Cup and a Super High Roller around the Main Event. Expect a similar mix in 2027. For many recreational players, the Second Chance and bounty events offer better value per euro than the Main itself.

What else is happening in Campione before January

The room isn’t going quiet until then. The Assopoker Cup is scheduled for November and ISOP Stage 2 for December, so Campione will host a steady stream of live action through the end of 2026. If you’re in the region and want a feel for the venue before committing to the PokerStars Open, either of those is a sensible scouting trip.

Our verdict

PokerStars Open Campione has quickly become one of the most reliable mid-stakes stops in European poker. The new €1,250 price tag is a small but deliberate signal that PokerStars sees it as a flagship rather than just another tour leg. For players who can qualify online or who already planned a winter trip to northern Italy, it remains an easy recommendation. For budget-conscious grinders, the €1,100 stops in Aix-en-Provence and Prague now offer a slightly cheaper path to similar tournament experiences. We’ll update this page as soon as the full schedule and guarantee are published.

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