Deputy Editor
PokerStars will bring its signature Open live tournament series to the Baltimore area for the first time this fall. Maryland Live! will host PokerStars Open Maryland from Oct. 19-26, featuring a $300,000 guaranteed main event.
The tournament series marks the second PokerStars Open event on U.S. soil this year, after Philadelphia. Including the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas, that makes a total of three PokerStars-sponsored events, reflecting the company’s continued investment in live poker in the US.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring the PokerStars Open experience to Maryland for the very first time,” said R.J. Peterson, senior director of marketing PokerStars North America, in a press release. “This festival represents a natural step forward in our partnership with Live! Casino & Hotel and reflects our ongoing commitment to making great poker more accessible, more fun, and more rewarding for players across the region.”
Schedule Features Mysterious Sports-Poker Hybrid
The schedule released for PokerStars Open Maryland features 14 numbered events, headlined by the $1,100 Main Event. PokerStars attached a $300,000 guarantee to that one, which appears to be the only guaranteed prize pool of the series.
Five starting flights, including two on Saturday, Oct. 25, will ensure PokerStars and Maryland Live! have ample time to meet the number.
Additionally, PokerStars hinted at an intriguing new tournament offering, the $400 Sunday Sweat, set for Sunday, Oct. 26. It’s billed as “a single-day mystery bounty tournament with a sports betting twist,” suggesting perhaps that the bounties might depend on the outcomes of sporting events in some way, though the specifics are yet to be disclosed.
That date falls on Week 8 of the NFL season, with the local Baltimore Ravens likely to be heavy favorites against the Chicago Bears in that afternoon’s game. A PokerStars representative told PokerScout that the final details are still being worked out and that more information will become available within the next week.
Other notable tournaments include a $2,200 High Roller and $400 PokerStars Cup.
Find the released schedule as of Aug. 13 below, but note that Event #3 is missing and PokerStars promised a full schedule with structures “confirmed soon,” as well as online qualifiers on PokerStars NJ, PokerStars PA, PokerStars MI, and PokerStars Ontario.
| Date | Time | Event Number | Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 19 | 11:15 a.m. | 1a | $400 PokerStars Open Cup |
| Oct. 19 | 6:15 p.m. | 1b | $400 PokerStars Open Cup |
| Oct. 20 | 11:15 a.m. | 1 | $400 PokerStars Open Cup Day 2 |
| Oct. 20 | 2:15 p.m. | 2 | $200 Milestone Satellite to $1,100 Main Event |
| Oct. 21 | 11:15 a.m. | 4 | $200 TORSE |
| Oct. 21 | 6:15 p.m. | 5 | $300 QuadStacks Bounty ($50) |
| Oct. 21 | 7:15 p.m. | 6 | $300 Qualifier to $2,200 High Roller |
| Oct. 22 | 11:15 a.m. | 7a | $1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event |
| Oct. 22 | 2:15 p.m. | 8 | $2,200 High Roller |
| Oct. 22 | 6:15 p.m. | 9 | $300 TripleStacks |
| Oct. 23 | 11:15 a.m. | 8 | $2,200 High Roller Day 2 |
| Oct. 23 | 11:15 a.m. | 7b | $1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event |
| Oct. 23 | 2:15 p.m. | 10 | $300 Pot-Limit Omaha |
| Oct. 23 | 7:15 p.m. | 11 | $200 Milestone Satellite to $1,100 Main Event |
| Oct. 24 | 11:15 a.m. | 7c | $1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event |
| Oct. 24 | 2:15 p.m. | 12 | $300 Women's |
| Oct. 24 | 6:15 p.m. | 13 | $200 Milestone Satellite to $1,100 Main Event |
| Oct. 25 | 11:15 a.m. | 7d | $1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event |
| Oct. 25 | 6:15 p.m. | 7e | $1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event |
| Oct. 26 | 11:15 a.m. | 14 | $400 The Sunday Sweat No-Limit Hold'em |
| Oct. 26 | 11:15 a.m. | 7 | $1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event Day 2 |
Will PokerStars Continue Expansion Of U.S. Live Series?
PokerStars has been accused of neglecting its US online sites, failing to add Pennsylvania to its network, while its competitors were all quick to do so. Nonetheless, it has continued to invest in building out its live product in the U.S.
With three events so far in 2025, it doesn’t have the same sort of North American presence as giants like the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. However, there are signs that it sees the potential in live tournaments.
PokerStars made waves with a 2023 revival of its NAPT, which had been dormant for more than a decade after its unregulated U.S. presence came to an end in 2011 as a result of Black Friday.
NAPT Las Vegas returned in 2024 with a more ambitious schedule featuring higher buy-ins and larger guarantees, more akin to a European Poker Tour schedule than the 2023 return. A similar schedule lies ahead for NAPT Las Vegas this November.
However, two years in, Las Vegas remains the only NAPT stop. That’s significant in that PokerStars is still unable to obtain an online poker license in Nevada as a consequence of its pre-Black Friday operations.
The only other PokerStars-branded events in 2024 were State Poker Championships in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The move to PokerStars Open puts the U.S. events under the same branding as its international offerings. Players around the U.S. will want to keep an eye for additional PokerStars Open events in the U.S. in late 2025 and 2026, providing more competition in an increasingly crowded market.
Image credit: A. Bailey/Wikimedia Commons (license)
