Tournament Rules

Tournament rules for Poker North Masters, 5. – 15. March, 2026 at Banco Bratislava, Slovakia.

Some players like it, others don’t – and that’s natural. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this system.

Allowing multiple Day 1 attempts gives players the freedom to choose their own approach, and those who qualify more than once take on extra risk and contribute more to the prize pool. When they combine stacks, their other entrants are removed and paid the minimum, which moves everyone else one step closer to the bigger payouts.

Overall, this structure creates more excitement, a larger prize pool, and a better tournament experience in total.

• Buy-in: €360+40 per entry.
• The event features several regular Day 1 flights and three turbo Day 1 flights.
• Players may enter as many Day 1 flights as they wish.

• Each Day 1 flight is played down until 5% of the field remains.
• The top 15% of the field in each flight are in the money.
• All players who reach the final 5%:
  • Qualify for Day 2.
  • Bag and tag their chips for Day 2.

In each Day 1 flight there are two payout groups:

• Group A: 6-10% of the field.
• Group B: 11-15% of the field.

The exact payout amounts are based on the total number of entries and published after the late registration has ended.

4.1 Entering Multiple Flights

• Players may play as many Day 1 flights as they wish.
• Players may cash in multiple Day 1 flights.
• Each entry is treated separately for payout purposes.

4.2 Qualifying More Than Once for Day 2
If a player qualifies for Day 2 in more than one flight:

• All qualifying stacks are bagged separately at the end of each Day 1 flight.
• Before Day 2 begins, all of that player’s qualifying stacks are combined into one single chip stack.
• The player starts Day 2 with the total amount of chips from all their qualifying stacks.
• For payout purposes:
  • Each qualifying stack counts as a separate in-the-money result.
  • One stack is treated as the player’s “main” stack that continues on Day 2.
  • Each additional qualifying stack is treated as a separate entry that is eliminated in the lowest paid positions on the Day 2 payout ladder and receives the minimum remaining Day 2 payout.

In practical terms:

• You keep all the chips from all your qualified stacks.
• You receive one Day 2 position to play.
• Your other qualified stacks are paid as if they busted at the very bottom of the paid places.

If the number of qualifying stacks is higher than the number of unique players on Day 2 (because some players qualified more than once), the extra stacks are paid out at the bottom of the payout structure.

All extra stacks (one per additional qualification per player) are:

• Counted as finishing in the lowest paid positions on the payout list.
• Paid starting from the last paid place and moving upwards.

Example

• 50 stacks qualify for Day 2.
• These 50 stacks belong to 46 unique players.
• There are 4 extra “stacks” (from players who qualified more than once).
• These 4 extra “stacks” are removed from play before Day 2 starts and split the combined payouts for 50th, 49th, 48th and 47th place.
• The 46 unique players then start Day 2 with their combined stacks.

• Day 2 is the final day of the event.
• Day 2 will be played on Sunday, March 15th.
• All remaining payouts after the extra stacks have been paid are distributed according to the standard payout ladder based on players’ final finishing positions.