A Poker Festival Worth $2.45 Million in Guarantees

The highly anticipated 2025 Potomac Winter Poker Open (PWPO) is set to return to Maryland’s MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino from February 5-17, 2025. With 18 events scheduled over 13 action-packed days, this festival is one of the casino’s most prominent poker offerings.

The festival boasts $2.45 million in guaranteed prize money spread across six key events. With 12 additional tournaments offering diverse formats, the total payouts are expected to surpass $3 million.

Two events headline the festival with guarantees of $1 million each. The first is the NHL Opener, featuring seven starting flights before wrapping up with its Day 2 finale on February 9. The second is the PWPO Main Event, offering two starting flights on February 14 and 15, with the champion crowned on February 17.

Unique Tournament Formats Add Variety

Poker enthusiasts will find more than just standard no-limit hold’em (NLH) tournaments at the PWPO. Alongside traditional offerings, several unique formats make this festival a must-play for all types of players:

  • Bounty Events: The popular Cakes Bounty Classic, hosted by sports-radio icon John “Cakes” Auville, joins the schedule, along with a separate Black Chip bounty tournament.
  • Specialty NLH Events: These include tournaments for seniors (50+), women, and rookies — the latter restricted to players with career earnings below $50,000 on the Hendon Mob database.
  • Omaha Variants: Fans of Omaha can dive into three dedicated events, including Omaha-8, PLO-8, and Big O tournaments. Omaha also features in a unique mixed-games event, R.O.S.E., which substitutes fixed-limit hold’em with a pot-limit format.

Changes to Buy-Ins and Staff Gratuities

The full buy-in structure and event details are yet to be released, but MGM National Harbor has announced a shift in its gratuity policy. No auto-gratuities will be withheld from event buy-ins. Instead, players will have the option to include an add-on gratuity at the time of registration.

Main Event Satellites and Online Qualifiers

Satellite tournaments will provide players with an affordable chance to enter the festival’s marquee events. Whether online qualifiers will extend to players in Pennsylvania and New Jersey through BetMGM, as in 2024, remains unconfirmed.

Stay Tuned for the Full Schedule

The finalized schedule, complete with event structures and buy-ins, will soon be available on MGM National Harbor’s official page for the 2025 PWPO. With something for every poker fan, this festival promises an unforgettable February.