The most famous weekly tournament in online poker is stepping back into the live arena. The PokerStars Sunday Million Live returns to the felt for the first time in nearly a decade, with the operator confirming a special live edition at the PokerStars Live Room inside Casino di Campione d'Italia from October 2-12, 2026. For a tournament that has been a staple of Sunday nights online since 2006, the move back to bricks-and-mortar poker is a notable statement about the enduring appeal of live play in an increasingly digital game.
The last time the Sunday Million was contested in a live setting was 2017, meaning a whole new generation of grinders has come up knowing the event only as an online fixture. Bringing it back to a physical room on the shores of Lake Lugano gives recreational players and pros alike a rare chance to play one of poker's best-known brands across the table from real opponents. For anyone weighing up the differences between the two formats, our online poker vs live poker guide breaks down what changes when you move from a screen to a felt table.
What We Know About the Format
The headline numbers make this a genuinely accessible event. PokerStars has set the buy-in at just €250, with starting stacks of 50,000 chips and a guaranteed prize pool of at least €1 million when cards go in the air on October 2. That combination of a low entry price and a seven-figure guarantee is precisely what made the online version such a phenomenon, and it should draw a large, diverse field to Campione.
The structure is built around volume. There will be six live starting flights running daily from Friday, October 2 through Friday, October 9 at 2pm, with each flight playing down to 12.5% of the field before bagging up. That is a generous run of Day 1 opportunities, giving traveling players multiple bullets and flexible scheduling across more than a week of action.
Crucially, PokerStars has designed this as a hybrid event rather than a purely live one. Players will have nine total opportunities to reach Day 2, choosing between three online Day 1 flights on September 13, 20 and 27 or the six live starting flights in Campione between October 2 and 9. That blend of online qualification and live final stages is a smart nod to how the modern game actually works, letting online regulars fire cheap online Day 1s and only travel if they bag a stack. It is a model that lowers the cost of entry and the risk of a wasted trip, which should widen the field considerably.
Why Campione and Why Now
Casino di Campione occupies a unique spot on the poker map. The venue sits in an Italian enclave surrounded by Swiss territory near Lake Lugano, giving it a picturesque setting that PokerStars has increasingly leaned into for its live offerings. The operator has run PokerStars Open stops there, and building a marquee Sunday Million Live around the room signals confidence in the destination as a hub for its European live calendar.
The timing is deliberate. October sits in a busy stretch of the live season, and slotting the Sunday Million Live into that window lets PokerStars capitalize on players already in tournament mode. It also arrives at a moment when live poker is enjoying a broad resurgence, with major festivals across Europe reporting strong turnouts. Anyone tracking the wider tournament landscape can follow the biggest stops through our tournaments hub, which covers the festivals worth planning a trip around.
The Sunday Million's Place in Poker History
To appreciate why this comeback matters, it helps to remember what the Sunday Million represents. Launched in 2006, it quickly became the benchmark for online multi-table tournaments, offering everyday players a shot at life-changing money for a modest buy-in. Over the years it has minted amateur champions, produced dramatic final tables, and celebrated milestone anniversary editions with boosted guarantees that stretched into the tens of millions.
That legacy is exactly why a live edition carries weight. The online Sunday Million is a rite of passage for grinders; playing it in person turns an abstract weekly ritual into a tangible, travelable event. It is the kind of brand extension that money cannot easily buy — you either have two decades of history behind a tournament name or you do not, and PokerStars is leaning on that heritage to make Campione feel like an occasion.
What This Means for Players
For recreational players, this is one of the more approachable big-brand live tournaments on the calendar. A €250 buy-in for a €1 million guarantee is excellent value, and the hybrid qualification path means you can chase a seat from your sofa in September before committing to travel in October. If you have only ever played the Sunday Million online, this is a low-cost way to experience the live version of a tournament you already know.
Live play does demand a different skill set, though. The pace is slower, physical reads come into play, and stamina across long flights matters more than it does in a two-hour online session. Players making the jump should brush up on the fundamentals — our poker strategy library covers the transition, and understanding ICM becomes especially important once you reach the money bubble and pay jumps in a field this large. Sound bankroll management also matters when factoring in travel and accommodation on top of the buy-in; a live trip costs more than firing an online tournament, so plan the total outlay accordingly.
For serious tournament players, the multiple starting flights and re-entry flexibility create real strategic decisions about which Day 1s to fire and how deep to run each bullet. The deep 50,000-chip starting stacks reward patient, post-flop poker rather than the shove-heavy dynamics of shallower turbo events, which favors skilled players willing to grind long days.
A Signal for Live Poker's Future
Beyond the immediate appeal to players, the Sunday Million Live return says something about where PokerStars sees the game heading. Rather than treating online and live as separate silos, the operator is fusing them — using online satellites and Day 1 flights to feed a live festival, and using a beloved online brand to fill a physical room. It is a template we are likely to see repeated as operators look for ways to bring digital-first players into live venues.
If the Campione edition succeeds, expect the Sunday Million Live to become a recurring fixture rather than a one-off nostalgia play. For a tournament that helped define the online poker boom two decades ago, a thriving live spin-off would be a fitting next chapter. Keep an eye on our tournaments and real money poker coverage for qualification details as the September online flights approach.