Potomac Summer Poker Open Main Event Starts at MGM National Harbor
The $3,000 buy-in event carries a $750,000 guarantee and moves toward a final table on Aug. 17.
The 2026 Potomac Summer Poker Open $3,000 Main Event opened at MGM National Harbor with Day 1a starting at 11 a.m. local time. The event carries a $750,000 guaranteed prize pool, and players begin with 60,000 chips.
Day 1 uses 45-minute levels, with a break after every three levels and a one-hour dinner break after Level 9. According to PokerNews, the opening day is set for 15 levels, with late registration open until the start of Level 13. Day 1b follows tomorrow at 11 a.m., and all surviving players return for Day 2 on Aug. 16 at noon. From there, levels extend to 60 minutes and the field plays down to a final table.
As reported in July, the series returned to MGM National Harbor from Aug. 5-17 with 23 trophy events and more than $1.5 million in guaranteed prize pools. The MGM schedule also lists the Main Event flights on Aug. 14 and 15, Day 2 on Aug. 16, and the final-table day on Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. The press release described the festival as a bi-annual series with mixed games and bounty events, run in collaboration with BetMGM Poker.
PokerNews called the Main Event the crown jewel of the series and said it would provide wall-to-wall live coverage through the end of the event. That coverage window runs through the final table, matching the two starting flights and the three-day path to a champion.
Last year’s $3,000 Main Event drew 377 entries and produced a $1,017,900 prize pool. Robert Anderson won it by defeating Lucas Vergara heads-up for $211,915.
