US Poker Championship – United States Poker Championship

The US Poker Championship, held annually at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City is part of the tour of live poker tournaments.

Overview of the US Poker Championship

The Trump United States Poker Championship (also known as the US Poker Championship or USPC) is generally held in September and October in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino. The tournament runs for three weeks and draws many professional poker players. The culmination of the tournament is the Trump US Poker Championship Main Event which is held in the first week of October. The poker tournament is televised by ESPN.

The US Poker Championship, despite its impressive name, is not even always mentioned in the same breath as many of the other major live poker events that take place annually. Its prize money has also never surpassed a million dollars. However, it is still a solid event that offers some level of prestige to its competitors. One of the things that continues to set the US Poker Championship above many others is the variety of events that they offer. They believe in providing their competitors with choices and their three week long event is filled up with a great variety of games. They host events in many variations of poker, including limit and no limit Texas hold'em, seven card stud, seven card stud hi lo, Omaha, Omaha hi lo and the mixed game of H.O.S.E (which combines Texas hold'em, Omaha hi lo, seven card stud, and seven card stud eights or better). They also host a seniors no limit Texas hold'em tournament and a ladies no limit Texas hold'em tournament. During the Championship Main Event, other smaller tournaments are run, including a seven card stud event, a no limit Texas hold'em event and a pot limit Omaha hi lo eights or better event.

History of the US Poker Championship

The United States Poker Championship (USPC) was first held in 1996. Since it began, it has always been held at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City. The winner of the 1996 US Poker Championship Main Event was Surinder Sunar who walked away with $500,000 in prize money. In 2008, Robert Ford won the event for a total of $221, 936. The largest main prize to date was won by Alex Jacob in the 2006 US Poker Championship Main event and he took home $878,500.

Entering the US Poker Championship

Most events over the three weeks require a buy-in ranging between $300 and $1,000. The final event of the US Poker Tour is a $9,700 + $300 no limit Texas hold'em Championship. In other words, there is a $9,700 buy-in and a $300 entry fee. The final Championship event runs for four days.

Approximately five months prior to the beginning of the US Poker Championship, the Trump Taj Mahal poker room begins to hold weekend satellite tournaments. About a month prior to the beginning of the event, the poker room begins to hold daily satellite tournaments. The day before the final Championship tournament, the Taj Mahal poker room holds satellites for that event. The satellite tournaments for the no limit Texas hold'em Poker Championship have buy-in ranging from $500 to $1,000.