Online Poker’s Most Iconic Tournament Transforms Into a Summer-Long Phased Spectacle
Move over, summer sports and seasonal games, the real headliner of the season has arrived. For the first time in its legendary history, online poker’s longest-running and most prestigious weekly tournament, the Sunday Million, is stretching across the entire summer.
To mark two decades of crown-jewel tournament action, PokerStars has unveiled the Sunday Million Anniversary 20. This special edition features an enormous $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and transitions into a $109 buy-in Phased format, giving players ten weeks of daily Phase 1 heats to secure their seats for the climactic final stages.
Tournament Schedule and Buy-in Structure
The phased setup allows players to battle through opening flights at their convenience, offering a flexible and highly strategic route to the grand finale.
Sunday Million Anniversary 20 Event Profile
| Tournament Parameter | Event Specification |
| Tournament Name | Sunday Million Anniversary 20 |
| Guaranteed Prize Pool | $5,000,000 |
| Direct Buy-in | $109 |
| Phase 1 Daily Heats | June 28 to September 6, 2026 |
| Phase 2 Grand Finale | September 6 to September 7, 2026 |
Find Your Path to Glory: Qualification Routes
You do not need an elite bankroll to secure a life-changing score. PokerStars has opened several pathways to help recreational and casual players qualify for a fraction of the direct buy-in:
- Direct Satellites: Traditional qualifying tournaments are running around the clock, with buy-ins starting at just $0.55.
- Special-Edition Spin & Go’s: High-speed, three-handed games are available at the $0.75 and $4 buy-in levels, giving players a chance to win a $109 Phase 1 seat in minutes.
- Power Path: Players can directly redeem their $109 Spade Passes to register for any active Phase 1 heat.
- Jet Set Season Challenge: Players in eligible regional domains (.BG, .CH, .COM, .EE, .EU, .RO, and .UK) can win SMA20 Phase 1 tickets through dedicated challenges.
- Wildcard Wins Leaderboard: Available exclusively to players on .COM, .EU, and .RO domains, this leaderboard awards promotional Phase 1 seats.
Claim Your Share of the $800,000 Ticket Machine Promotion
To maximize player participation, PokerStars is launching the Sunday Million Anniversary Ticket Machine, which will give away $800,000 worth of Phase 1 tickets. Acting as a weekly raffle, the machine will distribute $100,000 in free tickets every week between July 13 and September 5, 2026.
How to Earn Weekly Raffle Entries
To participate, players must opt in to the Ticket Machine via the Challenges window in their PokerStars game client. Once opted in, players can earn weekly prize draw entries by completing any of the following poker tasks:
- Multi-Table Tournaments: Play two MTTs.
- Anniversary Heats: Play one Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Phase 1 Heat.
- Spin & Go Knockouts: Eliminate five opponents in Spin & Go games.
- Zoom Cash Games: Play 75 fast-fold Zoom hands.
- All-In Showdowns: Play 25 All-In Poker hands.
- Standard Cash Games: Play 100 regular Cash Game hands.
Each of these six tasks can be completed up to four times per weekly promotional cycle, allowing highly active players to accumulate up to 24 weekly prize draw entries. The random draws will take place every Saturday at 0:05 ET, with winning players notified immediately via their accounts.
Why the Phased Format Benefits Players
Over the past two decades, the Sunday Million has continuously evolved. It originally debuted as a strict freezeout, eventually adopted rebuys and re-entries, and experimented with variations like Mystery Bounties before establishing the current weekly Progressive Knock-Out (PKO) standard.
For this historic 20th anniversary, the tournament transitions into an extended phased structure to offer distinct strategic advantages:
- Ultimate Scheduling Flexibility: Recreational players who cannot commit to a massive multi-day grind can choose from dozens of short Phase 1 starting flights that fit their personal schedules.
- Multiple Chances to Qualify: If you bust out of a Phase 1 flight, you can easily jump into another daily heat to try again.
- Immediate Cash Paydays: Unlike standard tournaments where the money bubble bursts midway through Day 2, players who successfully navigate a Sunday Million Phased flight and end with chips are guaranteed a payday the moment Phase 2 begins.
- Massive Prize Pool Potential: Because entries are gathered across ten weeks of daily starting flights, the format naturally generates a much larger field, offering unmatched value and prize potential.
