The Roughrider Poker Tour (RPT) Casino State Championship starts January 1, 2026 and takes place at the Spirit Lake Casino & Resort in St. Michael, North Dakota. Carried over five days, the event carries an estimated $300,000 prize pool, and one winner will walk away with a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event seat.
Taking place on New Year’s Eve, the event consists of a Kickoff Tournament, followed by six flights, ‘Championship Day’ and a ‘Last Chance Tournament’.
Held across North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, this year, for the first time, the tournament has also welcomed Minnesota to its fold. But, it is the Casino State Championship that offers the biggest prize pool, boosted by the inclusion of a Main Seat for next year’s WSOP Main Event.
The Casino State Championship starts on December 31 with a Kickoff Tournament. $175 of every $220 buy-in goes towards the prize pool for the one-evening event. Unlimited rebuys are allowed through the first 10 levels, and play is expected to continue until early hours of the morning with 24 levels.
The WSOP Main Event
The WSOP Main Event starts on Thursday, January 1. This date sees two flights, one in the morning and one in the evening. Unlimited rebuys are allowed up to level nine, and each flight continues until 12.5% of players are left.
Friday and Saturday follow the same pattern, leading to Championship Day on Sunday. The seat redraw will be posted in the morning, and play will continue until there’s an individual winner.
With an eye-watering $300,000 in the prize pool this makes it potentially the biggest ever North Dakota poker tournament. And the first-place player will also walk away with a Main Seat at the 2026 WSOP, valued at $10,700.
Sunday also sees the Last Chance Tournament with registration starting at 11am and play beginning at noon. The tournament has a $120 buy-in and $100 add-ons, giving players who missed out a final chance to walk away with the money.
Main Event seat up for grabs
The $300,000 prize pool is generous, but the WSOP main seat carries even greater potential; the winner of that event takes home $10m in prize money, as well as the coveted 10-karat yellow gold Main Event bracelet.
Previous winners of the WSOP Main Event include last year’s winner, Michael Mizrachi, and Jonathan Tamayo, who took home the bracelet and $10m in prize money in 2024. In 2023, Daniel Weinman took a $12.1m prize, as well as his bracelet.
The Main Event is a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. Last year’s event had 9,735 entrants, making it the third largest in poker history. The total prize pool of just over $90m was shared between 1,461 players with the final table of nine playing at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas, which is where next year’s main event will also be staged.
