Here’s a Brief History of the PokerNews Cup Headed Into This Weekend’s $1M GTD!

The $1,100 buy-in, $1,000,000 guaranteed PokerNews Cup at Golden Nugget is less than a week away and will take place during the annual Grand Poker Series. With a seven-figure guarantee, the event is expected to draw a massive field and be an exciting highlight of the summer.

With just a few days to go before the event, here is a look back at the history of the PokerNews Cup, which has taken place across the world from Australia to Roznadov to New Jersey, and the ten champions who have been crowned so far.

History of the PokerNews Cup

The first-ever PokerNews Cup took place in Australia in 2007 and saw 428 entrants to generate a prize pool of $1.1 million. It was Australia native Dory Zayner who emerged victorious to become the inaugural PokerNews Cup champion and take home $266,959 for his only Hendon Mob-reported cash after he defeated Kenny Ng during heads-up play, who in turn took home $181,265.

The PokerNews Cup returned to Melbourne the next year and attracted a similarly sized field of 410 entrants to generate a $563,079 prize pool. Australia’s Nali Kaselias emerged victorious in the A$2,000 buy-in event to pocket $171,670, while Denmark’s Kenneth Damm finished second for $82,402.

The same year, the $3,353 PokerNews Cup South African Poker Open attracted 175 entrants to generate $502,233 in prize money. South Africa’s Darren Kramer was crowned the champion and awarded $140,575, his second-biggest score to date, after defeating fellow South African Chris Convery ($95,826).

Numbers decreased slightly at the 2009 PokerNews Cup Australia event, which attracted 381 runners and generated a prize pool of $661,045. Con Tsapkounis emerged victorious to earn $140,537, his biggest score to date, while second-place finisher Joe Cabret took home $114,511.

The same year, the €1,500 PokerNews Cup Alpine in Austria saw 129 runners vying for a piece of the $233,585 prize pool. Marc Naalden of the Netherlands took down the event for $63,094, becoming the first PokerNews Cup champion on European soil.

The next PokerNews Cup did not take place until 2015 with a €250 buy-in event at King’s Casino Rozvadov, which attracted 689 runners and generated a prize pool of $213,004. Germany’s Daniel Can won the event for $17,898, earning his fifth-largest score to date.

Next year, the €270 buy-in PokerNews Cup King’s Casino Rozvadov attracted a much larger field of 1,082 runners for a prize pool of $364,833. It was Timur Caglan who took down the tournament to win $67,541. Also in 2016, Ryan Van Sanford took down the $2,000 buy-in PokerNews Cup Borgata — the first PokerNews Cup on US soil — for a payday of $68,676.

In 2017, the €225 buy-in PokerNews Cup King’s Casino Rozvadov attracted a field of 617 runners for a prize pool of $234,684. Germany’s Holger Bansner emerged victorious to win $28,277, while Caglan amazingly finished in second place as the defending champion.

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After a break in 2018, the 2019 €550 PokerNews Cup Kulata Spring in Bulgaria took place to see 141 runners for a prize pool of $102,136. Greece’s Panagiotis Panagiotidis is the reigning champion after winning the event for $20,708, his largest career cash.

After another hiatus, the PokerNews Cup now returns in 2022 and will soon crown its latest champion. A full list of PokerNews Cup champions to date is available in the table below.

List of PokerNews Cup Champions