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Gladiator Series 2026 to Open in Lisbon This January
- Gladiator Series debuts in Lisbon on January 31 to February 8, 2026.
- Six tournaments with €250,000 in guaranteed prizes; €550 Mystery Bounty main event.
- Features a bounty leaderboard with additional prizes worth €5,000.
LISBON – A live poker series will make its inaugural appearance early this year, with Lisbon set to host the opening stop. The Gladiator Series begins at Casino Lisboa from January 31 to February 8, marking the first of four planned legs in 2026.
The idea is this: every tournament on the schedule uses some form of bounty format, and the presentation follows a Roman theme that runs through the room setup and trophies.
For Lisbon, the series brings six tournaments and €250,000 in guaranteed prize pools. Below is a closer look at how the opening stop is put together and what players can expect from its first outing.
Where the Attention Goes: The Main Event
The centrepiece of the Lisbon schedule is the €550 Mystery Bounty Main Event, which carries a €125,000 guarantee. It’s the largest event of the week and the one the rest of the schedule is built around.
Over the past few years, Mystery Bounty formats have become common on both live and online schedules, and this one follows the same general idea. Knockouts unlock random bounty prizes alongside the main payout structure.
Filling Out the Week: Other Events on the Schedule
The rest of the schedule is compact and fairly easy to follow. There are five additional events, all using knockout formats, and they’re spread across different buy-in levels without trying to do too much at once.
At the top end sits the €770 High Roller PKO, backed by a €50,000 guarantee. It’s the biggest buy-in of the series and likely the toughest field. On the opposite end, the €150 Ultra PKO Closer wraps things up with a €10,000 guarantee and a quicker structure.
In between, players will find the €250 Warm-Up PKO and the €250 Mini Main Event PKO, both carrying €25,000 guarantees, along with a €550 PLO Accumulator KO for those who prefer four cards and a longer build-up.
Qualifiers and the Knockout Leaderboard
Alongside direct qualification, the Gladiator Series also introduces the Killer Ranking, a knockout-based leaderboard that runs on the side of each stop. The rules are simple:
- Every elimination is worth one point
- Knockouts in tournaments with buy-ins of €500 or more earn two points.
For the Lisbon leg, the Killer Ranking comes with a €5,000 guaranteed prize pool, paid out as tickets to the next Gladiator Series stop. Points earned here also carry over into the Annual Killer Ranking, which combines results from all four 2026 festivals: Lisbon, Sofia, Milano, and Troia.
That season-long race includes over €15,000 in guaranteed prizes, topped by a WSOP Main Event ticket with a Team Pro 2027 package, plus two additional Team Pro packages valued at €2,200.
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