The Balkan Poker Championship (BPC) is a young but rapidly growing live poker tournament series. The Apollonia Casino in Gevgelija, North Macedonia, near the Greek border, serves as the main venue. With the event “The Don of the Balkans,” announced for January 21 through February 1, 2027, the BPC is reaching a new milestone for the time being. The event is explicitly intended to attract more than just players from the Balkan countries. While the BPC began just over two years ago with guaranteed prize money of €100,000, the next poker festival will now feature guaranteed prize money of €500,000.
Over the course of twelve days at the Balkan Poker Championship (BPC) at the Apollonia Hotel & Casino in Gevgelija, North Macedonia, everything will revolve around the question: “Who will become the new poker godfather of the Balkans?” The organizers have given their poker festival the bold title “The Don of the Balkans.” The word “Don” evokes the legendary mafia godfather from “The Godfather.” In keeping with this theme, the event features a dark, mafia-inspired aesthetic.
BPC Main Event with a €300,000 Guarantee
The highlight of the festival is the BPC Main Event, which features a guaranteed prize pool of €300,000. The buy-in is €500 plus a €50 fee. Participants start with a stack of 100,000 chips and can qualify for the second day of the tournament through a total of eight regular starting days as well as an additional Special Flight. The Special Flight takes place on January 24 at 7:00 p.m. The regular starting days, 1A through 1H, are then spread out over the period from January 27 to 31. There are various structures to choose from: In addition to regular flights with 30-minute blind levels, there are also turbo variants with 15-minute levels and a hyper flight with just ten minutes per level.
The “Best Stack Forward” rule applies. Players may participate in multiple starting days and qualify for Day 2 more than once. However, if a player qualifies multiple times, only the largest stack earned in each qualification will be carried forward. Furthermore, participants will cash in as early as the end of the starting days: The top 13 percent of each starting flight not only secure qualification for Day 2 but have already secured an ITM spot. Late registration remains open for twelve levels, and re-entries are unlimited. Day 2 will take place on January 31 at 5:30 p.m. The Main Event title will ultimately be decided on February 1 starting at 12 p.m.
Mystery Bounty & Don of the Balkans Event
Another major highlight awaits right at the start of the festival. The Mystery Bounty Event is guaranteed €100,000 and offers a particularly attractive Mystery Envelope worth €20,000. The buy-in consists of €150 for the regular prize pool, €150 for the bounty pool, and a €30 fee. Players will start with a stack of 100,000 chips; late registration is open for twelve levels, and re-entries are unlimited. The first starting day will take place on January 21 at 8:00 p.m. as a Special Flight. Additional starting opportunities will follow from January 22 through 24. In addition to two regular flights on Friday and Saturday, a Hyper Flight with 10-minute blind levels will be offered on Sunday morning. The final day begins on January 24 at 5:00 p.m.
Of course, the tournament that gives the event its name is also a must-see. The Don of Balkans event features a €40,000 guarantee and has a buy-in of €200 plus a €20 fee. The starting stack is 50,000 chips, and the blind levels last 20 minutes each on the first two days of the tournament. The two starting days, 1A and 1B, will take place on January 25 and 26. The final day will be held on January 27 at 12:00 p.m. Of particular interest is the additional incentive for the winner: in addition to the regular prize money, a package worth €2,500 for the European Poker Tour (EPT) Festival in Barcelona awaits.
The BPC also has something to offer players with larger bankrolls. On January 28 at 8:00 p.m., the High Roller Deepstack kicks off with a €30,000 guarantee. The buy-in is €1,000 plus a €100 fee, and the starting stack is 200,000 chips. Blind levels last 20 minutes. On January 31 at 7:00 p.m., the Progressive Bounty follows with a €15,000 guarantee. Here, the buy-in is €100 plus a €50 bounty share and a €15 fee. Players start with 50,000 chips and compete for prize money and additional bounty rewards during 20-minute blind levels.
Of course, there are also numerous ways to qualify for the Balkan Poker Championship (BPC). For the BPC Main Event, for example, several satellites are being offered with a buy-in of €100 plus a €10 fee. A total of 22 guaranteed tickets, each worth €550, are up for grabs. The satellites will take place from January 26 to 30. In addition, there are several “Bomb All-In” satellites with a buy-in of €110. Separate qualifying tournaments are also scheduled for the “Don of the Balkans” event and the “Mystery Bounty.” In addition to the tournament lineup, cash games will be offered in the Apollonia Casino’s Poker Room throughout the entire twelve days of the festival.
For more information, visit the Balkan Poker Championship website.
