Over $800,000 worth of Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Tickets up for Grabs in the Lead Up to PokerStars Flagship Tournament of the Year

Poker players vying to compete in PokerStars prestigious Sunday Million 20th Anniversary now have another route to secure their seats to the iconic event through the Ticket Machine, where over $800,000 worth of $109 Daily Heat (Phase 1) tickets will be awarded in the lead-up to the Finals (Phase 2) on Sunday, September 6.

Celebrating 20 years of the most iconic tournament in online poker history, the special anniversary edition is a 10-week phased tournament, with Daily Heats running now until September 6.

To be in with a chance of winning a $109 Daily Heat seat in the Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Ticket Machine, players must opt in to the ‘Ticket Machine’ ICE Challenge and complete the weekly set of poker challenges.

Each completed challenge awards entry into the Ticket Machine raffle every Saturday, with more than $100,000 in $109 Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Daily Heat tickets awarded each week. Players can complete each challenge up to four times to earn a maximum of 24 raffle entries per week.

Players who make it through a $109 Daily Heat will carry their stack through to the Finals on September 6. Those who run deep in a heat but do not advance may still be able to cash, adding even more value and excitement for players competing in multiple Phase 1s throughout the summer-long qualification period. Only one stack may be carried through to Phase 2.

So far, in the first two weeks of Daily Heats, 270 players have secured their seats to the Finals from over 40 countries, with 50 of those players having qualified to Phase 1 through satellites. Brazil and Ukraine lead the way for the countries with the most players through to the Finals at 33 players each.

Big name players including Brazilian poker superstar Dalton ‘daltonhb’ Hobold who wrote his name into the PokerStars‘ history books as the first-ever champion of the Phased Sunday Million, WCOOP and EPT Cyprus Main Event winner Gilles ‘TaxationisTheft’ Simon and Brazilian high-stakes regular ‘paulinhoo00’ have all made it through to the Finals.

The Sunday Million 20th Anniversary will feature a $5 million guarantee, making it PokerStars’ biggest tournament of the year and one of the standout online poker events of 2026. Launched in 2006, the Sunday Million became one of poker’s true appointment-to-play tournaments, creating champions, huge moments, and unforgettable final tables across two decades.

Alongside the Ticket Machine, eligible players can also qualify through satellites from $0.55, special edition Spin & Go’s from $0.75, and Wildcard Wins, PokerStars’ new leaderboard promotion, which runs until July 19. Qualifying sports bets earn random leaderboard points, with top performers competing for prizes including Silver Passes, Bronze Passes and Sunday Million 20th Anniversary tickets.

Players who redeem a Bronze Pass will also earn 25% extra value in the bundle to celebrate 25 years of PokerStars. The $530 Bronze Pass will include an additional $109 Sunday Million 20th Anniversary ticket, along with $23.50 in tourney tickets added to the package for a limited time.

To find out more about the Ticket Machine visit the PokerStars Blog or PokerStars website.

For more details, please contact [email protected].

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