Tired of turning your grind into a lottery?
Online poker in 2026 has become a circus of gimmicks. Mystery Bounties, Spin & Gos, Flip & Gos, and RNG-heavy formats have turned the game into a slot machine where variance reigns supreme.
The iPoker skin Champion Poker is zigging while the rest of the industry zags.
Champion Poker
💳Cards & Crypto Accepted
🌐Network: iPoker
Starting this Friday, February 6th, they are launching the €5,000,000 Vanilla Championship Season.
The concept is simple: Pure Poker. No mystery envelopes. No random prize pools. Just standard structures, deep stacks, and classic Freezeout or Re-Entry play.
For grinders who are tired of winning a tournament only to get paid 2x buy-ins because they missed the “Bounty,” this is the series you have been waiting for.
Here is the full breakdown of the season and why smart grinders are moving their bankrolls to Champion Poker for the next three months.
📅 The Numbers: A €5,000,000 Season (Not Just a Series)
This isn’t a two-week splash in the pan. Champion Poker has constructed a massive 3-month ecosystem running from February 6th to May 3rd, 2026.
The schedule is designed to support the daily grinder, not just the Sunday shot-taker.
- Total Guarantee: €5,000,000
- Duration: 3 Months (Feb – May)
- Buy-ins: €1 to €1,000 (Bankroll friendly for everyone)
- Formats: NLHE & PLO (Deepstacks, Turbos, PKO)
🏆 The Flagship Events (Mark Your Calendar)
The schedule uses a “Flighted” system for its biggest events, allowing you to grind Day 1s throughout the week and qualify for the massive Sunday Day 2s.
- €500,000 GTD Vanilla Cup
- Buy-in: €250
- Flights Run: April 6th – May 3rd
- Day 2: Sunday, May 3rd at 20:00 GMT
- The “Big One.” Qualify daily throughout April.
- €200,000 GTD Vanilla Open
- Buy-in: €200
- Flights Run: Feb 6th – March 1st
- Day 2: Sunday, March 1st at 20:00 GMT
- Kick off the series with this massive opener.
- €200,000 GTD Vanilla Elite
- Buy-in: €500 (High Roller)
- Flights Run: March 2nd – March 22nd
- Day 2: Sunday, March 22nd at 20:00 GMT
- For the high-stakes grinders.
- €150,000 GTD March Masters
- Buy-in: €150
- Flights Run: March 23rd – March 29th
- Day 2: Sunday, March 29th at 20:00 GMT
- A sprint week event with huge value.
The “Vanilla” Edge: In a “Vanilla” tournament, the prize pool is concentrated in the top spots. You are playing for life-changing money for a win, not just “bounty equity.” If you have a solid fundamental game, your ROI will be significantly higher here than in high-variance Mystery Bounty fields.
💎 For PLO Players: The “Ecosystem” Play
Let’s be brutally honest: Is this a PLO Series? No. 90% of the schedule is No-Limit Hold’em.
So, why should a PLO grinder care? Two words: Traffic Spillover.
When a network guarantees €5,000,000, it attracts thousands of recreational players, sports bettors, and “shot-takers.” These players do not study GTO. They gamble.
When they bust the €50 NLHE event on a Friday night, they don’t log off. They tilt-deposit and jump into the PLO Cash Games.
1. The Cash Game Hunting Season
For the next 3 months, the Champion Poker cash tables will be flooded with tournament spillover.
- The Strategy: Align your grind schedule with the tournament breaks and bust-out times (usually 18:00 – 22:00 CET).
- The Mission: Grind the “Vanilla Cash Chaser” missions (detailed below) while stacking tilted NLHE players who are trying to play 4-Card PLO & 5-Card PLO like it’s Hold’em.
2. The PLO Championship Day (May 3rd)
While the series is NLHE-heavy, they have saved the best for last. On the final day of the series (Sunday, May 3rd), there are two dedicated PLO Championship events:
- €25,000 GTD Vanilla PLO: €100 Buy-in.
- €10,000 GTD Vanilla PLO: €20 Buy-in.
These will likely have significant overlays or soft fields, as they run alongside the massive €500k Vanilla Cup Day 2.
🚀 The “Double-Dip”: Missions + Rakeback
The reason we push Champion Poker so hard is the math. You aren’t just playing for the tournament prize pool; you are playing for the Rakeback Overlay.
1. The Vanilla Revenue Missions
Champion is running “Revenue Missions” throughout the season. These are essentially Rake Races that award tournament tickets.
- Vanilla Cash Chaser (March 2 – April 26): Generate rake at cash tables to earn Free Blinds and tickets.
- Satellite Missions: Generate rake to earn tickets to the Vanilla Cup and Elite qualifiers.
Why this matters: You are getting paid extra value (tickets) for the volume you were going to put in anyway.
2. The PLO365 Advantage (46% Effective Rakeback)
Most players on the iPoker network are stuck on generic 20% or fake PVI deals. If you sign up through PLO365, you are playing a different game entirely.
- Part 1: 30% Flat Rakeback: Credited directly to your account. No PVI, no RNG.
- Part 2: The Rake Chase: Our exclusive monthly chase pays up to an additional 16% in cash.
The Math: If you grind this series on another iPoker skin, you might break even. On Champion Poker via PLO365, that same “break-even” performance could result in thousands of euros in profit simply from the rakeback and mission value.
⚖️ The Verdict: Why Play “Vanilla”?
In an industry obsessed with “Gamification,” Champion Poker is respecting the grinder.
- Lower Variance: Standard payouts mean you can actually realize your ROI.
- Softer Fields: The iPoker Network is significantly softer than GGPoker or PokerStars. There are fewer solvers and more casino punters.
- Reliability: €5,000,000 is a serious guarantee. The liquidity is there.
Our Advice: Treat this season as a business trip.
- Register for the Flighted Day 1s of the €500k Vanilla Cup (softest fields).
- Grind the PLO Cash Tables during peak tournament hours to catch the spillover.
- Bank your 30-46% Rakeback every month.
🏁 Sit Down. Focus Up. Play Pure.
The €5,000,000 Vanilla Championship Season starts Friday, Feb 6th.
Don’t let another month go by grinding high-variance lotteries. Get back to pure poker.
With over 12 years of Omaha Poker experience, Lebi is the Head of Content at PLO365. A dedicated PLO specialist, he bridges the gap between complex GTO theory and practical street poker. He leads our review team, stress-testing PLO solvers, HUDs, and training courses to ensure they meet the demands of the modern grinder. When he isn’t auditing poker room RNGs or writing strategy guides, you can find him grinding mid-stakes PLO cash games and Turbo MTTs.
