New Zealand's biggest December festival is sold out five weeks early — and its satellites now pay cash
Every seat in all four events of Christchurch Casino's 2026 No Limit Hold'em Championships had been allocated by 30 October, more than five weeks before the series opens on 3 December. The knock-on effect is unusual: satellite winners can no longer be given a seat, so the casino is paying the cash equivalent instead — NZ$1,600 for the Christchurch Masters and NZ$2,400 for the three-event package.
Christchurch Casino's No Limit Hold'em Championships are the high point of the New Zealand poker year, and the 2026 edition has filled unusually fast. Reading the casino's own Championships page on 30 October, all seats into the Main Event, the Friday Feature, the Turbo and the Big Bounty are listed as allocated, with players directed to email the casino to go on an alt list. The series does not start until Thursday 3 December.
The four events run on consecutive days, each starting at 12.30pm: the NZ$550 Turbo on the Thursday with a 25,000 stack, the NZ$1,100 Friday Feature with 30,000, the NZ$1,600 Main Event — The Christchurch Masters — with 40,000 on the Saturday, and the NZ$750 Big Bounty with NZ$350 bounties and a 30,000 stack on the Sunday. Each allows one re-entry up to the end of the second break, at a different level in each event. Monday 7 December is held in reserve in case anything overruns, and the Main Event resumes on the Sunday if it does not finish on the Saturday.
The interesting part is what a sell-out does to a satellite programme that was built to award seats. The Championships are fed by a long run of qualifiers on most Saturdays and every Sunday afternoon from early October to the end of November, in two phases: a cheap Phase 1 at NZ$25 or NZ$30 with re-buys and an add-on, and a Phase 2 at NZ$210 or NZ$250 with a 20,000 stack. With no seats left to give, the casino has switched the prizes to cash equivalents. A Phase 2 Main Event satellite now pays NZ$1,600, roughly one entrant in eight getting there, and the package chain pays NZ$2,400 — the stated value of the Turbo, the Friday Feature and the cash equivalent of a Big Bounty seat.
There is also a late-night rule that is worth knowing before you sit down in one of these. If a Phase 2 Main Event satellite has not finished by 12.30am, the casino applies an ICM chop and gives the players still in seats in the 2026 Championships events closest in value to their calculated share.
Five Phase 1 and four Phase 2 satellites remain on the calendar between 31 October and 29 November, which is now the only route in for anyone not already holding a seat — and even those pay money rather than entry.
Read the original at Christchurch Casino — 2026 No Limit Hold'em Championships →
Frequently asked questions
Can I still get into the 2026 Christchurch Championships?
Not by buying a seat — all four events were allocated as of 30 October 2026. The casino maintains alt lists by email, and the remaining satellites pay cash equivalents rather than entries.
How much do the satellites pay now?
NZ$1,600 for a Phase 2 Main Event satellite win, and NZ$2,400 for the package chain, which is the stated value of the Turbo, the Friday Feature and the cash equivalent of a Big Bounty seat.