Holland Casino's autumn is three poker festivals in six weeks — and two of them are not the Master Classics

The Master Classics of Poker takes the attention every November, and for good reason — it has run since 1992, its Main Event costs EUR 3,000 and the 34th edition opens in Amsterdam on 13 November 2026. But it is not the only thing on Holland Casino's poker calendar this autumn, and the other two festivals are the ones most Dutch players can actually afford.

Small Ball, now, EUR 250 a shot

The Small Ball Event is in its third edition and is already running: six start days from Thursday 8 to Friday 16 October 2026, with a single final at Holland Casino Venlo on Saturday 17 October at 18:00. Every start day costs the same EUR 220 plus a EUR 30 service fee, and every one of them plays towards the same final.

Five flights are at Venlo and one — Day 1E, on Thursday 15 October — is at Holland Casino Valkenburg, which is how players in the south of Limburg qualify without crossing the province. The structure is a 20,000 starting stack with unlimited re-entry through the first six levels, 20-minute levels on start days and 25 on the final day. Each flight plays down to the last 12.5 per cent of its field, so between one and eight players cash from every start day rather than everyone bagging up. By 9 October the Day 1B flight was already showing as full.

Breda, 28 October, in a chapel

The Breda Poker Series returns to de Kapel — the chapel room inside Holland Casino Breda on the Kloosterplein — from Wednesday 28 October to Sunday 1 November 2026. Five days, an all-no-limit-Hold'em programme, and two named trophies.

The Main Event is EUR 700 plus EUR 90 and has three Day 1 flights: 29 October at 12:30, 30 October at 12:30, and a turbo on the Friday evening at 20:00 whose service fee is EUR 20 lower. The final is Sunday 1 November at 15:00. The Breda Cup, which Holland Casino calls its most popular event, is EUR 530 plus EUR 70 over the closing weekend. Around them sit a EUR 500 Starter Event opening the week, EUR 350 re-entries, EUR 250 hyper turbos on three nights, a EUR 500 Mystery Bounty on the Sunday, a EUR 250 Last Chance to finish, and — the week's oddity on an otherwise all-Hold'em bill — a EUR 300 dealers choice event over five games on the Saturday night.

And then Amsterdam

The 34th Master Classics of Poker runs 13 to 21 November at Holland Casino Amsterdam City Centre. The EUR 2,750 plus EUR 250 Main Event has Day 1 flights on 17 and 18 November and finishes on the 21st; two high rollers bookend the week, a EUR 4,700 PLO 6-Max on the opening Friday and a EUR 5,700 NLH 8-Max on the closing one, and Holland Casino waives the EUR 300 service fee on both for anyone reserving before 6 November. A EUR 440 "Win Your Seat" satellite runs into the Main Event five times across the festival.

Why it matters

The gap between the three is the point. A full week at Breda costs less than a single Master Classics high-roller service fee, and a Small Ball start day costs less than the Master Classics satellite. Dutch live poker reads, from the outside, like one expensive festival a year; Holland Casino's own agenda shows a calendar with three distinct price tiers, and the cheap end of it is running this week.

All three require a reservation, online or at the venue, rather than registration on the day. Tournaments can be cancelled up to an hour before the start, with the buy-in and service fee refunded less EUR 0.99. Entry is 18+.