Brazilian Poker Championship reaches the milestone of R$ 1 billion in prizes distributed.
The Brazilian Poker Championship, organized by BSOP (Brazilian Series of Poker), reached an impressive milestone in 2026. During a ceremony held on the first day of competitions at BSOP São Paulo, the second stage of the current season, it was announced that, adding up all the prizes distributed over the 20 years of the event, the total value reached an impressive R$ 1 billion.
If all 141 stages to reach this number are considered, the average prize money distributed per event is just over R$ 7 million. However, one specific piece of data shows the size – and speed – of the sport's growth in the country.
To reach R$ 500 million in prize money distributed, it was necessary to add up all the stages from 2006 until mid-2023. To reach R$ 1 billion, however, only 14 more stages were needed. In other words, the average, considering only these events, jumped to more than R$ 35.7 million in prize money distributed.
With such impressive growth, BSOP CEO Rafael Moraes makes a bold prediction. “I think we’ll reach R$2 billion by 2028. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, right? But I think we’re in a really great moment, a very big moment. Numbers are numbers, and I think they just show how much we’ve grown.”
An example of this growth occurred at BSOP Millions 2025, the event that traditionally closes the Brazilian Poker Championship season and is also the largest in terms of duration (16 days) and amounts of money transacted.
It was at this event that Brazil hosted, for the first time, a tournament with a buy-in of R$ 500, which awarded the champion R$ 6 million and more than R$ 17 million in total prize money, in addition to setting a significant record for the modality.
Until then, the largest prize pool distributed in a single stage had been in the previous edition of the BSOP Millions, in 2024. It was around R$ 96 million. In 2025, the increase was 40,5%, reaching R$ 134.94 million distributed over the 16 days of the competition.
However, reaching this level required overcoming many challenges, as explained by Devanir Campos, current CFO and founder of BSOP. “In the beginning, poker had so many challenges just to get off the ground that we couldn't have a long-term vision. We couldn't know how long it would last, if it would be a gamble that would end quickly, if it would be something that would have other seasons, etc. We believed a lot, we had a great desire to make it happen, and we had, I think most importantly, a passion for poker. We wanted to have a place to play and believed we weren't doing anything wrong, I think that was the main thing.”
Twenty years later, the scenario is different: poker is considered a mind sport by the IMSA (International Mind Sports Association) and has received legal approval from a Minister of Sport. Devanir explains how important this moment was for the sport.
“I think a major turning point was when the Minister of Sport, Aldo Rebelo, came to open a stage of the BSOP in 2013. He came to give an opening speech and recognize poker as a legitimate activity. This really brought about a change in status, due to the institutional figure that a Minister possesses. So, I think that's when we really had a very solid foundation and it was perhaps the beginning of a new era. Along with this new era, we started to have much more visibility from celebrities, many more people wanting to associate their image with poker and losing the fear of saying they played it.”
Ronaldo Nazário, former player and businessman, was present at the opening mentioned by Devanir Campos. Like him, other names in sports practice the game, notably athlete Neymar Jr., who annually participates in an event organized by BSOP that bears his name, Olympic champions Maurren Maggi and Rodrigão, and other football names such as Vanderlei Luxemburgo, Nenê, Marcos Leonardo, Jonathan Calleri, and Memphis Depay.
About BSOP
The Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) is the largest poker tournament in Latin America, created in 2006. Globally recognized as the Brazilian Poker Championship, the BSOP promotes this mind sport and attracts players from all over the world. With several stages held in Brazil, it offers tournaments for all levels and is considered one of the biggest poker events in the world, awarded at the Global Poker Awards, widely recognized as the Oscars of the sport, as the best circuit of the year. Click to learn more.
