As 2025 flies by and the holiday season is already upon us, it can be easy to miss one of the best poker opportunities of the year. The ARIA Poker Open is set to kick off in just a few weeks in Las Vegas, but right now is the time to win your way into the BetMGM events that will serve as the centerpieces of the live tournament series. Qualifiers are running at BetMGM Poker online, and prize packages worth $3,300 and $5,500 each are up for grabs.

Don’t miss out!

The ARIA Poker Open Hits Las Vegas This December

The last few years have cemented December as a big poker month — a winter poker camp of sorts, with major tours offering tournament series from Las Vegas to Prague and the Bahamas. But considering Las Vegas is the true center of the poker universe, it only makes sense that BetMGM will be involved again for the ARIA Poker Open.

ARIA Schedule Overview

The full live series at ARIA Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip is scheduled for December 3-20, 2025. There will be a lineup of 35 poker tournaments at ARIA, including exclusives for women and seniors, mystery bounties, and a number of mixed games. And the guarantees tally nearly $1,000,000.

It all kicks off with a $600 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event with a $50,000 guarantee at 1 p.m. on December 3, followed by a $300 buy-in NLHE that evening with $15,000 promised in the prize pool. The next day offers a $600 TORSE, $600 PLO, and $300 NLHE. And it only gets more exciting from there, with HORSE and a PLO Double Board Bomb Pot highlighting the first weekend and a Triple Draw Mix and TORSE wrapping it all up on Saturday, December 20.

BetMGM Poker Features

In the middle of the ARIA Poker Open, BetMGM will step in to host some championship level events with a lion’s share of the guarantees.

• Thursday, December 11 at 1 p.m.:  $1,100 buy-in BetMGM No Limit Hold’em Mystery Bounty with $250,000 guaranteed
• Friday, December 12 at 1 p.m.:  $1,100 buy-in BetMGM Pot Limit Omaha Championship (two-day event) with $200,000 guaranteed
• Saturday, December 13 at 1 p.m.:  $1,600 buy-in BetMGM No Limit Hold’em Championship (three-day event) with $500,000 guaranteed

And that main BetMGM NLHE Championship will run its final table at noon on Monday, December 15. Stay tuned for details as to how you can keep up with the action (if you’re not at the final table, of course).

Qualifiers Are Online Now

There are two types of prize packages that players are winning.

• $100 Championship Package valued at $3,300 (Seat into BetMGM Poker Championship at ARIA worth $1,600, five-night hotel accommodations December 10-15 at ARIA, $500 travel credit, and BetMGM poker swag)
• $500 ARIA Package valued at $5,500 (Seat into BetMGM Poker Championship worth $1,600, seat into BetMGM Mystery Bounty worth $1,100, seat into BetMGM PLO Championship worth $1,100, five-night hotel accommodations December 10-15 at ARIA, $500 travel credit, and BetMGM poker swag)

All of the online qualifiers run through December 2. And there are several types of satellites available.

Step Satellites

Many players love the steps because they can start the process for just a few dollars and grind that up to the bigger qualifiers and the chance at a prize package. The ARIA Package worth $5,500 is available via this path.

• Step 1:  $5 MTTs on demand when at least four players register
• Step 2:  $50 MTTs run daily, players can buy in directly or with a winning Step 1 ticket
• Step 3:  $500 MTTs with prize packages guaranteed, players can buy in directly or with a winning Step 2 ticket

Check the poker lobby daily for on-demand Step 1 action and for the prize package satellites.

Weekly Qualifier

This is a more direct route, and it is the way to win the $3,300 prize package. Each Sunday, there is a $100 buy-in qualifier with prize packages guaranteed. For example, the November 16 qualifier already has three packages guaranteed, and more will accumulate as player registration increases.

It’s important to note that players can satellite into these $100 qualifiers as well. There are $5 and $10 C-Note satellites running multiple times daily, all with tickets for the winners that can be used for this ARIA weekly qualifier.

Start Playing the Right Way at BetMGM Poker

There are many online poker options in the world, but only a select few are legal, licensed, and regulated by the states in which they operate. Players in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have the opportunity to play at BetMGM Poker, a premier brand that checks all of these boxes and offers opportunities like the prize packages mentioned in this article.

You can join this continuously growing poker community by simply choosing to play legal online poker at BetMGM and setting up a free account. Then, to take advantage of the BetMGM Poker Championship qualifiers and step satellites, use our poker bonus code to make an initial deposit and then start playing.