The United Poker Festival returns to Golden Sands for its fourth edition, June 1-7, 2026. The Main Event carries a €250,000 guaranteed prize pool with a €250 buy-in – and nine side events fill the rest of the week.
The venue is the International Hotel Casino & Tower Suites, right on the beach in Golden Sands, with restaurants and summer nightlife on the doorstep. Three editions have put UPF firmly on the map as one of the standout live poker events in the region, and this summer’s edition is shaping up to be the largest to date.
Main Event
The Main Event is the centerpiece of UPF #4. Buy in for €250, start with 50,000 chips, and play until 10% of the field remains – that’s your ticket to The Big Final. Late registration is open through level 12 on all flights.
The min-cash is €650. And here comes the best part: any additional Day 2 qualification will bring you a €1,500 cash bonus for the extra entry – only your largest stack advances to Day 2.
Example: you play a total of 5 entries in the starting flights and reach Day 2 three times. You have paid €1,250 for the buy-ins. You win 2×1,500 qualification bonuses for the second and third qualification or a total of €3,000. You finish 17th and get a prize of €2,250. Your total winnings are now €5,250.
Starting days before the festival week (Day 1As):
- May 10 – Monte Casino Sofia
- May 21 – Monte Casino Sofia
- May 30 – Platinum Casino Sunny Beach
- May 30 – Poseidon Poker Club, Constanta, Romania
Each Day 1A plays down to 10% of the field. Qualify and you immediately receive €250 in cash – the remainder of the min-cash is paid out during The Big Final in Varna.
As an additional incentive – all players in Day 1A receive 55,000 starting stack, compared to 50,000 in all the other starting days in June.
Starting days during The Big Final in Varna (Day 1B-1J):
- Day 1B – Mon Jun 1, 14:00 (25-min levels)
- Day 1C – Tue Jun 2, 14:00 (25-min levels)
- Day 1D – Wed Jun 3, 12:00 (25-min levels)
- Day 1E – Thu Jun 4, 12:00 (25-min levels)
- Day 1F Turbo – Thu Jun 4, 22:00 (15min levels)
- Day 1G – Fri Jun 5, 12:00 (25-min levels)
- Day 1H – Fri Jun 5, 17:00 (25-min levels)
- Day 1I Turbo – Fri Jun 5, 22:00 (15-min levels)
- Day 1J Hyper – Sat Jun 6, 10:00 (10-min levels)
Day 2 is Saturday, June 6 at 15:00. The Final Day fires Sunday, June 7 at 12:00.
High Roller
Players looking for a bigger challenge can jump into the High Roller: €1,000 buy-in, 100,000 starting chips, 30 levels. Day 1 is Thursday, June 4 at 17:00; the Final Day follows on Friday, June 5 at 12:30.
Side Events
Every day of the festival has something running alongside the Main Event. The full side event schedule:
- 6-max Holdem – Mon Jun 1, 19:30, €200
- Bounty – Tue Jun 2, 19:30, €200 (€100 bounty)
- Holdem Turbo – Wed Jun 3, 21:30, €200
- Mixed NLH/PLO – Fri Jun 5, 19:30, €200
- Mystery Bounty* – Sat Jun 6, 17:00, €300 (€150 bounty)
- PLO – Sat Jun 6, 21:00, €200
- Turbo Deepstack – Sun Jun 7, 11:30, €200
- 5-Cards PLO – Sun Jun 7, 17:00, €200
*Mystery Bounty envelopes and ITM payouts are revealed once 15% of entries remain. A 14% fee applies to all event prize pools.
Schedule
Here is the full schedule of the upcoming United Poker Festival:
Quick Facts
- Dates: June 1-7, 2026
- Venue: International Hotel Casino & Tower Suites, Golden Sands, Bulgaria
- Main Event Buy-In: €250
- Guaranteed Prize Pool: €250,000
- Minimum Cash: €650
- High Roller Buy-In: €1,000
- Total Starting Days: 13 (4 Day 1As in May + 9 during The Big Final)
Online satellites
Bulgarian players can win their ticket to the UPF 4 Main Event via one of the many online satellites at Inbet.
Here is the full schedule of events:
For accommodation rates during the festival, don’t hesitate to reach us at unitedpokerfestival@gmail.com.
