There’s a growing trend in live poker of specialized tournament brands integrating themselves into larger poker festivals, creating something fresh for players who want more than endless No Limit Hold’em schedules. One of the clearest examples of that movement is the PLO Masters, the Omaha-focused series founded by UK poker legend and entrepreneur Jeraint “JJ” Hazan.
From PartyPoker Tour stops and Battle of Malta to Smart Poker Tour, Banco Masters, and more, the PLO Masters has steadily expanded across Europe, and now the series is heading somewhere entirely new…
From September 28 to October 1, 2026, the PLO Masters will land in Kenya for the very first time, bringing East Africa’s first dedicated Pot Limit Omaha festival to Casino Flamingo Nairobi. The four-day series comes with a KES 6,000,000 guaranteed prize pool (approx. $46,000).
As a media partner, poker.pro team will be on-site throughout the festival, providing live reporting coverage from the casino floor, while also hosting exciting $350 poker.pro NLHE Mystery Bounty event.
What Players Can Expect in Nairobi
The schedule features a mixture of Pot Limit Omaha variants, satellites, and side events spread across four days of action.
At the center of the series is the $500 PLO Main Event, which carries a $25,000 guarantee and features three starting flights running Monday through Wednesday, before concluding on Thursday.
There’s also a $1,000 PLO 4-5 Hi Roller carrying a $15,000 guarantee, alongside several side events, including $250 PLO5 PKO, the $250 PLO 4/5/6 event, and a $250 ROE tournament rotating between No Limit Hold’em and PLO. There are also multiple $100 satellites feeding into the Main Event, a $100 Ladies NLHE Championship, and the $100 Final Countdown NLHE closing event on Thursday evening.
As part of the series, poker.pro is bringing another tournament to the mix. Over the years, we have consistently brought different formats and mixed games to markets where those variants were less common. Usually that means Omaha, mixed games, or other novelty formats. This time, funnily enough, the roles are reversed.
poker.pro will be adding a No Limit Hold’em event to the schedule in the form of the $350 poker.pro NLHE Mystery Bounty with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. The tournament features two starting flights running on Monday and Tuesday, before returning for its Final Day on Wednesday.
Bringing Omaha to New Locations
Hazan has long been vocal about his belief that Omaha players are underserved at most live poker festivals.
“A lot of existing poker festivals kind of have PLO tacked on,” Hazan previously told poker.pro. “There’s kind of a hole in the market where you can have a weekend of mixed Omaha based events, have a lot of fun and travel as well.”
That philosophy became the foundation of the PLO Masters, which first launched in Bratislava in 2024 before expanding into the UK, Spain, Bulgaria, and Malta. The concept has always been straightforward: instead of giving Omaha players one side event buried in a Hold’em-heavy schedule, build an entire festival around four-card action. And now the same formula arrives in Nairobi.
- Read more: JJ Hazan and the PLO Masters
2026 PLO Masters Nairobi Full Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-In | Starting Stack | Blinds | Late reg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, September 28 | 12:00 | PLO ME Satellite | $100 | 20,000 | 15 Mins | Level 8 |
| 14:00 | poker.pro NLHE Mystery Bounty Day 1A | $10K GTD | $350 | 50,000 | 30 Mins | Level 8 | |
| 15:00 | PLO ME Day 1A | $25K GTD | $500 | 50,000 | 30 Mins | Level 8 | |
| 18:00 | ROE NLHE/PLO | $250 | 25,000 | 20 Mins | Level 12 | |
| Tuesday, September 29 | 12:00 | PLO ME Satellite | $100 | 20,000 | 15 Mins | Level 8 |
| 14:00 | poker.pro NLHE Mystery Bounty Day 1B | $10K GTD | $350 | 50,000 | 30 Mins | Level 8 | |
| 15:00 | PLO ME Day 1B | $25K GTD | $500 | 50,000 | 30 Mins | Level 8 | |
| 18:00 | PLO 5 PKO | $250 | 25,000 | 20 Mins | Level 12 | |
| Wednesday, September 30 | 12:00 | PLO ME Satellite | $100 | 20,000 | 15 Mins | Level 8 |
| 13:00 | PLO 4-5 Hi Roller Sat | $115 | 20,000 | 15 Mins | Level 8 | |
| 14:00 | poker.pro NLHE Mystery Bounty Final Day | – | – | – | – | |
| 15:00 | PLO ME Day 1C | $25K GTD | $500 | 50,000 | 30 Mins | Level 8 | |
| 16:00 | PLO 4-5 Hi Roller | $15K GTD | $1,000 | 50,000 | 30 Mins | Level 8 | |
| Thursday, October 1 | 14:00 | PLO ME Final Day | – | – | – | – |
| 15:00 | PLO 4/5/6 | $250 | 25,000 | 20 Mins | Level 12 | |
| 17:00 | Ladies NLHE Championship – Powered by Globetrotting Poker | $100 | 25,000 | 20 Mins | Level 12 | |
| 19:00 | Final Countdown NLHE | $100 | 20,000 | 15 Mins | Level 8 |
A Unique Stop on the Poker Calendar
As said, the poker.pro team will also be on-site in Nairobi as an official media partner, providing live updates, photography, chip counts, and daily recaps directly from the Casino Flamingo. Having already worked closely with JJ Hazan and the PLO Masters at several PartyPoker Tour stops across Europe, poker.pro is looking forward to bringing that partnership to an entirely new poker market in East Africa.
For many players, Nairobi may become one of the more unique poker destinations on the calendar, combining four-card chaos with safari opportunities, a new poker market, and a festival trying to do something genuinely different. And for the Hendon Mob flag collectors out there, the series also offers a rare opportunity to add the Kenyan flag to their Hendon profile!
