We welcome journalists, photographers, broadcasters and content creators. If you intend to cover a Players Series event, apply for accreditation and we will make room for you on the floor.
Coming up next: PS Championship IV, Taipei, 19 – 31 Aug 2026.
Applications close two weeks before a festival begins, and we may not be able to accommodate anything that arrives after that. Approval is confirmed by email from our press desk, and no arrangements should be made to travel until that confirmation is in your hands.
Who a pass is for, who it is not for, and what we need from you before we can issue one.
Players Series accreditation is issued to people whose purpose at the festival is to report on it. Applicants must meet the legal requirements that apply at the venue, including the minimum age and any local restriction on entering the tournament area.
We accredit staff and contract journalists from recognised outlets: poker publications, newspapers and magazines, licensed television and radio, national news agencies, and independent bloggers, streamers and vloggers with an established audience.
We do not accredit people attending on commercial business rather than editorial business. That includes public relations, marketing, sales and advertising agencies, and player management or poker business services.
Applications are made through the accreditation form and must be complete: name, outlet, full contact details, the dates you intend to be on site, and what you plan to produce. Nobody is admitted to the tournament area without accreditation.
If you are applying for the first time, or you are freelance, we may ask for published work or a letter from a commissioning editor before we can approve the application.
The number of passes available to any one outlet depends on the event and the room. Where floor space is tight we will manage what we can offer, and we will tell you early rather than at the door.
Approval is not automatic, and it is only ever given in writing. We reserve the right to limit how many passes go to a single outlet.
A pass is personal to the holder and is not transferable. If you need to change who is coming, before or during a festival, tell the press desk without delay.
The players are working. These are the lines that keep coverage from getting in the way of the game.
Wear your pass where it can be seen, and show it when a member of our staff or the venue’s staff asks.
An accredited journalist may not play in the Main Event of a festival they are covering, and may not report on any side event they have played in or intend to play in.
An accredited journalist may not hold a financial interest in the outcome of an event. That includes buying a share of a player or a team, and any fantasy or prediction game played for money. Exemptions for vloggers are considered case by case, in writing, before the festival.
The official tournament language of the event is the only language to be used in the tournament area. Do not speak to a player in another language while they are seated at a table.
Respect the players and the integrity of the event. In practice: give a player reasonable personal space and do not stand over a table; do not attempt to see a player’s hole cards, and do not photograph them; do not touch chips, do not sit in an empty seat at a tournament table, and do not discuss live action with players or within earshot of them; do not comment on or judge a player’s decision at the table; and do not celebrate audibly or visibly when a pot goes one way.
Where you can stand, when you need to move, and who to ask when you need a shot.
The Tournament Director, the floor staff, our photographers, our film crew and the venue’s staff have to be able to work without being obstructed. That takes priority over any shot.
Follow the directions of tournament staff and of our representatives.
Leave the tournament area while chips are being bagged at the end of a day or a flight.
If a member of our staff or the venue’s staff asks you to move, please do so. Refusing risks the pass for the rest of the festival and for future festivals.
In the later stages of an event, when few tables remain, media will be asked to move outside the cordon around the tables. We will try to provide a separate media position, but we cannot promise one at every venue.
Keep a safe distance from the film crew. The equipment is heavy and it moves.
If you need a particular shot, speak to the producer or the floor manager. They can usually move a camera operator for you.
Our own photographers are on the floor, and their work is available to you.
Every Players Series festival has designated photographers. Their images are available for editorial use on request through the press desk.
Some venues prohibit photography outside the tournament area. Anyone breaching a venue restriction loses their pass for the festival and risks losing it for future festivals. Respect the privacy of people at the venue who are not part of the event.
Flash is not permitted during tournament play, and never at the feature table.
What needs permission, and what is never permitted.
Some venues prohibit filming outside the tournament area. The same consequence applies as for photography, and the same respect is owed to people who are not part of the event.
Live-streaming an active Players Series table is not permitted under any circumstances. Live-streaming from the general tournament area requires our written permission in advance, and the request should be made with your accreditation application so that we can plan for it.
Vlogging your own play requires written permission in advance. Where it is granted, a camera may not be placed where it affects the integrity of the game or the comfort of another player at the table.
Filming the feature table during play is reserved to our own crew. If you want footage of that table, ask the press desk, and we will find you a window when play is not in progress.
A working space, where we can provide one.
We will provide a media working area with internet access wherever the venue allows it. Access is for accredited pass holders.
If the room reaches capacity we may have to restrict access to it.
The room is a shared working space. Please leave the bandwidth for the people filing copy.
Please do not bring players, colleagues or friends into the media room.
We cannot take responsibility for personal belongings or equipment left in the media room or in the tournament area.
Venue rules apply in the media room as everywhere else, including dress code and any restriction on food and drink.
Marks, and the broadcast delay.
Where you use a Players Series mark, a festival mark or a sponsor’s mark in your coverage, use it as published. The press desk can supply the correct assets.
Where an event is broadcast on a cards-up delay, your reporting must follow the same delay. That applies to written reporting, blogs, social posts and any live stream of your own. It exists so that a broadcast partner is not scooped by the room it is paying to cover.
The same rules that apply to everyone else on the floor.
Everyone holding a Players Series pass is subject to the security provisions of our Terms and Conditions while at a festival, whatever their status.
What happens, and who to talk to.
Failing to observe these guidelines, or failing to follow a reasonable request from our staff or the venue’s, may cost you your pass for the rest of the festival and may result in a refusal of future accreditation.
Any question about accreditation or about working at a festival goes to the press desk through the contact page.
Our channels, and how to credit our material.
Tag Players Series in anything you publish. We often share coverage on our own channels.
Photography and footage produced by Players Series may be used editorially with a credit to Players Series. If you need something specific, whether an image, a result, a structure sheet or a player’s finishing position, ask the press desk. We hold the full record.
Media are also bound by the Terms and Conditions while at a festival. Play at the tables is governed by the Tournament Rules.
