| Event | 2026 Houston Regional Championships |
|---|---|
| Location |  Houston, TX, United States |
| Date | 21–22 March 2026 |
| Capacity | Undisclosed |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2026 Season – VGC Regulation Set F |
| Format | 2-phase Swiss rounds + asymmetrical top cut Open team lists |
| Organizer | Gaming Gen |
Check the organizer’s website here for further info!
Table of Contents
Sign-up instructions
Sign-ups for the event are done through RK9 Labs platform, and you will first need to set up your RK9 profile and have a Play! Pokémon Player ID.
Sign-ups are $80 for Masters players and $40 for Senior and Junior players, and they open on 21 January at 7 pm CST (22 January at 01:00 UTC). Refunds are partially available up until one week before the event.
If the player cap is not reached, sign-ups close 3 days before the event starts, on 18 March.
For registered players, team lists must be submitted 3 hours before the event starts, by 21 March at 5:30 am CDT (10:30 UTC).
Spectator passes are $20 and can be purchased here.
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held at the Halls A & B of the following location:
George R. Brown Convention Center
1001 Avenida De Las Americas
Houston, TX 77010, USA
Badges can be picked up in advance on Friday 20 March from 11 am to 7 pm CDT, or early on Saturday from 6:30 am CDT.
Players must be in the venue by 21 March at 8:30 am CDT (13:30 UTC) for the players meeting. The tournament starts thereafter with the Swiss rounds. Seniors and Juniors start 30 minutes later.
Players still on the run in Day 2 must be in the venue by 22 March at 8:30 am CDT (13:30 UTC) for the team checks. The next Swiss rounds and the Top Cut will be played thereafter.
Prizes
This event is part of the 2026 official TPCi circuit and thus it rewards Championship Points (CPs).
Check out the organizer’s website for information about participation goodies.
Additionally, the best-placed players will receive the following CPs, prize money and Pokémon TCG booster packs depending on final attendance:
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | Invite to the 2026 World Championships 350 CP | 0 |
| Finalist | 325 CP | 4 |
| Semifinalists | 300 CP | 8 |
| 5th to 8th | 280 CP | 17 |
| 9th to 16th | 200 CP | 33 |
| 17th to 32nd | 160 CP | 65 |
| 33rd to 64th | 120 CP | 129 |
| 65th to 128th | 80 CP | 257 |
| 129th to 256th | 60 CP | 513 |
| 257th to 512th | 40 CP | 1025 |
| 513th to 1024th | 20 CP | 2049 |
| Placement | Junior & Senior | Masters |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | $1,000 USD | $6,000 USD |
| Finalist | $750 USD | $4,000 USD |
| Semifinalists | $500 USD | $2,000 USD |
| 5th to 8th | – | $1,000 USD |
| 9th to 16th | – | $750 USD |
| Players per age division | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placement | <33 | 33-64 | 65-128 | 129-256 | 257-512 | 513-1024 | 1025-2048 | 2049+ |
| Champion | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| Finalist | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| Semifinalists | 36 | 72 | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| 5th to 8th | 18 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| 9th to 16th | 9 | 18 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 108 |
| 17th to 32nd | 18 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 72 | |||
| 33rd to 64th | 9 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | |||
| 65th to 128th | 18 | 18 | 36 | 36 | ||||
| 129th to 256th | 9 | 18 | 18 | |||||
| 257th to 512th | 9 | |||||||
If prize money is $5000 or more, it will be given as a choice of scholarship (in all cases) or cash (for minors, as a Pokémon Visa® Prepaid Card). For lower prizes, it will be given as cash (for minors, as a Pokémon Visa® Prepaid Card).
Overview
The Houston Regional Championships is an official TPCi Regional-level event for Pokémon VGC, TCG and Pokémon GO. It is the seventh Regional-level event and sixth Regional Championships proper of the 2026 season in the North American circuit.
The ruleset is VGC Regulation Set F, and it is played using open team lists.
A little bit of history
The United States has been part of the North America region of the official TPCi circuit since the very beginning, also being home to the TPCi headquarters. It has hosted multiple major events, including Regional Championships, old-era National Championships, all editions of the North America International Championships and most World Championships (only excluding 2013, 2022 and 2023). The United States’ greatest VGC success are the five World Championship wins achieved by Ray Rizzo (2010, 2011 and 2012), Wolfe Glick (2016) and Giovanni Cischke (2025), not even counting being the home country of 7 Senior Division and 7 Junior Division World Champions too.
The most recent tournament held in the United States (not counting Puerto Rico) was the 2026 Seattle Regional, also played in the VGC Regulation Set F the previous month.
The last time there was an event in the state of Texas was the 2025 San Antonio Regional, played in the VGC Regulation Set G in January 2025. The finals saw then-2-time Regional Champion Justin Tang defeat 2023 Hartford Regional finalist Tang Shiliang to win his third Regional Championship title!
