Tournament tiers
Tournaments of the Smoking Cat card game are open to all. Come play cards, cheer on your favourites, soak up the atmosphere and have a great time.
The card-tournament season kicks off at Frýbestr on 25 January at 8:50 and wraps up with the climactic Masters tournament in early December.
Over the course of the season, a player competes for points in the seasonal standings, both for themselves and for their team. At the closing gala evening, alongside the Masters winner, the Player of the Year and Team of the Year are also announced and honoured.
With a player's licence you can take part in these official Smoking Cat tournaments.
Nationals
The Smoking Cat card-playing season opens with a series of smaller tournaments hosted by individual countries (clubs) or even directly by continents.
Dates: January—March: 4 tournaments (2026) / Number of rounds: 2 (for everyone)
Number of players: 10–12 players—Each player may take part in only 1 Nationals tier tournament.
Classics
The Classics tier tournaments are summer card challengers. Their popularity is a long-standing tradition.
Dates: May—September: 3 tournaments (2026) / Number of rounds: 3 (2 + final)
Number of players: 15 players—Each player may take part in only 1 Classics tier tournament.
GreenHorn Cats
Newcomers who took part in at least one official tournament during the season get the chance at the end of the season to measure their playing skills against the other greenhorns. It is an opportunity that comes to players only once in a career, namely in their very first playing season, and never again.
Date: November / Number of rounds: 2 (1 + final)
Number of players: 8–12 players—the season’s newcomers.
Team Championships
The Team Championship offers clubs the chance in spring to measure their team strength and endurance.
Date: around April / Number of rounds: 4 (3 + final)
Number of teams: A tournament team is made up of 3 players of any gender. The Team Championship is open to 6, 8 or 10 teams (clubs)
World Series
The pinnacle tournament of Smoking Cat is the Smoking Cat World Series (SCWS).
Date: October / Number of rounds: 4 (3 + final)
Number of players: 30 players (25 by the seasonal ranking + 5 wild cards)
Masters
The Masters, the pinnacle major tournament of the season’s TOP 10 players, closes the playing season and is held in the spirit of the season gala, with the ceremonial announcement of the Player and Team of the Year.
Date: November / Number of rounds: 2 (1 + final)
Like any other tournament, it is of course freely open to spectators. Dress code: gala
Exhibitions
In this tier the JokeRiders Cup tournaments were played—a card match between 2 teams: the Czechs vs. the “rest” of the World.