The Official 2026 World Series of Poker WSOP Schedule
As mentioned, the $550 Mini Mystery Millions opens the series on May 26 and it could be one of the best curtain raisers for the series. How do you top perhaps the greatest summer in poker history? In any other year, Michael Mizrachi winning the PPC for an unprecedented fourth time might have been the story of the summer, but you might remember “The Grinder” went and added something else to his record as well.
6+ Hold’em is a ‘short deck’ hold’em format that uses a 36-card deck with sixes as the lowest cards. Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variant. Online poker follows structured betting rounds. We’re one of the most licensed online gaming companies in the world.
For players who want access to a major series at stakes that match their current bankroll, the SCOOP is the most flexible entry point into high-volume championship-level online poker. For online tournament players, the WCOOP is the closest equivalent to the WSOP in terms of prestige and breadth of events. With a $50k buyin and a mix of poker games familiar only to the top players, the Poker Players Championship is a very exclusive event.
Players can participate in Scheduled Tournaments, Sit & Go Tournaments, and a Weekly Guaranteed tournament every weekend. Each Division has a $20,000 prize pool that will be shared with the Top 15 Point Earners. The BSOP is Brazil’s biggest poker tour and invites you to visit beautiful and exciting cities as you chase BSOP success across the country. If you like high-quality poker action at must-visit destinations, then the EPT is ready and waiting – make sure you’re part of it. Our tournament calendar is updated frequently.
In the end, all 48 seats were filled, resulting in a first prize of $18.3 million. Among those who committed early to the event were Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, Jonathan Duhamel, Tom Dwan, Laliberté, billionaire businessman Phil Ruffin and Erik Seidel. By early December 2011, the field size had increased to 22, the minimum required for an official bracelet tournament. At the time of the original announcement, 15 of the maximum 48 seats had been taken. On June 2, 2011, the World Series of Poker and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté announced plans for an officially sanctioned special fundraising event, known as The Big One for One Drop, starting on July 1, 2012, with a record US$1 million entry fee. The 2023 Main Event took the record for entries, first-place prize, and prize pool.
In tournaments, only a set percentage of the field receives payouts, with the largest sums going to the top finishers. In tournaments, blinds and antes increase at regular intervals, creating escalating pressure to accumulate chips. Online satellite tournaments are a fantastic way to earn entry into larger tournaments at a fraction of the cost.
Online poker games use random number generator (RNG) technology to ensure the gameplay is fair by distributing cards randomly. Blinds increase at intervals, and players compete until they are knocked out or win the tournament. We hold players’ funds in segregated accounts, so that your money is always safe. Texas Hold ‘Em is one of the most-played card games of all time, and for good reason – it has the ideal mix of luck, strategy, and skill! Most people know the summer series in Las Vegas, where the $10,000 Main Event turns ordinary players into legends. In 2026, some top online poker tournament sites are Ignition Casino, Bovada, BetOnline, SportsBetting, EveryGame, and ACR Poker.
Most other poker rooms around town will have a regular offering of daily tournaments, and they can be convenient if you are staying nearby. For some reason, neither was inducted in the first year in a long time when there was an opportunity to induct more than one player. Now, look, I know there are a lot of other players who belong in this conversation, but I’m using Deeb and Seiver as examples because they’re two of the most recent players who I think we’d all agree deserve to be in. You don’t get punished for that as you would in no-limit, because the crux of the game is played post-flop.
The prize pool is distributed among the top survivors, usually around 15% of the players who enter; the longer you survive, the bigger your prize gets, with the most cash going to the winner. And we have an endless supply of Ignition poker tournaments waiting for you. Thanks to the internet, online tournaments have become the most popular way to play the game. Fifty years ago, the World Series of Poker made the switch from cash games to tournaments.
The WSOP has a rich history, with notable moments like Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 Main Event win, which he qualified for through a $39 satellite tournament. The WSOP Main Event, with its $10,000 buy-in, is the highlight of the series, offering life-changing prize pools. In the late stages, aggressive play is necessary to build a stack for the final table. This method not only saves money but also provides valuable experience playing in a live setting. This series runs from January 21st through February 4th, offering buy-ins ranging from $11 to $215 and culminating in a Main Event with a $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. Players at Bovada can enjoy a variety of formats, including Sit-and-Gos, MTTs, Turbo, and Super Turbo tournaments.
Many events also include guaranteed prize pools, which ensure a minimum payout regardless of entries, and can sometimes lead to overlays that offer even more value. Prize pools are formed from all the buy-ins, with most of the money awarded to players who reach the final table. This free tool lets you browse and filter upcoming online tournaments across the biggest global poker sites. Start Poker News Daily with free or low-stakes games to gain experience before playing real money poker, and work your way up as your skills and confidence improve. In regular KO tournaments, the full bounty goes to the winning player.
Tournaments such as the WSOP, EPT, and WPT represent the zenith of competitive poker. Short stacks can sometimes have an advantage, as moving all-in carries less risk compared to larger stacks. Consider the Independent Chip Model (ICM) to make the most profitable decisions and exploit weaker opponents. As the tournament progresses to the middle stages, stealing blinds and defending the big blind become vital strategies. This section will break down strategies for different stages of a tournament, helping you navigate your way to victory. From the early stages to the final table, understanding the right approach can significantly increase your chances of success.
In the end, McKeehen outlasted 673 entries in the $5,300 buy-in to score a top prize of $462,600, which was adjusted during heads-up play. The finale started with Greufe and Hui holding most of the chips, but McKeehen crawled back from third to beat both of them in three-handed play. McKeehen outlasted a wild final table that included Loni Hui, Darren Rabinowitz, Jose Nadal, Eddie Pak, and eventual runner-up David Greufe. Meanwhile, the PLO event features a $3M prize pool, with bounties that range from $5K to $250K. Last time on Venom, a trip of big stars were on the marquee for the two final tables.
This ensures that players will get eliminated if they don’t act. At most live events, the smallest buy-ins available are somewhere in the $300-to-$500 range. Thanks to the WSOP, No-Limit Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the world right now, both live and online.
- It was simply that I knew which online screennames belonged to which real-life poker tournament participants.
- Larger player pools mean online games can generally offer bigger prize pools and a greater variety of games and stakes.
- Click through for the news on upcoming events, schedules and exciting action from the world’s biggest poker tours.
Tournaments Schedule
The stakes are another great plus, with micro, low, medium and high-roller games all available. The best poker site to play Sit and Gos is PokerStars. Its daily schedule is packed with fan-favorite events, including bounties, hypers and satellites. The industry giant leads the way when it comes to mixed games, offering a range of Razz, Stud, Omaha and more variant MTTs. Many notable streamers, such as Lex Veldhuis, Parker Talbot and Benjamin Spragg, choose to play MTTs due to their appeal to their audience and stream-friendly action.
Register early, and use cash or a satellite-earned ticket for your buy-in. We’ll give you an automatic refund of your buy-in when you bust during the bubble, as long as you’ve registered early for the tournament. For anyone who’s been knocked out of a tournament one spot short of the money, Bubble Protection is now here to help. Join the action across multiple tournament formats in our Coin Series of Poker (CSOP). The series saw over 43 million dealt hands, more than 578,000 entries, and 59 trophies awarded to champions. The $25,000,000 guaranteed World Poker Masters ran from May 3 to June 1, 2026, and broke all records to deliver a $48,000,000 in payouts.
This approach makes EveryGame a welcoming and engaging platform for anyone looking to play poker online. EveryGame caters to all skill levels, ensuring novices and seasoned pros can find suitable tournaments. Its accessible design makes it ideal for both new and experienced players looking to test their skills in various formats. These promotions not only enhance the gaming experience but also offer additional value to players. Bovada’s tournaments feature popular game formats such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and various betting structures like No-Limit, Pot-Limit, and Limit Hold’em.
If you’re eager to play in live poker tournaments rather than just watching or checking results, numerous online qualification opportunities are available. Thanks to partnerships with leading online poker platforms, players can qualify for APPT events via online satellites, enhancing accessibility for newcomers and seasoned players alike. The World Poker Tour (WPT), launched in 2002, is a globally renowned series of televised poker tournaments, with a strong focus on events in the United States.
How is the competition different from American players? With his vibrant, playful personality both on and off the tables, he’s a star in demand by fans here as well, taking time away from the tables to chat and pose for pictures. We experimented with short-form videos, guest blogs from players, including how many blinds a player had, and even just invented a recap show no one at WPT ever asked for called Jess & BJ.
Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes an entry fee (a percentage between 6% and 10%, depending on the buy-in) and distributes the rest, hence the prize money increasing with more players. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions on live poker events, there was a heavy focus on online events for 2020 and 2021, with dedicated online series during both years. The main event, a £10,000 buy-in no-limit hold ’em tournament, was won by Norwegian online prodigy Annette Obrestad on the day before her 19th birthday.
$1,500 High Hands
Since PocketFives Live only covered the members of the online community, we also had a lot more latitude than other outlets. On my first day I remember the time for the first post was drawing near and I just sat at the computer afraid I would mess it up. Your first WSOP job was near the bottom of the poker-media ladder, but you treated it as an opportunity to prove you belonged. The behaviors I observed and wrote about certainly happened at the series, so I guess I didn’t get anything ‘wrong’ per se? However, if you are asking about my academic research, the paper I had written was about non-verbal communication among poker cohorts, so that really didn’t address the scope of the WSOP. Along the way, she found a place for herself in an industry that often had a very narrow idea of what a woman in poker media was supposed to look like and do.
Coming from a sports journalism background, Platt told PokerNews last month that fans can expect a “new era” of broadcasts, showcasing “more tournaments, more players, and more storylines.” As expected, they include Specialty Landmark Mega Satellites taking place each day, allowing players to satellite into the following day’s $5,000 or $10,000 buy-in events. The break gave players respite from the gruelling Main Event grind, the chance to drum up sponsorship deals, and fly family and friends to Las Vegas for the biggest final table of their lives. Seven-time WSOP bracelet winner and GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu also pointed to expanded online qualification paths, encouraging players worldwide to “take your shot at the gold in 2026.”
This diversity in tournament offerings ensures that BetOnline remains a favorite among online poker enthusiasts. With different betting structures like No-Limit, Pot-Limit, and Fixed-Limit, Bovada caters to a broad spectrum of poker players. Popular events such as the Weekly Guaranteed and the Black Diamond Poker Open attract large fields and promise exciting gameplay.
These tournaments are run like a cash tournament but anyone who eliminates a player also receives the losing players ‘bounty’. Generally poker sites pay 15-20% of the field – so a tournament with 100 players would pay ~ 15 to 20 players, with most of the prize money allocated to the top spots. In cash tournaments players buy-in for a nominated amount and play down to the last person. The $50,000 buy-in, being five times larger than the buy-in for the Main Event, has thus far tended to deter amateurs from playing in this event, and the variety of games played require a broader knowledge of poker. Since 1972, the Main Event of the WSOP has been the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold ’em (NLHE) tournament (in 1971 the buy-in was $5,000 and the inaugural 1970 event was an invitational with winner determined by a vote from the players).
A series of spin-off tournaments, titled the Professional Poker Tour, began filming in 2004. These cameras, built into the table, allow viewers to see the face-down hole cards dealt to each player. Following the November 2009 acquisition of the World Poker Tour by PartyGaming plc, the new owners added a second series of televised WPT events under their PartyPoker brand name. In April 2008, WPT Enterprises, Inc. settled with the five players remaining in the lawsuit. The claim of interference with contract was based on the releases’ claim to perpetual rights to the players’ likenesses for any use WPTE wished. All players at CoinPoker receive a 150% welcome bonus worth up to $2,000.
Certain tournaments, known as bounty tournaments, place a bounty on some or all of the players. Rather than risk losing their winnings, as one of them would if the game were continued, these two players may be allowed to split the prize proportional to their in-game currency (or however they agree). Play continues, in most tournaments, until all but one player is eliminated, though in some tournament situations, especially informal ones, players have the option of ending by consensus. Some tournaments offer the option of a re-buy or buy-back; this gives players the option of purchasing more chips. Unlike in a ring game (or cash game), a player’s chips in a tournament cannot be cashed out for money and serve only to determine the player’s placing. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a “heads-up” tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables.
These have significantly smaller buy-ins, usually on the order of one-tenth to one-fiftieth the main tournament’s buy-in, and can be held at various venues and, more recently, on the Internet. Players are ranked in reverse chronological order — the last person standing in the game earns 1st place, the second-to-last earns 2nd, and so on. The prizes for winning are usually derived from the buy-ins, though outside funds may be entered as well. Player with no chips remaining (and who have exhausted or declined all re-buy options, if any are available) are eliminated from the tournament.
My types of mistakes in PLO are not reraising, four-betting, and all that stuff – it’s just playing too many hands, which is fine. Josh Arieh is really the one who fine-tuned my PLO game over the last couple of years. Who has had the biggest influence on your PLO game? There was only one tournament, the $25K, where I had to re-enter.
How did that affect the opportunities you received, the way players treated you, and how hard you had to work before people assumed you knew what you were talking about? It was simply that I knew which online screennames belonged to which real-life poker tournament participants. Ten levels are scheduled or playing down to 48 players.
Coverage would increase in 2004 and 2005 to include preliminary events from the WSOP, in addition to the “Main Event”. For the first two years of its existence, ESPN was broadcasting one hour programs of the “circuit” events that the WSOP has at various Harrah’s-owned casinos, but ESPN did not renew these events. Also, their coverage of the main event now typically includes at least one hour program on each day. Since then, ESPN has greatly expanded its coverage to include many of the preliminary events of the WSOP, especially Texas Hold ‘Em. ESPN’s coverage in 2002 was typical of their coverage in the 1990s (recorded in video, little or no post-production commentary or player profiles, no card cams).