World Poker Tour World Championship Looks To Set New Pot Record

Posted on: September 1, 2023, 06:46h. 

Last updated on: September 1, 2023, 02:47h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event this past summer saw 10,043 entries and set new records for the monumental competition. The World Poker Tour (WPT) is gambling on a significantly larger pot to raise the stakes even higher as it prepares for its World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas series later this year.

Eliot Hudon celebrates his win at the WPT World Championship in 2022
Eliot Hudon celebrates his win at the WPT World Championship in 2022. The event returns this year with a record-setting $40M guarantee. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The WPT World Championship attracted 2,960 entries last year when it wrapped up in Las Vegas. It carried a $15-million guarantee that eventually swelled to over $29 million because of the participation.

This year, the WPT, which is headed to Liechtenstein this month, believes it can do even better and is warning the Wynn casino to get ready to be inundated with players. It will put up $40 million in guaranteed cash for the event.

The WPT World Championship festival begins on November 29 and runs through December 23. Buy-ins range from as low as $600 for an NLHE tourney to as much as $1 million for the Big One for One Drop. Many events have guaranteed prize pools, although several, like the Big One for One Drop, will depend on the number of entries.

Dates & Buy-ins

The big Championship Event runs from December 12-21, beginning with four starting flights, and has a buy-in of $10,400. Most of the buy-in, $9,800, goes into the prize pool. That means at least 4,082 entries are needed for the WPT to avoid an overlay.

Since the 2022 event, attendance pushed the prize pool to $29 million.

Another big event will likely be the WPT Prime Championship. It first landed on the Las Vegas poker felt last year and attracted 5,430 entries in the battle for a piece of the $5.2-million prize pool. This year’s event will run December 7-12, with a $5-million guarantee. Stephen Song won it last year, pocketing more than $712,000.

More Championships on the Horizon

The WPT World Championship festival is just one of several big poker events still to come in Las Vegas this year. Among the upcoming options is a tournament hosted by the Vegas Golden Knights Alumni Association (VGK), and another PokerStars is putting together.

The VGK will show off their favorite NHL team in a tournament on October 13. Palms Casino Resort will host the event, which the organization puts together every year to raise money for charitable causes.

Among those poker players who will have a chance to face are former NHL players, Deryk Engelland, now the VGK’s president, and Shane Hnidy, its VP. Daniel Negreanu is a huge Vegas Golden Knights fan, so maybe the six-time WSOP bracelet winner will make a surprise visit.

The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) is returning after a 12-year involuntary vacation. It will make its first stop at Resorts World Las Vegas beginning November 4.

The NAPT debuted in 2010 as poker began to grab hold in the U.S. However, the arrival of the game’s “Black Friday” a year later, which saw the U.S. government controversially target online gaming, it was shut down.

There’s a $5,300 buy-in high roller event on the schedule for the upcoming series and a $1,650 main event. PokerStars is still finalizing the full details and schedule.