World Series of Poker Schedule Released: Players Detail Their Plans for Summer
The World Series of Poker returns to the Horseshoe and Paris casinos on the iconic Las Vegas Strip from May 27 to July 16 with 100 gold bracelet events up for grabs, making this the biggest series in history.
This marks the 56th edition of the prestigious poker festival and the first since the NSUS Group, the company behind the GGPoker online poker brand, acquired the series.
The $10,000 main event once again highlights the schedule and last year that event saw Texan Jonathan Tamayo top the largest field in history with 10,112 players to score his first bracelet and $10 million. This year’s Main Event runs July 2-16 and organizers are hoping for even bigger numbers this year.
“We had hoped to continue to break records last year, and we did – the WSOP Main Event was bigger than ever,” WSOP CEO Ty Stewart said. “In 2025, the WSOP schedule is better again, with something for everyone who loves the game. There’s nothing like summer in Las Vegas and we’re ready to welcome players to the biggest and best WSOP of all time!”
Details on the Series
Image Credit: PokerGo
The annual series features buy-ins ranging from $300 to $250,000 and kicks off with the $1,000 Mystery Millions on May 27, featuring a $1 million top bounty and first-place prize of at least $1 million.
Several new events are also part of this year’s schedule. Event 59: $1,000 Battle of the Ages runs June 22-23 and pits “old school” players against poker’s young guns. Flight A is for players 50 and over while Flight B’s field groups players below 50. Surviving players from both flights combine for Day 2 and play down to a winner.
Another new event is a $100,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha (Event 79), running July 1-3. This is the highest-stakes PLO event ever offered at the WSOP.
Another addition is Event 93: $3,000 TORSE, set for July 11-13. This tournament swaps the “H” in HORSE for a “T” (Limit 2-7 Triple Draw) and should draw in plenty of mixed game players. For the unfamiliar players, this event features Limit 2-7 Triple Draw along with Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. Some other series highlights include:
- Event 14: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha/No-Limit Hold’em – June 2
- Event 24: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot – June 6
- Event 46: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em – June 15
- Event 53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker – June 18
- Event 66: $50,000 Poker Players Championship – June 24
- Event 74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship – June 28
- Event 80: $800 Summer Celebration No-Limit Hold’em – July 2
- Event 87: $5,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em (1-day event) – July 8
PokerGO will once again broadcast the series with a full schedule to be released at a later date.
Qualifying Opportunities
A robust online qualifying menu was one of the main reasons for the Main Event breaking records over the last two years. That effort continues this year and players will be able to qualify for the Main Event via live and online satellite tournaments.
International players can join exclusive online satellites at GGPoker, which sent more than 1,000 players to the event last year. American players can win their way into the tournament via WSOP Online with satellites now underway.
“GGPoker’s Road To Vegas allows poker enthusiasts all over the world to make their way to Las Vegas and follow in the footsteps of their poker heroes by taking aim at WSOP gold,” GGPoker ambassador and seven-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu said. “Join us in 2025!”
Live satellites will be available over the next few months as well. Side events during the series, including daily live satellites and deep stack tournaments, will be listed on the full schedule of events at WSOP.com/2025. Online pre-registration will open after all events have been determined and approved by regulators.
Image Credit: PokerGo
Players React to Schedule
The unveiling of the WSOP schedule had many players marking their calendars and considering what events they were looking forward to. Several poker pros spoke with Casino.org about their own plans for the upcoming series.
“They added a $25,000 half No Limit Hold’em, half PLO – I am definitely excited about that,” two-time bracelet winner and World Poker Tour (WPT) champion Dylan Linde said. The poker pro from Idaho now has more than $10 million in live tournament winnings. Linde won his latest bracelet in October in an online event for $60,336.
That new NLHE/PLO event was also popular with Chip Leader Coaching training site founder and four-time bracelet winner Chance Kornuth.
“The $25,000 NLHE-PLO is the most exciting for sure,” said Kornuth, who also has won a WPT title in 2022. “My two best games and a high roller.”
Kornuth has won bracelets in both formats, including grabbing his first bracelet in a $5,000 PLO event in 2019 for $508,090. Last year, he took the top spot in the $1,000 Flip & Go NLHE event for $155,446 and finished runner-up in the $50,000 NLHE High Roller for almost $1.4 million.
Darren Elias has four WPT titles, the most of any other player, and has $1.9 million in WSOP winnings. However, he has yet to score a bracelet and will be back on the hunt this summer.
“I’m looking forward to the slew of $25,000 events in early June,” said the BetMGM brand ambassador, who now has $13.4 million in live tournament winnings. “Those should draw big fields and with heads-up, six-Max, and eight-max, players will be able to battle across all the different formats. The $10,000 Deuce to Seven No Limit Lowball Championship is always one of my favorites as well. I’ll have June 8 circled on the calendar.”
Negreanu Ready for Action
The WSOP is Daniel Negreanu’s favorite time of the year and he’ll be looking to add to his collection of seven bracelets. The latest of those came in 2024, when he took down the $50,000 Poker Players Championship (PPC), a favorite and highly sought-after title among pros. This was his first WSOP win since 2013 and Negreanu scored $1.2 million for the title.
“I’m excited about the PPC, of course, the $25,000 half NLHE/PLO, and I think the Battle of the Ages event is a fun wrinkle,” he said. Negreanu will be looking forward to defending his PPC title and appreciates the event that features nine different poker variants. “It’s one of the toughest tournaments in the world, very pro heavy with a very slow structure.”
With GGPoker now running the show at the series, Negreanu is looking forward to where the WSOP is headed and bringing even more players to Las Vegas each summer. What does the company have in store for players this summer?
“Can’t talk too much about all the potential changes and I don’t know that they will be ready this summer, but I’m hopeful we can implement the WSOP+ app which was extremely popular in the Bahamas (for the WSOP Paradise) and will eliminate lines and waiting,” he said.
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Hellmuth Skipping Main Event
Phil Hellmuth, the 17-time bracelet winner, made some of his own news surrounding the WSOP recently. After the schedule was released, Hellmuth said he’d be skipping the WSOP $10,000 Main Event this year. He said the tournament had become an “endurance contest” favoring younger players and hoped to see changes making for an easier schedule.
In 1989, Hellmuth won the event for $755,000 and has played in every Main Event since 1988. The 2024 lasted about two weeks before crowning a champion.
“It’s just too tough,” he said. “People at home are like, ‘Phil, you can play seven days in a row.’ Yeah, try it. Try getting up and playing noon until midnight seven days in a row. I think that really hurts the older players in a much bigger proportion than the younger players.
And I’ll say this: more great players come and tell me that they blew the main event because they got too tired with 50 left, with 30 left, with 100 left. It’s turned into an endurance test. I don’t think that the World Series of Poker Main Event is measuring skill.”
VIDEO TWEET – https://x.com/phil_hellmuth/status/1891749608331612401
As one of the game’s biggest names, seeing Hellmuth not in the field would certainly be noticeable. Some players were dubious that Hellmuth could actually stay away. Negreanu had an hour-long call to discuss the issue with the longtime poker pro.
Does he think Hellmuth will ultimately live up to his declaration to miss the tournament?
“I do not,” Daniel Negreanu said. “He will bitch, he will moan, and in the end, he will buy into day two.”
For a complete schedule of events, visit WSOP.com/2025.
Title Image Credit: PokerGo
