The 2025 World Series of Poker is almost upon us. Anticipation is at boiling point after a full year following the GGPoker takeover. Will we see record-breaking participation numbers this year? We wouldn’t bet against it.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the most prestigious poker tournament series on the calendar, as well as the longest running.
With 55 consecutive series successfully chalked up, what can we expect from this new era under the watchful eye of GGPoker?
We’ve seen the WSOP morph from a single table invitation only tournament to more than ten thousand players registering for the Main Event.
The Main Event is still the showpiece of the poker calendar, drawing global attention and crowning a champion whose name will be known throughout the community for many years to come.
It is a dream of many poker players to one day make the pilgrimage to Las Vegas in the hope of winning a coveted gold bracelet while lining up against some of the best that poker has to offer.
What Changes Could We See on the Horizon?
This 2025 series could be a pivotal moment in poker history. GGPoker — the world’s largest online poker platform — has had ownership of the WSOP brand for a full year and will no doubt have been coming up with new ideas about changes for the future.
GGPoker has executed elite level marketing prowess to claim the top spot in the online poker world from long-time leader PokerStars. Now we will get to see that same genius applied to the WSOP.
The sheer global reach of GGPoker will be enough to significantly drive attendance numbers up. The platform will be running record numbers of satellites to make the series more accessible to those who wouldn’t normally be able to attend.
What about possible hybrid events? Play the first phase of the tournament online and then travel to Las Vegas for the second phase where everyone is already guaranteed a cash prize.
We have already reported the news that the WSOP+ app is now mandatory for players to register for all WSOP tournaments. This is a move that many felt was already well overdue. The queuing times reached insane levels that would have put many players off from making the trip.
GGPoker’s decade in the industry should guarantee a much improved digital experience in all areas of WSOP organisation.
That’s the plan and that’s what will happen
— Fedor Holz 🐧 (@CrownUpGuy) March 1, 2025
And then, of course, there’s the issue of anti-cheating which has been a hot topic of discussion recently.
Only a couple of months ago, GGPoker’s Integrity Ambassador, Fedor Holz, publicly announced that it was the plan to ban players caught cheating online from playing at the World Series of Poker.
Of course, this is what everyone has been asking for after all of the scandals in recent years.
So, could this be an official change coming soon? Will GGPoker be the platform that brings all live tournament organisers together to create a black list. That would certainly go a long way towards securing game integrity at the higher stakes.
Key Dates and Venues
The 2025 World Series of Poker will run from May 27 through to July 16 at the usual venues of the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas.
That’s seven full weeks of intense action with a high-energy atmosphere right in the heart of the iconic Las Vegas strip.
The Main Event kicks off on July 2 and runs all the way through to July 16. No wonder Phil Hellmuth is making a fuss!
The final table is expected to run on July 15-16.
What’s New at the 2025 WSOP?
The 2025 WSOP is set to be a groundbreaking year, under the stewardship of GGPoker. For the first time in 56 years, the series will feature 100 bracelet events.
The expanded schedule is clearly designed to bring in more players than we’ve seen before. There will also be some new, unfamiliar tournament formats introduced for the first time.
The most novel debutant has to be Battle of the Ages. The starting flights are all segregated by age, possibly hoping that an increased sense of camaraderie can be built.
On Day 2, all surviving players merge into a single field. In theory, this will be the battle between GTO poker solvers and the intuition/feel style from decades gone by.
This is a great idea to bring different generations together from the more recreational side of the player pool.
Another new addition is the T.O.R.S.E. event. We’ve all heard of H.O.R.S.E. but in 2025 somebody has decided that limit hold’em should make way for 2-7 triple draw lowball.
We have no idea what to make of this but it should be an interesting talking point when it plays out.
Tournaments to Watch at the 2025 WSOP
$10,000 Main Event: Let’s face it, this is the one that everyone has their eye on even before the action starts.Can we see the record of 10,112 from last year broken? Maybe GGPoker will insist that the prize pool is rejigged to make sure the winner gets a record prize if the attendance is close enough.
$1,500 Millionaire Maker: The field for this one always draws huge crowds with countless satellites running to increase accessibility. The top prize is always at least $1 million, which is unusual for a $1,500 buy-in event.
$400 Colossus: This is the WSOP’s premier low buy-in event which has a similar idea to the Millionaire Maker. Tiny buy-in a monster prizes with life-changing money for many. This is a fan favourite for first-time WSOP entrants, explaining the monster field of 19,337 last year.
$50,000 Poker Players Championship: Although the Main Event is still the most sought after title in poker, this one has become the greatest test for any tournament player. This one draws out the best in the business to duke it out in a mixed games format.
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