WSOP 2026 Upcoming Tournaments: Main Event Kicks Off, Full Schedule Through August

Last Updated on July 2, 2026 by Bala Kumar

If you’ve been half-watching the WSOP news cycle roll by all summer and are only now wondering “wait, what’s actually left to play,” you’ve picked a genuinely good moment to check back in. As of today, the WSOP 2026 upcoming tournaments schedule has reached its biggest stage, with the series kicking off its centerpiece event and a real stretch of high-profile action still ahead before this year’s festival wraps. Whether you’re following the WSOP 2026 remaining events or planning to chase one of the WSOP bracelet events left on the calendar, there’s still plenty to look forward to.

Here’s a grounded look at what’s actually upcoming, how the WSOP Main Event 2026 schedule is structured this year, where to find a seat if you want in on any of it, and even how to satellite into WSOP Main Event action if you’re looking for a lower-cost path to poker’s biggest stage.

The Main Event Just Started, Here’s the Structure

The $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, the tournament every other event on the schedule is essentially building toward, began its four starting flights on Thursday, July 2, running through July 5, with additional late-registration entry points available on Day 2A, 2B, 2C (Monday, July 6) and Day 2D (Tuesday, July 7). Late registration closes at the start of Level 8, so there’s still a real window to jump in even if you missed the opening flights.

Play is scheduled to continue day by day, narrowing the field down until the tournament reaches its WSOP 2026 final table date on Monday, July 13. That’s where things get genuinely different this year: instead of playing the final table out immediately, the WSOP is holding a 20-day break before the remaining nine players return to the felt on August 3, with the champion crowned August 5. This is a direct result of a new multi-year broadcast deal with ESPN, which wanted room to air specially curated prime-time coverage in the buildup to a live-broadcast final table—a structural change that hasn’t happened in recent memory and is worth knowing about if you’re planning to follow along, since the “ending” of the Main Event this year is genuinely a month removed from when the field gets set.

The buy-in remains $10,000, unchanged since 1972 despite what would now be roughly $86,000 in inflation-adjusted terms—a detail that always gets brought up this time of year, and for good reason. It’s a freezeout, no rebuys, and anyone 21 or older can enter directly with the buy-in, no qualification required.

What Else Is Still On the Schedule

The Main Event isn’t the only thing left to play. The broader 2026 WSOP runs May 26 through July 15, meaning there’s still nearly two weeks of additional bracelet events overlapping with the Main Event itself. Here’s a snapshot of what’s coming up before the series wraps:

Event	Buy-In	Format Notes	Date
Event #88: Gladiators of Poker NLH	$300	Cheapest buy-in of the entire 2026 series	July 8
Event #91: “Pick Your PLO”	$1,500	Dealer’s Choice — PLO, PLO8, Five-Card PLO, Big O	July 9
Event #41: Super High Roller NLH	$250,000	Most expensive buy-in of the 2026 series	Already underway
WSOP Main Event Day 1 Flights	$10,000	Four starting flights, late reg through Day 2D	July 2-7
WSOP Main Event Final Table	$10,000	Live on ESPN, 20-day delay from Day 13	August 3-5

If you’re on a tighter bankroll and just want to say you played a piece of the WSOP this year, Event #88 at $300 is specifically designed for that kind of volume-driven, low-stakes appeal — expect a massive field.

New Additions Worth Knowing About This Year

The 2026 schedule wasn’t just a copy-paste of last year’s lineup. A handful of new formats were added specifically to freshen things up, and a few of them are still ahead or just wrapped:

• $550 Mini Mystery Millions,  kicked off the entire series on May 26 with a $1 million bounty-style guarantee attached
• $10,000 GGMillion$ High Roller — a two-flight prestige event that ran May 31, connecting the WSOP directly to GGPoker’s online high-roller brand
• $1,700 U.S. Circuit Championship — added following the success of the WSOP Paradise circuit stop
• $1,500 Five-Card Pot-Limit Omaha — a dedicated PLO5 bracelet event, reflecting the variant’s growing popularity
• $1,500 “Pick Your PLO” — the Dealer’s Choice Omaha event mentioned above, spreading across four different Omaha variants

That last one is a genuinely interesting addition if you’ve been following the broader shift toward PLO in online cash games — it’s a sign the live series is paying attention to where player interest has been trending.

After the Bracelet Series Ends: The Summer Circuit

Here’s something that’s easy to miss if you’re only tracking bracelet events: for the first time, a WSOP Circuit stop will begin immediately as the main bracelet series winds down, running July 14 through July 25 at Horseshoe Las Vegas. This is a genuinely new scheduling decision,  previously there was a gap between the bracelet series ending and Circuit action resuming in Las Vegas. If you’re planning a Vegas trip specifically around WSOP season and were worried the tables would go quiet after July 15, they won’t. The Circuit calendar continues rolling internationally too, with stops already on the books for Tallinn, Bratislava, and Choctaw through August, and Malta and Pompano Beach picking up in the fall.

How to Get In If You Haven’t Already

Not everyone walks into the Horseshoe with $10,000 in hand, and the WSOP knows that,  satellites remain the primary access route for most players. Online satellites through GGPoker start as low as $1, with winners securing a full $10,000 Main Event seat and, in some cases, additional travel packages layered on top. Live satellites also run continuously at the venue itself for players already in Vegas.

For anyone planning to play any event this summer, registration and payment now run primarily through the WSOP+ app, which handles event registration, structure sheets, live chip counts, and payouts in one place. One-time in-person ID verification is required at the Champagne Ballroom inside Paris Las Vegas, though returning players who verified during the 2025 series don’t need to repeat that step unless their personal details or payment method have changed.

Following Along Without Being There

If you’re not physically in Vegas, coverage this year is genuinely more accessible than in past summers. The Main Event will air on ESPN as part of a new multi-year rights deal, with at least six hours of daily live coverage during the tournament and a fully live broadcast of the August 3-5 final table. International audiences get their own path too — a separate three-year partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery brings Main Event coverage to Eurosport across Europe and Asia, TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, and HBO Max, structured as six 45-minute episodes plus final table coverage. On top of that, Winamax is streaming full series coverage with French commentary on its own YouTube channel, and every non-Main-Event bracelet tournament streams free on the WSOP’s official YouTube page.

Why This Year’s Delay Actually Matters for Storylines

The 20-day gap between the Main Event field being set and the final table playing out isn’t just a broadcast scheduling quirk, it changes how the summer’s biggest stories get told. Players who make that final table will spend nearly three weeks as public figures before a single hand of the actual final table gets played, which is a very different experience from the traditional same-week format. It also means any player entering the Main Event this week with an eye on a deep run is signing up for a much longer spotlight than in previous years if they make it that far,  worth factoring in if you’re one of the thousands taking a shot at Day 1 over the next several days.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re planning to play, satellite in, or just follow the results from home, there’s a genuinely full slate left on the 2026 WSOP calendar,  the Main Event itself, a handful of fresh format additions, the cheapest buy-in of the summer, and now a Circuit stop picking up the moment the bracelet series ends. If you’re chasing a seat, satellites remain the most realistic path for most players, and the WSOP+ app is worth having installed regardless of whether you’re playing or just tracking chip counts from your couch.

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