2026 WPT World Championship Festival Wynn Las Vegas

Last Updated on September 16, 2026 by Bala Kumar

Overview

The World Poker Tour has released the full schedule for its season-closing festival at Wynn Las Vegas, and the 2026 edition is the biggest yet. Running Nov. 27 through Dec. 21, the festival spans 25 days, features more than 85 events, and carries over $20 million in total guarantees. This marks the fifth consecutive year WPT has partnered with Wynn to host the closing series of its Main Tour season.

Buy-ins range from $400 to $25,800, covering nearly every price point and game type — a deliberate contrast to the concurrent WSOP Bahamas series, which skews almost entirely toward high rollers.

What’s New This Year

1. The Super Gold Million ($400 Buy-in)

This event is a live spinoff of the online Gold Million on ClubWPT Gold, but triples the usual guarantee. It sits at the very bottom of the buy-in spectrum, making it the festival’s most accessible marquee event,  and one built specifically to draw volume rather than high rollers.

2. $1 Million Mystery Bounty Add-On to the Main Championship

The $10,400 buy-in WPT World Championship — still the festival’s crown jewel, gets an extra $1 million in mystery bounty cash and prizes this year. Importantly, this money is added on top of the standard prize pool, not drawn from it, meaning deep runs come with bonus upside beyond the standard payout structure.

Full Event Lineup Highlights

Opening Events

• Nov. 27 — $600 NLH Day 1A, $400,000 guarantee (multiple starting flights)
• Dec. 1 — Meet Up Game: $1/$3 and $2/$5 cash games, open to all skill levels, with giveaways throughout the day

Satellite Pathways

• Dec. 6 — $200 Milestone Satellite, awarding 50 direct seats into the Prime Championship
• Dec. 7 — $1,600 Milestone Satellite, splitting 25 prizes across paths into both the Prime and World Championships

Marquee Tournaments

• $1,100 WPT Prime Championship — Dec. 5–12, $5,000,000 guarantee. Defending champion Aaron Johnson won $1,010,400 last year after outlasting 9,876 entries.
• $1,100 Ladies NLH Championship — begins Dec. 13, $250,000 guarantee
• $10,400 WPT World Championship — Dec. 13–20
  • Day 1: three separate starting flights, beginning Dec. 13
  • Day 2: field consolidates, Dec. 16
  • Final table: livestreamed, Dec. 20

Game Variety Throughout
No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, T.O.R.S.E., Mixed Triple Draw, Omaha/8, and Big O all feature across the 25-day run, giving mixed-game specialists as much to chase as hold’em regulars.

Closing Event

• $600 NLH Turbo caps the series around Dec. 21

Leadership Perspective

WPT CEO Adam Pliska described the ongoing Wynn partnership as central to the tour’s identity:

The Wynn partnership has become “the gold standard for player experience, venue, and fun.

Wynn’s Director of Poker Operations, Andrew Ormsby, echoed the sentiment, calling it a milestone worth celebrating, five years of building the festival together.

Looking Back: 2025 Champion

Last year’s WPT World Championship crowned Schuyler Thornton, a Texan claiming his first major tournament title after a final table defined by aggressive short-stack play from Jeremy Brown and others, and a decisive heads-up run against Soheb Porbandarwala. Reported winnings vary slightly by outlet, PokerNews cites $2,098,456, while other recaps list $2,258,856 from a field of 1,865 entries generating over $18.2 million.

FAQs

Bala Kumar

Founder of PokerClubGames.com and a Poker Researcher with 10+ years of experience in SEO, WordPress development, and gaming content strategy. Specializes in researching online poker sites, poker apps, tournaments, bonuses, and poker strategies. Experienced in poker platform reviews, affiliate marketing, and creating SEO-focused poker content for global audiences.

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