WPT World Championship
1. Introduction
The WPT World Championship is the season-ending event of the World Poker Tour. Every December, Main Tour champions, satellite qualifiers and top professionals travel to Las Vegas to compete for the title, the trophy and one of the biggest first prizes in live poker.
The 2026 edition returns to Wynn Las Vegas for a 25-day festival from November 27 to December 21, with more than 85 events and over $20 million in combined guarantees. The $10,400 WPT World Championship runs from December 13 to 20. This year, ClubWPT Gold is adding $1,000,000 in cash and prizes for mystery bounties, on top of the prize pool generated by entries.
The defending champion is Schuyler Thornton of Texas, who won the 2025 title for $2,258,856.
This page is our tournament hub. We’ll update it with confirmed information on entries, chip counts, payouts and the champion as the festival progresses.
2. WPT World Championship 2026 – At a Glance
• Festival dates: November 27 – December 21, 2026
• Main event dates: December 13 – 20, 2026
• Venue: Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Main event buy-in: $10,400 – No-Limit Texas Hold’em
• Starting stack: 100,000 chips
• Blind levels: 60 minutes
• Starting flights: 3 (December 13, 14 and 15)
• Added money: $1,000,000 in cash and prizes for mystery bounties
• Final table: Sunday, December 20, 2:00 PM PT
• Festival size: 85+ events, $20M+ combined guarantees
• Livestream: December 6–21
• Defending champion: Schuyler Thornton (USA)
3. Complete Tournament Schedule
Main Event – $10,400 WPT World Championship
| Date | Time (PT) | Time (IST) | Day |
| Sun, Dec 13 | 11:00 AM | 12:30 AM, Dec 14 | Day 1A |
| Mon, Dec 14 | 11:00 AM | 12:30 AM, Dec 15 | Day 1B |
| Tue, Dec 15 | 11:00 AM | 12:30 AM, Dec 16 | Day 1C – Final starting flight |
| Wed, Dec 16 | 12:00 PM | 1:30 AM, Dec 17 | Day 2 – All flights combine |
| Thu, Dec 17 | 12:00 PM | 1:30 AM, Dec 18 | Day 3 |
| Fri, Dec 18 | 12:00 PM | 1:30 AM, Dec 19 | Day 4 |
| Sat, Dec 19 | 12:00 PM | 1:30 AM, Dec 20 | Day 5 |
| Sun, Dec 20 | 2:00 PM | 3:30 AM, Dec 21 | Final Table – Champion crowned |
All times are local to Wynn Las Vegas (Pacific time).
Key Festival Dates
| Date | Event |
| Nov 27 | Festival opens – 600NLHOpeningEvent(400,000 GTD) |
| Dec 5 | WPT Prime Championship Day 1A ($1,100, $5M GTD) |
| Dec 6 | Prime Day 1B • Livestream coverage begins |
| Dec 7 | Prime Day 1C • $1,600 Prime + World Championship satellite package |
| Dec 8 | Prime Day 1D • $1,100 World Championship satellite |
| Dec 9 | Prime Day 2 • Two $1,100 World Championship satellites |
| Dec 10 | Prime Day 3 • Super Gold Million begins ($400, $3M GTD) |
| Dec 11 | Prime Day 4 |
| Dec 12 | Prime Final Table • Two $1,100 satellites for Days 1A/1B |
| Dec 13 | World Championship Day 1A • Ladies NLH Championship |
| Dec 14 | World Championship Day 1B • Super Gold Million concludes |
| Dec 15 | World Championship Day 1C |
| Dec 16 | World Championship Day 2 |
| Dec 17 | World Championship Day 3 • $25,800 High Roller • 3,000NLH(2M GTD) • Seniors Championship |
| Dec 18 | World Championship Day 4 |
| Dec 19 | World Championship Day 5 • 1,600MysteryBounty(1M GTD) begins |
| Dec 20 | World Championship Final Table |
| Dec 21 | Festival closes • Livestream ends |
This is a selection of key dates, not the full 85+ event schedule. Check the official WPT schedule for every event, start time and any changes.
4. Main Event Buy-In, Format and Mystery Bounties
• Buy-in: $10,400
• Format: No-Limit Texas Hold’em
• Starting stack: 100,000 chips with 60-minute levels
• Entry: Three Day 1 flights. WPT’s schedule says registration stays open until Day 2. Confirm the exact cut-off and re-entry rules with WPT before you play.
• Guarantee: No overall prize pool guarantee has been listed. WPT lists “$1,000,000 Added”.
How the mystery bounties work
ClubWPT Gold is adding $1,000,000 in cash and prizes for mystery bounties. This is separate from the prize pool generated by player entries. Once the mystery bounty stage begins, each player who eliminates an opponent draws a mystery bounty. The full $1 million is paid only through these bounty draws, not through the regular payout structure. WPT hasn’t yet said when the bounty stage starts.
What it means at the table: in the late stages, every knockout carries extra value. Big stacks have an added reason to call short-stack all-ins, so short stacks should expect more calls than usual.
5. Prize Pool and Payouts
The final prize pool will depend on how many entries the event draws. WPT will publish the official prize pool and payouts once registration closes.
PokerClubGames historical estimate
This is our own estimate, not an official WPT forecast. Dividing the published 2024 and 2025 prize pools by their entry counts gives $9,800 per $10,400 entry. If 2026 follows the same ratio, here’s what different field sizes would produce:
| Entries | Estimated prize pool | Mystery bounties (added separately) |
| 1,500 | ~$14.7 million | $1,000,000 |
| 1,865 (2025 level) | ~$18.3 million | $1,000,000 |
| 2,392 (2024 level) | ~$23.4 million | $1,000,000 |
The 2025 event paid 233 places. The festival’s combined $20M+ guarantee covers all events and is not the main event’s prize pool.
6. How to Qualify and Satellite Schedule
Ways to qualify
• Win a 2026 WPT Main Tour event. Champions receive a $10,400 World Championship entry (see section 9).
• Play a live satellite at Wynn (schedule below).
• Qualify online. WPT lists online qualifying through ClubWPT and ClubWPT Gold for US players. WPT Global offers satellites outside the US; its October promotion for Europe ended on October 19, so check the lobby for current qualifiers.
• Buy in directly for $10,400.
Official live satellites to the World Championship
All are No-Limit Hold’em with 20,000 chips and 25-minute levels.
| Date | Time (PT) | Satellite | Buy-in | Guaranteed |
| Mon, Dec 7 | 7:00 PM | Package to Prime + World Championship | $1,600 | 25 prizes |
| Tue, Dec 8 | 7:00 PM | Satellite to World Championship | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Wed, Dec 9 | 2:00 PM | Satellite to World Championship | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Wed, Dec 9 | 7:00 PM | Satellite to World Championship | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Sat, Dec 12 | 2:00 PM | Satellite – Day 1A/1B | $1,100 | 75 seats |
| Sat, Dec 12 | 7:00 PM | Satellite – Day 1A/1B | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Sun, Dec 13 | 12:00 PM | Satellite – Day 1B | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Sun, Dec 13 | 6:00 PM | Satellite – Day 1B/1C | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Mon, Dec 14 | 12:00 PM | Satellite – Day 1C | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Mon, Dec 14 | 6:00 PM | Satellite – Day 1C | $1,100 | 25 seats |
| Tue, Dec 15 | 11:00 AM | Satellite – Day 1C/Day 2 | $1,100 | 10 seats |
| Tue, Dec 15 | 6:00 PM | Satellite – Day 2 | $1,100 | 10 seats |
Together, these satellites guarantee at least 320 World Championship seats, not counting the 25 package prizes from the $1,600 satellite. Seat guarantees and terms are set by WPT, so check the official listing before you register.
7. Livestream and TV Coverage
• Livestream: December 6–21, 2026
• Main event final table: Sunday, December 20, 2:00 PM PT
• WPT Prime Championship final table: Saturday, December 12, 2:00 PM PT
• Where to watch: WPT streams on its YouTube channel. Check WPT’s “Where to Watch” page for TV episodes.
8. Past Champions and Historical Results
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Champion | 1st Prize | Runner-Up |
| 2025 | 1,865 | $18,277,000 | Schuyler Thornton | $2,258,856 | Soheb Porbandarwala ($1,969,344) |
| 2024 | 2,392 | $23,441,600 | Scott Stewart | $2,563,900 | Robert Sherwood ($2,200,000) |
| 2023 | 3,835 | $40,000,000 guarantee | Dan Sepiol | $5,282,954 | Georgios Sotiropoulos ($4,167,246) |
The 2023 and 2025 payouts reflect deals agreed between the final two players.
2025 final table
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1st | Schuyler Thornton | $2,258,856 |
| 2nd | Soheb Porbandarwala | $1,969,344 |
| 3rd | Jeremy Brown | $1,250,000 |
| 4th | Chad Lipton | $940,000 |
| 5th | Jeremy Becker | $710,000 |
| 6th | Maxx Coleman | $540,000 |
| 7th | Graeme Newman | $415,000 |
| 8th | David Pelosi | $325,000 |
| 9th | Linglin Zeng | $255,000 |
What the history shows
Entry counts have moved a lot from year to year: 3,835 in 2023, 2,392 in 2024 and 1,865 in 2025. Field sizes can change with the schedule, the guarantee and the wider tournament calendar, so these numbers shouldn’t be treated as a fixed trend.
In 2023, the event carried a $40 million guarantee, and reports at the time noted an overlay of more than $2.4 million. Since then the main event hasn’t had a prize pool guarantee. For 2026, WPT has added $1 million for mystery bounties instead.
9. 2026 WPT Main Tour Winners
According to WPT’s official event pages, these 2026 Main Tour champions each received a $10,400 World Championship entry with their title.
| Event | Field | Winner | 1st Prize | WC Seat |
| WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open | 1,229 | Giuseppe Iadisernia | $611,700 | Included in prize |
| WPT Cambodia Championship | 425 | Xiaosheng Zheng | $244,500 | Awarded in addition to cash |
| WPT Venetian Spring Championship | — | Nick Seward | $418,700 | Included in prize |
| WPT Rolling Thunder Championship | 310 | Alex Farahi | $193,725 | Awarded with title |
| WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown | — | Ian Cohen | $656,200 | Included in prize |
| WPT Cyprus Championship | 520 | Farbod Nazari | $368,900 | Included in prize |
| WPT bestbet Scramble Championship | 294 | Blake Ellinghaus | $294,900 | Included in prize |
The Cambodia and Rolling Thunder final two players made heads-up deals.
Remaining 2026 Main Tour stops before the finale:
| Event | Dates | Location |
| WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star | Oct 16 – Nov 1 | San Jose, California, USA |
| WPT Venetian Fall Championship | Nov 5 – 10 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |
| WPT Seoul | Oct 30 – Nov 9 | Incheon, South Korea |
Winners will be added as these events finish. Winning a seat doesn’t confirm a player will compete, so we’ll confirm entrants once play begins.
10. Latest News, Chip Counts and Live Results
Live coverage on this page begins December 13.
| Result detail | Status |
| Total entries | To be updated after the official count |
| Final prize pool | To be updated after the official count |
| Mystery bounties | $1,000,000 added (confirmed) |
| Places paid | To be updated when payouts are published |
| Day 1A / 1B / 1C chip leaders | To be updated after each flight |
| Final table | To be updated December 19 |
| Champion and payout | To be updated December 20 |
Figures published while the event is in progress will be marked as provisional.
Related coverage:
• [Link: WPT Prime Championship 2026 guide]
• [Link: WPT Gold tournament schedule]
• Day 1 chip counts, final table results and winner reports will be linked here as they’re published.
11. Venue and Player Information
• Venue: Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Age: You must be 21 or older to gamble in Nevada casinos.
• ID: Bring valid government-issued photo ID.
• Accommodation: WPT lists a preferred room rate at Wynn on its event pages.
• Time zone: Pacific time. India is 13.5 hours ahead and the UK is 8 hours ahead.
Before travelling, confirm dates, registration rules and event details with WPT, because schedules can change.
FAQs
1. When is the WPT World Championship 2026?
The festival runs from November 27 to December 21, 2026, at Wynn Las Vegas. The $10,400 Main Event takes place from December 13 to 20.
2. What is the buy-in for the WPT World Championship 2026?
The Main Event buy-in is $10,400 for No-Limit Texas Hold’em.
3. What is the starting stack for the 2026 WPT World Championship?
Players start with 100,000 chips, with blind levels lasting 60 minutes.
4. What are the $1 million mystery bounties at the WPT World Championship?
ClubWPT Gold is adding $1 million in cash and prizes for mystery bounties, separate from the regular prize pool. Players can draw a bounty after eliminating an opponent once the bounty stage begins.
5. Who won the WPT World Championship in 2025?
Schuyler Thornton won the 2025 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, earning $2,258,856.
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