What’s Next at WSOP 2026: Every Bracelet Event Coming Up Before the Main Event Final Table

Last Updated on July 2, 2026 by Bala Kumar

The 2026 World Series of Poker has already delivered one of its most talked-about summers in years, and the biggest chapter is only just beginning. As of July 1, 2026, 72 of the series’ 100 scheduled bracelet events have been completed, with a combined 180,380 entries logged across 77 tournaments. That number is about to climb fast, because the WSOP Main Event 2026,  the summer’s showpiece, kicked off its first Day 1 flight on July 2 and won’t crown a champion until early August. With the WSOP 2026 schedule entering its most exciting phase, the remaining upcoming WSOP bracelet events are set to decide the biggest titles, Player of the Year race, and the series’ ultimate champion. Here’s exactly what’s left on the calendar, and why the next six weeks matter more than any other stretch of the series.

Where the Series Stands Right Now

Before looking ahead, it’s worth pausing on how dramatic the run-in to the Main Event has been. Shaun Deeb finally broke through for his ninth career bracelet on June 30, winning the $1,500 8-Game Mixed after three runner-up finishes earlier this summer. That result pulled him level with Benny Glaser and Michael Mizrachi at nine golds apiece, a three-way tie that puts all of them within reach of poker’s all-time bracelet leaders. Mizrachi picked up his ninth just days earlier in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, while Glaser won his ninth defeating Josh Arieh and Phil Ivey in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

The Player of the Year race is just as tight. Deeb currently leads the leaderboard with 2,816 points after his ninth bracelet, with Alex Foxen close behind at 2,721 and Naoya Kihara — who became the first double-bracelet winner of the summer,  sitting third at 2,630. Josh Arieh rounds out the top four at 2,601 after a strong run of cashes. Whoever finishes on top of that leaderboard walks away with a $100,000 WSOP Paradise package on top of everything else they’ve won this summer.

The Main Event: Four Flights, Then the Real Countdown Begins

The $10,000 Main Event is a strict freezeout, and its opening stretch is spread across four separate Day 1 flights to accommodate what’s expected to be one of the largest fields in series history.

Date	Session
Jul 2	Day 1A,  registration opens
Jul 3	Day 1B
Jul 4	Day 1C (Independence Day weekend)
Jul 5	Day 1D — final Day 1 flight
Jul 6	Day 2ABC — all Day 1 survivors merge
Jul 7	Day 2D — late registration closes
Jul 8–12	Days 3 through 7
Jul 13	Day 8 — Final 9 players set
Aug 3–5	ESPN Live Final Table, Paris Theatre

That July 13 date is the one to circle. Once the final nine players are locked in, the tournament goes dark for a 20-day break before returning for a three-night, live prime-time finale on ESPN — a format that deliberately echoes the beloved “November Nine” era from 2008 to 2016. It’s the first time the Main Event has used a delayed final table on this scale since that stretch ended, and it means the eventual champion will spend nearly three weeks as poker’s presumptive world champion before actually finishing the job on live television.

Bracelet Events Still to Come

The Main Event isn’t the only thing left on the schedule. A handful of bracelet events run alongside and after the Main Event flights, giving grinders who bust early a chance to jump into fresh fields rather than just railing the big one.

Date	Event	Notes
Jul 2–5	Main Event Days 1A–1D	$10,000 buy-in, four starting flights
Jul 6–13	Main Event Days 2–8	Field consolidates down to the final table
Jul 15	Event #100 — $1,000 Super Turbo NLH	Series finale, the very last bracelet awarded before the Main Event final table
Jul 14–25	WSOP Circuit — Horseshoe Las Vegas	Runs concurrently with the Main Event’s back half
Jul 15–27	WSOP Circuit — Choctaw Durant	First Circuit stop after the Vegas series wraps
Aug 3–5	Main Event Final Table	Live on ESPN, prime time all three nights

Event #100 deserves a special mention, it closes the in-person bracelet calendar entirely before the Main Event resumes, meaning it’s technically the last chance all summer to walk away from Horseshoe or Paris Las Vegas with fresh WSOP gold before the ESPN cameras take over for the finale.

What to Watch For Once the Field Narrows

A few storylines are worth following closely as the Main Event field shrinks over the next two weeks:

• The nine-bracelet chase continues. With Deeb, Glaser, and Mizrachi all tied at nine, any of the three making a Main Event run would put them within a single bracelet of the game’s most exclusive club.
• A record-setting Player of the Year finish. With the season’s richest POY prize on the line — $1,000,000 for the winner plus a $100,000 WSOP Paradise package for the top three — every deep Main Event run from Deeb, Foxen, Kihara, or Arieh could reshape the leaderboard entirely.
• Chip counts to track early. Coming out of the Day 36 mixed-game finale, Artur Martirosian entered late Day 1 play as the chip leader in a separate high roller field with 5,815,000, ahead of Sean Winter, Alex Foxen, and Daniel Negreanu — a reminder of just how deep this year’s talent pool runs heading into the summer’s biggest event.
• The Poker Hall of Fame conversation. Off the felt, this year’s finalists were revealed with Shaun Deeb, Jason Koon, Isaac Haxton, Chris Moorman, and Justin Bonomo among the first-time nominees,  a list that will only gain relevance if any of them go deep in the Main Event.

How to Follow Along

• Free live streams: every bracelet event outside the Main Event has been streaming free on the WSOP YouTube channel since May 29, and continues through Event #100 on July 15.
• ESPN coverage: the Main Event returns to ESPN for the first time since 2020, with daily coverage beginning July 2 and building toward the three-night live finale on August 3–5, produced by Omaha Productions.
• WSOP+ app: live chip counts, structure sheets, and registration for every remaining event run through the app, making it the easiest way to track your favorite players in real time.

Final Thoughts

With 72 bracelets already handed out and the Main Event now four days into its opening flights, the 2026 WSOP is entering the stretch that decides how this entire summer gets remembered. Between a three-way tie atop the WSOP bracelet count 2026, one of the tightest Player of the Year races in years, and the WSOP Final Table August 2026 that won’t play out until nearly three weeks after the field is set, there’s genuinely no dull moment left on the 2026 calendar. Whether you’re chasing a seat yourself through a satellite, following the latest WSOP live updates July 2026, keeping an eye on the WSOP Circuit 2026 schedule, following the free YouTube streams, or waiting for the ESPN finale in August, this is the part of the series worth clearing your schedule for.

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