The World Poker Tour’s World Championships will return in December and after a successful debut in 2022, this year’s festival looks to be bigger and better in every way. With dozens of tournament events and a Main Event that this year has an amazing $40 million guarantee, the end of 2023 is sure to be the biggest in live poker for many years.
The Main Event Guarantee More Than Doubles
Last year, the $10,400-entry WPT World Championships Main Event saw its $15 million guarantee smashed to pieces as Eliot Hudon won the $4.1 million top prize. A prizepool of $29 million – 2,960 entrants – surpassed even the WPT’s wildest dreams and players compared the festival to a ‘mini World Series of Poker’.
This year, with 27 events on the schedule and a $40 million guarantee for the Main Event alone, it will surely become confirmed as the second enormous festival on the calendar. The Main Event takes place between December 12th and 21st, with the six-handed final table streamed as live around the world.
The big difference is that as opposed to the WSOP Main Event, players can enter any and all of the four Day 1 flights rather than just one of them. Whoever wins is going to take home an eight-figure top prize, and that life-changing amount elevates the World Championships even more in annual terms. Until now, only the Triton Poker events or the World Series have awarded an eight figure prize regularly in tournaments.
That all changes in December.
The Return of Iconic Events
The Main Event is sure to be the jewel in the WPT World Championships crown, but what else is on offer? Well, with the festival kicking off at the Wynn in Las Vegas on November 29th, one of the biggest is the $1 million buy-in WPT Big One for One Drop. That starts on Dec. 18th and ends the next day, representing the first time in history that the United States has played host to the event without the World Series of Poker’s involvement.
December 4th sees the commencement of the iconic $1,600 Mystery Bounty event, which has a $2m guaranteed prize pool. The WPT Prime Championship costs $1,100 to play and has a $5 million guaranteed, beginning on December 7th, as players look to emulate last year’s winner of the $712,650 top prize, WSOP bracelet holder and GPI Male Player of the Year Stephen Song.
The $1,100-entry Ladies Championship also makes a welcome return for three days from December 6th, and could top the scales at 1,000 entries if attendances sky-rocket. Last year saw 578 players take to the felt, where Lina Niu took the title and $105,136 top prize.
Here’s the full 2023 WPT World Championship schedule for 2023:
World Poker Tour 2023 World Championships Schedule: |
||||
| Event | Date | Tournament | Entry | Guarantee |
| 1 | Nov. 29 | Limit Omaha/8 | $600 | $60,000 |
| 2 | Nov. 29-Dec. 4 | No-Limit Hold’em | $600 | $1,000,000 |
| 3 | Dec. 3 | NLHE 8-Max | $10,000 | n/a |
| 4 | Dec. 4-7 | Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold’em | $1,600 | $2,000,000 |
| 5 | Dec. 4-6 | Seniors Championship (55+) | $1,100 | $500,000 |
| 6 | Dec. 4 | NLHE 6-Max | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| 7 | Dec. 5 | NLHE/Pot-Limit Omaha | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| 8 | Dec. 6-8 | Ladies Championship | $1,100 | $250,000 |
| 9 | Dec. 7-12 | WPT Prime Championship | $1,100 | $5,000,000 |
| 10 | Dec. 8 | 8-Game Mix | $2,200 | $200,000 |
| 11 | Dec. 12-21 | WPT World Championship | $10,400 | $40,000,000 |
| 12 | Dec. 12-13 | HORSE Championship | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| 13 | Dec. 13 | Pot-Limit Omaha | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| 14 | Dec. 15 | NLHE Turbo ($500 Bounty) | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| 15 | Dec. 16 | NLHE Progressive Bounty (PKO) | $3,000 | $500,000 |
| 16 | Dec. 17-18 | Limit Omaha/8 Championship | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| 17 | Dec. 17-20 | No-Limit Hold’em | $3,000 | $3,000,000 |
| 18 | Dec. 17-18 | No-Limit Hold’em High Roller | $25,700 | n/a |
| 19 | Dec. 18-19 | WPT Big One for One Drop | $1,000,000 | n/a |
| 20 | Dec. 19-23 | No-Limit Hold’em | $1,600 | $2,000,000 |
| 21 | Dec. 19-20 | Seniors High Roller (50+) | $10,000 | $500,000 |
| 22 | Dec. 19 | No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max | $3,000 | $500,000 |
| 23 | Dec. 20-21 | Dealers Choice Championship | $3,000 | $200,000 |
| 24 | Dec. 20-21 | WPT Alpha8 | $50,000 | n/a |
| 25 | Dec. 21 | Pot-Limit Omaha | $10,500 | n/a |
| 26 | Dec. 22 | No-Limit Hold’em | $1,100 | $200,000 |
| 27 | Dec. 23 | No-Limit Hold’em | $1,100 | $100,000 |
December Promises Endless Huge Action
The WPT World Championships will be a huge draw for poker players, but it is not the only choice they have on the poker schedule. There are three massive festivals vying for attention at the same time as organizers throw caution to the wind in an attempt to ‘win’ December and proclaim themselves the last big poker festival of the year.
The first ever World Series of Poker Paradise series takes place in The Bahamas between December 3rd and 15th, meaning that it falls just short of the start date and ends before the WPT does, perhaps a crucial factor in the World Poker tour’s favor.
Anyone who is in Europe may well decide not to travel so far with the EPT Prague festival taking place between December 6th – 17th. With EPT Barcelona showing once again in crowning its winner Simon Wiciak that no-one does it quite like the European Poker Tour, the agony of choice is very real for poker players. One thing you can guarantee is that live players will have endless possibilities to win big on the countdown to Christmas.
Watch how the news was revealed courtesy of the World Poker Tour’s social media page:
$40 MILLION GUARANTEED | DECEMBER 12 – 21
?@WPT World Championship @WynnLasVegas?
The 2022 'Poker Event of the Year' is BACK and BIGGER THAN EVER @WynnPoker!
More Info & Booking: https://t.co/IK27bbcvVZ
⏬ FULL SCHEDULE AND PRESS RELEASE ⏬ pic.twitter.com/6A309Wh9Zq
— World Poker Tour (@WPT) August 31, 2023
