December Live Poker – Poker’s Last Hurrah

WPT World Championships

• $10,400 WPT World Championship – 1,865 Entries – $18,277,000 Prize Pool
• $1,100 WPT Prime Championship – 9,876 Entries – $9,579,720 Prize Pool
• $800 NLH Opening Event $1M GTD – 2,941 Entries – $2,043,995 Prize Pool
• $1,600 NLH Mystery Bounty – 1,253 Entries – $1,472,190 Prize Pool
• $3,000 NLH $3M GTD – 1,544 Entries – $3,928,426 Prize Pool
• $1,100 NLH $2M GTD – 3,284 Entries – $3,169,060 Prize Pool
• $25,800 NLH High Roller – 39 Entries – $975,000 Prize Pool

All three tournaments with big guarantees were met, and while the overall prize pool was smaller than other festivals, the numbers still showed that there were thousand of poker players in Las Vegas not lured by the beauty of Europe, or the sun of The Bahamas to play in the WPT World Championships

EPT Prague

• €5,300 EPT Prague Main Event – 1,224 Entries – €5,936,400 Prize Pool
• €1,650 PokerStars Open – 3,024 Entries – €4,354,560 Prize Pool
• €825 PokerStars Open Cup – 2,140 Entries – €1,540,800 Prize Pool
• €10,300 EPT High Roller – 233 Entries – €2,260,100 Prize Pool
• €25,000 NLH 6 Max HR – 29 Entries – €688,750 Prize Pool
• €10,200 PLO – 49 Entries – €475,300 Prize Pool
• €20,000 NLH Unlimited Re-Entry – 8 Entries – €152,000 Prize Pool

Comparing the 2024 series to the 2025, the numbers for the marquee events were down – the €5,300 Main Event saw 234 fewer entries, and the PokerStars Open saw a small dip of just under €200k in the prize pool compared to the €1,100 Eureka Main Event from 2024, but the festival still drew thousands of Europeans not wanting to fly across the Atlantic to play in either major series in North America and showed the strength of the EPT brand despite the strong competition.

WSOP Paradise

• $25,000 Super Main Event – 2,891 Entries – $72,275,000 Prize Pool
• $250,000 NLH Triton Invitational – 133 Entries – $33,250,000 Prize Pool
• $100,000 NLH Triton Main Event – 237 Entries – $23,700,000 Prize Pool
• $125,000 NLH Triton 7 Max – 99 Entries – $12,375,000 Prize Pool
• $100,000 PLO Triton Main Event – 103 Entries – $10,300,000 Prize Pool
• $5,000 NLH Super COLOSSUS – 527 Entries – $2,635,000 Prize Pool
• $10,000 PLO Super PLOSSUS – 284 Entries – $2,840,000 Prize Pool

It may not be fair to compare the WSOP Paradise to the other series because of the number of super high roller events compared to the other series, thanks in part to the heavily promoted Super Main Event, and in part to the Triton Super High Roller Series that took place as part of the overall festival.  However, the increase in the guarantee of the Super Main Event to $60 Million that was smashed by $12 Million, overall it’s been estimated that the prize pool for all events increased from 2024’s pool of $160 Million plus, to over $200 Million in 2025.

Why 2026 Could Be a Turning Point for Live Poker

Overall, the poker landscape has never looked brighter going into the holiday season, but the decline in live poker may be on the horizon as the tax laws officially changed in the US on January 1st, 2026.  We know that many poker pros have hinted at cutting back on their live poker, some declaring that they would be “creating social media content” and not “playing poker” and some poker players such as David Kaye, have stated publicly that he will not be playing poker at all unless the tax laws change.  Erik Seidel said late in 2025 that he would be cutting back his play this year as a result of the changes in gambling tax laws

While rumoured, some of the impacts that could be felt include:

• Casinos and online poker platforms withhold tax immediately on any tournament win;
• Players playing PKO and bounty tournaments could have bounty winnings withheld, even if the player is not profitable in the tournament;
• Poker players will have to pay tax on 10% of their gross winnings, regardless of how much they win or lose.

This is expected to put a small dent into the top high rollers who have large winning years, but poker players that play less, or have a break-even year could not face a large tax bill that will seriously harm their poker bankroll which is why you could see more smaller stake pros and players that are close to a break-even player in their history not play at all, or look to find ways around being classified as a poker player or gambler to avoid these new tax laws.

There is a lot to still unpack with these new rules, but it’s worth keeping an eye on poker series in Las Vegas, as well as the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood in Florida, as these will be the first indicators of the impacts of the new tax laws on poker players this year. There are still efforts in Washington, DC to repeal the laws but since nothing was passed before the end of 2025, efforts to adjust them to affect events like the 2026 WSOP in Las Vegas may not happen in time, and the effects on the biggest poker series in the world could be significant with the number of unknowns hanging over poker players.