Is The Time of Prop Bets and Sponsorships on the WSOP Over?

Minor WSOP Rules Changes For 2026

First, Moonpay became available as an official payment method for online registration.

Second, Rule 35 about early registration and seating was extended.

In 2025 it consisted of two sentences but in 2026 became a much bigger paragraph:

“A random seating draw for an Event will be determined based on expected participation. WSOP Tournament management reserves the right to allow additional table seating beyond expected capacity. In the event tables are added to an Event to accommodate unexpected registrations, those tables will be the first ones to break when consolidating tables.

Participants that register before the start of the Event will have their chip stack put in play and blinded off. Once a chip stack goes into play for a Participant that has registered before the start of play, there are no refunds unless WSOP Tournament Management has been notified or determines that there are existing extenuating circumstances which will be determined on a case by case in Host Property’s sole discretion.”

Third, in Rule 54 subsection “b” point 3 the number of representatives of one entity at the start of the TV table in 2026 was reduced from 3 to 2.

Finally, Rule 80 about calling-for-clock got a small clarification for stalling in the following sentence:

“Participants unnecessarily calling the clock or stalling, including purposely depleting time banks to ladder up in the payout,  may be subject to a reduced clock or incur a penalty in accordance with Rules 40, 113, and 114.”

Most Controversial WSOP Rules Changes For 2026

Rule 40 subsection “e”  related to tournament integrity was detailed exactly to prevent the Millionaire Maker issue.

The organizers added a clarification to the 2025 sentence, which caused considerable discontent in the poker community:

“Host Properties will penalize any act that, in the sole and absolute discretion of Host Properties, is inconsistent with these WSOP Official Tournament Rules or the best interests of the WSOP Tournament.

Such act includes, but is not limited to, the Participant accepting any payment or prize from a third-party person or entity (e.g., pursuant to a promotion, product or service) based on the outcome or results of any WSOP Event, in which case the Participant shall forfeit all of the WSOP prize money; if the prize money has already been paid to Participant, then the Host Properties shall have the right to the return of all the prize money plus interest. “

If the extension of this rule seems noticeable to you, then the next one will completely blow your mind — because Rules 52 was completely rewritten to end free display of promo material by players at the TV tables.

In 2025 it was a relatively short rule, stating:

“Prior to entering and playing in the Tournament, each Participant must execute a Participant release form. Failure to do so may, at the option of Host Properties acting in its sole and absolute discretion, subject the Participant to immediate disqualification at any point in the Tournament. If the Participant is disqualified, he or she shall forfeit all entry fees paid and not be entitled to receive any Tournament prize monies or any other prize.”

But in 2026, this rule became huge and even partly dictated the rules for how players must represent their sponsors:

“Prior to entering and playing in the Tournament, each Participant must (a) execute a Participant release form; and (b) if the Participant intends to wear logos, patches or promotional language of any kind, at any time, while seated at a “feature” table, producing event content intended for distribution via digital or linear channels, then Participant must submit written correspondence to Host Properties or their designee at [email protected] at least 24 hours prior to logos, patches or promotional language being displayed. The written submission must be approved by the Host Properties and identify sponsor and include the specific logos or promotional language, including their placement.

Any Participant not receiving express written consent of Host Properties or their designee shall not be allowed to display such logos and no logos will be approved after the start of a tournament day. Any such consent for logos, patches or promotional language shall be at the sole and absolute discretion of Host Properties or their designee, and failure to obtain such consent may, at the option of Host Properties acting in their sole and absolute discretion, subject the Participant to immediate disqualification at any point in the Tournament. If the Participant is disqualified, he or she shall forfeit all entry fees paid and not be entitled to receive any Tournament prize monies or any other prize.  Under no circumstances shall logos be allowed which may be injurious or prejudicial to the interests of Host Properties, the World Series of Poker, ABC (and their subsidiaries and affiliates) or honest advertising and reputable business in general.”

As you can imagine, new versions of these two rules made the community quite frustrated.

Does WSOP Get Into Players’ Pockets Outside the Series?

The addition of a third-party person or entity paying a player for achieving a specific result at the WSOP to Rule 40 has the community wondering to what extent it will be applied.

Obviously, this puts an end to any promotions like the Champion Bonus — when a player qualifies for the WSOP through an online room and, if they win the tournament, the room pays them an additional prize, as ClubWPT Gold did at the Millionaire Maker event.

Players don’t particularly care about this — after all, such promotions can motivate players to collude and engage in other forms of cheating.

However, the community has become very concerned about other traditional forms of deals between players, including:

• Crossbooking
• Action Swaps
• Prop Bets
• Fantasy Leagues
• Last Longers

All these forms of peer-to-peer deals imply that a third-party person pays money to the event participant, as they previously agreed, depending on the participant’s results. And assessing whether players should be punished for this or not will be entirely at the sole discretion of the WSOP.

The decision to factually interfere in this relationship strongly resembles GGPoker’s attempt to force players to register backing through the room’s internal system — effectively, to control and record this process. Players didn’t like it then, and they don’t like it now, because it creates the feeling that the company is trying to pick their pockets far beyond its authority.

The same thing is with the change of Rule 52. The WSOP’s decision to disqualify players for an unauthorized patch on the TV table is certainly concerning — but at least it’s understandable: who knows what players will decide to advertise when the series returns to television, where it will be watched by the widest possible audience.

The biggest problem here is that, with the exception of pre-final and final tables, players never know for sure whether they will end up on the broadcast table or not. As Maria Konnikova described it on X (Twitter):

“Wait so per rule 52, if our table is randomly selected to stream on day 1 of the main, for instance, we should have somehow guessed that in advance and magically submitted an approval request  24 hrs in advance to be allowed to wear our patches??”

It appears that to avoid disqualification, either the brands themselves or all players they sponsor — from satellite qualifiers to ambassadors — must submit an application in advance for approval of their appearance and advertising, just in case.

Considering that GGPoker alone regularly sends over a thousand people to the WSOP via satellites — of varying complexion, clothing styles, and comfort preferences — the whole approval process seems like a bureaucratic nightmare.

Another interesting point: by what criteria will the WSOP determine that the advertising language on a player is actually a paid sponsorship advertisement, and not just the person wearing something with a logo they like?

Finally, there is also a question: if someone like Martin Kabrhel talks about a brand on stream, should they also receive approval for advertising? What if they’re talking about their own brand — their asset, not their sponsor? 

The line between what constitutes advertising at the WSOP and what does not is now determined solely by the taste of the series organizers — and this is hardly to the public’s liking.