Is WSOP Becoming a GGLive Festival?

The Curious Case of Patches at the WSOP

Patches, stickers, and other logo placement on player clothing and headwear have been a part of the WSOP for much of the series’ history. Most of the time, the organizers ignore this, which results in players looking like billboards from time to time.

Michael Mizrachi was the epitome of this during last year’s Main Event final table, where the only thing he lacked was a neon sign over his belly.

Back then, no one seemed to object to the patches — except perhaps to the ClubWPT Gold logo, which the organizers asked Adam Hendrix to remove before the final table under threat of disqualification.

This demand seemed quite reasonable at the time — after all, ClubWPT Gold had pretty much ruined Millionaire Maker with its $1M promo — but no one imagined that the same demand would appear in the rules the following year.

Pads Will Do Without the CoinPoker Patch (or Not)

While watching the WSOP Main Event a year ago, Patrick Leonard wondered why the finalists were wearing so few patches. To address this question, the 2026 WSOP updated their rules to require players to get any promotional material they plan to wear approved when reaching the “feature” table.

The new rules were published in late April 2026, after which players rushed to submit applications to the WSOP for permission.

Patrick Leonard was one of them — and despite his personal fame and reputation, as well as the high popularity of his sponsor CoinPoker, the WSOP did not allow him to wear patches, logos, or other promotional materials of this brand.

This news upset Leonard and affected his plans for the summer:

In the comments, he was told that CoinPoker isn’t the only room whose patches aren’t allowed at the WSOP: Phenom Poker has also been caught in the crossfire. However, some brands were already approved without hesitation, including ACR Poker, BetMGM and Winamax.

What the Poker Community Says About WSOP Regulations

Pads’ post has led poker players to discuss all the different aspects of the situation, including:

1. Why exactly did GGPoker introduce this rule: to truly privatize the WSOP, because of ClubWPT Gold, or we must blame the series returning to ESPN in 2026, which has its own advertising rules?
2. Can WSOP disqualify players for wearing non-poker logos without the host approval, including Hellmuth’s favorite brand, Adidas? Or If you come wearing clothes from your own brand?
3. Will the WSOP penalize a player for wearing a logo on their clothing if the brand does not sponsor the player at the WSOP? The rules state, “The written submission must be approved by the Host Properties and identify sponsor and include the specific logos or promotional language, including their placement.” But a person can wear any logo without receiving money for it.
4. Could selective approval of brands logos be considered a violation of US antitrust laws regarding fair competition?
5. Can players photoshop logos and patches onto their social media photos and videos in post-production, or will the WSOP penalize them for that too?

No one, of course, denies a private company’s right to determine the boundaries of acceptable advertising, but we’re talking about something far from ordinary — the most famous poker series in the world. In this situation, players are looking at the same aspects of the series from completely opposite angles.

Let’s look at the series from the perspective of recreational players first.

The WSOP is an event that attracts people who dream of playing not for a trophy but for the chance to meet their heroes, some. That said, a lot of star players are affiliated with poker brands and especially rooms, with their employer often sponsoring their travel to WSOP, including covering the costs of producing content.

The company is doing this to attract new people through the exposure of its sponsored pro — at the same time, this increases the reach of WSOP advertising internationally. Logos on players help easily identify the poker room that helped them get to the series.

Now imagine if the WSOP didn’t allow the player to display them. In response, the brand decided not to waste resources on sending its player to the WSOP.

On the one hand, this is good for amateurs — the fields will be softer, since the number of regulars (especially high-skilled Europeans) will decrease significantly. On the other hand, fans who wanted to play against their heroes may decide not to attend the series since their heroes won’t actually be there.

Moreover, viewers from all over the world can now refuse to watch the WSOP because there won’t be anyone left to root for.

While this situation is unlikely to have much of an impact on the low-stakes tournaments, high-stakes WSOP events — played primarily by ambassadors and highly experienced players under sponsorships from various brands — could be in serious trouble.

After all, even at the aforementioned 2025 WSOP Main Event final table, five of the nine players wore at least one sponsor patch, and that’s a tournament with around 10,000 entries.