WSOP 2025 – 10 Predictions for This Year’s Event

Phil Hellmuth Plays the Main Event

The greatest WSOP tournament player of all time made news earlier this spring when he declared that the Main Event had become too much and he said, “I Just Can’t Do It Anymore”.  The 60-year-old owns more WSOP bracelets than any player and has played the main for many years in a row.  While he has publicly stated that he’s skipping the main, once you finally get into the ballrooms and start playing the earlier events, the allure and the draw of playing in the WSOP very well might set in with Phil and he has a change of heart and ends up playing it.  People can change their mind, and we wouldn’t put it past Phil to decide to play and make a grand entrance as he always does!

Controversy Ensues at a Final Table to New Rules

The WSOP Main Event was marred with controversy when eventual winner Jonathan Tamayo consulted his rail numerous times during the final table where people were on laptops, reviewing simulations.  The WSOP took steps to mitigate this by banning electronic devices from the last three tables of any bracelet event and there is no coaching while the tournament clock is running, and tweaked rules on no-shows, dodging the blinds and re-drawing for the button.  The electronic device ban and the fact that players are not allowed to interact with their rail to talk about what has happened will change the way the final tables look on the broadcasts, but ultimately someone is either not going to know, or going to forget, and break one of these new rules.  We think someone is going to create a problem at a final table and stir up trouble for the tournament staff.

The Main Event Does Not Hit 2022 Numbers

This is an interesting year for the WSOP as there are several external factors that are going to influence players travelling to Las Vegas for the series.  Internationally restrictions on the border and how long foreign nationals can stay in the US, political turmoil with tariffs and economic uncertainty and civil unrest around the world are going to have a negative impact on those flying into Nevada, but domestically the rules have changed in terms of what ID you need to fly, and this may prevent some from getting on a plane to make the trek.  The casual poker player is more than likely not going to overcome this to get to Vegas to play the main, and as such don’t be shocked if the Main Event doesn’t draw 8663 players like it did in 2022 – let alone cracking 10k as it’s done the last couple of years.

A Foreigner Wins the Main Event

The last 10 WSOP Main Events have seen Americans win 6 times and foreigners win 4 times, with the last non-American to win poker’s biggest prize Espen Jorstad in 2022. Given the circumstances around foreigners coming to Las Vegas this year, it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect someone born in the US winning the title, but someone who isn’t from the US is due to win the main, and this could be the year that a foreigner surprises and take the biggest title up for grabs.

A Phil Wins the WSOP Player Of The Year

Earlier we predicted that Phil Hellmuth plays the main event – and we are expecting that the team of Phils are all going to play a lot of this year’s WSOP – Hellmuth, Ivey, Laak, Galfond, and Hui to name a few.  We think one of them is poised to have a summer to remember and take the POY at the end of the series.  The question is – which Phil is it going to be?  We won’t go that far but we expect someone named Phil at the top of the point table once the summer ends.

Phil Hellmuth And Daniel Negreanu Win Bracelets

Daniel Negreanu shook the money off his back, capturing his 7^th WSOP Bracelet last summer, winning the $50k Poker Player’s Championship.  It was his first bracelet at the WSOP since the 2013 WSOP Europe series – and first in Las Vegas since 2008!  We think that it’s the start of another run for Kid Poker and are predicting that he will take down another this summer.  We also predict that the most decorated poker player at the WSOP will add to his totals – Hellmuth is going to win his 18^th bracelet at some point this summer and take him over the $18 million mark in lifetime winnings at the WSOP.

Something Bizarre Happens

We have seen some crazy moments in recent years at the WSOP – from table talk that goes too far – recall Griffin Benger v William Kassouf, to the guy who stood on his chair and threw his shoes, to someone who exposed their genitals in the middle of a hand during last year’s main event – and got banned for it – to the table flipping incident at the recent circuit event at Harah’s Cherokee in North Carolina, to the numerous fire alarms that have gone off during play, it seems that the WSOP is a magnet for something crazy and bizarre happening and something else new is bound to happen during this year’s series.  Maybe the power goes out – who knows?

The $250k Super High Roller Is Won By Jeremy Ausmus

One of the marquee events at the series is the $250k Super High Roller NLH.  75 players entered last year which created a $18.675 million prize pool won by Indian pro Santhosh Suvarna.  This year, expect a similar number of pros playing in the event, with a potential shift of Americans to non-Americans that we went through above.  So having said that, expect an American to win this year, and one pro that is primed for a big summer is Jeremy Ausmus.  Coming off a Triton title back in February, Jeremy has racked up over $3 million in winnings this year, including numerous final tables in Korea and in Las Vegas at the PokerGO studios.  He now boasts over $25 million in lifetime earnings and will be one to watch during the biggest buy-in of this year’s WSOP.

A Woman Wins an Event that’s NOT The Ladies Event

Every year there is so much attention given to the last lady standing in the main event, and we want on a ride as Kristen Foxen cam oh so close to cracking the final nine, bowing out in 13^th place.  Women winning bracelets in open events are not as frequent despite the skills and number of women playing in poker these days.  Kristen Foxen, Vanessa Selbst and Liv Boeree have won open bracelets previously, and it’s likely that Kristen will be in the conversation for a bracelet this summer, but don’t be surprised that a woman takes a bracelet at this year’s series outside of the Ladies event.

A Man Enters The Ladies’ Event and Cashes

Speaking of the WSOP Ladies event, while it’s branded Ladies, there is no actual rule that prohibits a man from playing – and many men have registered and played it in the past.  The difference is they need to pay 10X the buy-in – $1k for women and $10k for men. Last year Tony Roberto played in the Ladies event after he lost a bet, had side action bet on him to cash, and his stack horse had a sick and twisted sense of humour.  Tony did not cash – and many would wonder why not put 10 ladies into the event instead or play the main – all good questions.  Given all of the craziness that happens at the WSOP, expect at least one man to draw looks and comments in the women’s event again this year, except he cashes.

WSOP is the most exciting time of the year for all poker players as we watch, cheer, and hopefully play in the biggest poker series in the world.   So much happens in the 7 weeks of the series and the stories that come out will be remembered for a long time to come.  Most likely, all 10 of these predictions will not come true, but there is a good chance some will – what ones do you think are more possible and what other predictions are out there for this year’s series??  It’s almost time to start finding out!