WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart Answered Hot Questions on Reddit

WSOP 2025 Questions

Q: Will there be a fee for registering using the WSOP+ app? I remember in previous years there was a Bravo Registration Fee, and that was not fun.

Q: Right now credit card registration has no fees, but it’s supposedly “subject to change.” What are the chances that this gets changed mid-series?
There are no fees for WSOP 2025. Without getting too deep into the business side, fees to customers are in part a function of what can be negotiated with specific payment service providers. We’re in a fortunate position right now to have good options for our patrons including credit card, ACH, and PayPal.

Q: What will be the max number of players at a table? Knowing if games stay below 10-handed is the deciding factor for me — and probably others.

With the table capacity we have now, and some enhancements to dealer availability, we try to avoid playing 10-handed unless it’s a last resort. We cancel Deep Stack events, etc. If memory serves me, we went 10-handed fewer than 5 times last year and only for a few levels in rare cases of huge field events like the last day of Gladiators of Poker. We haven’t played beyond 9-handed in the Main Event in several years.

Q: Will we have more turbo 1-day weekend events added to the schedule, especially on Sundays? These would be extremely friendly to recs who fly in for the weekend looking to play without taking off work the following Monday.
It’s always a balance for us to find the best schedule and formats. We want bracelet events to have some play integrity, and it’s very hard to get through our field sizes in one day. Should be mentioned — the WSOP Deep Stack events are some of the greatest values of the summer. Some people still don’t know about them. They’re huge — most events have several hundred entrants — 3x a day: $200, $250, and $400.

They have their own tournament area just up the escalator from the Hall of Fame Poker Room. They will be put in the WSOP+ app daily. Understood on higher buy-ins. We had a few at WSOP Paradise. For decades there were 1-day events at Binion’s. We’ll continue to evaluate the schedule every year.

General WSOP Questions

Q: Is maximizing profit a key factor in setting a series schedule?
If we wanted more profits, we certainly wouldn’t keep spreading Limit Hold’em. It’s not hard to observe that the mass field No Limit events are more profitable than many of the mixed games. And we’re the only operator in the world offering many of these games. We don’t start with a spreadsheet to hit a revenue number.

We start our schedule development with our core philosophy of having all the important derivatives of the game, and at least a higher buy-in championship and a more accessible price point. We look at new trends, fun new events, etc.

Q: Why does WSOP always wait until after Memorial Day weekend to kick off vs. offering some events during that long weekend? It seems dumb to not take advantage of offering tournaments during a holiday weekend when it’s much easier for recreational players to travel in.

Q: Why did WSOP decide to have their Bahamas event at the same time as the WPT in December as opposed to dates that don’t conflict?
The great news is our industry is global. It’s hard to avoid some conflict, and options are good for players. We’ve grown accustomed to other operators scheduling opposite WSOP. I can’t speak to the strategy of others. I can tell you for us, we wanted to have a flagship winter event at Atlantis, which has a real heritage in poker. An event which GG could send a ton of qualifiers to for a great experience. Our only 18+ event and one that is attractive to international visitors who may not like playing in the USA.

The reality is Atlantis has very limited dates for convention space and enough hotel rooms to service our vision. That window between Thanksgiving and Christmas after the basketball events is what works best, so we’re anchoring to those dates. We’re very proud of what we’re building with WSOP Paradise on the heels of the $50M Super Main Event, with even bigger plans this year.

Q: Is there a number of bracelet events per year that you would think would be too many / dilute the prestige of winning one?
I’m not sure there’s a magic number, but I acknowledge it’s getting pretty close. We’ve tried to be very modest in growth. Only went up by 1 this year and a handful the year before. It’s still statistically harder to win a bracelet than it’s ever been. There’s still a ton of events players want on the schedule that we’d like to have but don’t offer. We’re trying to offer something for everyone. No Limit events for every buy-in, mixed events for every buy-in.

Stay true to events offered at the Series for decades, but add new popular variants. Potentially, one day we move to a criterion where an event is only deemed a bracelet retroactively if it achieves, say, $1M in prize pool. But right now, most of the events that happen during WSOP Las Vegas are all huge in their own right and generating big response from players.

Q: How many years is your contract with CBS Sports and PokerGO?
As our licensed production/distribution partner, PokerGO is a party to a contract with CBS Sports, so I can’t speak to that. As far as our present agreement with PokerGO — it runs through May 2026. We at the WSOP plan to spend the next year evaluating future plans for production and distribution beginning with the 2026 event.
It’s only right to acknowledge PokerGO has been a great partner for a long time — since 2017. If you look at their planned broadcast schedule it’s very strong — I think there’s one day off the entire summer. Many of the events are no longer behind a paywall. The production quality is very high for the audience. Those guys love the game and the WSOP.

Q: WSOP online software leaves a lot to be desired. GG has the best poker client. Will WSOP upgrade to GGPoker software for players in the US?

Q: When can we expect to see a Short Deck freezeout event at the WSOP?
How do you think it would do? You see Short Deck growing? We have to make tough choices each year. I’ve always been intrigued by Short Deck and whether it’s a fad or has staying power. I think the jury’s still out, personally.

Q: How are the rules decided in regards to the Poker HOF in terms of criteria, how voting works, and how many people get in per year?
I’m not sure who is more worthy to decide who should be in a fraternity of legends than those legends themselves. So our process presently is: we call for open nominations such that we have a case for every worthy candidate, it gets pared down to 10 finalists, and then it gets wholly turned over to the living members of the Hall of Fame — who allocate their 10 votes. Best man or woman wins. WSOP itself has no vote.

It’s a very exclusive club and it should be. The Hall of Fame is all about who can stand the test of time. We’re going to be hitting a period where many poker players that started post-Moneymaker boom become age-eligible, and it’s going to be interesting who has truly won the respect of their peers.

Personal Questions to Ty Stewart

Q: What is your standout greatest WSOP memory, favorite and least favorite parts of WSOP every year?
I think my favorite memory was the 2009 WSOP Final Table. It had everything. Darvin Moon was a great character. Ivey was there. I had taken a lot of heat personally for shifting to the November Nine format. But we had a full theatre of around 2,000 spectators, a prime-time window on ESPN and things felt huge.

I remember looking out and seeing Joe Cada’s rail — he’s from Michigan and he had four guys in maize and blue body paint each spelling out a letter of his last name. Body painters at a poker tournament was something I never thought I would see. I actually teared up a little — at the sight of grown men with no shirts on lol.

I think my favorite moment every year is the sweat of Main Event registration coming to a close.
I think my least favorite moment every year is also the sweat of Main Event registration coming to a close. That number probably takes on too much importance to signal health of the industry, but I know what it means to people and to me and the staff. We feel a great responsibility to everyone to show poker is healthy.

Q: Who is your favorite or most memorable winner of the WSOP Main Event?
Man, I can’t say — it’s like having a favorite child. When Greg Merson won it, his reaction was so real it moved me and I’ll never forget that.

You could tell it wasn’t just about the money for him, and I loved being a small part of the platform that meant so much.
I actually love Joe McKeehen — he’s tough and outspoken but keeps it real.

We had some debates about fairness of television coverage and how many of his hands were shown on TV vs. the field because he was steamrolling. I’ve enjoyed those intellectual arguments.
But Jamie Gold’s win was one of my first events and just hard to top it. Watching him have fun was fun.