WSOP Week 1 Trends, News, and Notes

The 2026 World Series of Poker is now into its second week, and the WSOP feels that the numbers are growing compared to last year—at least based on a tweet that spoke about growing numbers and moments. So far, however, the actual figures compared to last year do not support an increase in entries or prize money—well, perhaps the rake collected has gone up. Outside of that, when you break down the numbers, they show the opposite trend. Is this the beginning of a downward trend for the WSOP?

As of June 4, if we compare like-for-like events from 2025 to 2026, we see the following when it comes to entries and prize pools, with the $550 Mini Mystery Bounty omitted as it was a $1,000 event last year:

Event Name	2025		2026		Delta
$500 NLHE Employees	914	$     402,617.00	906	$     375,990.00	-0.9%	-6.6%
$5000 NLHE 8 Handed	693	$   3,270,960.00	570	$   2,359,800.00	-17.7%	-27.9%
$1500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better	910	$   1,255,118.00	828	$   1,099,170.00	-9.0%	-12.4%
$5000 Pot Limit Omaha	757	$   3,574,040.00	716	$   3,293,600.00	-5.4%	-7.8%
$1500 Seven Card Stud	377	$     519,977.00	359	$     476,573.00	-4.8%	-8.3%
$1500 Badugi	534	$     708,885.00	554	$     735,435.00	3.7%	3.7%
$25000 NLHE Heads Up	64	$   1,532,800.00	128	$   3,008,000.00	100.0%	96.2%
$10000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better	217	$   2,018,100.00	204	$   1,897,200.00	-6.0%	-6.0%
$600 NLHE Deepstack	6090	$   3,069,360.00	4622	$   2,329,488.00	-24.1%	-24.1%
$1500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw	532	$     706,230.00	626	$     831,015.00	17.7%	17.7%
$1500 NLHE 6-Handed	2354	$   3,124,935.00	1840	$   2,442,600.00	-21.8%	-21.8%
$1500 Mixed PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O	1239	$   1,644,773.00	1287	$   1,708,492.00	3.9%	3.9%
$600 Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack	3116	$   1,657,008.00	2636	$   1,328,544.00	-15.4%	-19.8%
Grand Totals	17797	$ 23,484,803.00	15276	$ 21,885,907.00	-14.2%	-6.8%

At first glance, you can see why organizers are touting increases in prize pools, but one needs to remember that the $25K Heads-Up tournament was not a re-entry event in 2025, whereas it is in 2026. This allowed for a full Day 1B to take place, which included an additional 64 players paying the $25K buy-in and has drastically affected the overall prize money so far.

Removing that tournament from the list, we see that No-Limit Hold’em and Omaha events are generally down across the board, while mixed variants like 2-7 Lowball and Badugi are up.

Another curious thing to note is the increase in rake. The earlier events all saw a greater drop in prize pools than in overall entries, which suggests that the GGPoker/WSOP arrangement is charging players more to play. While this isn’t consistent from tournament to tournament, it will be something to keep an eye on as the series continues, particularly how much more rake is being collected compared to last year.

The biggest red flag in the chart above, however, is the comparison between the lower buy-in events and the higher buy-ins.

Event Name	2025		2026		Delta
$600 NLHE Deepstack	6090	$   3,069,360.00	4622	$   2,329,488.00	-24.1%	-24.1%
$600 PLO Deepstack	3116	$   1,657,008.00	2636	$   1,328,544.00	-15.4%	-19.8%

At the low end of the scale, the No-Limit Hold’em version saw the biggest drop in entries of any completed tournament so far, and the PLO version wasn’t much better. This suggests that amateur players and lower-stakes pros are not in Las Vegas to the same degree as in previous years.

That points to the possibility that the tax laws hastily included in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill—and not rescinded despite bipartisan support from both sides of the aisle and the poker industry—are having the negative impact many expected on overall participation numbers.

Given that there has been little political momentum toward reversing these measures, one should expect this trend to continue through the remainder of the series, calling into question the possibility of the Main Event surpassing 2024’s record turnout of more than 10,000 entries.

Having said that, the number of entries in higher buy-in tournaments is somewhat skewed by the two starting flights of the $25K Heads-Up event. While the initial $5K tournament saw a 17% drop in entries, the other higher buy-in events have held up much better so far:

Event Name	2025		2026		Delta
$5000 Pot Limit Omaha	757	$   3,574,040.00	716	$   3,293,600.00	-5.4%	-7.8%
$10000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better	217	$   2,018,100.00	204	$   1,897,200.00	-6.0%	-6.0%

The first $10K Championship event drew just 13 fewer players this year compared to last year, while the $5K PLO event saw only a modest decline. Combined with the 100% increase in entries for the $25K Heads-Up tournament, a narrative is beginning to emerge that future growth at the WSOP in Las Vegas may become increasingly pro-centric.

Players competing in the highest buy-in tournaments will be less affected by the tax laws than semi-pros and professionals grinding lower buy-in tournaments and cash games, and the numbers appear to support that conclusion so far.

Of course, the “moments” referenced by the WSOP in its tweet are generally tied to the biggest names in poker going head-to-head. Take, for instance, the comments Daniel Negreanu made to Alex Foxen shortly after the bubble burst in the $10K No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship, when he criticized Foxen’s loose play.

Two lesser-known pros would not have drawn the same attention, but Negreanu and Foxen will always attract eyeballs whenever they clash on the felt, making them natural targets for poker companies’ social media teams.

We will continue monitoring the numbers as more tournaments conclude and more bracelets are awarded, but if you have a futures bet on Main Event attendance, the lower end of the range appears to be favored at the moment.

Things can certainly shift as June progresses and the Main Event approaches, but based on the numbers today, 2024’s record turnout appears safe.