Deputy Editor
The World Series of Poker released the schedule for WSOP Paradise, its year-end bracelet series in the Bahamas. It comprises 20 events with a heavy focus on high rollers, which has engendered much discussion about whether the WSOP has shut out too much of its clientele.
Meanwhile, WSOP Paradise’s primary competition has yet to make any public announcement about its plans for December. The World Poker Tour has scheduled out into 2027 on its website. Yet, there’s been no announcement about the expected WPT World Championship festival, held at Wynn Las Vegas for the past several years.
WSOP Paradise: 20 Bracelets, Average Buy-in of Nearly $40K
Here’s a look at the full schedule for WSOP Paradise:
| Date | Event | GTD |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 2 | $2,750 Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty | $500,000 |
| Dec. 3 | $26,000 PLO/NLHE Mix | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 4 | $50,000 NLHE Single-Day | $2,500,000 |
| Dec. 5 | $10,000 GGMillion$ NLHE | $20,000,000 |
| Dec. 5 | $250,000 Invitational | $10,000,000 |
| Dec. 5 | $5,300 Dealer's Choice Big Bet Mix | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 6 | $50,000 PLO Single-Day | $2,000,000 |
| Dec. 8 | $100,000 PLO High Roller | $5,000,000 |
| Dec. 8 | $5,300 Monster Stack | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 9 | $10,000 8-Game | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 9 | $100,000 Super High Roller NLHE | $10,000,000 |
| Dec. 10 | $26,000 Super Main Event | $50,000,000 |
| Dec. 10 | $26,000 9-Game | $2,000,000 |
| Dec. 12 | $2,750 Double-Board Bomb Pot PLO | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 14 | $10,000 Colossus | $2,000,000 |
| Dec. 15 | $26,000 Turbo NLHE | $2,500,000 |
| Dec. 15 | $10,000 PLOssus | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 16 | $26,000 Turbo High Roller PLO | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 16 | $5,300 Closer (GGPoker Bounty Wheel) | $1,000,000 |
| Dec. 17 | $15,000 Last Chance | $1,000,000 |
Interestingly, the $26,000 Super Main Event checks in with a $50 million guarantee. That’s lower than the $60 million promised last year and a match for 2024. The 2024 version missed its number, but 2025 got there with a controversial format change that encouraged many more reentries.
The format bled some players dry and left some unhappy customers in its wake.
WSOP Paradise is maintaining its focus on high-dollar customers with the schedule, which features an average buy-in of $37,820. Even if one removes the six-figure events, the average buy-in still exceeds $18,000. The total cost of the series for a player firing once into every event is about $750,000, and that’s without a single reentry.
It’s a safe bet that most of the events will offer at least some reentry, especially because every single one has a guarantee. Guarantees aren’t typically a part of summer WSOP events. Given the high cost of travel and stay at Baha Mar — hosting WSOP Paradise for the first time — WSOP may feel it needs guarantees to lure some players on the fence about making the trip.
The WSOP’s announced “early bird packages” only further emphasize the focus on high rollers. It has made two bundles available, each including a 16-night stay at Baha Mar. Each runs six figures, including the $300,000 VIP package.
Players Wonder About Mismatch Between High Rollers and Circuit Championship
Several players on social media pointed out the disconnect between a WSOP Paradise schedule that caters almost exclusively to high rollers and the same festival being the year-end destination for WSOP Circuit grinders.
I’ve never really fully understood this series
> second biggest WSOP event of the year, but not hosted in the US, causing travel friction with the biggest part of user base
> nosebleed buy ins shutting out majority of user base
> convert the TOC reward for circuit winners,… https://t.co/w3CBJ9Jt9I
— Derek Kwan (@kwansfull) August 21, 2026
WSOP Circuit players who win rings also earn seats to Event #1 at WSOP Paradise. That change was part of the WSOP reorganizing its schedule around a calendar-year format and replacing the unpopular Tournament of Champions, which saw attendance decline sharply after a move to Los Angeles.
However, that same cohort of players has little in the way of options once they wrap up their play in that first bracelet event. Most Circuit grinders are used to playing three-figure events. They generally aren’t bankrolled for festivals with an ABI of $38,000. Only one other event on the entire schedule comes in at under $5,300. It makes little sense to shuttle these players to the Bahamas so they can play one tournament.
At the same time, Baha Mar is an inherently expensive destination. It also makes little sense to run a bunch of small-stakes events there, as most of the players who voluntarily show up to WSOP Paradise are looking to play bigger.
Tournament regular Chris Conrad suggested a future compromise of running a concurrent WSOPC event during WSOP Paradise.
Will WPT Fill Lower-Stakes Vacuum?
In past years, the WSOP and WPT have gone head-to-head in December. WSOP has run its WSOP Paradise event, while WPT’s Wynn festival centered around the $10,400 World Championship.
A third major event, European Poker Tour Prague, generally caters to mostly clientele from Europe and Asia.
WPT has been conspicuously silent about its Wynn series thus far. In the past, the festival around WPT World Championship included plenty of smaller-stakes events, including many non-hold’em ones. It also prominently featured the $1,100 WPT Prime, which drew thousands of entries and served as a sort of main event for lower-stakes players.
WPT currently has a Venetian stop scheduled for November. In prior years, including this one, it has run Venetian events during the first half of the year or the summer. Might the presence of a different Las Vegas event so close to December signal the end of WPTs at the Wynn?
Of course, WPT could also simply be waiting for WSOP to make the first move so it can respond with a schedule that appropriately addresses the parts of the market that WSOP Paradise vacates.
Whatever the case, the lack of clarity from WPT only invites speculation to continue swirling until it confirms its December plans. That’s especially true in the wake of Major Series of Poker the Tour (MSPT) swooping in to claim the November partnership with Hard Rock in Florida. Sources have confirmed to PokerScout any series held next April at Hard Rock will also have no WPT affiliation, as a poster on Reddit claimed.
Any WPT series at the Wynn in December is still more than three months away, so there’s still plenty of time for WPT to make a strong move in response to WSOP Paradise.
Image credit: TravelingOtter/Flickr (license)
