Summer’s no longer the only time for huge poker tournament series in Las Vegas, as the WPT World Championship is coming back to the Wynn for its second year this December. The World Poker Tour and its online partner WPT Global are aiming to make this series one of the biggest annual events in poker.
The inaugural WPT World Championship guaranteed $15 million and nearly doubled that with a final prize pool of over $29 million.
This year, WPT is setting its sights even higher with a $40 million guarantee. Hitting that lofty target is going to require almost 4,100 entries.
Finding that many players willing to pony up the tournament’s $10,400 buy-in might be difficult. To draw the sort of field they’re looking for, WPT and WPT Global have concocted a wide variety of ways for players to try to win their way into the World Championship through satellites and promotions.
Although it’s only in its second year, the WPT World Championship is already in rare company. Typical WPT events in the $10,000 price range rarely draw much more than 1,000 players. Assuming the World Championship makes its guarantee this year, it will exceed any WPT or EPT field on record and enter territory previously only occupied by the WSOP Main Event.
The World Championship will play out over seven tournament days, culminating in a televised final table on Dec. 21 with what should be at least a $5 million top prize. Starting flights run from Dec. 12-15.
How to Win WPT World Championship Entries
The World Championship caps off a four-week festival at the Wynn, running from Nov. 29 through Dec. 23. Satellites to the Championship will be available throughout.
However, there are even more ways to win an entry on WPT Global. Unfortunately, WPT Global isn’t available to players in the US at the moment, though it may enter regulated states eventually. It does serve 25 countries, however, including Canada (outside Ontario), Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand.
The WPT Global qualification paths run the gamut from longshot freerolls for casual players to guaranteed entries for the most dedicated players. All options award $12,400 Passports, which include a $2,000 travel allowance in addition to the $10,400 buy-in.
Here are the types of promotions available:
Conventional Online Qualifiers
Naturally, the first way to win your World Championship ticket is the traditional one, through online satellites.
There are direct qualifers running every Sunday with $220 and $1,060 buy-ins. For players on a budget, there are satellites throughout the week feeding into the qualifiers, with a range of buy-ins starting at $5.
First Deposit Offer for New WPT Global Players
New signups to WPT Global will get some free satellite tickets. How many and what kind depends on the amount of the player’s first deposit:
- $20 to $299: 4 x $5 satellite tickets
- $300 to $1,199: 1 x $22 satellite ticket, 4 x $5 satellite tickets,
- $1,200+: 1 x $220 direct qualifier ticket, 1 x $22 satellite ticket, 4 x $5 satellite tickets,
Those tickets are in addition to WPT Global’s standard 100% first deposit match up to $1,200.
Tournament Leaderboards
Multi-table tournament players can win direct, qualifier or satellite entries for their performance. There are three different leaderboards to shoot for:
- Weekly Tournaments: WPT Global’s regular tournament leaderboard is offering $220, $55, and $22 qualifier/satellite tickets to the top 100 players each week, in addition to the usual cash prizes.
- Discord Tournaments: Members of the WPT Global Discord channel participate in weekly $10 tournaments each Sunday. The top player each month wins a $12,400 Passport.
- Fall Festival: WPT’s Fall Festival is running now and continuing through Oct. 1. The leaderboard winner will claim a $12,400 Passport. Meanwhile, event winners and those making final table appearances earn entries to Champion of Champions and Second Chance freerolls for even more ways to win tickets.
Weekly Scavenger Hunt Missions
WPT Global’s Scavenger Hunt promotion offers a weekly freeroll with a $12,400 Passport for the winner. To earn an entry, players must complete all six missions during the week:
- Deposit $20
- Play 100 hands of Pot-Limit Omaha (“Low” stakes or higher)
- Play 200 hands of No-Limit Hold’em (“Low” stakes or higher)
- Play 20 hands of Poker Flips
- Play two “Bump It Up” tournaments
- Play two World Championship qualifiers or satellites
Kings of Cash Freerolls
WPT Global’s ongoing Kings of Cash promotion awards players draw tickets on a daily basis for every 100 hands played during the day.
Those who earn two or more tickets get a freeroll entry, and this is where you’ll find some World Championship qualifier and satellite tickets being awarded. The nice thing here is that by earning your tickets you’ll probably be ticking off at least one of the Scavenger Hunt missions in the process.
PLO Rakeback Offer
High-stakes, high-volume Pot-Limit Omaha players have a way to guarantee themselves a Passport. It’s not for the faint of heart, though, as it requires paying $25,000 in rake at Omaha tables by the end of the day on Nov. 26.
Since the Passport is worth $12,400, that works out to almost 50% in effective rakeback, in addition to the 10% those players will receive from WPT Global’s Milestone Rewards.
WPT World Championship Festival Side Events
Aside from the World Championship, there are almost 30 events on the Festival schedule, plus 20 in-person qualifiers.
Here are some of the most notable side events:
- Mystery Bounty: WPT has jumped on board this recently popular format with a $1,600 buy-in and three starting flights from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6. It guarantees $2 million in bounties and prizes, and, assuming it receives the requisite entries, will have a top bounty of $100,000.
- Prime World Championship: Last year, WPT introduced Prime, a lower-stakes version of the tour. It has its own World Championship, with a comparatively affordable $1,100 buy-in, $5 million guaranteed, and four starting flights from Dec. 7 to Dec. 10.
- Dealer’s Choice: Mixed game players can rejoice at this opportunity to put all their skills to use in this $3,000 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed event beginning on Dec. 20.
- The Big One for One Drop: This one’s more of a spectator sport for most of us, but if you want to see some of the biggest names—and biggest whales—in poker play for a million dollars apiece, head to the rail on Dec. 18.
Full Festival Schedule
Here’s the complete schedule of qualifiers and events at the WPT World Championship Festival (starting flights only).
| Date | Time | Event | GTD | Buy-In |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 29 | 11:00 | Limit Omaha 8 | $50k | $600 |
| 11:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight A | $1M | $600 | |
| 18:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight B | $1M | $600 | |
| Nov 30 | 11:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight C | $1M | $600 |
| 8:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight D | $1M | $600 | |
| Dec 1 | 11:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight E | $1M | $600 |
| 8:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight F | $1M | $600 | |
| Dec 2 | 11:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight G | $1M | $600 |
| 19:30 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight H (Turbo) | $1M | $600 | |
| Dec 3 | 13:00 | No-Limit Hold'em 8-Max | N/A | $10,500 |
| 17:00 | World Championship Package Satellite | 10 Pkgs. | $1,600 | |
| Dec 4 | 11:00 | Mystery Bounty - Flight A | $2M | $1,600 |
| 11:00 | Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship | $500k | $1,100 | |
| 13:00 | No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max | $100k | $1,100 | |
| 19:30 | Double Play Milestone Satellite | 25 Pkgs. | $400 | |
| Dec 5 | 11:00 | Mystery Bounty - Flight B | $2M | $1,600 |
| 13:00 | Mixed PLO/NLHE | $100k | $1,100 | |
| 19:30 | Double Play Milestone Satellite | 25 Pkgs. | $400 | |
| Dec 6 | 11:00 | Mystery Bounty - Flight C | $2M | $1,600 |
| 11:00 | Ladies Championship | $250k | $1,100 | |
| 19:30 | Double Play Milestone Satellite | 25 Pkgs. | $400 | |
| Dec 7 | 11:00 | WPT Prime Championship - Flight A | $5M | $1,100 |
| 19:30 | ClubWPT Final Table Challenge | $50k | $500 | |
| Dec 8 | 11:00 | WPT Prime Championship - Flight B | $5M | $1,100 |
| 12:00 | 8-Game Mix | $200k | $2,200 | |
| Dec 9 | 11:00 | WPT Prime Championship - Flight C | $5M | $1,100 |
| 19:30 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| Dec 10 | 11:00 | WPT Prime Championship - Flight D | $5M | $1,100 |
| 19:30 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| Dec 11 | 11:00 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 75 Tkts. | $1,100 |
| 19:30 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| Dec 12 | 11:00 | WPT World Championship - Flight A | $40M | $10,400 |
| 11:00 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| 13:00 | HORSE Championship | $100k | $1,100 | |
| 18:00 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| Dec 13 | 11:00 | WPT World Championship - Flight B | $40M | $10,400 |
| 11:00 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| 13:00 | Pot-Limit Omaha | $100k | $1,100 | |
| 18:00 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| Dec 14 | 11:00 | WPT World Championship - Flight C | $40M | $10,400 |
| 11:00 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| 18:00 | WPT World Championship Milestone Satellite | 25 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| Dec 15 | 11:00 | WPT World Championship - Flight D | $40M | $10,400 |
| 19:00 | No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Bounty | $100k | $1,600 | |
| Dec 16 | 13:00 | No-Limit Hold'em Progressive Bounty | $500k | $3,000 |
| 19:00 | Milestone Satellite to $3k NLHE | 25 Tkts. | $400 | |
| Dec 17 | 12:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight A | $3M | $3,000 |
| 12:00 | Limit Omaha 8 Championship | $100k | $1,100 | |
| 13:00 | No-Limit Hold'em High Roller | N/A | $25,700 | |
| Dec 18 | 11:00 | Milestone Satellite to $10k Seniors | 10 Tkts. | $1,100 |
| 12:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight B | $3M | $3,000 | |
| 13:00 | WPT Big One for One Drop | N/A | $1M | |
| 18:00 | Milestone Satellite to $10k Seniors | 10 Tkts. | $1,100 | |
| Dec 19 | 11:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight A | $2M | $1,600 |
| 12:00 | Seniors No-Limit Hold'em High Roller | $500k | $10,000 | |
| 13:00 | No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max | $500k | $3,000 | |
| Dec 20 | 11:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight B | $2M | $1,600 |
| 12:00 | Dealer's Choice Championship | $200k | $3,000 | |
| 13:00 | WPT Alpha 8 | N/A | $50,000 | |
| 18:00 | Milestone Satellite to $1,600 NLH | 25 Tkts. | $400 | |
| Dec 21 | 11:00 | No-Limit Hold'em - Flight C | $2M | $1,600 |
| 13:00 | Pot-Limit Omaha | N/A | $10,500 | |
| Dec 22 | 13:00 | No-Limit Hold'em | $200k | $1,100 |
| 13:00 | No-Limit Hold'em 8-Max | N/A | $10,500 | |
| Dec 23 | 12:00 | No-Limit Hold'em | $100k | $1,100 |
This is a sponsored post, paid for by WPT Global.