Modifications to tv and livestream protection have been made for the 2026 World Collection of Poker (WSOP). Main adjustments. However concern not, the largest occasion of the 12 months in poker will likely be simply accessible to poker followers around the globe, at no cost (properly, most of it).
The WSOP on PokerGO and CBS Sports activities Community period is over. The WSOP is again on ESPN.
There should not be any shock that GGPoker, new house owners of the WSOP after the poker web site’s dad or mum firm bought the model from Caesars Leisure for $500 million in 2024, has new TV protection plans. However poker followers will discover many similarities from previous summers, together with acquainted faces corresponding to Jeff Platt, Norman Chad, and Lon McEachern being a part of the protection.
World Collection of Poker Again on ESPN
The WSOP introduced in April that the Foremost Occasion, for the primary time since COVID, would return to ESPN, the highest sports activities community within the U.S. This can be a big improve from CBS Sports activities Community, a cable channel many sports activities followers both haven’t got or do not even know they’ve. ESPN, alternatively, is a part of just about each cable bundle and performed an integral function in poker’s exponential progress within the early 2000s.
Chad and McEachern, WSOP announcers on each ESPN and CBSSN since 2003, will likely be again within the broadcast sales space for the televised portion of the Foremost Occasion. Poker’s world championship occasion, received by Michael Mizrachi final 12 months, kicks off July 2 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
The $10,000 buy-in no-limit maintain’em match will play all the way down to the ultimate desk on July 13 earlier than, for the primary time since 2016, taking a break. These nonetheless standing will then return to the felt on Aug. 3 for 3 days of ultimate desk motion. All pre-final desk livestreams will happen every day in the course of the Foremost Occasion on the ESPN App.
ESPN App shouldn’t be free, nevertheless it contains streaming for all ESPN exhibits and video games for $29.99 monthly or an additional $10 monthly to bundle Hulu and Disney+. The Foremost Occasion ultimate desk livestreams, nonetheless, will likely be free on ESPN or ESPN2 cable for 3 days from begin to end.
In between July 13 and the beginning of the ultimate desk, ESPN and ESPN2 will air 4 edited and condensed variations of the Foremost Occasion main as much as the ultimate desk. The four-letter community will then televise two edited hours of the ultimate desk after it ends. So, poker followers who do not need to pay to look at the Foremost Occasion can nonetheless catch loads of the motion at no cost, albeit non-live.
What In regards to the Remainder of the 2026 WSOP?
ESPN will solely be televising the Foremost Occasion this 12 months. However the remainder of the 2026 WSOP, which begins Might 26, will likely be obtainable for livestreaming on the WSOP’s official YouTube channel, together with on Fb, X, and Twitch, giving gamers quite a few viewing choices for the primary time ever, and all at no cost, for 51 days straight.
This 12 months’s livestreaming stage will likely be shifting from Horseshoe to the Paris Ballroom. Function tables will likely be arrange in Paris all through the summer season, with free protection of the 99 non-Foremost Occasion bracelet tournaments every day in your most popular streaming platform.
The commentators have all been introduced for the every day livestreaming protection, which begins Might 29, and they’re all acquainted faces inside the poker group. Nick Schulman and Ali Nejad will typically group up, together with Joe Stapleton who moved from PokerStars to the WSOP. Maria Ho, a well-liked longtime poker professional, will function an analyst. David Williams, the 2004 WSOP Man Occasion runner-up, will step into the printed sales space, and naturally Platt, who left PokerGO to turn out to be the WSOP’s emcee, will likely be on the sidelines all through the summer season.
The 2026 WSOP can have extra livestreaming protection than ever earlier than on extra platforms than in earlier years, and solely pre-final desk Foremost Occasion protection will likely be behind a paywall. Most livestreamed ultimate tables will likely be of no-limit maintain’em occasions, however Platt tweeted out some transient particulars about further lesser protection of non-NLH ultimate tables that can happen on the outer function tables.
View the Full 2026 WSOP Schedule
2026 WSOP Livestreaming FAQ’s
Will I’ve to pay to look at the 2026 WSOP?
No, every day protection of the 2026 WSOP will likely be obtainable on YouTube, Twitch, X, and Fb.
Will ESPN televise the 2026 World Collection of Poker?
ESPN will solely cowl the Foremost Occasion, with every day livestreaming on the ESPN app main as much as the ultimate desk, which will likely be livestream on ESPN or ESPN2. The main sports activities community will then condense Foremost Occasion protection into edited variations to air on ESPN or ESPN2.
Will CBS Sports activities Community televise the 2026 World Collection of Poker?
No, CBS Sports activities Community is now not concerned in WSOP protection, and the Foremost Occasion is shifting again to ESPN.
Is PokerGO livestreaming the 2026 WSOP?
No, PokerGO is now not livestreaming the World Collection of Poker, though they’re nonetheless concerned with the manufacturing of the livestreams.
Can I watch the 2026 WSOP at no cost?
Sure, your entire 2026 WSOP will likely be obtainable at no cost livestreaming.
Are Lon McEachern and Norman Chad braodcasting the 2026 WSOP?
For the twenty fourth straight 12 months, Lon McEachern and Norman Chad will commentate on the 2026 WSOP Foremost Occasion, however they won’t be concerned with the every day livestreams by means of the sequence. The printed duo will solely present commentary for the edited variations of Foremost Occasion protection on ESPN.
The place can I watch every day livestreams of the 2026 WSOP?
You may watch every day livestreams of the 2026 WSOP on the WSOP’s YouTube, X, Fb, and Twitch channels.
