Opinion: World Series of Poker is Missing Out in the Awards Game

The World Sequence of Poker is little over three months away from develop into the middle of the playing Universe for the fifty fifth time, and because the employees at Paris and Horseshoe on line casino sin Las Vegas enter the “are we going to make it in time” standing, this observer is providing a suggestion no one requested for: The WSOP ought to contemplate honoring gamers in addition to the grinders who earn sufficient factors to win its Participant of the 12 months prizes.

However first, some kudos, which go to WSOP organizers, notably CEO Ty Stewart, Vice President Jack Effel and their groups who’ve achieved a improbable job with the Sequence, particularly the Predominant Occasion. These two males ensured a easy transition occurred after NSUS, the house owners of GGPoker, purchased the WSOP from Caesars in 2024.

I additionally thought they dealt with the trials and tribulations that got here together with coping with dropping principally an entire 12 months due to the Pandemic nicely. The hybrid resolution to the Predominant Occasion could not have been supreme and undoubtedly deserves the dreaded asterisk subsequent to the outcomes, but it surely’s within the books.

On prime of this, they needed to coordinate a transfer from the Rio to the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas on the Strip.

And whereas the WSOP launched a brand new leaderboard with $1 million in prizes going to the highest 100 gamers for this season, there is perhaps room to present flowers for a few of the gamers who earned it enjoying in Las Vegas this summer season. The next classes could also be a very good begin:

Finest Younger Participant, Finest Senior, Finest Tremendous Senior, Finest Girl, most closing tables, most cashes, and the Treetop prize, given to the participant who mounted the largest comeback.

These performance-based accolades would include a trophy and possibly a silk jacket, and, ideally, a ticket to an upcoming WSOP occasion. These awards would give the WSOP a easy PR win and the media a simple story to generate extra eyes on the model.

Sponsors might be lined-up to place their identify on the issues, which might generate extra publicity as, say, Pink Bull honors the participant who managed to return again with a chip and a chair.

These awards would put the concentrate on the summer season collection in Las Vegas, which the brand new Participant of the 12 months leaderboard strikes to alter.

New leaderboard for 2026

The brand new Participant of the 12 months leaderboard displays modifications to what the WSOP defines as a season –Gamers will begin incomes factors when new season begins March 31, at WSOP Europe.

They’ll then proceed the search for WSOP Participant of the 12 months on the Summer time collection of 100 occasions that runs Could 26 to July 15. The ultimate collection that counts towards the Participant of the 12 months race takes place Dec. 1-18 throughout WSOP Paradise within the Bahamas.

The highest 100 gamers will earn not less than a $2,500 WSOP Circuit ticket.

The participant who winds-up with essentially the most factors wins the title of WSOP Participant of the 12 months and a $100,000 Paradise Package deal. Second and third place finishers additionally get that buy-in bundle. Gamers who end fourth via fifteenth win a $30,000 Tremendous Predominant Occasion bundle; sixteenth via fiftieth will get a $5,000 Circuit bundle, with the remaining successful a $2,500 bundle.

WSOP Circuit occasions don’t rely in the direction of the race, and neither does on-line bracelet occasions.

This can be a fantastic approach to award the regulars and grinders who populate the fields at WSOP occasions world wide. Nonetheless, there’s room to rejoice those that make the WSOP so nice: The opponents.