2026 WSOP Main Event Pacing for Lower Turnout than in 2025

The 2026 World Series of Poker main event is pacing well short of 10,000 entries and looks likely to finish shy of even last year’s 9,735.

Through all four of the starting days, there have been 8,077 entries into poker’s biggest tournament. Last year, that number was 8,694. That means attendance has declined about 7.1% compared to the year prior at the same juncture.

There’s still time for that number to push upward. Players can register as late as about 3:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday’s Day 2D.

However, the lower attendance has followed an industry-wide trend since the start of the year.

At this point, a Kalshi market speculating on the possibility of 10,000 entries in the WSOP main event has crashed to single-digit probability. Just before the start of the WSOP, that market was trading at 35% probability. In the past month and a half, volume has ramped up from about $30,000 to more than $300,000.

Low early turnouts quickly halved the implied probability. Just prior to the start of the main event, it pushed back up past 30%. However, when it became clear that each starting day was tallying a lower number than in 2025, the odds crashed. They sit at 4% at the time of writing. It seems almost a foregone conclusion that the WSOP main event will shrink year over year for the second straight time.

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Multiple Factors Conspiring to Push WSOP Attendance Down

The WSOP has been no exception to the industry-wide trend of lower poker tournament turnouts. While a select few WSOP events enjoyed boosts in numbers, that was partially owed to structural changes designed specifically to inflate the number of reentries.

A bevy of factors has conspired to push numbers down in 2026.

The economy in general isn’t in great shape. Further, the crypto economy is in shambles compared to this time last year. Bitcoin is down almost 50% from last July. Anytime crypto is down, that’s bad for poker, since many in the industry were early adopters and have stored significant chunks of their net worth in crypto.

Specifically in poker, structures designed to encourage players to continually bust out and reenter may be bleeding bankrolls dry. Players grumbled about such structures in the wake of last year’s WSOP Paradise. Calls for more bankroll-friendly structures only grew louder this summer.

Trumpian foreign policy has turned off many international travelers as well. The WSOP typically draws players from all over the world, especially for the main event. Early indicators pointed to lower international turnout, specifically, in many early events. Full data on the number of international entries has yet to become public knowledge, though.

Finally, an unfavorable tax change may have also turned a few players away. Though most players can still deduct a portion of their losses against wins, the 90% deduction limit discourages them from racking up tons of tournament buy-ins. Previously, it had made sense for players, especially those ahead in the year, to take shots in the WSOP main event. That’s no longer as true under the current tax regime.

A repeal by the end of the year looks unlikely. Players may be adjusting their bankroll decisions at this point, accepting that reality.

Can Max Late Registration Boost WSOP Main Event?

The one factor weighing in favor of a better-than-expected final number on WSOP main event entries is the **increasing popularity of maximum-late registration (MLR) **— buying into the tournament at the latest possible moment.

Some of this year’s WSOP events have seen an absurd chunk of the field show up for MLR. In some cases, the active field more than doubled in size after MLR.

MLR has continued to gain popularity, and more information about its utility has become part of the public consciousness. In one study covered by PokerScout earlier this year, a popular poker statistician showed that late-registering pros enjoyed a return on investment (ROI) nearly double that of their early-registering peers.

The increasing popularity of MLR has many calling for structural changes, but the only certainty right now is that players are stuck with the status quo for the remaining WSOP tournaments. That includes the main event.

Last year, 1,041 players entered the WSOP main event on Day 2. They accounted for about 10.7% of the total field. A similar ratio of late entrants would barely push the 2026 WSOP main event past 9,000, so this year’s field even coming close to last year’s 9,735 will require a much heftier chunk of MLR players.

It’s not impossible, but all indicators point to a smaller WSOP main event in 2026.

Mo Nuwwarah

Deputy Editor

Mo has been reporting on the poker industry since 2013, excepting a foray into the sports betting space from 2021-2025. He's a regular in live tournaments and cash games at buy-in levels around $400-$2,000.