Despite persistent rumors of impending relocation in recent years, the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino has officially been announced as the site of the World Series of Poker in 2021. The Las Vegas venue is expected to undergo remodeling in the coming years as part of a rebranding under Hyatt Hotels, but the Rio name is likely to remain moving forward. The off-strip casino first hosted the WSOP in 2005.
In the decade and a half since the series moved from Binion’s to the Rio, the latter casino has become the runaway leader in terms of poker tournament prize money awarded, with more than $3 billion paid out to date. The massive summer series has been the major driving force behind this dominant performance, with hundreds of millions awarded at each WSOP. The last live version of the series, held in 2019, paid out a record $293,183,345, or more than all but the top 12 casinos have throughout their entire history.
The Bellagio Hotel Casino is the only other venue in the world to have awarded more than half of a billion dollars in poker prize money, with over $572 million paid out since opening in 1998. Much of that prize money has come in World Poker Tour events, with four WPT series taking place on-site per year at the height of the poker boom. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa sits in third place with more than $440 million in tournament payouts made. It is the lone Atlantic City, New Jersey casino represented among the top 10.
Seven of the top 10 casinos on this leaderboard are located in the United States, with four being found in Las Vegas, including The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, which currently leads all casinos worldwide in 2021 prize money awarded with over $19 million so far. Casino Barcelona is the highest-ranking international casino with $408 million in lifetime poker tournament payouts. The venue has played host to massive events on both the European Poker Tour and the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS.