The long-awaited 2026 World Series of Poker schedule dropped earlier this week. Predictably, poker players had a lot to say about the matter. While there will once again be 100 live bracelet events on offer, there are some big changes afoot. The WSOP main event will once again pause after getting down to the last nine contenders. The final table will play out at a future date, which has yet to be announced. It follows the same idea that saw the ‘November Nine’ format, which was in place from 2008 to 2016.
There are a handful of new events on tap, and some format changes that have sparked fierce debate and conversation. The most passionate responses cover a variety of topics, including the 2026 WSOP Player of the Year race, tournament structures, and a variety of other pertinent issues.
Daniel Negreanu, who was out in front of the schedule rollout as a GGPoker-sponsored player, already stepped forward with his full plan for the summer. The two-time WSOP POY winner is set for another vigorous schedule for the summer of 2026.
WSOP Schedule is out and here is what mine looks:
40 Events:
-By Buy in
12 $25k-$250k
16 $10k
3 $5k
1 3k
1 $2500
3 $1500
2 $1k
1 $800
1 $300 Gladiators!-By Game Type
17 No Limit Hold’em
15 Mixed Events
8 PLO-By Start Time
5 10am Starts
1 11am Start
12 12pm Starts
2 1pm… https://t.co/6XwKlUIkIH— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) February 16, 2026
2026 WSOP POY Frontrunners
Poker’s resident rules minutiae adjudicator, Allen Kessler, was one of the first to pose a question that’s seemingly floated around for a decade or more. Of all of the players who take WSOP POY honors, Negreanu and Shaun Deeb, also a two-time winner, seem to take the contest most seriously.
Apparently the new @WSOP poy rules for player of the year are top 15 results over wsop Europe, Atlantis, and Horseshoe/Paris
Who is the favorite?@shaundeeb @RealKidPoker
Or the field
— Allen Kessler (@AllenKessler) February 17, 2026
The circumstances of the WSOP POY race have changed dramatically for 2026. With WSOP Europe moving to Prague, in late March into April, the POY contest starts at WSOP Europe, carries through the WSOP over the summer, and concludes at WSOP Paradise.
The new rules also alter the points distribution. Yueqi Zhu, a WSOP bracelet winner, five-time WSOP runner-up, and the 10th-place finisher in the 2018 WSOP main event, expressed significant concerns about the way the new points system seemingly tilts towards one specific group of players.
I was excited with the new wsop PoY then got disappointed to see the Formula favorite SHR group so much it leaves no one else any realistic chance to win. Even the chance of getting top 100 for $2.5k is smaller for 10k and mid stack groups. I ran sims with numbers from 2025 wsop pic.twitter.com/gpebeppV8z
— Rich Zhu (@yueqizhu) February 18, 2026
How Big Will The 2026 WSOP Main Event Be?
One of the biggest points of conversation is what the field size looks like for the 2026 WSOP main event. The most famous poker tournament in the world crossed the 10,000-entry barrier for the first time in 2023, with 10,043 players. The feat was repeated in 2024, with a new record of 10,112 players, before dipping to 9,735 in 2025.
Kalshi’s ever-expanding presence in the poker world set the market for whether or not the field will return to more than 10,000 players in 2026.
Currently on Kalshi, they predict a 54% chance the WSOP Main Event gets over 10,000 players.
— Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) February 17, 2026
Over the last few days, the odds have dropped to 49% yes as of the morning of Thursday, Feb. 19. Tony Dunst, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion, and long-time WPT commentator, has his money on the under this time around.
Dunst also took a moment to specifically question an assertion from all-time bracelet leader Phil Hellmuth on the vitality of tournament poker in this moment.
I think you’re just farming and poker is doing ok, but it’s def not booming.
The odds of the WSOP Main hitting 10k entries this year is 50/50 on Kalshi…so if you mean what you say then let’s put $10,000 on it and one of us will be free-rolling in the main. I’m taking under. https://t.co/8Y7AO48hZV
— TonyDunstTV (@tonydunsttv) February 18, 2026
Big Changes To Monster Stack, Millionaire Maker, And More
When it comes to the specific changes to the event schedule, there’s been a particularly strong reaction to changes to two of the signature events on the WSOP schedule. The Monster Stack debuted at the 2014 WSOP, with a structure reminiscent of the WSOP main event. Over the years, the freezeout became a multi-flight tournament, and later introduced limited re-entries.
For 2026, the changes to the format are drastic. For the Monster Stack, as well as the Millionaire Maker, a similarly popular event that’s been around since 2013, the day 1s and day 2s are significantly different. Both tournaments have four starting flights with one re-entry per flight. To further encourage re-entries, the day 2 sessions happen in parallel with some of the day 1s. For example, day 1A of the Monster Stack is on June 3. As day 1b plays out on June 4, day 2A also plays out on June 4.
Greg Himmelbrand, a four-time WSOP Circuit ring winner, was among a chorus of upset voices.
Once again @WSOP makes the Monster/Milly worse. After going from 2 to 3 to 4 flights, Now allowing D2 bust outs to reenter later D1s. So players can now fire 8 shells (Monster was ONE a few years back) AND reenter if they bust TWENTY (20) hours into the tournament. MAKE IT STOP
— Greg Himmelbrand (@GregHPoker) February 16, 2026
Not all of the commentary about the new structures and formats was negative, though. Joe Ingram inquired about a change to the 2026 WSOP $25,000 heads-up championship, and newly-minted WSOP employee Jeff Platt was quick to respond. The expansion to two starting flights opens up the possibility of a significantly larger prize pool, along with a chance at re-entry.
Max 64 per flight. Can re-enter 1B if you bust 1A
— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) February 18, 2026
More To Come
The discussions about the biggest poker series of the year will certainly continue over the coming months. As everyone prepares themselves for the 57th annual WSOP, there’s still plenty of information yet to come.
In addition to the full details surrounding the WSOP main event final table, there’s also the matter of the online bracelet events. And no matter how those scenarios, and countless others, shake out, one thing is for certain: poker players will have strong opinions, across the board.
