Top 10 takeaways from the 2026 World Series of Poker
The 2026 World Series of Poker is behind us, and we have seen plenty of big stories emerge, from well-known players winning bracelets to changes in the WSOP rules and media coverage.
Now that the dust has settled, we finally have the time to consider all we have seen and put it into perspective.
With that in mind, these are the top 10 takeaways from the 2026 World Series of Poker and the key things we learned from this year’s biggest poker festival.
10. The year-round PoY race is better
Starting this year, the WSOP Player of the Year is no longer decided only in Las Vegas, but across the WSOP festivals in Europe, Vegas, and Paradise Island. On top of that, players are now incentivized by a $1,000,000 prize pool, another decent boost for those looking to pursue the title.
The extended PoY race has created more interesting stories and made the title even more competitive, as it forces players to truly grind all year if they want a real shot.
For the first time in a long time, we don’t know who the PoY will be after the summer, and that will make the WSOP Paradise festival even more interesting to watch.
9. The HOF voting needs more fixing
In 2026, the WSOP introduced changes to the Hall of Fame voting process, allowing multiple inductees each year. Despite that, only Jason Koon managed to get enough votes to earn his place in the poker elite, while the likes of Shaun Deeb and Scott Siever were snubbed by their peers.
These relatively unexpected results stirred up a debate, with many questioning just how informed the current HOF members are on the state of affairs in the poker world. Indeed, a number of living HOF members have mostly moved on from poker for the time being, making their votes less than relevant.
Moving forward, the WSOP might want to rethink the entire process and find new ways to ensure that the best and most deserving players get their spots in the HOF first.
8. Live poker is still booming
Despite the declining viewership numbers on ESPN, one thing that’s clear is that live poker is still booming in a big way. The 2026 WSOP Main Event failed to break any records, but it still drew nearly 10,000 people to Vegas chasing the dream, and it wasn’t the only tournament to see top attendance.
The 2026 WSOP was extremely well-run, and it was every bit as busy as previous years, showing that the interest in live poker is still at an all-time high. In fact, poker’s popularity hasn't declined in any major way since the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed both live and online poker to a whole new level.
If you are a live tournament grinder, the good news is that your action won’t be drying up for years to come.
7. The Grinder is a true champion
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi had the biggest year of his life in 2025, as he won the Main Event and the Poker Players Championship in a single summer, earning him an impromptu induction into the Hall of Fame.
Yet, the champion wasn’t done there, as he came back this year and took down the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship, another extremely tough tournament, once again winning $1.35 million in the process.
In fact, this was the sixth time in Mizrachi’s career that he’s won over a million dollars in a single WSOP event, a feat that few other players can boast, given the limited buy-ins at the Series.
With this win, Mizrachi showed his 2025 performances were no fluke, and that he is still the poker champion we have grown used to seeing back in the years of the Poker Boom.
6. Getting too fancy can be costly
The 2026 WSOP Main Event heads-up battle between Lucas Jumalon and Lauri Saaskhilati produced one of the most bizarre poker hands we’ve seen in a while, and it was played on poker’s biggest stage.
Jumalon took the aggressive route with a flush draw, put in multiple big bets, and eventually made the nut flush, with four spades on the board. Saaskhilati, on the other hand, only had a pair of Jacks, which he made on the turn, but decided to pay off two massive overbets and effectively lose the match in this single hand.
While many have come to Lauri’s defense since, it’s difficult to argue for any strategic reasons for playing the hand the way he did.
The most reasonable explanation was that Lauri was simply looking for an opportunity to outplay his opponent, and it backfired in a big way, proving once again that playing strategically sound poker works a lot better than trying to make fancy plays based on live reads or table dynamics, especially in the biggest spots.
5. Shot clocks aren’t good for open events
This year, the WSOP made a big change midway through the Main Event and introduced shot clocks to speed up action. The shot clocks were short, the time banks were few, and the amateurs in the field were put at a great disadvantage without any prior notice.
It all started with one long tank by a player looking to ladder up, something we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in the Main Event. The WSOP’s decision was rash, and it drew a lot of negative feedback from the poker community, which led to its reversal for the final table.
All in all, we learned that shot clocks don’t work well in big events like the WSOP Main Event. Instead of forcing players to act in 30 seconds, the old-school way of policing the players who take too long is probably still best for tournaments like this.
4. Poker on cable TV might be finished
The WSOP returned to ESPN this year, as its new GGPoker owners decided it needed a significant media boost.
The masses expected that ESPN coverage might trigger a brand-new poker boom of sorts, but instead, the coverage went mostly unnoticed. According to the statistics, the 2026 WSOP Main Event, and even its final table, received very low viewership ratings, with just over 500,000 tuning in to watch the final moments of Jumalon’s epic victory.
While these numbers could easily be tied to a decline in poker’s popularity, the more reasonable explanation is that they reflect a declining popularity of cable TV itself.
With fewer and fewer people paying for a cable TV subscription across the US, ratings for shows like the WSOP are guaranteed to go down. Moving forward, the WSOP and other major poker events might consider airing on online streaming platforms instead, since that’s where most of their viewers are.
3. The ladies are getting more competitive
We’ve been talking about women getting more competitive in tournament poker for a while now, and the 2026 WSOP proved just how true that is.
The ladies won seven bracelets this year, with Kristen Foxen making the biggest mark by taking down the $25,000 NLH High Roller, one of the year's most competitive events.
Yanting Jiang took down the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship for a massive score of her own, while Michelle Chin dominated in the $1,500 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw event, proving women can play other poker games as well.
It’s still too early to say that the ladies can be on an equal footing with the men at the poker tables, mostly due to sheer numbers, but the results they posted at the WSOP this year prove they have what it takes to compete at every level.
2. Hellmuth’s record won’t stay safe forever
The performances of the likes of Nick Schulman, Shaun Deeb, Jeremy Ausmus, and Benny Glaser in recent years have surely not gone down too well with The Poker Brat.
While he has continually posted about their success and congratulated his opponents on their wins, Hellmuth has surely been more and more concerned about his legacy.
With 17 WSOP bracelets to his name, Phil Hellmuth is currently the undisputed king of the WSOP, but that might change within a decade. Phil remains competitive, and he had his chances at a bracelet in 2026 as well, but it’s been a while since he added one to his resume. Age surely has something to do with it, as stamina is a big part of doing well in the WSOP, but the continually improving talents of his opposition can’t be helping either.
Hellmuth’s record is safe for at least some more years, as it will take time for anyone to overtake him, but it’s reasonable to assume that one of the young guns will overtake him at the top sooner or later.
1. Nick Schulman is a poker beast
Nick Schulman is quickly turning into a living poker legend, and his WSOP results over the last four years have made him a serious contender for the title of the “Greatest of All Time.”
In 2026, Schulman won the $1,500 HORSE event for his eighth WSOP bracelet, tying with the legendary Daniel Negreanu, while also coming second in two other mixed game events, making for one of the most impressive performances of the summer.
Unlike many other players, who win a bracelet or two and then disappear for years, Schulman has been on an absolute rampage for four years straight, winning a bracelet each year, and getting inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2025.
If he can maintain this momentum, it won’t be long before Schulman’s name is regularly mentioned as the best tournament player around, and there are very few players who can reasonably challenge that title right now.
Now that the dust has settled, we finally have the time to consider all we have seen and put it into perspective.
With that in mind, these are the top 10 takeaways from the 2026 World Series of Poker and the key things we learned from this year’s biggest poker festival.
10. The year-round PoY race is better
Starting this year, the WSOP Player of the Year is no longer decided only in Las Vegas, but across the WSOP festivals in Europe, Vegas, and Paradise Island. On top of that, players are now incentivized by a $1,000,000 prize pool, another decent boost for those looking to pursue the title.
The extended PoY race has created more interesting stories and made the title even more competitive, as it forces players to truly grind all year if they want a real shot.
For the first time in a long time, we don’t know who the PoY will be after the summer, and that will make the WSOP Paradise festival even more interesting to watch.
9. The HOF voting needs more fixing
In 2026, the WSOP introduced changes to the Hall of Fame voting process, allowing multiple inductees each year. Despite that, only Jason Koon managed to get enough votes to earn his place in the poker elite, while the likes of Shaun Deeb and Scott Siever were snubbed by their peers.
These relatively unexpected results stirred up a debate, with many questioning just how informed the current HOF members are on the state of affairs in the poker world. Indeed, a number of living HOF members have mostly moved on from poker for the time being, making their votes less than relevant.
Moving forward, the WSOP might want to rethink the entire process and find new ways to ensure that the best and most deserving players get their spots in the HOF first.
8. Live poker is still booming
Despite the declining viewership numbers on ESPN, one thing that’s clear is that live poker is still booming in a big way. The 2026 WSOP Main Event failed to break any records, but it still drew nearly 10,000 people to Vegas chasing the dream, and it wasn’t the only tournament to see top attendance.
The 2026 WSOP was extremely well-run, and it was every bit as busy as previous years, showing that the interest in live poker is still at an all-time high. In fact, poker’s popularity hasn't declined in any major way since the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed both live and online poker to a whole new level.
If you are a live tournament grinder, the good news is that your action won’t be drying up for years to come.
7. The Grinder is a true champion
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi had the biggest year of his life in 2025, as he won the Main Event and the Poker Players Championship in a single summer, earning him an impromptu induction into the Hall of Fame.
Yet, the champion wasn’t done there, as he came back this year and took down the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship, another extremely tough tournament, once again winning $1.35 million in the process.
In fact, this was the sixth time in Mizrachi’s career that he’s won over a million dollars in a single WSOP event, a feat that few other players can boast, given the limited buy-ins at the Series.
With this win, Mizrachi showed his 2025 performances were no fluke, and that he is still the poker champion we have grown used to seeing back in the years of the Poker Boom.
6. Getting too fancy can be costly
The 2026 WSOP Main Event heads-up battle between Lucas Jumalon and Lauri Saaskhilati produced one of the most bizarre poker hands we’ve seen in a while, and it was played on poker’s biggest stage.
Jumalon took the aggressive route with a flush draw, put in multiple big bets, and eventually made the nut flush, with four spades on the board. Saaskhilati, on the other hand, only had a pair of Jacks, which he made on the turn, but decided to pay off two massive overbets and effectively lose the match in this single hand.
While many have come to Lauri’s defense since, it’s difficult to argue for any strategic reasons for playing the hand the way he did.
The most reasonable explanation was that Lauri was simply looking for an opportunity to outplay his opponent, and it backfired in a big way, proving once again that playing strategically sound poker works a lot better than trying to make fancy plays based on live reads or table dynamics, especially in the biggest spots.
5. Shot clocks aren’t good for open events
This year, the WSOP made a big change midway through the Main Event and introduced shot clocks to speed up action. The shot clocks were short, the time banks were few, and the amateurs in the field were put at a great disadvantage without any prior notice.
It all started with one long tank by a player looking to ladder up, something we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in the Main Event. The WSOP’s decision was rash, and it drew a lot of negative feedback from the poker community, which led to its reversal for the final table.
All in all, we learned that shot clocks don’t work well in big events like the WSOP Main Event. Instead of forcing players to act in 30 seconds, the old-school way of policing the players who take too long is probably still best for tournaments like this.
4. Poker on cable TV might be finished
The WSOP returned to ESPN this year, as its new GGPoker owners decided it needed a significant media boost.
The masses expected that ESPN coverage might trigger a brand-new poker boom of sorts, but instead, the coverage went mostly unnoticed. According to the statistics, the 2026 WSOP Main Event, and even its final table, received very low viewership ratings, with just over 500,000 tuning in to watch the final moments of Jumalon’s epic victory.
While these numbers could easily be tied to a decline in poker’s popularity, the more reasonable explanation is that they reflect a declining popularity of cable TV itself.
With fewer and fewer people paying for a cable TV subscription across the US, ratings for shows like the WSOP are guaranteed to go down. Moving forward, the WSOP and other major poker events might consider airing on online streaming platforms instead, since that’s where most of their viewers are.
3. The ladies are getting more competitive
We’ve been talking about women getting more competitive in tournament poker for a while now, and the 2026 WSOP proved just how true that is.
The ladies won seven bracelets this year, with Kristen Foxen making the biggest mark by taking down the $25,000 NLH High Roller, one of the year's most competitive events.
Yanting Jiang took down the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship for a massive score of her own, while Michelle Chin dominated in the $1,500 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw event, proving women can play other poker games as well.
It’s still too early to say that the ladies can be on an equal footing with the men at the poker tables, mostly due to sheer numbers, but the results they posted at the WSOP this year prove they have what it takes to compete at every level.
2. Hellmuth’s record won’t stay safe forever
The performances of the likes of Nick Schulman, Shaun Deeb, Jeremy Ausmus, and Benny Glaser in recent years have surely not gone down too well with The Poker Brat.
While he has continually posted about their success and congratulated his opponents on their wins, Hellmuth has surely been more and more concerned about his legacy.
With 17 WSOP bracelets to his name, Phil Hellmuth is currently the undisputed king of the WSOP, but that might change within a decade. Phil remains competitive, and he had his chances at a bracelet in 2026 as well, but it’s been a while since he added one to his resume. Age surely has something to do with it, as stamina is a big part of doing well in the WSOP, but the continually improving talents of his opposition can’t be helping either.
Hellmuth’s record is safe for at least some more years, as it will take time for anyone to overtake him, but it’s reasonable to assume that one of the young guns will overtake him at the top sooner or later.
1. Nick Schulman is a poker beast
Nick Schulman is quickly turning into a living poker legend, and his WSOP results over the last four years have made him a serious contender for the title of the “Greatest of All Time.”
In 2026, Schulman won the $1,500 HORSE event for his eighth WSOP bracelet, tying with the legendary Daniel Negreanu, while also coming second in two other mixed game events, making for one of the most impressive performances of the summer.
Unlike many other players, who win a bracelet or two and then disappear for years, Schulman has been on an absolute rampage for four years straight, winning a bracelet each year, and getting inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2025.
If he can maintain this momentum, it won’t be long before Schulman’s name is regularly mentioned as the best tournament player around, and there are very few players who can reasonably challenge that title right now.