WPT World Championship At Wynn Las Vegas To Feature Largest Guarantee In Live Poker History

For the first time ever, the World Poker Tour is heading to Wynn Las Vegas. The action goes down in December, bringing the tour’s current season to a record-breaking conclusion.

The 2022 WPT World Championship $10,400 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event features a staggering $15 million guaranteed prize pool – the largest in live tournament poker history.

“This is one of the most ambitious initiatives the World Poker Tour has undertaken in our 20-year history,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “We expect this to be a highly anticipated festival and are elated to be partnering with Wynn Las Vegas to bring this concept to life.”

The WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas will feature a televised final table. There will be three single-entry starting flights, each beginning at 11 a.m. local time from Dec. 12-14, with the champion set to be decided at the final table played on Dec. 20. Players will start with 100,000 in tournament chips, with hour-long levels to start and 90-minute levels later on in the tournament.

In addition to earning the lion’s share of the massive eight-figure prize pool, the eventual champion will also have their name added to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, named after the late WPT host and Poker Hall of Famer.

According to the WPT, more than 500 players are expected to qualify for this monumental event via online and in-person satellites. WPT World Championship passports, valued at $12,000, have already been awarded through WPT Global, ClubWPT™ and the WPT live casino partners around the world. For more information about the many avenues to win your way into this event, check out the www.WorldPokerTour.com. 

While the guarantee for the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas is unprecedented, this tournament will not be the first eight-figure guaranteed event that the Wynn has run. The luxury resort, which first opened in 2005, has twice played host to the $10 million guaranteed Wynn Millions main event, which first debuted in 2021. The venue is now set to raise the stakes even higher alongside the WPT.

“We offer our guests the biggest and best poker experiences available, coupled with the world-class service and amenities that can only be found at Wynn Las Vegas,” said Ryan Beauregard, Executive Director of Poker Operations at Wynn Las Vegas. “In partnership with WPT, we have created a festival that will be a one-of-a-kind, must-attend event for both our current and new players.”

This record-breaking event will be part of the inaugural WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas series that is scheduled to run Dec. 1-20. The festival features 23 events with $22 million in guaranteed prize money.

In addition to the marquee championship event, there are several other tentpole events on the schedule, including the $2 million guaranteed $1,100 WPT Prime Championship no-limit hold’em event (Dec. 8-12), the $200,000 guaranteed $1,100 Ladies Championship (Dec. 16-18), and the $2 million guaranteed $1,600 Wynn Mystery Bounty. The unique mystery bounty event, which was pioneered by Wynn, will once again see players draw for cash prizes after they secure bounties, with possible bounty payouts up to $100,000.

The series kicks off with a $500,000 guaranteed $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em event that spans from Dec. 1-4, with six starting flights and a final day to decide a champion. There will also be a pair of high roller events, with a $25,700 buy-in running Dec. 11-12 and a $10,500 buy-in on Dec. 18.

In addition to a variety of price points and formats for no-limit hold’em players, the series also sports a number of other games to choose from, including a $600 H.O.R.S.E. event (Dec. 5), a $600 Omaha eight-or-better event (Dec. 6), $3,000 eight-game mix event (Dec. 8-9), an $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. championship (Dec. 12-13), and an $1,100 Omaha eight-or-better championship (Dec. 13-14).♠