WPT World Championship $40M Prize Pool Includes $2.4M Overlay – World Poker Tour

The World Poker Tour fell just short of the ambitious $40 million, however WPT CEO believes the overlay is an investment in the future of the event, the WPT, and the players themselves.

Jeff Walsh Dec 15, 2023 The WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.The holidays arrived a little early for poker players at the Wynn and it was the World Poker Tour came was bearing gifts. When the total entries in the $40 million guaranteed WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas were tallied at the end of registration, the final number reached 3,835. An impressive number for any $10K, but not the 4,081 needed to hit the target guarantee.

So, in the end, the final prize pool is exactly that: $40 million, which now includes an overlay of just over $2.4 million, an added amount of value to players in the field of one of the biggest poker events of the year.

Just one year after crushing the inaugural $15 million guarantee, to the tune of $29 million, the World Poker Tour and Wynn Las Vegas partnered again and kicked up the stakes. In the face of worldwide competition, they came up with an ambitious guarantee – one that energized players and reinforced the must-play aura of the WPT World Championship. In the end, the unadjusted prize pool was just over $37.5 million – $8.5 million more than last year.

The amount of money missed represents just 6% of the guarantee, and for players it’s the equivalent of having 246 fewer players to get through to reach the destination of the now-announced $5,678,000 first-place prize. It’s not just first-place that will walk with life-changing money, all six players of the final table will walk with seven-figure paydays.

Right after registration closed, World Poker Tour CEO Adam Pliska spoke with the media in attendance about the event, the overlay, and his vision for the future of the partnership with Wynn Las Vegas.

“We were creating a stretch goal, substantially higher definitely than the guarantee last year, but more than that, substantially higher than the prize pool for last year,” Pliska said. “We wanted that because we realized that was the best avenue to provide the value to the players. Now our ultimate goal is to create absolutely the best tournament that we can.

“We are growing this franchise and we want to make this something that lasts for many, many years,” he continued. “The $40 million guarantee is our way of making a truly stretch goal and to say that we are committed. We’re not going any place. We’re building this up. We’re going to continue to make positive changes.

“But the most important thing we are after – we want players to say that this was the best player experience. And we’ve had so much positive feedback. And a lot of that is that the players have been contributing to that feedback. If you ask me what I’m proudest of is that I truly believe that we have taken the feedback to heart.”

To put it in perspective, according to WPT Executive Tournament Director Matt Savage, this is not only the biggest prize pool in World Poker Tour history, but the day 1D field of 1,523 entries is also the single biggest one-day prize pool in the Tour’s history ($14,925,400, rake adjusted)

A breakdown of the entries by starting flight:

Day 1A: 609 entries (202 advanced – 33% of the field) Day 1B: 730 entries (265 advanced – 36% of the field) Day 1C: 973 entries (337 advanced – 34% of the field) Day 1D: 1,523 entries

Total Entrants: 3,835

Pliska went on to praise his team at the World Poker Tour as well as the partnership with the Wynn calling the partnership “probably one of the great transformational chapters of the World Poker Tour.” Ultimately, Pliska viewed the overlay not as a failure but as an investment in the company, the events, and the players.

“We believe that the growth of the World Poker Tour, the growth of good poker all over, helps poker. At the end of the day, what are we competing with? We’re competing with the real estate in the minds of people that they want to play this game. And so, if they come here and they have an excellent experience, I think we’ve done a great job for the brand, but I (also) think we do a good job for poker.”

FeatureTim FiorvantiWPT Championship Awakens Spirit of Aussie Poker Legend James Obst After more than three-and-a-half years away from live poker, James Obst has come roaring back with a series of major successes, culminating in his victory at WPT Australia.

FeatureWPT StaffEverything You Need To Know About the ClubWPT Gold $5M Freeroll History will be made at the 2024 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas with the ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll that promises a $1,000,000 first-place prize.

NewsWPT StaffVirginia Online Poker Regulated online poker hasn’t yet arrived in Virginia, but aspiring grinders still have options for playing online poker legally in the Old Dominion. Sweepstakes poker sites offer the best legal alternative to real-money online poker in Virginia. Platforms like ClubWPT award substantial sweepstakes prizes, including sweepstakes credits redeemable for cash. This guide to Virginia online…

FeatureJeff WalshFrom Shot Takers to Survivors: $1M Paydays Are a Dream Scenario World Poker Tour’s newest product, ClubWPT Gold, is looking to make a splash this December with a record-setting $5 million freeroll and using the time-tested attraction of offering the opportunity of winning $1 million.

FeatureTim FiorvantiWorld Poker Tour Is Where Millionaires Are Made For more than two decades the World Poker Tour has been in the business of making poker dreams come true. In December, the ClubWPT Gold Invitational Freeroll will do that again by making the winner an overnight millionaire.

NewsJeff WalshClubWPT Gold $5M Freeroll Headlines WPT World Championship Festival The 2024 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas features a record-setting $5 million freeroll in support of WPT’s newest product: ClubWPT Gold.

AnteWPT StaffWPT Global Summer Festival Offers Players Shot At WPT Championship WPT Global Summer Festival brings more than 350 tournaments, more than $8 million in guarantees, and the chance to capture one of three major World Poker Tour titles.