December is quickly becoming known in the poker community as much for the WPT World Championship as for the holiday season. The 2025 series, which is likely the second-biggest major tour stop of the year for Las Vegas, behind the obvious summer party, gets going on Dec 2, and runs all the way up to the final few days before Christmas.
With $5 million guaranteed in the Prime Championship alone, the WPT World Championship has huge guarantees across the board, with nearly every game in the 21-day series featuring a prize pool promise attached. A quick glance through the schedule shows guarantees of well over $12 million, with that number achieved by counting JUST the 7-figure guarantees. With a slew of 6-figure guarantees on some of the smaller events, the final guarantees for the whole series will easily flirt with $15 million or more.
In fact, with no guarantee attached to the feature event, the $10,400 WPT World Championship, the guarantees are almost certain to be eclipsed by the Championship prize pool. Last year, nearly 2,400 entries built a prize pool just shy of $23.5 million, so there’s every chance that the final prize pool numbers for this series will be $40 million or more.
There’s been no information yet about satellites, but like last year, you’ll surely be able to qualify for the WPT World Championship on WPT Global for just a fraction of the buy-in.
WPT World Championship Starts Dec 13
- Buy-In: $10,400
- Dates: Dec 13 – 21, 2025
- Three Day 1 flights: Dec 13 – 15 at 11 AM
- Day 2 – 5: Dec 16 – 19 at Noon
- TV Final Table: Dec 21 at 4 PM
- Starting Stack: 100k
- Blinds: 60/90 Minutes
- 2024 Field/Prizes: 2,392 / $23,441,600
While the series will be well underway, the marquee event kicks off on Dec 13 with the first of three starting flights. All three Day 1s get rolling at 11 am, and the flights run from the 13th through the 15th.
While there is no guarantee set for the big game, last year’s version had a healthy pool of nearly $23.5 million. Scott Stewart of the US took down the big prize of more than $2.5 million over runner-up Rob Sherwood from the UK, who pocketed $2.2 million, with 3rd-place finisher Edward Pak collecting $2 million in an end-of-game deal.
$5 Million Guaranteed in WPT Prime Championship
- Buy-In: $1,100
- Guarantee: $5,000,000
- Dates: Dec 7 – 20, 2025
- Four Day 1 Flights: Dec 7 – 10 at 11 AM
- Day 2: Dec 11, Noon
- Day 3: Dec 12, Noon
- TV Final Table: Dec 20, 4 PM
- Starting Stack: 40k
- Blinds: 40/60 Minutes
- 2024 Field/Prizes: 9,670 / $9,379,900 (2024 Gty $5 million)
The second-biggest game of the series will almost certainly be the WPT Prime Championships. A lower-priced version of the marquee event, the 2024 Prime drew more than 9,500 entries for prizes of more than $9 million, crushing the guarantee, so expect the 2025 version to also blow past $5 million in prizes.
Ladies Championship & TORSE Highlight Diverse Schedule
Outside of the big NLH events, the WPT World Championship has a lot of variety in the schedule. Ladies get their chance under the lights in the Ladies NLH Championship starting on Dec 13 at 11 AM.
The two-day event features a $250k guarantee, making it one of the most lucrative ladies-only pots on the calendar. In the 2024 edition, Tirza Sanders bagged more than $90k in a game that saw a prize pool nearly double the $250k guarantee.
The day before the ladies get started, the series will feature one of the newest formats in live poker, TORSE. Based on the venerable rotation game HORSE, TORSE removes the opening hold ’em round and replaces it with triple draw deuce, leaving the rest of the rotation the same. The first TORSE runs at 2 PM on Dec 12 with $50k guaranteed, and there is a second Championship game in the format starting Dec 18 with $150k guaranteed.
The rest of the schedule is littered with a cross-section of poker variants. Other game types on offer at the World Championship include 5-card PLO, Big-O, Mystery Bounty, O8, O8/Stud8 Mix, and Mixed Limits 2-7, along with as much NLH poker as a player might want.
December in Vegas is all about the WPT World Championship, and 2025 looks to be another record-setting year. The Winter Poker Party in Vegas is quickly becoming the can’t-miss event of the year.
2025 WPT World Championship Full Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, December 2 | 11:00 a.m. | Limit Omaha 8 | $600 | $50,000 |
| 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1A | $800 | $1,000,000 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1B | $800 | $1,000,000 | |
| Wednesday, December 3 | 11:00 a.m. | TORSE | $600 | $50,000 |
| 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1C | $800 | $1,000,000 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1D | $800 | $1,000,000 | |
| Thursday, December 4 | 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1E | $800 | $1,000,000 |
| 7:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1F Turbo | $800 | $1,000,000 | |
| 9:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $1,600 Mystery Bounty | $300 | 10 Seats | |
| Friday, December 5 | 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 2 | ||
| 12:00 p.m. | Mystery Bounty Day 1A | $1,600 | $1,000,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | NLH Turbo | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| Saturday, December 6 | 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Final Table | ||
| 12:00 p.m. | Mystery Bounty Day 1B | $1,600 | $1,000,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | NLH Turbo | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| Sunday, December 7 | 11:00 a.m. | WPT Prime Championship Day 1A | $1,100 | $5,000,000 |
| 11:00 a.m. | HORSE (2 Day) | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 11:00 a.m. | PLO Mystery Bounty Day 1A | $1,600 | $500,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | NLH Mystery Bounty Day 2 | |||
| 7:00 p.m. | PLO Mystery Bounty Day 1B Turbo | $1,600 | $500,000 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Double Play Milestone Satellite (2 x $1,100 Ticket) | $400 | 25 Prizes | |
| Monday, December 8 | 11:00 a.m. | WPT Prime Championship Day 1B | $1,100 | $5,000,000 |
| 12:00 p.m. | PLO Mystery Bounty Day 2 | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | Limit Omaha 8 (2 Day) | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | 5-Card PLO | $600 | $50,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | PLO | $3,000 | $250,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $1,100 Prime Championship | $200 | 50 Seats | |
| 7:00 p.m. | PLO Turbo | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Double Play Milestone Satellite (2 x $1,100 Ticket) | $400 | 25 Prizes | |
| Tuesday, December 9 | 11:00 a.m. | WPT Prime Championship Day 1C | $1,100 | $5,000,000 |
| 1:00 p.m. | 5-Card PLO | $3,000 | $250,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | TORSE (2 Day) | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| Tuesday, December 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1A | $1,100 | 25 Seats |
| 9:00 p.m. | NLH Turbo | $600 | $50,000 | |
| Wednesday, December 10 | 11:00 a.m. | WPT Prime Championship Day 1D | $1,100 | $5,000,000 |
| 7:30 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1A | $1,100 | 25 Seats | |
| 9:00 p.m. | NLH Turbo | $600 | $50,000 | |
| Thursday, December 11 | 12:00 p.m. | WPT Prime Championship Day 2 | ||
| 2:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1A | $1,100 | 100 Seats | |
| 2:00 p.m. | Limit Omaha 8/Stud 8 | $600 | $50,000 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1A/B | $1,100 | 25 Seats | |
| 9:00 p.m. | NLH Turbo | $600 | $50,000 | |
| Friday, December 12 | 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em (2 Day) | $1,600 | $1,000,000 |
| 12:00 p.m. | WPT Prime Championship Day 3 | |||
| 2:00 p.m. | TORSE | $600 | $50,000 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to Ladies Championship | $200 | 10 Seats | |
| 7:00 p.m. | PLO Turbo $500 Bounty | $1,600 | $100,000 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1A/B | $1,100 | 25 Seats | |
| 8:00 p.m. | WPT World Championship Party | |||
| Saturday, December 13 | 11:00 a.m. | WPT World Championship Day 1A | $10,400 | |
| 11:00 a.m. | Ladies NLH Championship (2 Day) | $1,100 | $250,000 | |
| 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1A | $600 | $250,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1A/B | $1,100 | 25 Seats | |
| 1:00 p.m. | 5-Card PLO | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $10,400 WPT World Championship Day 1B/C | $1,100 | 25 Seats | |
| 9:00 p.m. | NLH Turbo | $600 | $50,000 | |
| Sunday, December 14 | 11:00 a.m. | WPT World Championship Day 1B | $10,400 | |
| 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1B | $600 | $250,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $10,400 WPT World Championship Day 1B/C | $1,100 | 25 Seats | |
| 1:00 p.m. | Big O | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $10,400 WPT World Championship Day 1C | $1,100 | 25 Seats | |
| 7:00 p.m. | PLO Turbo $500 Bounty | $1,600 | $100,000 | |
| Monday, December 15 | 9:00 a.m. | Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1C | $1,100 | 10 Seats |
| 11:00 a.m. | WPT World Championship Day 1C | $10,400 | ||
| 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 2 | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em | $1,100 | $200,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | PLO Progressive Bounty (PKO) | $3,000 | $250,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | 2-7 Mixed Limits (NL Single Draw, PL Double Draw, Limit Triple Draw) | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | NLH Turbo $500 Bounty | $1,600 | $100,000 | |
| Tuesday, December 16 | 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1A | $1,100 | $2,000,000 |
| 11:00 a.m. | Limit Omaha 8 Championship (2 Day) | $1,600 | $150,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | WPT World Championship Day 2 | |||
| 2:00 p.m. | NLH Progressive Bounty (PKO) | $3,000 | $250,000 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1B | $1,100 | $2,000,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $25K NLH High Roller | $3,000 | ||
| Wednesday, December 17 | 11:00 a.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1C | $1,100 | $2,000,000 |
| 12:00 p.m. | WPT World Championship Day 3 | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | HORSE Championship (2 Day) | $1,600 | $150,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | PLO | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | NLH High Roller (2 Day) | $25,800 | ||
| 3:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $3K NLH | $400 | 10 Seats | |
| 6:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1D Turbo | $1,100 | $2,000,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $3K NLH | $400 | 10 Seats | |
| Thursday, December 18 | 11:00 a.m. | Seniors NLH Championship (3 Day) | $1,100 | $500,000 |
| 12:00 p.m. | WPT World Championship Day 4 | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 2 | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1A | $3,000 | $3,000,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | TORSE Championship (2 Day) | $1,600 | $150,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | NLH High Roller (2 Day) | $25,800 | ||
| 3:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $3K NLH | $400 | 10 Seats | |
| 7:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $3K NLH | $400 | 10 Seats | |
| Friday, December 19 | 9:00 a.m. | Milestone Satellite to $3K NLH | $400 | 5 Seats |
| 12:00 p.m. | WPT World Championship Day 5 | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Final Table | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 1B | $3,000 | $3,000,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | Mixed Triple Draw (2-7, A-5, Badugi) | $600 | $50,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em | $800 | $100,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $10K Seniors High Roller | $1,100 | 5 Seats | |
| 7:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $3K NLH 6-Max | $400 | 10 Seats | |
| Saturday, December 20 | 11:00 a.m. | Seniors High Roller (3 Day) | $10,000 | $500,000 |
| 11:00 a.m. | Mystery Bounty Day 1A | $1,600 | $1,000,000 | |
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Day 2 | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $1,600 Mystery Bounty | $300 | 20 Seats | |
| 1:00 p.m. | NLH 6-Max | $3,000 | $500,000 | |
| 4:00 p.m. | TV Final Table – Prime Championship | |||
| 7:00 p.m. | NLH 6-Max Turbo | $1,100 | $100,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | Milestone Satellite to $1,600 Mystery Bounty | $300 | 20 Seats | |
| Sunday, December 21 | 11:00 a.m. | Mystery Bounty Day 1B | $1,600 | $1,000,000 |
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em Final Table | |||
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em | $800 | $50,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | NLH 8-Max | $10,500 | ||
| 4:00 p.m. | TV Final Table – WPT World Championship | |||
| 6:00 p.m. | 5-Card PLO Turbo | $600 | $50,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | Mystery Bounty Day 1C Turbo | $1,600 | $1,000,000 | |
| Monday, December 22 | 12:00 p.m. | Mystery Bounty Day 2 | ||
| 12:00 p.m. | No Limit Hold’em | $1,100 | $100,000 |
