Poker has returned to the Palms for the first time in more than a decade, with the World Poker Tour launching its new live-streamed cash-game series, WPT The Victor, at the Palms Las Vegas from June 4 to June 6. The event marks the first poker action at the Palms since its poker room closed in 2014, ending a 12-year absence from the property’s gaming floor.
Why this matters
The return is notable because the Palms has long carried a strong identity in Las Vegas, but poker was not part of its offering for years. The original poker room closed in June 2014, and multiple recent reports describe the 2026 WPT production as the first poker activity at the property in over a decade. That makes this more than a one-off event for nostalgia; it is a sign that the Palms is once again willing to use poker as part of its brand positioning.
For poker media and fans, the timing also fits a broader summer Las Vegas poker calendar. The 2026 World Series of Poker has already drawn attention across the city, and the Palms event adds another televised poker destination to a market that has seen room closures and fewer standalone poker operations in recent years.
What is The Victor
WPT The Victor is a three-day livestreamed cash-game series built around rivalry-driven matchups rather than a traditional tournament format. The games run at $25/$50 blinds, with pot-limit preflop action and no-limit post-flop play, and each featured rivalry uses a winner-take-all twist after 100 hands.
The format also gives each featured player a $5,000 starting stack, with a single $5,000 rebuy allowed only after Hand 50. According to WPT’s announcement, the broadcast takes place each day at 4 p.m. PST and streams on the tour’s official channels. The roster mixes established pros, content creators and personalities, which is clearly designed to appeal to both poker regulars and a broader streaming audience.
The Palms backdrop
The Palms has a history with poker, but that history has been interrupted. The room closed in June 2014 after operating with fewer than 10 tables, and later reports on the property noted that poker had not returned during the post-pandemic reopening under new ownership. The resort itself reopened under San Manuel ownership in 2022, but until this week its gaming mix did not include a poker room.
That context matters because the Palms is not simply dusting off an old room; it is using a high-profile WPT production to test the market and reintroduce poker in a more media-friendly form. In practical terms, a livestreamed cash-game show can function as both entertainment and promotion, creating visibility without requiring the full operating costs of a traditional room launch.
Player and fan appeal
The event is also being used to create personality-driven content, something WPT has emphasized in its coverage. Reported lineups include players such as Jared Jaffee, Nick Rigby, Roger Nahum, Wolfgang, Jouhan Allende, Nikki Limo, Mike Dentale, Ryan Depaulo, Kyna England, Lily Kiletto, Tim “The Trooper” Watts, Kelly Minkin, Tyler Patterson and Patrick Harvey across the three days. That blend is deliberate, since WPT has framed the show around “rivalries” and recognizable names rather than purely technical poker value.
For viewers, the appeal is straightforward: it is a live Las Vegas poker production with a distinct hook, a recognizable venue and a cast built for streaming. For the Palms, the value is in associating the property name with poker again after a long gap.
Bigger picture in Vegas
The Palms return comes at a time when Las Vegas poker rooms remain under pressure. One recent industry roundup noted the closure of Resorts World’s poker room in March 2026, while another pointed out that the Palms had been listed among long-closed rooms since 2014. Against that backdrop, any meaningful poker return carries extra weight, especially off the Strip, where room economics can be more fragile.
That is why the WPT’s choice of venue is interesting. Rather than debuting The Victor at a traditional poker stronghold, the tour chose a property with a recognizable name and a built-in nightlife identity. The move suggests that poker content can still be used as a branding tool when it is packaged as entertainment first and live poker second.
What happens next
For now, the key fact is simple: poker is back at the Palms after more than 12 years, and it has returned through a televised WPT production rather than a conventional room launch. Whether this becomes a one-time showcase or a step toward something more permanent will depend on the response from players, viewers and the property itself.
Either way, the significance is real. A venue that once shut its poker room in 2014 is again hosting live cards, and that alone is enough to make the Palms part of the conversation in Las Vegas poker this summer.
