The World Poker Tour is returning to the Commerce Casino & Hotel for the 2026 WPT LAPC Championship, and it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest stories in live poker in 2027. The $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em freezeout runs February 26 through March 3 as part of the full Los Angeles Poker Classic festival, which runs January 15 through March 7.
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The LAPC Was Gone. Now It’s Back on the WPT.
The LA Poker Classic spent its first 18 seasons, from 2003 through 2021, as one of the WPT’s flagship events. Gus Hansen won the inaugural edition in 2003, pocketing $532,490 from a 136-entry field. The roster of champions that followed reads like a tour of poker royalty: Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Mizrachi, Chris Moorman. The last WPT-branded LAPC took place in May 2021, when Balakrishna Patur won $1,015,000 from 490 entries. Then the partnership ended.
What happened next is a cautionary tale about what WPT branding actually does for a tournament. Without it, the LAPC Main Event collapsed. The 2026 edition drew just 50 entries, with winner Alex Massman collecting $158,030, a far cry from the seven-figure prizes the event once regularly awarded. At its post-COVID recovery peak in 2023, the non-WPT LAPC reached 181 entries before declining again.
“The LAPC holds an incredibly important place in the history of the World Poker Tour. Our partnership with The Commerce Hotel & Casino helped create countless memorable moments over the years, and we are proud to return in Season 25 and build upon that remarkable legacy together,” WPT CEO Adam Pliska said in the official announcement.
LA Poker Classic Results from the Past Decade
| Year | Entries | Winner | Country | Prize Pool | 1st Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017* | 521 |  Daniel Strelitz | United States | $5,001,600 | $1,001,110 |
| 2018* | 493 | Dennis Blieden | United States | $4,681,035 | $1,000,000 |
| 2019* | 546 | David “ODB” Baker | United States | $5,169,270 | $1,015,000 |
| 2020* | 490 |  Balakrishna Patur | India | $4,712,550 | $1,015,000 |
| 2021 | 69 | Michael Liang | United States | $655,500 | $175,300 |
| 2022 | 119 | Huy Lam | United States | $1,118,900 | $300,280 |
| 2023 | 181 | Alex Petrosian | United States | $1,683,300 | $401,650 |
| 2024 | 139 | Wesley Haymond | United States | $1,292,700 | $279,450 |
| 2025 | 145 | Michael Nia | United States | $1,348,500 | $308,270 |
| 2026 | 50 | Alex Massman | United States | $465,000 | $158,030 |
* Denotes a WPT year.
** Results compliments of WPT & The Hendon Mob
What We Know About Season 25 at Commerce
The Championship is a $10,000 freezeout, running February 26 through March 3, 2027. It is part of WPT Season 25. The full LAPC festival runs January 15 through March 7, giving players seven weeks of action at the Commerce Casino & Hotel in Los Angeles, California. A full event schedule will be announced separately. Commerce has confirmed it will run special promotions, giveaways, and satellite tournaments to award hundreds of seats to the main championship, which is how a field gets rebuilt from 50 to a size that matches the event’s history.
No guarantee has been announced yet, but the historical benchmark is clear. Before the pandemic, the WPT LAPC regularly drew fields above 490 entries with first prizes well over $1 million. A return to WPT branding should bring back those attendance levels. The infrastructure is there: Commerce is one of the world’s largest card rooms, the satellite network through WPT Global is live, and the event’s history speaks for itself.
The question is whether the tour’s presence alone is enough to rebuild what was lost, or whether it takes a full cycle to restore the field to where it was before COVID and before the partnership ended.
Qualify Online at WPT Global
WPT Global runs satellites into WPT events year-round, and the LAPC Championship will be on the schedule. If you want a shot at the $10,000 main event without the full buy-in, download WPT Global here and enter bonus code BONUSPRO for a 100% match on your first deposit up to $1,200. New players also receive free tournament tickets on sign-up.
Why the WPT LAPC Return Matters
The LAPC is not the only major California event that struggled without WPT branding. Bay 101’s Shooting Star Championship went through the same cycle and is now also returning to the WPT schedule. The return of WPT branding to the Commerce is a genuine test of whether the tour’s name still moves the needle for an event that became a shadow of itself without it.
For poker players, the short answer is: the LAPC used to be one of the best stops on the poker calendar. The history is real, the venue is excellent, and if Commerce backs this with proper satellite infrastructure, the 2027 field should look nothing like 2026’s 50-entry disaster. Mark February 26 on your calendar.
- Photos and info courtesy of WPT
