Calgary Kicks Off 2026 Circuit Season

The 2026 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP-C) season kicks off in Canada, starting on Jan 7. That is the start of 18 events over 13 days of poker in Canada’s western poker mecca.

While much of the Jan 2026 schedule will be familiar to regulars at the Calgary Circuit, there is at least one major change that will benefit some players. The Calgary WSOP-C Seniors event has been regularly getting 500+ entries in recent runnings, and the most recent version played for around 18 hours before the winner was finally decided. For the 2026 season, the Seniors game has been turned into a two-day game, with Day 1 playing on Jan 11, and the final players returning on Jan 12 to finish it out.

It also looks like the satellite schedule has been rejigged a bit for this upcoming series. Thursday, Jan 15 will be of particular interest to landmark satellite fans, as there are two qualifier games for the Main Event running that day, at 2 PM and 6 PM.

WSOP-C Calgary Jan 2026 – Big Games & New Features

With a few minor tweaks, players who have been to previous WSOP-C Calgary events will find a very similar series this time around. The increased buy-ins for the Main Event and High Roller have continued, with a $2,300 Main and a $3,500 High Roller looking to be the norm going forward.

$2,300 Main Event

As always, those two big games close out the series, with Main Event day 1 flights starting on January 15th, and the winner likely pocketing $300k+ on Jan 19. Players can catch one of three flights to the Main Event on the 15th, 16th, and 17th, with a single-rebuy per flight policy in effect on all starting days.

The Main Event is traditionally the biggest prize pool of the series, by a mile. In the most recent series, October 2025, the 18 games generated more than $5 million in total prizes, with the Main Event accounting for nearly $2 million of that, and the winner, Travis MacMillan, pocketing nearly $315k.

• Buy-In: $2,300 ($2,050 + $250)
• Start Stack: 40k
• Blinds: 40/60 Minutes
• Dates: Jan 15 – 19, 2026
  • Day 1a: Jan 15, 11 AM
  • Day 1b: Jan 16, 11 AM
  • Day 1c: Jan 17, 11 AM
  • Day 2, Jan 18, Noon
  • Day 3: Jan 19, Noon

$3,500 High Roller

As usual, the High Roller is the penultimate game of the series. Day 1 plays out on Jan 18, alongside Day 2 of the Main Event, and while structure details haven’t been published yet, the game typically has nine levels of entry on Day 1, with 12 levels of play before the bags come out.

In October’s series, local regular Andy Truong came through for his first ring, after being heads up on the opening day of the festival and falling one spot short.

• Buy-In: $3,500 ($3,130 + $370)
• Start Stack: 50k
• Blinds: 40 Minutes
• Dates: Jan 18 – 19, 2026
  • Day 1: Jan 18, 2 PM
  • Day 2: Jan 19, 1 PM

The Two-Day Seniors

In recent series, the Seniors game has seen high attendance, and as a result, has gone very late before a winner was decided. In the most recent series, they were at the felt for around 18 hours to award the ring. It’s one thing to have an open tournament run that long, but when the game is specifically targeted at 50+ players, it’s an entirely different situation.

This time around, the Seniors will have a hard stop on Day 1, and return for a second day to finish it out, which should make it a more manageable day for the deep runners. The structures are yet to be released, so details on when Day 1 will end aren’t available, but it will likely be around 16-20 levels of play, or until the 10-handed final table is set.

• Buy-In: $400 ($330 + $70)
• Start Stack: 20k
• Blinds: 30 Minutes
• Dates: Jan 11 – 12, 2026
  • Day 1: Jan 11, 10 AM
  • Day 2: Jan 12, 10 AM

One-Day TORSE on Final Weekend

The TORSE game returns again for Jan 2026, but it’ll be a little different from the last time out. That was scheduled as a two-day game on the opening weekend of the festival, but this time, it runs on the final weekend as a single-day event.

This past October, Stephen Dauphinais picked up the first-ever ring in TORSE, the modified HORSE rotation that replaces limit hold ’em with deuce-to-seven triple draw. He bagged the win over 95 entries for almost $18k.

• Read more: Angelo Gambrelis Captures Senior Ring; Stephen Dauphinais Takes Down His Favorite Event

The Regular Goodies

Outside of the changes mentioned above, the rest of the schedule looks to be pretty similar to past events. The rebranded 4-Flight returns as the Mini Main Event, with the $400 game generally drawing the biggest crowd of the series. The first of four Mini Main flights takes off as the side game on Jan 8, and players should note that flights starting at 4 PM will have a slightly different structure from flights starting at 11 AM. Check the structure sheet before your flight for the full details.

Popular games like the $600 Mystery Bounty, the $600 NLH/PLO Mix, a $500 PKO game, the $400 Monster Stack, the $400 PLO Bounty, and the $400 Ladies game return again for Jan 2026. One final change to note for 2026 — while the opening edition of the Big 20 Stack is still firmly in place, the final game of the series is now the Double Stack Closer, notably with 40k in chips.

Calgary in January 2026

The south-west corner of Canada is among the world’s greatest winter playgrounds, and Calgary is right in the heart of that winter tradition. While poker players will find plenty of action to keep them busy in the Chrome and Sundance rooms, there is plenty off the felt to occupy attention as well.

International travelers should be prepared for cold weather, but with ice skating, tobogganing, dog sledding, and many other winter activities nearby, it might entice some to brave the January weather. Couple that with some of the best downhill and cross-country skiing in the world, and Calgary becomes a world-class winter destination for a vacation where non-playing travelers will have plenty to do.

Book now, as rooms at Deerfoot Inn & Casino tend to go quickly. There is a partner hotel nearby, but the ideal experience is in the casino hotel, where players can simply wander down the hall to the tournament rooms without ever braving the January cold. Use code WSOP0126 when you book your room for the series rate.

poker.pro will be on-site, as usual, for WSOP-C Jan, providing exclusive live coverage of the series from start to end. We’ll see you in January for some sizzling hot winter prizes in Calgary.

2026 WSOP Circuit Calgary Full Schedule