2026 is now underway, and the first big poker test for local players could very well be the biggest series in the history of the market, as the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP-C) returns to Deerfoot Inn & Casino in Calgary for its January series. With the action kicking off on January 7, what follows will be 13 days of Circuit action with 18 Rings up for grabs.
The January edition of WSOP-C in Calgary has traditionally been the biggest series of the year for Deerfoot, and it set new records in the market for field size & total prizes nearly every time it’s run since the inaugural series in 2022. 2026 promises to be another big series with prizes of well over $5 million; so far, the record for prizes in a series in Alberta stands at $5,808,951, set in January of 2024, with Jan 2025 coming in just a hair lower at $5,740,395, and both years hosting more than 9,000 entries each, the only times an Alberta series has seen that many entries.
The 2026 edition looks set to meet or beat those top numbers. With juiced-up Main Event and High Roller games, the extra money could easily push prizes into the $6 million zone for the first time.
Of course, in addition to Circuit Rings up for grabs for the winner of each of the 18 Ring games during the series, WSOP-C has also traditionally sweetened the pot a bit. In the past, that extra juice has come in the form of entry into the Tournament of Champions, but since 2025, the added bonus is a $5k package to the Bahamas for the year-end poker festival at Atlantis. The prize includes accommodations and entry into the Myster Bounty game.
13 Days of WSOP-C Action to Kick Off 2026
The 13-day series gets going on Jan 7 with 2 chances at Circuit Rings. The first shot comes in the traditional opening event of the series, the Big 30 Stack. Cards go in the air for that one at 11 AM on January 7, and last year the game saw more than 450 entries for prizes of more than $150k to open the series.
As always, that is followed up by the second ring-shot of the day, as the NLH/PLO Mix runs at 3 PM. This $600 game demands an understanding of both two-card & four-card poker, and past winners include Praba Siva, who scored back-to-back Rings in this event in Jan and Oct 2025.
Later in the evening on Opening Day, players will have their first chance to get some cheap entries for later in the series. With action kicking off at 6 PM, the first Cash Landmark Mega Satellite will run, with players getting 15k in chips for $360 and 1 in 10 entries getting $3,100 in cash for later use in the series. That’s plenty for a Main Event shot, plus a couple of other smaller ones, or several smaller games throughout the week.
After that, the series proceeds very similarly to past Circuit stops in Calgary. While the series games have evolved over the four years of WSOP-C action in Calgary, much has also remained consistent. Old favorites like the Big 30 Stack, the Black Chip Bounty, the Seniors, the Ladies, the Monster Stack, and both versions of the $1k are back, and new games like TORSE have been added in recent series.
The previously popular 4-Flight game, which holds the record for single-flight and total entries in an Alberta poker game, has been renamed the Mini Main Event, but otherwise appears very similar. Also, as of October 2025, the Main Event and High Roller games have bigger buy-ins ($2,200 & $3,500, respectively, in Jan 2026). Other changes include shortening the TORSE event to a single day, while extending the Seniors game, which has become an epic game with more than 500 entries typically, to finish the final table on a second day.
Tickets to Paradise
From its inception, the WSOP Circuit has been about awarding gold rings to winners, as an analog to the larger bracelet games in the big summer festival in Las Vegas. In recent years, however, the tour has been juicing up the top spot a bit with an added bonus.
The most recent bonus for Ring winners on the Circuit is a ticket to Paradise. The 2025 series at Deerfoot both featured $5k packages to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas at the end of the year for all ring winners and 2026 looks to be more of the same.
In 2025, the package included a $2,750 tournament entry for the Mystery Bounty WSOP Circuit Championship, as well as money for accommodations, a complimentary buffet during the stay, and a PokerStake Promo package. It is likely that the 2026 prize will be similar, and 36 more players from Calgary will get Tickets to Paradise in the coming year at Deerfoot Inn & Casino.
Anatomy of the 2025 Ticket to Paradise
- $2,750 entry to the $2,500 Mystery Bounty WSOP Circuit Championship
- 6 nights at Atlantis (Coral or Royal Towers)
- Complimentary buffet access during stay
- PokerStake Promo – 50% backed at 1.0 markup for SME Event #1 buy-in
Cheap Seats Online
Players heading to Calgary can also take a shot at booking a Main Event seat before they even leave home. Satellite games are still running on both GGPoker & KKPoker, with daily freerolls and satellite trees to a Main Event seat running.
poker.pro did a deep dive into the online satellite tree at GGPoker recently, but below is a look at the GGPoker satellite lobby.
2026 January WSOP-C Calgary Schedule & Structures
We are just days away from the opening salvos of WSOP-C action for 2026 at Deerfoot Inn & Casino, and the upcoming series has every chance of being the biggest ever. Will the series finally cap $6 million? Will entries hit the elusive five-digit mark? Those questions will be answered in just over 2 weeks’ time when the opening Circuit of the year concludes on January 19.
