The World Series of Poker is well underway this summer, and there’s already been millions of dollars exchanged across the tables in Las Vegas. Phil Ivey getting coolered on a final table. Fights. The debut of Nicholas Hellmuth. An ambitious punt of a bluff in the $250k High Roller. And the $10,000 Main Event hasn’t even started yet!
But aside from the big wins and player storylines, out of the rule changes that have come in this year which have proved the most controversial or might have the biggest impact on play? And what other poker trends of 2026 can be seen in the way the poker world’s biggest event of the year is unfolding?
Advertising and Outside Prize Rules are Tightening
The 2026 series will have to go quite far to top the drama of last year. Aside from Michael Mizrachi‘s dominating heroics to take the $10 million WSOP Main Event prize and his fourth $50,000 Player’s Championship on the way to instant, spontaneous Poker Hall of Fame induction, the 2025 WSOP had arguably the biggest ever scandal in pro tournament poker.
It was a scandal that forced WSOP to change it rules comprehensively, and saw two players banned from competing in the series while it remains held at Caesars Entertainment properties.
In the $1,500 Millionaire Maker tournament the two final players – Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll – were accused of conspiring to let Yaginuma win. Why? Because Yaginuma had a $1 million prize on the line with rival poker operator to WSOP, ClubWPT.
ClubWPT ran a Golden Ticket promotion, in which they would add $1 million to the prize of any Golden Ticket holder who won a WSOP Bracelet at the 2025 summer series. But this promotion was with a third party entity vis a vis the WSOP, which many pointed out before the series could be a risky move. Nevertheless, Yaginuma had one of the tickets and he reached heads up play with it on the line.
The poker world was mostly convinced that Yaginuma and Carroll conspired to let Yaginuma win and then split the $1 million so they’d both make more money. WSOP was of this view, too, and while they did pay out all prize monies, they very notably and publicly would not award a bracelet for that event.
Now, as of 2026, the rules have been officially changed to try and prevent such an issue from arising again.
New Poker Brands are Shaking up the Scene
For a long time after online poker’s Black Friday in 2011, online competition was scarce in the US. Globally, too, a lot of platforms folded or decided regulatory risks and costs weren’t worth it as players got nervous and the prize pools shrank.
Then came the rise of GGPoker, which now owns WSOP, having bought it from Caesars Entertainment in 2024. GGPoker showed that online poker definitely still had a market, and PokerStars has had somewhat of a resurgence, too.
Now, in 2026, there’s even more competition. Sweepstakes poker operators and expanding player pool agreements across the US has lead to more online players than ever.
In 2026 poker can be played online for free with no financial commitment or stress. Free poker sites are popular with new players learning the game, but they’re also used by regs or grinders looking to practice quick calculations or exploits without pressure.
All of this different and evolving competition means operators are more on the ball about sharing promotional space. For example, the 2026 WSOP rules were changed to ban players on feature tables from wearing patches on their clothes advertising, well, pretty much anything. But the rule was clearly conceived to target patches for other competing poker operators.
Patches have been a long-standing tradition in poker world, and give players the potential for extra sponsorship income – so that shows you how much more competitive the online poker business is at the moment.
The WSOP has also apparently been hot on not allowing content creators to share content from live games until a lengthy delay has passed – and clips can’t be longer than 90 seconds.
WSOP Back on Mainstream TV
There is undoubtedly more competition in online poker than ever. However, all those competitors are only in the market because there are a lot more players now. A new generation of poker fans has largely forgotten about the perils of 2011 and player numbers are booming both online and offline.
WSOP will also care more about external promotion this year after the 2025 controversy, but also because the series will be back on mainstream TV again for the first time since 2020.
The WSOP Main Event was first broadcast on ESPN in 1987. The network has been on and off as a partner ever since. Now in 2026, the WSOP Main Event will once again receive comprehensive multi-platform coverage through the US’ biggest sports broadcaster.
Some of the most iconic moments in poker history were broadcast through that partnership, and WSOP will be hoping the cards fall on some more legendary action this year.
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