The World Poker Tour was built with cameras in mind from day one. The launch of WTP can be traced back to 2002, when Steven Lipscomb was in charge. Gus Hansen was the first WPT winner in 2002, who played with the kind of loose-aggressive style that plays great on TV because it creates action and forces big decisions.
That changed poker language for mainstream fans. Suddenly, you weren’t watching two guys stare at each other. You could see when someone was repping an overpair. Or when they were floating with backdoors. Or when a triple-barreled was pure story-time. It also made personalities stick.
WPT also went after big broadcasts like a pro in a tournament goes after weak opponents. In fact, poker got a lot of attention when NBC showed a WPT “Battle of the Champions” segment before Super Bowl XXXVIII. A lot of people watched the show. The brand’s sports presentation angle wasn’t hidden either. It had studio hosts, clean graphics, and a format that made the final table feel like the most important part of the season, not just the last nine players in a room.
Today, a reputable WPT review is always a handy reference point. For example, when a room advertises “strong security” and a “fair environment,” what it really means is that there will be less bot noise, less chance of collusion, and fewer games that feel written. Other important features include AI-driven monitoring and fairness language. There is also a detail that affects your win rate. Specifically, the system only lets two professional players sit at a cash table at a time. That’s a direct shot at bumhunting dynamics. If you’ve ever watched a soft table get swarmed the second a weak player sits, you already know why that matters.
Apart from nostalgia, the best proof that WPT is still a heavyweight is the size of the modern flagships. In December 2024, WPT posted official numbers for its World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. Specifically, 2,392 entries and a $23,441,600 prize pool. In 2025, the WPT published official numbers showing 1,865 entries and an $18,277,000 prize pool. The top prize was listed at $2,528,200, including the winner’s seat for the next Championship.
At this point, the WPT World Championship at Wynn is so big that every orbit is a major story. The live coverage from WPT shows that the field of 1,865 players is down to 16. Day 5 begins at noon (PST) on December 19, 2025, and play will continue until the televised final table of six players on December 21, 2025.
As for the future, the direction is already written into WPT’s own choices. They’ve locked in a multi-year broadcast partnership with CBS Sports Network for premiere episodes. This signals that this isn’t another niche tournament calendar, but a product.
The Wynn Championship will continue to be the main event, and there is already a seat reserved for the December 2026 edition. This means that things will probably stay the same in the near future: the same venue, the same festival-style schedule. However, integration across TV, live events, and online channels is likely to expand even more.
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