Is Tournament Poker Heading to a 'Paradigm Shift' with Earlier Start Times?
Two prominent high rollers with influence in the industry may have sparked a "paradigm shift" toward earlier poker tournament start times and shorter sessions.
PokerStars ambassador Jason Koon and 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Seth Davies, on X, gave their reasons as to why they'd like tournaments to begin earlier. Not everyone agreed with their takes, but many seem to be on board with the idea of beginning sessions as early as 10 a.m.
"The industry is due for a paradigm shift in tourney start times. Starting a tourney at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and playing really late is rough. Almost no one likes it, pros and recs alike. Let's start tourneys at 10am. Finish at a reasonable time. If you bust early you can still have the evening free," Davies wrote.
High-Stakes Poker Legend Sides with Peer
Koon shared a similar take on the issue to Davies. But he took it one step further, claiming that earlier starts and finishes is better for everyone, "including staff." He continued to explain that late finishes "wrecks sleep and is terrible for overall health."
Many poker tournaments, especially large-field multi-day events, begin at noon or later, and often run until 3 in the morning. The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event, which played down to a final table on Tuesday, has featured shorter sessions that don't keep players stuck at the casino until the wee hours of the morning. But this structure isn't too common around the tournament circuit.
"Pushing recreational poker players with normal lives into the late hours of the night during tournaments is a massive deterrent to the mainstream player," Koon wrote, adding on to his original tweet.
Here's What Everyone Else is Saying
Jeremy Ausmus is one of a number of pros who chimed in to give their two cents. The six-time WSOP bracelet winner and perennial Poker Hall of Fame candidate said he's worried that 10 a.m. start times "might lose some people," and suggested that 11 a.m. might be the best option.
Martin Jacobson, the 2014 WSOP Main Event champion, called for 9 a.m. start times on Day 1 with the session ending at 7 p.m. and restarts at 10 a.m. Davies, who has $44.5 million in The Hendon Mob cashes, referred to the world champ's plan as the "dream schedule."
"Back in the day, the WSOP started tournaments at 12 because anything earlier was too early for poker players. But they didn’t really have late reg so you had to get there on time, and structures were fast so they were ITM a bit after dinner break in most events," Andy Bloch, a former Full Tilt Poker Pro, commented.
Faraz Jaka, poker pro and founder of Jaka Coaching, said that long hours of play are "super taxing" and lead to a bad quality of life. Katie Stone, co-founder of USA Chess, had already tackled the session length issue back in April.
"Agree. I work 7am-6pm 3-4 days a week. Even when I take vacation days for a series it’s hard for me to be alert at 12:45am and that’s usually when all the important decisions are happening," Jacki Burkhart responded to Koon's tweet.
Andrew Moreno, Phil Galfond, and Dan Shak were among the multitude of high-stakes players who agreed with shorter sessions and earlier start times.
On the latest PokerNews Podcast, the topic was discussed as well (starting at 11:09).
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