PokerNews live coverage of this event will begin on Day 2 (July 1). Until then, we will keep readers informed with updates on chip counts and core event statistics, including entries and the prize pool. Scroll down to see more.
Poker fans were treated to many exciting hands at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) the past week.
But there's always a player involved in one of these juicy hands who doesn't find it as interesting as the rest of us. Take Allen Kessler, for example, who took a cruel Razz bad beat to bust from the $3,000 Nine Game Mix event, a hand you'll read about in just a bit.
"The Chainsaw" isn't the only recipient of a bad beat or on the wrong end of a brutal cooler the past week at the WSOP.
As per the WSOP LIVE app.
The road to success at the World Series of Poker isn’t just built at the tables anymore. In 2026, players are increasingly turning to technology to sharpen their edge, streamline their schedules, and survive the grind of a long Las Vegas summer.
While real-time assistance during play is strictly prohibited, there is a growing ecosystem of tools that players can use away from the table to prepare, study, and stay organized throughout the series.
According to the WSOP LIVE app.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is set to usher in a new era for its winter flagship, WSOP Paradise, after confirming the festival will move from Atlantis Paradise Island to the luxury Baha Mar resort, also in the Bahamas.
The 2026 edition, slated to run from Tuesday, December 1 to Friday, December 18, will shuffle up and deal in a new home roughly six miles up the Bahamian coast from where Austria’s Bernhard Binder announced himself to the wider poker world, capturing the record-breaking 2025 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event just a few months ago.
In an announcement on social media platform X, the WSOP wrote, "The next chapter of WSOP Paradise is coming... Bigger. Better. Unmissable. This December, the world's fastest-growing poker event arrives at the stunning Baha Mar."
According to the WSOP LIVE app.
The rail around the feature table in the Paris Ballroom is packed. One of poker's all-time greats, Nick Schulman, is chasing a ninth World Series of Poker bracelet, but most of the crowd isn't there to watch him. They're there for Koji Fujimoto.
When Fujimoto closes out the heads-up battle to defeat the Hall of Famer and capture his maiden WSOP bracelet, the room erupts. The cheers come from dozens of students who have traveled from Japan, where Fujimoto teaches poker free of charge.
The excitement of the Main Event arrives a few days early as Event #72: $1,000 Mini Main Event No-Limit Hold'em returns to the WSOP schedule the 2026 World Series of Poker hosted by the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. This tournament serves as the ultimate mass-participation event, offering the "Main Event experience" at a fraction of the cost.
Today is the second starting flight, with a massive 60,000-chip starting stack; the Mini Main Event is a lock to be one of the largest-field events of the summer. Players from across the globe will descend on Las Vegas with hopes of turning a $1,000 buy-in into a massive six-figure payday and a coveted gold bracelet.
Flight B kicks off at 10 a.m. Players will navigate 22 levels on Day 1, each lasting 30 minutes. The rapid-fire nature of the levels ensures the field narrows quickly, while the 60,000-chip stack provides plenty of early play.
Late registration remains open for 12 levels (until approx. 5 p.m. for each starting flight). Players eliminated in Flight A yesterday may enter Flight B or C, and those who bust out of Flight B today may enter Flight C on Tuesday. The field combines on Wednesday, July 1, at 11 a.m. to play down to a winner.
The Mini Main Event is the "everyman's" championship. It mirrors the Main Event's energy and prestige but is accessible to recreational players. With a first-place prize that often approaches $1 million, it represents one of the best ROI (Return on Investment) opportunities of the entire series.
In 2025, Martin Kabrhel conquered a massive 10,794-entry field to earn $843,140. The sheer scale of the event makes it a marathon of endurance. “Everybody loves me!” Kabrhel joked, adding that he'd have liked the bracelet to have “a few more diamonds on it.”
In 2024, Georgios Skarparis won this tournament for $554,925 when he defeated a field of 6,076 contenders. The previous year, the Mini Main drew 5,257 entrants, who created a $4,678,730 prize pool. America's Brad Gafford came out on top, raking in $549,555 and his first WSOP bracelet.
Planning on playing this event? PokerNews activates MyStack for every WSOP event, regardless of that tournament's buy-in, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting
MyStack is a free poker tool that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!
Stay closer than ever to the action with MyPlayers. This brand new, free feature on PokerNews puts your favorite poker players front and center. Whether you're keeping tabs on legends like Daniel Negreanu or following a friend grinding their way through a Day 2, MyPlayers delivers real-time updates tailored just for you. No subscriptions, no paywalls - just the hands, chip counts, and bustouts that matter most.
It’s simple: log in, search for any player in our live coverage, hit the star, and they’ll be added to your personalized MyPlayers list. You’ll see their progress across all live-reported events, with chip counts and updates pinned right where you need them at the top.
From railbirds to backers, MyPlayers is the smarter way to stay connected to the game.
Event #72: $1,000 Mini Main Event
Day 1b Started
button in Safari
