A Deep Dive into the WPT Prime World Championship and the 2024 Prime Season

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Nov 23, 2024 7 min read

The WPT Prime World Championship returns to the WPT World Championships at Wynn Las Vegas from December 8-14. With a $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, this event has become one of the most sought-after mid-stakes majors on the tournament circuit.

The WPT Prime World Championship has quickly become one of the most popular mid-stakes events and is the reigning Global Poker Award winner for Best Mid-Major Tour/Circuit. The tournament attracts a wide range of players eager to compete for both the title and a significant payout. The 2023 edition was a record-breaker, drawing 10,512 entrants and generating a $10,196,640 prize pool. Calvin Anderson turned his $1,100 buy-in into a career-best score of $1,386,280.

While the ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational and WPT World Championship have garnered their share of excitement, the WPT Prime World Championship remains one of the standout events on this year’s thrilling schedule.

Few $1,100 buy-in tournaments offer the potential for high-six and seven-figure payouts, but the WPT Prime World Championship delivers just that this December. It serves as an ideal launching pad for professional players eager to climb the ranks of the poker world, while also drawing recreational players with the tantalizing prospect of a life-changing payday.

WPT Prime World Championship Schedule

The tournament features four Day 1 flights (Day 1A–1D), each with a $1,100 buy-in, running from December 8 to December 11. Each flight sees the entrants start with 40,000 chips, and each Day 1 plays down to the money. Players who survive the first hurdle will continue to Day 2 on December 12, followed by Day 3 on December 13. The livestreamed final table is scheduled for 5 p.m. on December 14.

With participation in WPT Prime events continuing to surge in 2024, this year's event could potentially eclipse those numbers, making it a must-play for anyone involved in the mid-stakes tournament scene.

WPT Prime By the Numbers

The WPT Prime series has experienced tremendous growth in 2024, expanding across four continents with larger fields and bigger prize pools. Compared to 2023, the year-on-year increases highlight how the tour continues to captivate the global poker community.

This year, WPT Prime Championship events recorded 14,647 total entries across its events, generating $14.5 million in prize pools. Collectively, champions walked away with over $2.3 million in winnings.

Biggest Events of the Year

Five stops stood out for their numbers, with four of the top five setting new records.

• WPT Prime Taiwan: 1,666 entries, $1,580,060 prize pool
• WPT Prime Playground Championship: 1,587 entries, $1,140,251 prize pool
• WPT Prime Liechtenstein: 1,411 entries, $1,663,346 prize pool
• WPT Prime Gold Coast: 1,395 entries, $1,611,806 prize pool
• WPT Prime Amsterdam: 1,340 entries, $1,414,918 prize pool

Victories and Career-Defining Moments

From Australia to Europe, 14 champions emerged from this year’s WPT Prime tournaments, each etching their names in poker history.

• Lorenz Schollhorn’s triumph at Gold Coast, pocketing a year-high $267,998.
• Rutger Hennen, who claimed $228,354 at WPT Prime Amsterdam, in what was one of the year’s toughest fields.
• Rising star Jereld Sam, who secured the title in Taiwan, earning $250,231 in a career-defining performance.

A special mention also needs to go to WPT Prime Liechtenstein winner Marc Sen.

Sen finished as runner-up to David Kozma in the 2023 WPT Prime Liechtenstein, outlasting all but one of the 1,664-strong crowd. He collected the equivalent of $193,200 that day, but falling at the final hurdle of a large-field poker tournament is a bitter pill to swallow regardless of the financial rewards that come with it.

Considering that, Sen dusted himself down and headed to the Grand Casino Liechtenstein the following year. Three days after his arrival, Sen found himself as the last player standing and became the 2024 Main Event champion; he banked another $236,466 and, like all WPT Prime Champions, a seat in the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas for his efforts.

Comparing to 2023

Across nearly every stop, WPT Prime 2024 saw remarkable increases in player participation. For example:

• WPT Prime Paris grew from 1,071 entrants in 2023 to 1,242 entrants in 2024, a 16% rise.
• WPT Prime Gold Coast's attendance increased from 1,224 entrants in 2023 to 1,395 entrants in 2024, an almost 14% increase.
• WPT Prime Slovakia had 732 entrants in 2024, a 33% increase from 552 in 2023.
• Notably, the massive WPT Prime Taiwan saw an increase of 307 players, going from 1,359 entrants in 2023 to 1,666 entrants in 2024.

2024 WPT Prime Champions

WPT World Championships Full Schedule

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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