WSOP Releases 2025 Schedule, Phil Hellmuth Says He’s Skipping Main Event

^{Seventeen-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, seen here with Everton and Roma owner Ryan Friedkin, says the Main Event is for kids. (Image: Phil Hellmuth on X)}

After the New Year, poker players worldwide wait with bated breath for the release of the schedule for that summer’s tournament in Las Vegas. The 56^th running of the World Series of Poker will begin this summer in its (now) traditional May starting time, with its conclusion coming in June at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. One player who won’t be around for the conclusion in June is arguably its greatest champion, with age being cited as the reason for the player not taking part in poker’s Championship Event. 

2025 WSOP to Begin May 27

On Valentine’s Day, officials with the WSOP (now owned by NSUS Group, the owners of GGPoker) announced that the 2025 version of the tournament would start with its traditional $500 Industry Employees No Limit Hold’em tournament on May 27 at 2 pm (technically, a multi-flight specialty event, the $1,000 Mystery Millions, will start play two hours prior). These tournaments are the first of 100 total events held on the grounds of the Horseshoe, Paris Las Vegas, and online. For those only interested in the $10,000 Main Event, that tournament will begin on July 2 and conclude on July 16. 

“We had hoped to continue to break records last year, and we did - the WSOP Main Event was bigger than ever,” WSOP CEO Ty Stewart said. “In 2025, the WSOP schedule is better again, with something for everyone who loves the game. There’s nothing like summer in Las Vegas and we’re ready to welcome players to the biggest and best WSOP of all time.”

There are a multitude of new events on the roster, joining some traditional tournaments, that bear noting. On June 6, a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot tournament will be held that is sure to guarantee action. 

Traditional events such as the Millionaire Maker, a $1,500 buy-in tournament that guarantees the winner a million-dollar payday, will begin on June 18, and the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship (June 24) are highlights of the roster. One event, however, will look to answer the age-old question – what is better, youth and exuberance or age and treachery!

On June 22, a $1000 No Limit Hold’em tournament called “The Battle of the Ages” will kick off its two-day tournament. On Day 1A, players over fifty will take to the felt, while Day 1B (held the next day) features players under the age of fifty. Whoever survives the carnage of those two flights will come together to determine the champion on Day 2 – who will reign supreme in the “Battle of the Ages?”

Here's the official schedule for all 100 events. 

Phil Hellmuth NOT Taking Part in the Main Event

Although it is the biggest tournament in the world (as reflected by the 10,740 runners that came to the line in 2024), 1989 World Champion Phil Hellmuth stated over Twitter (now known as X) his intentions to miss the Main Event for the first time since 1988. “Here’s a video I never wanted to make,” Hellmuth says at the start of his video, “I will not be playing this year. It’s just gotten too tough…it’s exhausting…it hurts the older players. It’s turned into an endurance test, and I don’t think the World Series of Poker Main Event is measuring the skill.”

Hellmuth’s comments on the WSOP Main Event have drawn commentary from both sides involved in the situation, with some players agreeing with “The Poker Brat” and others mocking him for his perceived “weakness.” 

The current structure of the WSOP Main Event calls for grueling, minimum twelve-hour days for upwards of ten days and with little to no time off, making decisions that impact the disbursement of millions of dollars. That Hellmuth is aware enough to note that his physical and mental acuity are not up to the challenge is surprising coming from someone who has put much of his image into being “Mr. WSOP” and pursuing WSOP gold.