Hottest Players to Watch at 2026 World Series of Poker

World’s hottest poker players will convene at the 2026 World Series of Poker between May 26 and July 15. The tour is set to feature 100 live bracelet events, starting with the $550 Mini Mystery Millions all the way to the $10,000 Main Event, not to mention the $100,000 WSOP Paradise 2026 package for the top three players.

It will also mark the return of a delayed final table, harking back to the days of the November Nine format. Other novelties include WSOP daily livestreams via the official YouTube channel, new events like the $10,000 GGMillion$ High Roller, and the addition of broadcaster Jeff Platt to the WSOP team.

What’s not new are the players. Around 10,000 runners will gather for the Main Event where the best will take on the best, storylines will emerge, and a new champion will be crowned.

While keeping tabs on the world’s craftiest poker players, you might as well play a few rounds of Omaha or Texas Hold’em yourself. Official free-to-play poker platforms like PlayWSOP are the perfect complement to the two-month-long tournament.

The Champ

Shaun Deeb

The two-time defending WSOP Player of the Year with eight bracelets to his name, Deeb is the favorite for 3-peat. Last summer, Deeb crushed the $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event, taking home $3 million and coming just short of bracelet number nine.

He also picked up two runner-up finishes in Prague earlier this year, though he’s not the type to peak too early. Las Vegas is still where he tends to shine brightest and where he usually produces his best results.

Red-Hot High Rollers

Alex Kulev

There’s no such thing as easing into a tournament when Alex Kulev sits down at the table.

A bracelet winner with more than $20 million in combined earnings, Kulev heads to Las Vegas fresh off one of the biggest victories of his career. He conquered the €250,000 EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller for nearly $3 million. Aggressive when needed, patient when it matters, The Bulgarian crusher looks the type to challenge for the grand honors.

Brandon Wilson

High rollers come and go, but Brandon Wilson is here to stay. The Chicago native has earned $14 million over the last two and a half years and currently sits fourth in the 2026 GPI Player of the Year race.

March alone saw him finish runner-up in two Triton Poker events for a combined $3 million payday. His calm, fearless approach to massive buy-ins, and with confidence clearly at an all-time high, this could be the summer where he fully crosses over from respected regular to bona fide superstar.

Aleksejs Ponakovs

Aleksejs Ponakovs collects seven-figure scores as a hobby. The Latvian powerhouse already owns three WSOP bracelets and more than $40 million in career earnings, but somehow still feels underrated in conversations about poker’s elite.

Last December, he announced himself in style by taking down the $100K Triton Main Event, his first, for a jaw-dropping $4.75 million. Monte Carlo nearly delivered another million-dollar victory shortly after, only for him to narrowly miss out at a €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em event.

The Grinders & Chasers

Chino Rheem

Chino Rheem has spent years dancing around WSOP glory without ever quite grabbing the bracelet his résumé deserves. Fourteen World Series final tables and more than $4 million in WSOP cashes paints the player who always seems to be in the mix.

Three World Poker Tour titles and nearly $900,000 in cashes already in 2026 mean the veteran still has plenty left in the tank. If the cards finally align, Rheem could become one of this summer’s biggest feel-good stories.

Brock Wilson

At some point, Brock Wilson is going to win a WSOP bracelet. The only real question is whether it happens this summer.

The New Yorker enters Las Vegas playing the best poker of his career. He won two U.S. Poker Open titles and collected five tournament victories in 2026. More than $2 million in cashes underline just how dominant his 2026 campaign has been. Enough to capture a bracelet? We’ll have to wait and see.

Marius Kudzmanas

Marius Kudzmanas is a rare breed of player who successfully transferred his online prowess to the live casino table. A two-time bracelet winner, Kudzmanas has built a reputation as a high roller crusher. He’s just conquered the 2026 WSOP Europe Main Event in Prague, taking home €2 million to arrive in Las Vegas with one of the healthier chip stacks around.

The Storylines to Watch

Michael Mizrachi

Every WSOP needs its main character. Right now that role belongs to Michael Mizrachi.

“The Grinder” is coming off one of the most legendary years poker has seen in decades, winning the 2025 WSOP Main Event in a most exhilarating finale in history.

As if that wasn’t enough, he also added yet another Poker Players Championship title (his fourth) and reached the Hall of Fame status. Holder of eight bracelets and an aura that seems to grow every summer, the crowd will be watching his every move.

Viktor “Isildur1” Blom

Poker has never really had another figure quite like Viktor Blom. For years, the mysterious Swede terrorized online high-stakes games under the “Isildur1” alias, building a mythological reputation through insane swings and fearless aggression.

Most online legends struggle to recreate that aura live. Blom somehow made it look natural. Four final tables at the 2025 WSOP and a runner-up finish at WSOP Paradise proved he belongs among today’s elite tournament players as well. Then came the reminder that he’s still poker’s ultimate gambler: turning $13,000 into $1.7 million online in a wild recent run.

Cherish Andrews

There’s momentum, and then there’s the wave Cherish Andrews is riding into the 2026 WSOP. The two-time GPI Female Player of the Year has steadily evolved into one of the most dangerous tournament players in the game, regardless of category.

Last year’s WSOP featured four final tables and a runner-up finish at WSOP Paradise, confirming she can thrive under the brightest lights. Now she enters Las Vegas with a genuine shot at history: becoming the first woman since Leo Margets to win an open bracelet event in Las Vegas.

What Else to Watch for

If the 2026 World Series is anything like last year, we’re in for a wild ride. Live-streamed cash games could get to insanely high stakes, new poker scandals in the vein of Tom Goldstein will likely emerge, and dirty laundry will be spilled over on X. Last but not least, we can expect plenty of viral moments, given that the entire thing will be streamed live on WSOP’s official YouTube channel.

In any case, it’ll be anything but boring.