Poker Boom Star Brad Booth Returns for 2026 WSOP Main Event

For the first time in well over a decade, Brad Booth is back in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

The Canadian, affectionately known as “Yukon Brad,” was one of the biggest personalities of poker’s boom years. From battling in Bobby’s Room to pulling off one of the most memorable bluffs in High Stakes Poker history against Phil Ivey, Booth was never far from the spotlight.

Booth believes the last time he played the Main Event was around 2012, and after years away from the WSOP and a well-documented fall from the high-stakes scene, he’s back in poker’s biggest tournament with a very different outlook.

“It’s been a minute,” Booth told PokerNews. “Definitely north of a decade. I was in the woods there for a wee bit.”

A Cash Would Mean More Than Just Money

While many players dream of turning a Main Event run into millions, Booth has something else on his mind.

A cash would be his first recorded live tournament cash since 2013 and his first-ever Main Event cash, but more importantly, it would help him continue making good on promises he made to people from his past.

“Oh, cashing the Main would mean a lot for me, but it would also mean a lot for others,” Booth said.

“I’m in a position now where money comes in one pocket and goes out the other, which I’m totally fine with. It would give me some momentum to making right some of the wrongs I did in the past.”

Last year, Booth sat down with PokerNews’ Connor Richards on Life Outside Poker in which he spoke openly about the gambling addiction and financial troubles that derailed his career. He explained how he had been rebuilding his life in Oregon, grinding low-stakes cash games and making regular good-faith payments toward longstanding debts owed to members of the poker community.

A year later, he says that process has continued.

“It feels wonderful,” Booth said. “Of course they’re micropayments right now, but when a person gets into the position that I’m in, communication and good faith is all one can offer.”

A Last-Minute Seat

Earlier in the day, Booth had posted on social media that he hoped to find a way into the tournament. A few hours later, it all came together.

“I kind of put out a couple of little feelers,” Booth explained. “Some people inboxed me and said they wanted to have a piece.”

“Then all of a sudden I woke up this morning and I had a friend saying, ‘Brad, I’ve got to get you in this.’ That’s how it worked out.”

Booth entered during Day 2abc and, two levels into the tournament, was sitting on around 55,000 chips from the 60,000 starting stack.

Booth Happy to Be Back

Tournament poker may not have been Booth’s specialty during his high-stakes heyday, but he said the transition from cash games has felt natural.

“The tournaments seem relatively soft, but it’s tournament poker and you don’t have that chance to reload.”

More than anything, though, Booth is simply enjoying being back.

“It is so exciting,” he said. “It’s not necessarily the fact that I’m playing poker. It’s just from where I was to where I am. It’s good. Good to be here.”

Booth now calls Oregon home, where he spends most of his time playing low-stakes cash games.

“I’m proud of the company I keep,” he said. “Oregon’s been wonderful to me. I look forward to going home, but I’m also really happy to be here.”

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).