WPT Prime Set for New Records in 2024
5 minutes
Last Updated: January 25, 2024
2023 was one of the best years for the World Poker Tour as a whole, and it was marked in particular by the amazing success of WPT Prime, the organization’s mid-major tournament tour that allows players to get the full WPT experience at a fraction of the price of the Main Tour.
WPT Prime set new records over and over in 2023, with the Prime attendance record broken on four separate occasions, and overall records for WPT events in Europe and WPT events in the world broken at Lichtenstein and Championship (Wynn at Las Vegas) events.
As the tour prepares for another exciting season in 2024, we take a look back at the Tour’s achievements in 2023, the calendar for the first half of the year, and all the reasons you should get excited about playing the next Championship event nearest to you.
Year of Records for WPT Prime in 2023
WPT Prime is a relatively new tournament circuit, with the first Prime events played in 2022 and the inaugural season featuring just six stops, across four continents.
That first season in 2022 was just a trial run, as the WPT Prime tour quickly expanded to more than double the number of festivals in 2023, as 14 stops were included in the calendar last year in 12 different countries.
From France and Slovakia to India and Cambodia, the festival covered all the bases and culminated in the massive WPT Prime Championship played at the Wynn Las Vegas in December last year.
The massive rebirth of live poker gave wings to the WPT Prime tour, as one event after another continued to attract unprecedented crowds, breaking records left and right.
The first event of the season, WPT Prime Paris attracted 1,071 players and immediately broke the tours attendance record. That one would not stick for too long either, as 1,224 entries were made into the next Main Event at Gold Coast shortly after.
The Gold Coast number held the top spot for a good chunk of the year, although events in Cambodia, Amsterdam, and Vietnam all came dangerously close to overtaking as the biggest Prime events ever.
When the tour rolled into Taiwan in August, it was clear that yet another record would be set, as 1,359 players entered the Main Event and created a prize pool in excess of $1.2 million.
The very next month, WPT Prime returned to Europe and set another record at the luxurious Grand Casino Lichtenstein with 1,644 entries made, making it the biggest official WPT tournament played on European soil to date.
Of course, all these numbers fade in comparison to what WPT achieved with its WPT Prime Championship at the Wynn, which was played ahead of the WPT World Championship last December and brought together 10,512 players.
The event went above the expectations of even those working at the WPT, as it more than doubled the $5 Million guarantee and became the largest WPT event ever in terms of turnout and set the biggest prize pool for a $1k WPT event in the tour’s history.
With so many records broken in just a single year, and WPT leaving an amazing impression on all who attended its events in 2023, the only question that remains is how far the Prime Tour can get this year and what new records we can expect in 2024.
Top Mid-Major Tour in 2023 – A Detailed Look
The WPT Prime tour created history in 2023 with 22,290 entries made across its 14 Main Events, eight of which managed to attract more than 1,000 entries and one of which received over 10,000 entries in total.
With Main Event buyins set at $1,100, more than $20,000,000 in player prizes was paid out to the players, with thousands making the money and getting a slice of the cake.
If you are wondering which events performed the best, here is a more detailed look at the 2023 WPT Prime events, their attendance, and prize pool:
| Date | Event | Entries | Prize Pool |
| January 31 | WPT Prime Paris | 1,071 | $1,127,645 |
| March 1 | WPT Prime Gold Coast | 1,224 | A$2,203,200 |
| March 16 | WPT Prime Cambodia | 1,011 | $980,670 |
| March 28 | WPT Prime Amsterdam | 1,000 | $1,050,348 |
| April 13 | WPT Prime India | 857 | $618,832 |
| May 11 | WPT Prime Slovakia | 552 | €529,920 |
| May 24 | WPT Prime Vietnam | 1,151 | $1,079,611 |
| May 29 | WPT Prime Spring Festival (Online) | 218 | $218,000 |
| June 7 | WPT Prime Sanremo | 838 | $860,830 |
| August 2 | WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence | 457 | $482,592 |
| August 16 | WPT Prime Taiwan | 1,359 | $1,237,387 |
| September 6 | WPT Prime Lichtenstein | 1,644 | $1,841,280 |
| September 28 | WPT Prime Madrid | 396 | $387,858 |
| Dec 7 | WPT Prime Championship (Las Vegas) | 10,512 | $10,196,640 |
WPT Prime Is Back in 2024
Following the incredible success of the tour in 2023, WPT Prime is coming back stronger than ever in 2024, with a total of six Prime festival already announced and scheduled by the WPT.
The schedule for this year will look a little differently than it did last year, but a number of last year’s most successful events are already back on the calendar for 2024.
The tour will kick off with WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence on February 1, the same time slot that was taken by WPT Prime Paris last year, still offering French players a Prime event this winter.
From there, the tour will travel to Amsterdam in March, and this year’s WPT Voyage event will feature a WPT Prime Voyage Championship as well, making the Texas Hold'em Poker at sea experience more affordable than ever.
The Prime Slovakia event kicks off on April 10, a bit earlier than last year, while the Gold Coast event kicks off just eight days later for all the poker players Down Under.
For the time being, WPT Prime Sanremo on June 6 is the last of the announced festivals, but plenty of new events will certainly be scheduled for the second part of the year sometime this spring.
While the Prime Championship in Cambodia was not yet scheduled for this year, the WPT Main Tour will make a stop there in just a few days, as WPT Cambodia kicks off on January 25 with a buyin of $3,500 for the Main Event.
A special WPT Vietnam Passport to World Championship event will also be played in May, offering Asian players a chance to compete for a WPT Championship seat at an affordable price of about $1,200 without having to travel out to Las Vegas.
The new season of WPT Prime is guaranteed to bring plenty of big fields, massive prize pools, and exciting new records, as it remains the best mid-major poker tour in the world in 2024.
Here is a look at the first half of the schedule that was released for this year’s WPT Prime events as it stands right now:
| Date | Event | Buyin | Venue |
| February 1 | WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence | €1,100 | Pasino Grand |
| March 17 | WPT Prime Amsterdam | €1,100 | Holland Casino Amstedram |
| April 1 | WPT Prime Voyage | $1,100 | Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady |
| April 10 | WPT Prime Slovakia | €1,100 | Card Casino Bratislava |
| April 18 | WPT Prime Gold Coast | A$2,000 | The Star Gold Coast |
| June 6 | WPT Prime Sanremo | €1,100 | Casino di San Remo |
