Las Vegas, Nevada (February 24, 2025) - Almost every poker player at one point or another has dreamed of making the journey to Las Vegas and competing at poker’s biggest stage: the World Series of Poker. Many poker players who have had the opportunity to participate in a World Series of Poker tournament often look back at their first WSOP event fondly (bad beats and missed money bubbles excluded of course).
With the recent release of the 2025 WSOP schedule, poker players around the world have begun assembling their summer schedules and selecting what tournaments they plan on playing, including gamblers planning on making their WSOP debut.
For new WSOP players anticipating playing their first World Series of Poker tournament(s) this summer, take a look at our list of the best events we recommend for first-time participants.
1 - Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker
Buy-in: $300
Dates: Wednesday June 25th - Monday June 30th
Flights: 4
Guaranteed Prize Pool: $3,000,000
Many readers are likely not surprised to see the Gladiators of Poker tournament appear on this list!
The lowest buy-in bracelet event in the history of the WSOP, in its short existence the $300 Gladiators of Poker tournament has already built quite the reputation amongst the poker community.
Drawing small stakes recreationals with a single $300 buy-in and a dream as well as grinding pros ready to fire as many bullets as needed to find a bag, the mix of low stakes players and splashy pros provide an entertaining field to compete with.
In the 2nd ever Gladiators of Poker event at the 2024 WSOP, Stephen Winters won his first career WSOP bracelet and $401,210 by taking down the tournament which drew a total of 20,647 entrants.
2 - Event #65: $1,000 Tag Team
Buy-in: $1,000
Dates: Tuesday June 24th - Thursday June 26th
Want to experience your first WSOP event but are nervous about withstanding the long playing days and not having enough breaks?
If so, grab a friend while you’re in Las Vegas and enter the $1,000 Tag Team event.
One of the most popular yearly WSOP tournaments known for its lively atmosphere, this no-limit hold’em tournament requires players to enter in pairs and swap spots at the table throughout the 3 days of play.
In last year’s Tag Team event, Canadian duo Jimmy Setna and Jason James took down the $1,000 Tag Team event to win their first career bracelets and split the $190,910 top prize.
3 - Event #48: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Buy-in: $1,000
Dates: Monday June 16th - Saturday June 21st
Flights: 2
Despite the event being exclusive to players over the age of 50, the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship is a great first-time WSOP tournament for gamblers who meet the age requirement.
A “first-timer friendly” crowd void of young, aggressive grinders, poker fans who have waited decades to play their first WSOP tournament are strongly encouraged to consider playing the Seniors as well as the $1,000 Super Seniors event, exclusive to players over the age of 60.
During the 2024 WSOP, Santa Ana’s Khang Pham won his first career bracelet in the Senior event taking home $677,326 for his efforts.
4 - Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha
Buy-in: $1,000
Dates: Tuesday July 8th - Friday July 11th
Flights: 2
For WSOP rookies who love some Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) action, look to enter the $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO event scheduled to begin on Tuesday, July 8th.
While there are a number of $600-$1,500 buy-in PLO events to choose from, Event 86 features mystery bounties that come into play on Day 2 of the tournament, including 2 bounties worth $100,000.
At the conclusion of last year’s $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet event, Germany’s Sascha Wilhelm finished on top of the 4,280 entrant field winning $282,290 and his first career bracelet.
5 - Event #81: $10,000 World Series of Poker Main Event
Buy-in: $10,000
Dates: Wednesday July 2nd - Monday July 16th
Flights: 4
Entering the most prestigious poker tournament of all-time may seem like a tall order for your first WSOP event, but if you can financially rationalize putting up the $10,000 buy-in, hear us out!
Many professional poker players cite the WSOP Main Event as being one of the softest poker tournaments they play every year. For those not up-to-speed on poker jargon, “soft” refers to a tournament or cash game consisting of players that are easy to play against.
There are a number of reasons why the Main Event draws such a “soft” field, one of which is that it is the only poker tournament many recreational players partake in each year.
Another reason is that the Main Event is a freezeout, meaning each player only gets one entry and once they are eliminated they cannot reenter the tournament.
A lot of recreational poker players see this as being to their advantage, as professional players with much bigger bankrolls are less incentivized to “bully” them or treat them as “scared money”.
Playing in the WSOP Main Event, for many poker fans, is a once in a lifetime experience. If you have $10,000 available, what better way to experience your first WSOP than by entering the biggest poker event there ever was!