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THE WSOP GETS SET FOR THE FIRST-EVER BATTLE OF THE AGES TOURNAMENT

A brand new tournament set to be unveiled at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the Battle of the Ages beginning on Sunday, June 22nd 2025 pits the old school against young grinders to see who comes out on top.
Jun 21 2025 03:35 PM EST
THE WSOP GETS SET FOR THE FIRST-EVER BATTLE OF THE AGES TOURNAMENT

A brand new tournament set to be unveiled at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the Battle of the Ages beginning on Sunday, June 22nd 2025 pits the old school against young grinders to see who comes out on top.

Las Vegas, Nevada (June 21, 2025) - Over the past few years, the WSOP has worked to provide innovative, new tournament formats to continue hosting the largest and most exciting poker tournament series of the year.

With Double Board Bomb Pot events along with No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha mixed tournaments, the WSOP boasts a diverse tournament schedule that gives poker players a variety of fun options. While over 50 bracelet events have already taken place at the 2025 WSOP, the newest format creation from the WSOP team is set to begin tomorrow.

The $1,000 buy-in Battle of the Ages No-Limit Hold’em tournament, the 59th bracelet event of the 2025 WSOP, pits two generations of poker players against one another to see which one ultimately finishes on top.

Flight A of the Battle of the Ages tournament begins tomorrow, Sunday, June 22nd at 10 am Pacific Time (PT) and is exclusive to poker players 50 years of age and older.

Starting at 4 pm PT tomorrow, Flight B of the Battle of the Ages tournament begins with a field made up only of players below the age of 50.

On Day 2 of the tournament set for Monday, June 23rd at 2 pm PT, surviving players from both flights will converge and play down to a winner. While only one poker player can claim the coveted WSOP bracelet, the eventual winner will serve as the perfect representative for the generation that ultimately wins the first-ever WSOP Battle of the Ages.

Poker Players and WSOP Staff share their thoughts on the Battle of the Ages

Naturally, with a poker tournament designed to pit the young and old generations of poker against one another, poker players and WSOP team members have contributed their thoughts on the upcoming Battle of the Ages.

Lou Garza, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner who recently won Event #14: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha/No-Limit Hold’em for $1,302,233, was quite confident he and his fellow poker players under the age of 50 would pull out the win.

“Under (50 years old) for sure,” Garza said without hesitation. “The new generation has more technology and more resources, they’re probably just overall better.”

One of if not the best source for poker information and news on the internet, X/Twitter/WSOP+ Czar Kevin “KevMath” Mathers also gave his two cents on the Battle of the Ages and how poker players of varying ages approach the game.

“The younger players traditionally play more aggressively than the older players,” Mathers said.  “That’ll be seen once all of the players are together.”

“When I was younger I would play a lot looser, I guess I was loose-aggressive in a sense, and as a tournament would get deeper I would get tighter. As I’ve aged I’ve learned that ‘tight is right’ then try and get looser as I get deeper into a tournament.”

Interviewed by the WSOP Media team ahead of the Battle of the Ages, WSOP Vice President Jack Effel gave his input on the new event.

“There’s always this debate about the young guns and the old guns and whether or not that’s a level playing field,” Effel said. “So we said ‘why don’t we let the group of under 50’s play together and the group of over 50’s play together, let them get a chance to accumulate a bunch of chips, and battle it out together to see who can outlast who’. Will it be the young guns, or will it be the old guns? We’ll see how it works, but I wouldn't put it past either group to come out on top.”

Although he thinks both age brackets have a shot at emerging victorious in the Battle of the Ages, when asked for a prediction Effel made it clear who he was pulling for.

“Of course I’m pulling for the old guns, because I’m one of them!”

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