The World Series of Poker organization is best known for its live Main Events, which have become the Super Bowl of the poker world. It’s a proving ground for players and it’s given us countless memorable poker hands to watch.
WSOP’s online poker app has play money and real money options, but only players from certain US states can play with real cash. Those states are Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nevada, with the possibility of more in the future. Outside of those areas, the WSOP app is free-to-play with optional add-ons.
WSOP partnered with the real-money site GGPoker to offer online satellites to their events. The 2023 schedule has a wide range of buy-ins starting at $25 and rising to $10,300. For a $25 entry fee, you can take your shot at $100,000 in prizes.
Let’s begin with highlights from the World Series of Poker events and then review the free play and real money WSOP apps.
Biggest WSOP Events And Top Winners
Benny Binion founded the World Series of Poker in 1970 and hoped that his tournaments would eventually attract more than fifty players. Before he passed in 1989, the WSOP had held hundreds of tournaments for thousands of poker players.
WSOP event winners get a cash prize as well as a highly-coveted bracelet. There are around 1600 bracelets in existence.
The top WSOP bracelet-winners are:
The Largest Prizes In WSOP History
The 2022 World Series of Poker events were record-breaking. Over $340 million was paid out over 88 live events and 13 online. The average prize pool for live bracelet events was just under $4,000,000.
Notable WSOP Winners and Their Cash Prizes:
Antonio Esfandiari
- 2012 WSOP Event 55 – The Big One for One Drop
- Entry Fee: $1,000,000
- 1st Place Cash Prize: $18,346,673
Daniel Colman
- 2014 WSOP Event 57 – The Big One for One Drop
- Entry Fee: $1,000,000
- 1st Place Cash Prize: $15,306,668
Jamie Gold
- 2006 WSOP Main Event
- Entry Fee: $10,000
- 1st Place Cash Prize: $12,000,000
The WSOP has held around 100 tournaments each year since 2021, both online and live. The buy-ins start around $500 and usually peak at $10,000, though there are several events with higher buy-ins.
WSOP Satellite Tournaments (Win Entry To Events)
Chris Moneymaker became well known for winning the $10,000 buy-in 2003 Main Event, which he entered by winning a $39 satellite tournament. He made his way to the final table and won $2,500,000 for first place.
Satellite tournaments give players a way to enter large tournaments without paying the entry fee. A pool of players enters a low buy-in tournament, with the prize of one or more tickets to a bigger event.
GGPoker is the exclusive provider of WSOP event satellites. Winners of any of the online events at GGPoker get a gold WSOP ring, entry to an Online Bracelet Event, and lots of other perks.
If you want to compete in the most legendary poker series available online, GGPoker is the place to do it. Their non-WSOP tournaments are equally enticing, like the Daily Special with a $40 buy-in and a $6,000 prize pool.
Be sure to check out these GGPoker tournaments too:
| Event Name | Entry Fee (Buy-In) | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| Global Millions | $50 | $1,000,000 |
| Daily Turbo | $10 | $1,000 |
| SuperStack Special | $8.88 | $8,000 |
| Daily Special | $30 | $7,500 |
| GGMasters | $50 | $500,000 |
Find out all about GGPoker’s tournaments, cash games, and their welcome bonuses in our full site review.
The Real-Money WSOP App [Only For Some US States]
The World Series of Poker partnered with 888poker to release a real-money poker app, though it’s not globally available yet. Only residents of certain US states can play for real money and everyone else is directed to WSOP’s social poker app with free chips.
Since WSOP is using 888poker’s software, you’ll see a lot of the same games. The WSOP app has a range of Texas hold ‘em, Omaha, and stud cash games. There’s also Blast, a turbo sit & go with a random prize of up to 10,000x your buy-in.
You can also win entry into major World Series of Poker events through online tournaments on the app. It’s available on Android, iOS, and desktop devices.
Because of the regulations, most people won’t be able to play on the WSOP real-money app, but that’s not a problem. Switching over to 888poker will give you more games to play, better bonuses, and the option to Play with Friends in private home games.
As you can see from our side-by-side comparison, the two sites are almost identical in appearance.
Here are the differences you’ll notice:
- 888poker is available almost everywhere, but WSOP isn’t available in many areas.
- 888poker has better bonuses.
- 888poker has more traffic than WSOP.
- 888poker has more tournaments with better prize pools.
- 888poker offers play money and real money poker on the same app.
- 888poker has lots of freerolls.
The Free WSOP Social Poker App
If you’re not eligible to play on the real-money WSOP app, you can try out their free-play software. The only games available to beginners are Texas hold ‘em and Omaha cash games, with varying stakes of play money.
In the main lobby you’ll see tabs and buttons to press, but only the Play Now button gets you into a poker game.
It’s not surprising to see a “free-to-play” app encouraging players to spend real cash in their store, but WSOP pushes more than other apps.
During our playtest, there were 8 advertisements to close just to access the main menu. The promotions don’t stop when you’re at the table. Even when you are in the middle of playing a hand, an advertisement will pop up and block the screen, with no way to immediately close it.
Getting free chips is easy, they will refill regularly and give you enough to get back to the tables.
Free Poker Without Pressure To Spend Money
When you’re playing free poker with friends, the last thing you want is pressure to spend money.
Governor of Poker 3 has a far better software design, an interesting storyline, and far less pressure to spend money. You can complete the entire storyline with multiple areas and unique poker rooms, without using real cash.
PokerStars is well-known for real money poker, but many people don’t know that they offer Play Money too. You can test out any of the poker games for free and even invite your friends for private Home Games. Enjoy a wide range of games like hold ‘em, Omaha, stud games, draw games, and even mixed games.
Competing against a global player base is great, but there are advantages to playing against smaller groups. Poker clubs let you start your own organization or join an existing club. You can structure the stakes and format, then host private poker games.