Same place, different venue. If that makes sense, which it doesn’t. The World Series of Poker has announced that WSOP Paradise is on the move to a new home. It’s still in the Bahamas, but rather than at Atlantis Paradise Island like it has been for its first three years, WSOP Paradise is moving a few miles down the road to Baha Mar resort.
Major live poker goes back more than two decades at Atlantis – the second PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was held there in 2005 – but WSOP Paradise seems to have quickly outgrown the popular tourist resort. Last year’s $25,000 buy-in Super Main Event and its $60 million guaranteed prize pool attracted 2,891 entries; Bernhard Binder won the tournament at the $10 million first prize.
Though Atlantis Paradise Island has a reputation as a luxury resort, recent reviews from poker players have been mixed. Last year’s WSOP Paradise complaints included run-down rooms, expensive and low-quality food, slow room service, and iffy customer service in general.
But now it is on to the newer and supposedly more navigable Baha Mar, which will have more room for WSOP Paradise. The property hosted the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure three years ago and got the thumbs-up from players, so expectations are high.
WSOP Paradise will run from December 1 through December 18, but that’s pretty much all that is known publicly about the poker festival at the moment. The complete schedule, including the exact number of bracelet events, will be announced at a later date.
What we do know, however, is that 2026 will be the first year in which WSOP Paradise – and the recently-completed WSOP Europe – will be part of the WSOP Player of the Year race. Most of the POY leaderboard points will come from the WSOP in Las Vegas, but WSOP Paradise could get very exciting if the chase is close heading into the last month of the year.
