That time of the year is upon the poker world once again. The 2026 World Series of Poker kicks off bright and early (for poker players, anyway) at noon on Tuesday, and the throngs will descend on the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas like seventeen-year cicadas waiting to breed. Event #1, the $500 Mini-Mystery Millions, will kick off at noon, while the $5,000 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #2 on the schedule, starts at 2 PM (the traditional starting event, the $500 Employees Event, is scheduled for May 27). But who will be the players to watch for at poker’s greatest event? Take a look at these players as they come to the tables this summer in Las Vegas.
Watch Out for The Wilsons
They share the same surname, but they are not even remotely related as they battle for supremacy in poker. Brock Wilson currently is the leader of the PokerGO Tour Player of the Year race, winning four PGT-qualified events and racking up nearly a million dollars in the process. Brandon Wilson is also in the mix in the PGT race (he is in tenth place), but he has a monster win on the Triton Super High Roller Tour with a $2.2 million win back in March that pushes him to the lead in the overall POY races.
With 31 high-dollar events on the WSOP schedule that will also count towards the PGT totals, you can expect these two men to be squaring off frequently on the tables in Las Vegas over the next eight weeks.
Back-to-Back…to Back?
Among women in tournament poker, there is no name more feared than Shiina Okamoto. The Japanese poker professional came to the WSOP in 2024 and thrashed the competition on the way to the Ladies’ Championship. In 2025, she etched her name into poker’s history books by becoming only the third woman in the history of the WSOP Ladies’ Event to earn back-to-back championships, joining Susie Isaacs (1996-97) and Nani Dollison (2000-01) in that rarefied air.
But there is still a mountaintop for Okamoto to reach. Winning a third consecutive title in the Ladies’ Championship would set her apart in the annals of poker history. Only one other player has even come close to that achievement, the run of Johnny Chan in the WSOP Championship Event (the “Main Event”). After winning in 1987 and 1988, Chan would come up just short of pulling off three consecutive wins when Phil Hellmuth defeated him in 1989. Can Okamoto one-up the “Orient Express” in 2026?
Married Couples? Not on the Tables…
A few married couples are off to a decent start in the 2026 tournament poker season. It always seems like the Foxens, Alex and Kristen, are battling it out for tournament championships; about the only thing that Alex has not done is top Kristen’s bracelet total, with Kristen leading the way with five bracelets (three online) to Alex’s trio of jewelry.
You also have the Huis to keep an eye on. Phillip has been able to put together a WSOP resume that features four bracelet wins (most recently in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event in 2024), while Loni is a decade removed from her second bracelet win when she took down the WSOP National Championship in 2015. They both have the talent to be a force in the WSOP battles.
Then you have the “golden couple” of the poker world. Just recently celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, Chip and Karina Jett have both been terrors on the professional circuit over the past twenty-plus years. Their forte is usually found in mixed-game tournaments or Stud events, and even though Karina does not step to the felt as much as she used to, she is just as dangerous as Chip is in the middle of a competition.
Of Course…Phil
There are always individual players to watch, and seventeen-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth always tops it. Will he pick up another piece of jewelry in 2026? Will he have an outlandish blowup that will have tongues wagging for weeks on end? And what outrageous entrance will he concoct for the Main Event? These and other questions will be asked over the coming weeks.
There is also the defending World Champion to speak about. Michael Mizrachi does not look to be in fighting shape as the 2026 WSOP begins – his best finish so far in 2026 is a twelfth-place finish in a preliminary tournament at the Aussie Millions – but the summertime WSOP seems to bring the best out of ‘The Grinder.’ He will be looking to make it five Poker Players’ Championships on his mantle AND defend his championship in the Main Event – just two of the toughest tournaments on the WSOP roster.
History will fold…and unfold…over the next eight weeks. What stories are you watching as the 2026 World Series of Poker begins?
