In case you missed it, two big pieces of news for you:
- The World Series of Poker Main Event finally gets started on Thursday, July 2.
- You can win big without even playing, thanks to our latest Pick 3 competition.
All you need to do for a chance to win a $5K poker trip to Aruba is choose three players to represent you in the WSOP $10K Main Event.
Every dollar in prize money they make will be added to your score, with the highest total winning the top prize.
Click or tap below to read all about it.
So that leaves the crucial question: who should you pick?
No one can predict the winner of a huge tournament like this with any certainty, but that’s not going to stop us trying!
You’ve got until the deadline on July 6 to finalize your team, but here are five players we think are worth considering.
1. Will Kassouf
Will Kassouf.Yes, that Will Kassouf. Hear me out.
The British former lawyer first made headlines in 2016 when he finished 17th in the WSOP Main Event. Then, last year, he found the spotlight once more during a run to 33rd in the same tournament.
On both occasions Kassouf drew attention for his stalling and controversial speech play, which spilled over into some ugly confrontations with opponents such as Griffin Benger and… oh, who else? Ah yes, the entire floor staff of the WSOP.
If the details have slipped your mind, check out the article below.
Kassouf received penalties as a result of his antics, was forced to sit out entire orbits, had promising hands ruled dead and was often forced to make decisions in a fraction of the time available to the rest of the table.
He was far from blameless, of course, but nevertheless Kassouf still managed to make very deep runs, finishing in 17th in 2016 and 33rd last year.
Back in 2016, in his famous exit hand with just two tables left, he went broke with pocket kings preflop — an incredibly difficult situation from which to escape.
And when you consider the restrictions he was working under in 2025 — thanks to the rod he had made for his own back — to make it all the way to 33rd of 9,735 entries is impressive in its own way.
We can only imagine how much better he might have done had he not faced those additional, albeit self-imposed, challenges.
Following his Main Event exit in 2025 Kassouf was banned from the rest of the series, but in 2026 he’s back.
Can he make headlines again, this time for the right reasons?
2. Sean Winter
The number one player on Florida’s all-time money list — a list which happens to include the reigning Main Event champion Michael ‘Grinder’ Mizrachi — Winter has over $40 million in recorded tournament earnings and a string of high roller wins everywhere from the PokerGO Tour to Wynn, Aria, the WPT and the Triton Tour.
But you know the one thing he doesn’t have yet? A WSOP bracelet.
Sean Winter.The closest Winter has come so far is a runner-up spot in the $50K No-Limit Hold’em High Roller in 2018, but he has reached WSOP final tables at least nine other times — including four this summer alone.
He’s successful, established, and comfortable playing for huge amounts. Last year Mizrachi proved that the Main Event can still be won by a big-name pro, despite the huge fields and variance of the marathon tourney.
Having already quietly cashed for over $3M in the 2026 WSOP, this could be the summer that Winter is coming.
3. Isaac Haxton
A fixture in the top 10 of the all-time money list with more than $65M in tournament winnings, Haxton nevertheless has spent most of his career without a WSOP bracelet.
That changed in 2023 when he won the $25K NLH High Roller for $1.6M, adding WSOP hardware to a trophy cabinet already bursting with accolades from the EPT, the PokerGO Tour, the APT and the Triton Tour.
Now, summer 2026 has seen former PGT Player of the Year Haxton nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame.
Isaac Haxton.He’s a player who has polarized fans and rivals, some of whom have objected to his frequent use of face masks at the table, or what some have deemed angle-shooting — such as his six-minute tank with just one chip left in last year’s Main Event, as he aimed for a pay jump.
But whether you feel he’s worthy of celebration or criticism, it simply cannot be denied that he is one of the most talented players in the world.
Can he prove it on poker’s biggest stage? And would the WSOP let him wear his trademark face mask at the final table? We just might find out.
4. Esther Taylor
There has still never been a woman champion in the long history of the WSOP Main Event, but the knocking on the door is getting louder.
Two years ago Kristen Foxen went very deep, and held one of the biggest stacks with just two tables remaining but eventually fell in 13th. Then, last year, Leo Margets made the final table for a 7th place finish and $1.5M.
Could that big next step for women’s poker take place this summer? If so, Esther ‘E-Tay’ Taylor is surely one of the frontrunners to make it over the line.
Esther Taylor.She has the appetite; she’s cashed in 8 events at this WSOP, as well as seven times at the WSOP Europe earlier this year.
She has the skills, having almost gone all the way in last year’s WSOP Poker Players Championship, possibly the toughest tournament in the world. Taylor finished 3rd for a career-best $575K, finishing only behind #1 money winner Bryn Kenney and WSOP champion Michael Mizrachi.
And she has the support. The poker world has been crying out for a female world champion, and such a win would make headlines around the world and may even lead to a wider uptick in women taking up the game.
5. Stephen Song
Barely into his 30s, Stephen Song has the type of poker resume that most can only dream of.
He’s won an EPT Main Event, the WPT Prime Championship, multiple WSOP Circuit rings and a WSOP bracelet, among other prizes.
He’s a tournament pro with more than $11.5M in winnings, and while his four cashes at this summer’s WSOP have all been relatively meagre, he surely has the ability to swim with the sharks — his victory in the NAPT Super High Roller in 2024 came after beating a final table featuring the likes of Sean Winter, Jim Collopy and Thomas Eychenne.
Stephen Song.And he’s more than capable of navigating huge fields; when he won the WPT Prime Championship in 2022 it was in a record-breaking field of 5,430 players.
Many high rollers are more used to facing the smaller fields that can afford to play for nosebleed stakes; not everyone can mix it in the trenches with the masses.
But Song’s particular combination of ability and experience seems to be tailor-made for a tournament like the Main Event.
His best result in The Big Dance to date is 57th of 10,112 in 2024. Few would be completely shocked if he raised his game yet again to take down the most cherished prize in poker: the WSOP Main Event bracelet.
The PokerOrg WSOP Main Event Pick 3 contest is accepting submissions from now until the deadline at 11am PT on July 6 — start of Day 2 of the Main Event.
You can start building your team now and continue editing right up to the deadline. We’ll be adding new names from which to choose as each starting flight plays out, so make sure to keep checking back before July 6 to make sure you’ve picked your strongest team.
The winner will receive a live poker package to play the Moneymaker Poker Tour Main Event in Aruba this September, with more prizes available for the runners-up.
Members of The Org can head here to get started.
Not a member yet? It’s free, fast and easy to join — just hit the ‘Register’ button at the top of this page.
