The countdown to the 2026 WSOP starts here. 100 bracelets. The world's best players. And PokerOrg will be on the floor from start to finish.
Josh Arieh is a seven-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, who finished third for $2.5M in the 2004 WSOP Main Event. Since then, he has been one of the most successful and outspoken players in the game. Arieh owns and runs the popular staking site PokerStake.
What do you do to prepare for the summer grind?
I'm going to get my sleep schedule right, to where I'm waking up around 10am or 11am and going to bed at 2am or 3am in the morning. Right now, I wake up at 7am, and I go to bed at 10 o'clock. That will change. That's the most important thing.
The second thing is making sure my life is in order away from the World Series, so I can go there without worrying about anything. I'm so lucky to have my wife Rachel, who runs everything for me, which lets me just go and play poker and do my PokerStake work.
Do you go into the lab to work on your game at all prior to the WSOP?
I’ll watch some stuff on PokerGo. I'm not trying to learn anything. I'm just trying to get poker running through my head. I'm not saying that I don't need to learn because if I did some work, it would definitely help.
It sounds like you haven’t been playing poker much?
I haven't been playing poker as much, but recently I did play in the Heads Up Championship and also went to WSOP Europe, where I played a lot.
How was that experience?
I had some deep runs in Prague. I played eight events, and in five of them I was in the top 50. They all had 2,000 or more people in the events. I was able to build up some stacks and have some fun. Since then, I've mostly shifted my focus to playing a lot of golf.
So what events are you most looking forward to this summer?
It may sound stupid, but I'm looking forward to some of the smaller buy-in, big-field NLH events. That's where the fun is. Playing poker in a $5K NLH event isn't fun. You're sitting there, everybody's a professional, and everybody is squeezing every ounce of EV out that they can. It's just not a fun environment.
Which buy-ins are you targeting?
Probably the $1,500 and $600 NLH events. Those are people who play poker on weekends. They've had this tournament highlighted on their calendar all year long. I’ll have some fun at those events.
I’m not beating my head up against the wall this year trying to play every NLH event. I'm really looking forward to making a run in a $600 tourney with 5,000 players. I'm going to have some fun this year.
You really seem like you are having a blast when you’re at the series. I am sure that’s a fun experience for your table mates.
I love talking to people at the table; I never wear headphones — unless someone like Martin Kabrhel sits down. Then I'll break out the headphones.
But I love conversing with people and meeting people from all walks of life. You hear some really cool stories.
Will ESPN's TV coverage create another poker boom?
At the very first event, the $550 Mini Mystery Millions NLH tournament, a player has a chance at pulling a $1,000,000 bounty. That’s wild.
It's pretty amazing how the minds behind the tournaments have put together these opportunities to put up a small amount of money and make a lot of money.
To win a million dollars, back in the day, you had to put up $10K. There was no chance of winning $1 million in a tournament without a $10,000 entry fee. Now, anyone who can afford a $500 entry fee has a chance to win a million. That’s very cool.
What do you think the impact of ESPN back on board as a production partner will have overall?
I don’t know. ESPN isn't what it used to be; maybe it gives the game a little more validity. We’re not at the mercy of flipping our TV on to watch poker now, like back in 2004. But poker is still booming; it’s harder than ever before.
Back in 2004, you could watch poker on TV, play for two months, and have some success. That’s because the skill level hadn't reached the potential of what it is now.
What will it take to have another poker boom, of sorts? Even if it's nowhere near how it exploded after Chris Moneymaker's win.
We're not going to have another poker boom until everyone can comfortably play poker on their computers at home. And be 100 percent sure that they're getting a fair shake online.
Do you think online poker can have a resurgence once again?
We're a long way from that. I don't think we'll really see much impact from ESPN, but hopefully I'm wrong. But maybe, with poker returning to TV, it will help online poker become more regulated in the United States.
Josh Arieh: The quickfire round
Follow Josh on X. Arieh joined PokerStake in 2021 to lead the staking portal that allows poker players and fans to connect through buying and selling pieces of their tournament action. For info on PokerStake visit here.
The 2026 WSOP starts on May 26 and runs through August 5, when the Main Event champion will be crowned.
