The 2026 WPT Prime The Lodge will kick off on October 8 at The Lodge Card Club in Texas. The Main Event features a $1,100 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million, with multiple starting groups and unlimited re-entries. The series will run from September 24 to October 12, and also includes a $500,000 guaranteed tournament, PLO, and a $100,000 guaranteed High Roller. Last year's champion, Harvey Castro, won against 1,648 entries and took home $225,020.
Published: 2026.09.29Updated: 2026.09.29Category: International News
International Poker NewsWPT Prime The Lodge | Starts October 8th with a guaranteed $1 million prize pool; Texas Hold'em series continues until October 12th.
The 2026 WPT Prime Lodge Main Event will take place on October 8 at The Lodge Card Club in Texas, with a buy-in of $1,100 and a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million.
The 2026 World Poker Tour (WPT) will return to The Lodge Card Club in Texas, USA in October. The core series event, $1, will officially kick off on October 8th with the WPT Prime Lodge Main Event.$1 million guaranteed prize pool。
The Lodge series kicked off on September 24 and will run until October 12. In addition to the WPT Prime Main Event, there will be a number of low- to mid-stakes tournaments, as well as various games including PLO, Mystery Bounty, and High Roller.
$1, 100 WPT Prime Main Event guaranteed $1 million
The buy-in for this year's WPT Prime Lodge Main Event was:
$1,100
Guaranteed prize pool:
$1,000,000
According to the full schedule released by PokerNews, the main event will have four starting groups, including Day 1D Turbo on the evening of October 10th. The event will use an Unlimited Re-entry format, allowing eligible players to re-enter at the start.
WPT Prime Lodge Main Event Schedule
date
time
Schedule
October 8
12:15
Day 1A
October 9
11:15
Day 1B
October 10
11:15
Day1C
October 10
18:15
Day 1D Turbo
October 11
12:15
Day 2
October 12
14:15
Day 3 / Final Day
The $150 Super Satellite Tournament provides a pathway to the main event.
Before the WPT Prime Main Event begins, The Lodge Card Club also arranges daily activities:
$150 Super Satellite
This allows players to compete for WPT Prime Main Event slots through a lower buy-in.
Because The Lodge uses a Social Club membership model, similar to other legal poker rooms in Texas, players participating in live tournaments need to obtain a poker room membership before registering for the tournament.
$2,000 High Roller, guaranteed $100,000
In addition to the $1 million guaranteed main event, the later stages of this series will also include:
$2,000 WPT Prime Lodge High Roller
The tournament is scheduled for October 11th and 12th, with a guaranteed prize pool of:
$100,000
Day 1 will begin at 17:15 on October 11, and Day 2 will resume at 13:15 on October 12.
This High Roller will form the main high-stakes events of the final two days of the WPT Prime Main Event Day 2 and Final Day.
A $500,000 guaranteed tournament was the first to warm up the crowd.
Prior to the WPT Prime Main Event, The Lodge had already arranged a series of warm-up events.
One of the largest projects was a purchase of $400:
Half Milly
As the name suggests, this competition offers:
$500,000 guaranteed prize pool
Several start groups are scheduled from September 30 to October 3, including Turbo Flight, with Day 2 starting at 12:15 on October 4.
Another key event is the $300 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed multi-start group tournament, which runs from October 4th to October 6th.
Multiple tournament formats, including PLO and Mystery Bounty, will be available simultaneously.
In addition to the NLHE main event, the series also offers several different formats.
On September 29th, we will arrange a $400 Pot-Limit Omaha with a minimum guarantee of $30,000; on October 6th, we will arrange a $300 PLO/NLH Mix.
On October 7th, purchasing $1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha Hundred Grand will provide:
$100,000 guaranteed
During Day 2 of the main event, a $300 Mystery Bounty Chaos event will be held on October 11, with a guaranteed prize pool of $50,000.
The Lodge's key schedule in the latter part of the season
date
Tournament
Buy
Guaranteed minimum
September 29
Pot-Limit Omaha
$400
$30,000
September 30-October 4
Half Milly
$400
$500,000
October 4-6
100k Event
$300
$100,000
October 7
PLO Hundred Grand
$1,100
$100,000
October 8-12
WPT Prime Lodge
$1,100
$1,000,000
October 11
Mystery Bounty Chaos
$300
$50,000
October 11-12
WPT Prime Lodge High Roller
$2,000
$100,000
October 12
WPT Last Chance
$300
$30,000
Harvey Castro won the championship last year, defeating 1,648 people.
The previous WPT Prime Lodge main event also attracted a large number of players.
Harvey Castro, who was only 22 years old at the time, came from:
1,648 people
They broke through the competition and ultimately won the championship.
$225,020
Therefore, with the 2026 event returning with a $1 million guarantee, whether it can maintain or even surpass the scale of the previous edition will be an important metric to observe in this year's main event.
The Lodge returns to the WPT, with the main event officially kicking off on October 8th.
The Lodge Card Club, located in Austin, Texas, is one of the largest poker clubs in the area and is jointly owned by Doug Polk, Brad Owen, and Andrew Neeme.
The 2026 The Lodge Series will run from September 24 to October 12, with the WPT Prime Lodge starting on October 8 at the heart of the schedule.
With $1, a buy-in of 100, a $1 million guarantee, and multiple starter groups and an Unlimited Re-entry structure, it is expected to attract Texas local and national tour players again.
The main event will begin on Day 2 on October 11, with the final group of players returning to the tables on October 12 to compete for the new WPT Prime Lodge title.
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