The World Series of Poker looked like it might have downed guarantees for the winter and was building a run-up to next summer’s potential live return to the felt. Instead, the surprise news from Las Vegas – via the Czech Republic – came this weekend when the WSOP Main Event Hybrid version was announced.

As the WSOP revealed on their official website, the World Series Main Event is back, only this time in a very different way than ever before.

In the summer of 2019, Hossein Ensan won the WSOP Main Event. In the summer of 2020, Stoyan Madanzhiev took the top prize online. But what will take place later this year in December is a ‘hybrid’ – a mix of live and online poker that will test the mettle of players from around the world.

Costing $10,000 to enter, the World Series of Poker promise that this event will crown the 51st poker world champion, and in doing so, they are telling up that Madanzhiev’s title doesn’t count as the World Championship – a source of debate for many on social media since this hybrid tournament was proclaimed.