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Top 10 things to expect in poker in 2025

27 January 2025
By Tadas Peckaitis

2024 has been one of the best years for poker as a whole. Once again, records were shattered, new champions rose to prominence, and some of the game’s biggest legends made their comeback to the winners' circle.

With all that said, here is our take on the top 10 things to look out for in the world of poker in 2025, along with a brief analysis of each.

10. New poker vloggers come to prominence
Back in the day, major poker productions, often powered by online poker operators, were the main drivers of poker’s popularity.

While shows like High Stakes Poker remained popular in 2024, the majority of all content came free of charge via various social platforms.

Shows like Hustler Casino Live and Poker at the Lodge were some of the most popular, but personal vlogs of poker players were the reason many young players started playing the game.

Players like Brad Owen, Rampage, Andrew Neeme, and Mariano Grandoli were some of the biggest poker celebrities in 2024.

They may not be playing for the highest stakes or even winning the most money, but they share their experience with the community, and that’s what we all want.

We have never had the opportunity to see into the lives of actual poker players and follow their personal and professional journeys.

In 2025, we can expect the big vloggers to keep trucking, but also at least a few new faces to rise and capture our imaginations with their poker escapades.

If you are deep into the weeds of poker vlogs, you may already have an idea of who the next big vloggers will be. If you are not, stay tuned in 2025 and follow the trends to find out which poker players will mark the new year with their social presence.

9. Changes to WSOP under GGPoker ownership
A major news shook the poker world in August 2024, as GGPoker announced its purchase of Caesars Entertainment brand “World Series of Poker.”

The WSOP has been running since the 1970s and is easily the most significant live poker brand in the world.

Starting in 2025, the brand will be owned by GGPoker, which means the popular online poker operator will be even more invested in its success.

GGPoker has been WSOP's main partner for years, and its ambassadors have been a big part of the brand’s recent growth.

In 2025, GGPoker is likely to promote the WSOP heavier than ever and very likely to send even more qualifiers to the Series than ever before.

The operator announced it would be bringing the WSOP brand to players in various markets around the world as well, but it remains to be seen if WSOP events beyond those played in Las Vegas and the Bahamas will be offered in 2025.

GGPoker will also play a more active part in building the 2025 WSOP schedule, which means we could see a few brand-new poker formats at next year’s WSOP.

Today, we announced the closing of the previously announced sale of our intellectual property rights for the World Series of Poker brand to NSUS Group Inc. As previously disclosed, the transaction includes US$250 million in cash and a $250 million promissory note due five years… pic.twitter.com/jrOCiCLphq

— Caesars Entertainment (@CaesarsEnt) October 29, 2024

8. Bigger and better poker streams
Along with poker vlogs, poker live streams have been a major driver of poker’s popularity, especially with younger crowds and mainstream poker fans.

Streams like Hustler Casino Live have no doubt contributed greatly to the development of poker, and bringing mainstream celebrities like Neymar and Mr.Beast to the games has been a brilliant marketing strategy.

In 2025, we can expect quite a few big games with mainstream celebrities joining the mix, as well as at least one or two nosebleed games with million-dollar buy-ins.

Such ultra-high-stakes games have become the norm over the last couple of years, and there is no reason to believe at least one stream won’t be able to pull off a million-dollar game in 2025 as well.

No announcements have been made yet, but you can expect to see Alan Keating, Rob Yong, or Tony G play for millions of dollars on live streams throughout the year.

7. Rise in crypto poker action
Excessive regulation and market segregation have led to players in many parts of the world looking for alternatives to traditional poker operators.

Living in one of these segregated markets means you can only play with players from your region, which almost always leads to scarce cash game action and very small tournament fields.

Crypto poker sites have offered an alternative to this. They operate under international gaming licenses and accept players from most markets worldwide.

With more and more people getting into crypto trading and ownership regardless of poker, crypto poker sites are likely to become even more popular than before.

The ability to play in an open online poker market reminds me of the good old days when online poker was free for all, and for players looking for real online poker action, crypto poker may be the best remaining option.

6. Huge live tournament fields on all continents
Live poker has been growing at an unprecedented pace, mimicking the days of the Poker Boom when thousands of new players were getting into poker every month.

In 2023 and 2024, all major poker tours broke attendance and prize pool records and the trend is almost guaranteed to continue into 2025.

WSOP, WPT, and Triton Poker have all made recent moves to strengthen their brands and establish partnerships that will set them up for success in the new year.

PokerStars recently announced the launch of a brand-new mid-stakes poker tour to replace its various regional tours. This is likely to result in record-breaking fields in the lower-stakes bracket of poker tournaments as well.

We can also expect online poker operators to give away unprecedented numbers of seats to major live events around the world in 2025, so stay tuned and make sure to get in the mix for your chance to win the seats and compete for massive prizes in the new year.

5. High-stakes online cash games find a new home
Late in 2024, GGPoker severely limited access to its high-stakes cash games, effectively banning most professional poker players from playing high-stakes games on the platform.

As the biggest online poker operator in the world, GGPoker caused quite a commotion with this move, but it appears high-stakes games will remain restricted for the foreseeable future.

The players who were effectively banned from playing at GGPoker will now be looking for a new platform. They are likely to use one of the crypto poker sites to continue playing.

Going into 2025, we may have a unique opportunity to witness the birth of a brand-new high-stakes online poker community at a site other than GGPoker and PokerStars, both of which are now considered inhospitable for the pros at the highest stakes.

4. More women in poker
Despite continued efforts, the number of ladies playing poker both live and online has remained relatively stagnant, with around one in 20 poker players being female.

While it is unlikely the number of male and female players will ever even out, 2025 could be a year that sees a significant influx into the female poker population.

The fields in ladies' events at major WPT, EPT, and WSOP festivals have been gradually increasing, as has the popularity of female streamers and vloggers in the game.

Kristen Foxen nearly made poker history at the WSOP Main Event, while Liv Boeree made her return to poker and final tabled the WPT World Championship, recording the biggest cash for a female poker player in history.

These results, combined with increased exposure to poker in the mainstream, are likely to increase poker's popularity among women.

With a little luck and increased numbers, we could see one or two major poker titles go into the hands of female players, which would likely spark an influx of even more ladies into the game.

3. Cheating scandals and improved detection
While 2024 was marked by many positive things in poker, it also brought about a few scandals related to cheating in both online and live arenas.

Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, it is unlikely such scandals will be completely avoided in 2025.

Yet, there is good news, too. All major poker operators are taking extra precautions against cheating and banning players found to be in breach of their terms and conditions.

Detection and prevention measures are guaranteed to become increasingly sophisticated in 2025, but their exact impact will remain controversial.

In particular, it will be interesting to see how major online poker try to crack down on botting rings and players using RTA tools, while live poker tours continue to enforce rules banning the use of technology within the tournament areas.

2. Battle of the sweepstakes poker sites
The sweepstakes poker model has been around for some years but has been gaining popularity more recently.

In 2024, WPT announced they would be launching their own sweepstakes poker platforms.

Dubbed ClubWPT Gold, the platform will compete with Global Poker and Clubs Poker, the two sweepstakes poker brands already offering action to players across America.

WPT marketed the launch of ClubWPT Gold quite extensively, including a $5 million free-roll for thousands of players who signed up early and will be looking to capitalize on this in the early months of 2025.

With four major competitors in the space and more sites competing for their share of the market, the competition between sweepstakes poker sites will be fierce.

This is good news for all the players who can play on these platforms, mainly Americans and Canadians, as it surely means more great bonuses and promotions across the platforms.

If you live in these markets, look for such promotions in early 2025. New operators will be looking to compete with existing ones by offering great value to newcomers.

1. Expansion of US online poker
It has taken years for legal online poker to become a reality in the U.S., and only a handful of states have regulated it and issued operator licenses.

New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have developed poker markets, and the relatively new MSIGA compact has allowed operators to partially merge their traffic across state borders.

2025 should be an interesting year in this regard, as Pennsylvania is likely to join the MSIGA in the coming months. This would expand the combined player pool, leading to more liquidity, bigger guarantees in poker tournaments, and other positive outcomes.

Beyond that, the idea of legalizing online poker and casino games is being floated in several states, including Ohio, New York, and Illinois.

Predicting the outcome of legislative efforts regarding iGaming is exceptionally difficult, but one clear thing is that more states will adopt online poker. The only real question is when?

As we enter 2025, poker aficionados in many parts of the U.S. will be anxiously monitoring the news and expecting positive outcomes in their part of the country.