New WSOP Sponsorship Rules Controversial Among Players
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is set to begin May 26, and it will undoubtedly feature the usual quota of underdog come-from-behind victories, unexpected meltdowns from famous pros, competitive drama, and contentious controversies. This year, the WSOP appears to be getting a head start in this last category of news as there’s already grumbling from the player community about the new rules related to promotional patches and apparel.
What the New Rule Is About
We already wrote up a brief overview of the major rule changes for this year’s WSOP. The one we’re concerned with now is rule 52, which governs logos, patches, and promotional language worn by tournament participants.
Anyone who intends to wear any such branded material at a WSOP featured table must seek approval for the same no later than 24 hours before appearing on such a featured table. However, nobody can predict in advance if the table they’ll be playing at will be featured; these decisions are made by the broadcast team.
Therefore, in order to be safe, players will have to seek out approval for all patches, branded apparel, et cetera at least 24 hours before they intend to play in a tournament. A failure to abide by this condition may result in disqualification from the tournament with the loss of all entry fees and withholding of any prizes won.
WSOP Approves Some, Denies Others
When the new WSOP rules were announced in late April, many thought that the provisions pertaining to sponsorships and branded clothing were just formalities. They believed that the WSOP was merely trying to protect itself from individuals wearing offensive or pornographic items and would otherwise approve anything reasonable.
However, reports have come in from players who have gone through the approval process. While some of their sponsorship paraphernalia were approved with no problems, others were denied by tournament organizers.
Allowed and Disallowed Brands
Pretty shortly, affected individuals headed to X to compare notes about their experiences. Poker pros Shaun Deeb and Joey “ChicagoJoey” Ingram started discussions on X wherein they kept running lists of brands either permitted or barred from the WSOP:
Using the information from Deeb’s and Ingram’s posts as well as replies from members of the poker community, we can come up with lists of sponsors whose patches have been approved and disallowed:
Approved:
- GGPoker
- ACR Poker
- BetMGM
- Winamax
Disallowed:
- Coin Poker
- Phenom Poker
- Club WPT Gold
No Official Lists
While we can gain quite a bit of information by collecting reports from those who have had their sponsorship materials either rejected or accepted, this is a kind of ad hoc way of going about matters. Had the WSOP issued clear guidance on the matter, with official lists of the operators that were approved and the ones that are disallowed, then players could make sponsorship decisions accordingly.
As it is, many of them will be left guessing until they go through the process and receive an answer directly from the WSOP. This could prove annoying to those who count on sponsorship money to help defray the costs of tournaments only to find that their branded apparel is denied and their sponsorships are effectively worthless.
Reasoning
Within the Official 2026 WSOP Tournament Rules, there are nine reasons given for why branded sponsorship material might be disapproved. Of these nine, the one that seems like it might be relevant here is:
3. Contains any material constituting or relating to a lottery, a contest of any kind in which the public is unfairly treated or any enterprise, service or product that abets, assists or promotes illegal gambling.
Tournament officials could, in theory, consider offshore poker sites, like Coin Poker and Phenom Poker, to be a form of illegal gambling and thus covered under the rationale quoted above. The fact that BetMGM Poker and Winamax, which are duly licensed in their service jurisdictions, are allowed operators lends credence to this idea. However, ACR Poker is an offshore poker room, widely available throughout the United States yet not licensed in this country, and it is among the organizations whose sponsorship patches are permitted.
Thus, there’s no clear picture as to why some poker sites are OK and others frowned upon by the WSOP.
Corporate Deals to Blame?
In late 2024, NSUS Group acquired the rights to the WSOP brand from previous owner Caesars Entertainment although the deal stipulated that Caesars will continue to host the series at its Las Vegas properties for the next 20 years. NSUS is the parent company of GGPoker. Then in March 2026, the WSOP announced that it had reached an agreement with ESPN for broadcasting of its annual summer series.
Either or both of these corporate moves may be responsible for the new rules regarding sponsored brand apparel. GGPoker is one of the largest online poker sites, and so NSUS might be using its position to prevent advertising for GGPoker’s major competitors. At the same time, with ESPN broadcasting the tournaments, the WSOP probably anticipates a broader audience than previously, and so it makes sense that it’s treating sponsorship as a bigger deal than it was when the potential audience was smaller.
Not Only Poker Room Sponsorships Affected
Though it’s definitely true that the WSOP is taking a good hard look at patches and branded clothing from online poker sites, they’re not the only entities that are affected by this rule. Poker software developers, training and coaching sites, and even other poker tours are being subject to the same scrutiny.
One wonders where this policy begins and ends. Under a broad interpretation of the rules, even someone wearing an “I ❤️ NY” hat or a t-shirt emblazoned with the Nike Swoosh logo could be considered to be covered by these regulations.
Other Restrictions Active
There are other, related changes to the WSOP tournament rules. Even among those who have received approval for their apparel, there are strict guidelines as to where and how many times the brand names can appear on clothing. Perhaps the silliest new rule about this subject is the following:
At the start of each production, no more than two (2) Participants seated at tables intended for live streaming or television coverage will be allowed to wear apparel with previously approved logos, patches or promotion language from the same entity.
Yes, you read that correctly. Even if their branded items have received the prior approval of tournament organizers, no more than two people at a given broadcast table can represent the same sponsor. But should this rule come into play, how do they decide which two get to keep their gear? We’re glad you asked:
Should there be more than two (2) Participants representing the same entity at the start of a televised Final or Feature Table – and those Participants cannot agree which Participant will remove or cover their logos for the common entity – a WSOP official will draw high-card prior to the start of play to determine which Participants will be allowed to wear the logos of the common entity. After the draw of the high card, the affected Participant(s) must either cover the relevant logo(s) or change their apparel.
Yes, you can be high carded out of your clothes. This brings a whole new meaning to “losing one’s shirt” at a poker game!
Player Reactions
As could have been expected, players are not keeping silent about their feelings on the new rules. On the contrary, they have taken to social media to express their views. Below is a sampling of what they have to say:
There are a few who state that the WSOP is a private organization and can enact whatever rules it deems appropriate. However, the vast majority of individuals are against these new rules. Even those who defend the WSOP's right to do as they please do not necessarily believe that the WSOP is exercising this right wisely.
Play Online for Less Drama
For some reason, online poker sites are able to run major series with tens of millions of dollars guaranteed without encountering drama every time. Take ACR Poker, for instance, which is currently hosting the Online Super Series with more than $20 million guaranteed. And you can wear whatever you want while playing the OSS.
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For more information, check out this detailed review of ACR Poker. You might also be interested in ACR’s sister sites although they lack the $10 free bankroll: BlackChip Poker and Ya Poker (non-US). For other U.S.-friendly internet poker options, head over to this offshore poker USA guide.
May 21, 2026 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief