The World Series of Poker winter series boasts the biggest prize guarantee in live poker history 

The World Series of Poker (WSOP®) today revealed electrifying details of its highly anticipated WSOP Paradise winter tournament series, headlined by the $60,000,000-guaranteed Super Main Event – the largest prize guarantee in live poker tournament history. This monumental series is set to transform Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas into poker’s ultimate winter playground from Dec. 4 through Dec. 18, hosted in exclusive partnership with GGPoker, the World’s Biggest Poker Room, and Triton, the leading high-stakes tournament organiser.

This third annual iteration of the WSOP Paradise festival will again showcase an unparalleled set of high roller and super high roller events. The tournament schedule will be jointly curated and hosted by WSOP and Triton Poker, ensuring a world-class experience for all players.

The festival’s undisputed crown jewel is the No Limit Hold’em Super Main Event Championship, with a buy-in of $25K. This record-setting tournament boasts an astounding $60,000,000 prize guarantee – a full $10,000,000 higher than last year’s landmark event. In 2024, Yinan Zhou famously outlasted a 1,977 field to claim his first coveted WSOP bracelet and the $6M winner’s prize.

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Other festival highlights include:

• Event #1: WSOP Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty (Dec. 4) – $2,500 buy-in (all WSOP Circuit ring event winners from July 1 through Dec 2. will receive an exclusive $5K Ticket to Paradise package that includes entry to Event #1)
• Event #3: Triton Pot Limit Omaha Main Event (Dec. 5) – $100K buy-in
• Event #5: Triton Invitational (Dec. 7) – $250K buy-in (the field will be evenly split between invited players from the worlds of business and entertainment, and their professional poker player guests)
• Event #9: Triton No Limit Hold’em Main Event (Dec. 9) – $100K buy-in
• Event #14: GGMillion$ (Dec. 15) – $25K buy-in – $10M prize guarantee

“They called us crazy last year for launching the Super Main Event with the biggest live tournament guarantee ever, so consider this a re-raise,” said Ty Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of WSOP. “WSOP Paradise is here to stay, and we’re making poker history once again, with the $60,000,000 guarantee and some new signature events. The expanded partnership with Triton, alongside the new Super Mystery Bounty kickoff event, headlines what is a can’t-miss winter festival.”

Daniel Negreanu, GGPoker Global Ambassador, added: “I said last year that a $50M guarantee for the Super Main Event was crazy – adding another $10,000,000 on top is freaking insane! WSOP is bringing the biggest high rollers and the best poker experience possible back to Paradise, and I cannot wait to be part of it.”

“We’re thrilled to return to WSOP Paradise and bring the Triton experience back to this part of the world,” said Andy Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Triton Poker Series. “WSOP Paradise is a truly exciting stop for us at Triton, and we’re proud to be part of it once again.”

“Each year, WSOP Paradise at Atlantis Paradise Island continues to soar. From the electric atmosphere and high-stakes drama to the passionate fans and unforgettable moments, the tournament is quickly becoming the can’t-miss, most sought-after event of the poker season. With ever-growing prize pools — including a record-breaking $60 million guarantee for the Super Main Event — all set against the iconic backdrop of the world-renowned Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas, there’s truly nothing else like it,” said Joe Brunini, Chief Gaming & Customer Development Officer, Atlantis Paradise Island.

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Players can satellite into the WSOP Paradise Super Main Event exclusively at GGPoker, with Road to Paradise qualifier tournaments already live in the GGPoker tournament lobby and more qualifier options set to launch in the coming weeks with WSOP Express. Winning players will secure a $30K WSOP Paradise Super Main Event package, which includes their SME $25K buy-in, discounted accommodation at the exclusive Atlantis Paradise Island resort, complimentary meals, and more.

To kick off the Road to Paradise in true style, WSOP is happy to announce that the player who is knocked out on the prize bubble in this year’s WSOP 2025 $10K Main Event in Las Vegas will be awarded a $30K WSOP Paradise Super Main Event package, instantly transforming the Bubble Boy’s moment of bad luck into a second shot at glory.

The full WSOP Paradise 2025 daily schedule will be revealed later this year. The WSOP reserves the right to cancel, change, or modify the tournament or any tournament event, in part or in whole, without notice.

Please follow @WSOP on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram or check WSOP.com for more event news and updates. More information about this year’s Road to Paradise and WSOP Express qualifiers will be revealed at GGPoker.com in the near future.

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Dominic Le Garsmeur (CPO) at Fincore, says integrations without a clear interoperability strategy add technical and operational debt, hampering future growth.

System integrations are hugely important for any online sportsbook or casino, adding capabilities and features to drive growth.  But integrating without considering and optimising interoperability can do more harm than good by adding technical and operational debt to the business and ultimately hitting growth.

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Integrating without interoperability pushes information from one system to another, but the connection itself has no intelligence. It’s a mechanical link, and the systems remain fundamentally separate, each operating with its own distinct rules. Any real understanding, like why that data was sent or what other processes it should trigger, is lost, creating data silos that are technically connected but strategically disconnected.

System interoperability provides the intelligence the connection lacks, establishing a shared operational model for the platform so all systems can act in concert. Most importantly, it creates a future-proof foundation, allowing new capabilities and features to be added with agility and confidence, turning the platform into an engine for innovation rather than a source of technical debt.

Before looking at why interoperability is more powerful than integration, and how companies can solve it, it’s important to understand how disconnects between platforms and systems occur in the first place.

Why does disconnection happen?

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Operators acquire their tech stacks in different ways, but usually through a combination of building, inheriting legacy tech, acquisition and third-party providers. This often leads to platform and system silos with little to no compatibility between them.

Ultimately, disconnected systems drag down delivery and without interoperability, companies waste time reconciling platforms and tech rather than advancing forward.

Interoperability is more powerful than integration

Integration often means linking systems at a basic level, but interoperability ensures that data, logic and workflows are aligned and extensible.

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It’s critical to have a strategic data layer and shared data structures that enables standardising of data representations, aligning systems at the logic level, not just the interface, and building an architecture designed to unify and extend across platforms.

In complex industries such as gaming, where tech plays such an important role in the user experience and the trust consumers have in brands, system interoperability is the only way to scale with control. In short, integration links, interoperability empowers.

Why interoperability is such a challenge in the gaming industry

Each integration is unique. Why? Because the combination of legacy systems, niche vendors and varying regulations in markets across the world means there is no blueprint for operators to follow.

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Remember, most operator platforms are now decades old and were not built with modularity or openness in mind. And even those developing new platforms and systems from scratch often lack the in-house capability to design for interoperability from the get-go.

The risk of not achieving interoperability

When systems don’t interoperate, things start to fall apart. For example, delivery can grind to a halt, with every new feature launch or market entry becoming a grind. There are compliance risks, too, especially when it comes to fractured data and an increased risk of errors and audit gaps.

Then, of course, there is the poor player experience that will be provided. This could be anything from glitchy games to failed deposits and even the wrong marketing communications being sent to the wrong player cohorts.

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It also impacts an operator’s ability to develop and innovate, as IT and tech become reactive rather than proactive. And in such a competitive market, this can see a brand quickly fall behind the curve.

How to solve the interoperability conundrum

Ensuring interoperability is a complex and comprehensive undertaking, but there are some high-level things operators can do.

This starts with standardising critical data flows and logic, not just the interface. Remember, a single view of data is what ensures all the platforms, systems and networks communicate with each other in the same language.

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Operators should also design for change, as architecture must support long-term growth and plug-and-play modularity. In most cases, it’s best to invest in strategic partners, not just tools.

How strategic partners can help

Partners such as Fincore can provide the strategic clarity operators need, defining what interoperability looks like for them and based on their business goals. We also bring execution muscle – we don’t just design it, we build it.

The right partner also brings compliance confidence. Companies such as Fincore are highly experienced when it comes to interoperability, and everything we do stands up to regulatory scrutiny.

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This can be seen in our proven track record for delivering interoperability for everything from complex migrations to global-scale game roll-outs.

A real-world example of interoperability

Fincore worked with a US-based gaming services provider whose legacy systems across its land-based venues had created silos in payments, loyalty and in-resort experiences.

The solution we proposed saw us design and deliver a digital wallet that became the unified digital layer across the physical properties. We also integrated deeply with multiple rigid legacy systems to provide secure and compliant interoperability at scale.

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The result? We delivered on time, unlocked a new digital product line and created a long-term tech foundation for the company to continue to build on.

When it comes to integrations, you can always wire systems together, but if you don’t do it in the right way, you get chaos. Interoperability is about creating order within platforms and systems, which in turn allows for unlimited scaling and growth.

And that’s why interoperability is the real game-changer.