WSOP Circuit Turning Stone Series Offers $3M in Guarantees
The WSOP Circuit Turning Stone series starts October 15 with $3M in guarantees, a $1M Main Event and a new luxury hotel for players.
WSOP Circuit Turning Stone returns to Verona, New York, starting October 15, with over $3M in guarantees across 18 ring events, according to Poker.org. The series headlines a $1M guaranteed Main Event and debuts a new luxury hotel and tournament venue for players attending the stop.
- The series starts October 15, 2026, at Turning Stone Resort, per WSOP.com.
- Total guarantees top $3M across 18 ring events, according to Poker.org.
- The Main Event carries a $1M guarantee, up from a spring prize pool of $1.68M.
- The $400 Mini Main Event guarantee rises from $500K to $600K.
- Every ring winner gets a $5,000 package to WSOP Paradise in The Bahamas.
- Turning Stone's new Crescent hotel tower cost $400M and has 258 rooms.
What is happening at WSOP Circuit Turning Stone?
WSOP Circuit Turning Stone is back in Verona, New York, for what organizers are calling its biggest stop of the year. WSOP.com confirms the series opened October 15, 2026, running an 18-event ring schedule through the coming weeks.
Poker.org reports total guarantees now exceed $3M, making this the venue's largest WSOP Circuit series to date. That figure covers everything from the Main Event down to smaller buy-in options spread across the full schedule.
Turning Stone has long been a reliable stop on the Circuit calendar, drawing strong fields year after year. This fall's boosted guarantees and new amenities are meant to push that reputation even further, according to Poker.org.
How big is the Main Event guarantee?
The headline event carries a $1M guarantee, according to Poker.org. That number looks conservative given recent history — the spring 2026 Main Event drew 1,114 entries and built a prize pool of over $1.68M.
Zak VanKeuren won that spring Main Event, taking home $267,437 along with the ring and a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package. He already held a WSOP bracelet from 2024, so the ring added to an existing resume rather than starting one.
Every ring winner at this Turning Stone stop receives the same $5,000 Paradise package VanKeuren collected in the spring. That bonus applies across all 18 events, not just the Main Event, giving smaller-buy-in winners a shot at a Bahamas trip too.
What other events are on the schedule?
The $400 Mini Main Event saw its guarantee boosted from $500K to $600K this time around, a sizeable jump from the spring number. Last spring, Kenny Roy won it outright, beating a 3,026-entry field for $113,623 — by far his biggest tournament score to date.
Beyond the Main and Mini Main, the schedule includes a $400K guaranteed Monster Stack event, a popular format for players who want deep starting stacks without a huge buy-in. There's also a $100K guaranteed Seniors Event and a $25K guaranteed Ladies Event, both carrying a $400 buy-in.
The Ladies Event at Turning Stone has a reputation for being one of the largest of its kind on the entire Circuit. Its spring edition pulled 210 entries, the most of any Ladies Event on the Circuit this year, according to Poker.org.
What's new at the venue this time?
Turning Stone Resort has put $400M into renovations, and WSOP Circuit players get their first look at part of that investment this series. The new Crescent hotel tower has 258 rooms and holds an AAA Four Diamond rating, offering a higher-end stay for anyone in town for several days of poker.
Tournament play itself is also moving to a new room. Events shift from the old Event Center to the Oneida conference room, a space described by Poker.org as more intimate and sitting just off the gaming floor, a short walk from the resort's regular poker room.
What it means for players
Anyone chasing WSOP Circuit rings has a reason to pay attention to this stop. Bigger guarantees mean deeper overlay potential across buy-in levels, from the $400 Mini Main Event up to the $1M Main Event. The new hotel and relocated tournament room also change the on-site experience for anyone staying through a multi-day series. Players working on their own tournament game can sharpen up with strategy tools before diving into a big field like this one, and tracking stack depth and blind levels matters more in bigger-field events like the Monster Stack.
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Frequently asked
When does the WSOP Circuit Turning Stone series start?
The series began October 15, 2026, at Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York, according to WSOP.com. It runs across 18 ring events.
How much is the WSOP Circuit Turning Stone Main Event guaranteed for?
The Main Event carries a $1M guarantee, per Poker.org. The spring 2026 edition outpaced that, building a prize pool over $1.68M from 1,114 entries.
What do ring winners get at this series?
Every ring winner receives a $5,000 package to WSOP Paradise in The Bahamas, according to Poker.org. That bonus applies across all 18 events on the schedule.
What's changed at Turning Stone Resort for this series?
Turning Stone opened a new 258-room luxury hotel tower called The Crescent, part of a $400M property investment. Tournaments also moved from the Event Center into the Oneida conference room near the poker room.