WSOP Main Event Adds Shot Clock After Excessive Tanking

WSOP Main Event turns to a shot clock in the late stages

For the first time in the 57-year history of the WSOP Main Event, officials made a major in-tournament rule change: a shot clock was added on Day 7. The trigger was not a structural redesign, but a practical problem that live tournament poker knows all too well — excessive tanking once the money bubble had already burst.

In other words, players were spending so long in the tank that the pace of the event, and the perception of fair play, started to suffer. In a tournament with this much prestige and this much money on the line, every decision has a ripple effect. When one player slows the table to a crawl, the rest of the field feels it immediately.

That’s why the decision instantly became one of the most talked-about stories of the summer. If you follow how live events evolve, you can see similar efforts in modern poker rooms and poker clubs, where organizers increasingly value pace, clarity, and a better experience for both players and spectators.