Painful Mass Layoffs at World Poker Tour 2025

The World Poker Tour is facing a massive staff overhaul across multiple layers of the global brand and the latest batch of layoffs has hit the company’s editorial team. It appears to be yet another shake-up that already commenced in late 2024 as reported by gambling industry writer Haley Hintze for poker.org.

WPT Key Figures Depart

On January 27, 2025, editor-in-chief Lance Bradley revealed on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that he and his entire team will be leaving the WPT with immediate effect. This includes veteran industry writer Jeff Walsh, managing editor Tim Fiorvanti, content coordinator Evan McColl, media relations manager Eric Lusch, content coordinator Raul Silva, Affiliate Business Manager Scott Pesick, and social media manager Easton Oreman, all of which formed an integral part of shaping the event and player stories told during each WPT live poker stop.

Some news to share: my amazing team and I are moving on from WPT. Building out this group of talented people is one of my proudest accomplishments. Our mission might have sounded crazy to some – but there isn’t anybody else I’d have rather gone crazy with.

Please amplify this 🧵

— Lance Bradley (@Lance_Bradley) January 28, 2025

Shake-Up At WPT Global

Two months ago, WPT Global and A5 Labs let dozens of employees go. According to Hintze’s sources, a new CEO had been appointed at WPT Global without his legal name or nationality officially disclosed.

The operator has been under scrutiny for some time, with overlays reported on the platform – an issue praised by the company’s leadership. However, the subscription model is threatened by legal developments in the United States. Players from many regulated countries all over the world cannot even sign up for the brand, including Americans. Whether it is a factor or not, many of the laid off employees across the WPT verticals are based in the US.

ClubWPT Gold Also Faces Hurdles

The new ClubWPT Gold platform is also facing legal challenges due to the sweepstakes-based model and has had to withdraw from several US states while still in its early rollout phase. This came to light during the WPT World Championships in December 2024 when the WPT’s new online poker platform hosted a $5 Million Freeroll at the Wynn Las Vegas.

World Poker Tour’s History Of Ties And Takeovers

Since the tour was founded more than two dozen years ago in 2002, the ownership changed several times. For example, in 2015, the Hong Kong-based corporation Ourgame International Holdings Ltd. purchased the brand only to sell it three years later to Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. However, it only lasted as many years before yet another change in ownership when private investment company Element Partners LLC acquired the WPT in 2021.

While expanding the online poker presence during and after the global coronavirus pandemic, the WPT has had close ties to China with a large portion of the WPT Global player pool based throughout Asia.

For the time being, none of the already announced WPT live poker stops seem to be affected by these most recent layoffs. The next Asia-based WPT festival is right around the corner with WPT Cambodia from February 6 to 24, 2025, set to become the brand’s largest and most ambitious series in the region thus far.