First Ever 2025 WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Unveiled

Brains, Blinds, and Bangkok: Poker Takes Center Stage in Thailand’s Mind Sport Movement

WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Schedule Unveiled

The full schedule for the World Poker Tour’s – WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition has been released, with the event taking place July 30 to August 5 at UOB LIVE in Bangkok’s EMSPHERE. The series features more than 25 poker tournaments across three Poker + Travel packages, priced at 7,000, 14,000, and 37,000 Thai Baht. Each package includes a free tournament entry and offers options for all skill levels.

Key Events: Opener and Championship Headline the Series

The Opener, included in the ฿14,000 travel package, kicks off on July 30 with two starting flights: Day 1A and Day 1B. Players begin with 25,000 chips and compete in 40-minute levels.

• Day 1A / Day 1B: July 30, 2025
• Day 2: July 31, 2025

The centerpiece of the series is the WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Championship, included in the ฿37,000 package. This premier event features a multi-flight format and a sponsored travel fund guarantee of ฿37 million, with four Day 1 flights running from August 1 to August 3.

• Day 1A: August 1, 2025
• Day 1B: August 2, 2025
• Day 1C / Day 1D (Turbo): August 3, 2025
• Day 2: August 4, 2025
• Final Day: August 5, 2025

Beyond Hold’em: A Showcase of Poker Formats

Beyond the headline events, the schedule showcases a variety of formats designed to test strategic depth and adaptability. Pot-limit Omaha offers a distinct pace and texture from Hold’em, with four hole cards instead of two, creating wider equity spreads and more frequent big pots. Players must evaluate more combinations and manage bigger swings. High-velocity formats like Hyper Turbo and Deepstack Turbo challenge players to make high-stakes decisions in limited time.

Additional highlights include the Freezeout, Ladies Event, and Team Event. A full roster of satellites will run throughout the series, offering accessible qualification paths into the Championship.

The Science of Poker and Its Mind Sport Status

Poker’s status as a mind sport is backed by both official recognition and neuroscience. In 2024, the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) certified poker as an intellectual sport, joining games like chess and bridge. Poker’s core demands of strategic planning, behavioural analysis, and decision-making satisfy the criteria for competitive cognitive sports.

Supporting this, fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) studies have shown that during high-level poker play, brain regions responsible for risk assessment, emotion regulation, and data integration, including the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and parietal cortex, are significantly activated. This activity mirrors that of professional chess players under tournament conditions.

Thailand’s Support: A Foundation for the Growth of Mind Sports

Thailand continues to establish itself as a hub for mind sports. In February 2025, Bangkok hosted the inaugural Asian Mind Sports Association summit, drawing representatives from 29 Olympic committees to advance intellectual competition across Asia.

Thanks to its strategic location, world-class facilities, and rich hospitality, Thailand attracts major international tournaments across disciplines. In the game of Go, for example, national open events have been regularly hosted, providing a stage for rising talent and contributing to a strong ecosystem of cognitive sports.

The upcoming WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition poker event is officially supported by the Minister of Tourism and Sports, which considers Texas Hold’em as a sports activity under Thai policy. Join us July 30 for an unforgettable experience, where world-class poker meets the vibrant culture and iconic scenery of Thailand. Witness the excitement of elite competition in the heart of Southeast Asia.

For more information and the full exhibition schedule, visit: https://linktr.ee/Wptprimeth and follow our Instagram. 

For media enquiries, please contact: 

Sam Atherton – [email protected]