The 2026 APAT World Championship of Amateur Poker is Only a Month Away

There is less than a month to wait until the first Amateur Poker Association & Tour (APAT) World Championship Of Amateur Poker (WCOAP) shuffles up and deals at the Grosvenor Casino Bury New Road in Manchester. The excitement is building within the amateur poker community, with the “worlds” seen as the pinnacle of the recreational poker scene.

Running from August 4 through to August 9, the 2026 APAT WCOAP features 16 WCOAP bracelets and APAT medal events in all shapes, sizes, and formats. There isn’t another tour that offers such a diverse mix of poker variants at affordable buy-in levels, and that awards its top three finishers APAT’s famous gold, silver, and bronze medals.

For the WCOAP, champions will also receive a WCOAP bracelet, while the Player of the Series and the Main Event champion receive an invite to the Vegas 27 live final later this year, where the eventual winner receives a $10,000 bankroll plus flights and accommodation for the 2027 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.

APAT WCOAP 2026 Schedule

The 2026 WCOAP explodes into action on August 4 with the first phase of the eagerly anticipated WCOAP International Team Championship. Team England, consisting of Lisa Greer, Joby Plunkett, Ky Hutchison, and Danny Strange, came out on top last year. Each netted £680 in prize money plus APAT gold medals.

While the International Team Championship is running on the opening day of the 2026 WCOAP, the T.O.R.S.E. Championship and the first of five Mini Main Championship flights get underway. James Buck is the reigning T.O.R.S.E. champion, while Ben Haynes triumphed in the Mini Main Championship.

Other bracelet and medal-awarding events include a £140 Dealer’s Choice Championship, a £140 8-Game Championship, a £140 No-Limit Hold’em Mystery Bounty Shootout Championship, the £140 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, and the £140 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball Championship.

Everyone Wants to Win the APAT 2026 WCOAP Main Event Championship

If past tournaments are anything to go by, a field of around 500 should turn out for the event that every amateur poker player wants to win: the £210 No-Limit Hold’em World Amateur Poker Championship.

Day 1a shuffles up and deals at 7:00 p.m. BST on August 5, with the plan to play down to 15% of the field, which will mean surviving players are in the money. Subsequent flights start at 8:00 p.m. BST on August 6, and at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. BST on August 7.

One re-entry per Day 1 is permitted, and players can surrender their stack but may not re-enter a subsequent Day 1 if they have bagged for Day 2.

The 2025 edition of the Main Event saw 475 players create a £79,800 prize pool that the top 71 finishers shared.

The final table played out without a deal, with Kevin Smith (£5,500) finishing third and receiving a bronze medal, Jonathan Rees (£8,500) falling at the final hurdle, and Ireland’s Peter McCusker (£13,000) coming out on top.

Player of the Series

Everyone who reaches the money places of an APAT 2026 WCOAP event receives Player of the Series leaderboard points. The top performer at the 2026 WCOAP will be invited to play in the Vegas 27 live final on November 26 at the Manchester235 Casino.

They’ll join 26 other qualifiers in a battle for a $10,000 bankroll package, which includes return flights and seven nights’ accommodation at the 2027 WSOP in Las Vegas!

APAT WCOAP 2025 Results

Thanks to securing the NLHE World Amateur Poker Championship title, Peter McCusker was the biggest single winner at the 2025 WCOAP with his £13,000 payout. Daniel Williams also won big, courtesy of his victory in the NLHE 6-Max Championship, a result worth £4,000.

Special mentions go to Ky Hutchison and Jonathan Douglas-Davies, who both won two events. Hutchison was part of Team England as they marched onto victory in the International Team Championship before coming out on top in the £140 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for another £3,745.

Douglas-Davies’ brace of wins came in the £140 2-7 Triple Draw Championship and the £70 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event. He walked away with a combined £3,417.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.