Masters Betting Boom: Why Poker Tournaments Could Be Next on Kalshi

The Masters golf tournament has sparked significant interest in prediction markets, with Kalshi users wagering $545 million on the outcome. This massive betting volume indicates a bright future for poker tournaments on the platform. Only the 2024 U.S. presidential election had more action than the 2026 Masters on Kalshi.

Kalshi has shown interest in the poker industry by signing Daniel Negreanu to an ambassadorship deal in September 2023. Negreanu has been pushing for more poker-related markets on the platform. Currently, the only poker market on Kalshi is whether the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event will crack 10,000 players. Negreanu has expressed interest in markets about which player wins the 2026 WSOP main event and real-time price movements as traders see whether a player’s chip stack is increasing or decreasing.

The WSOP main event offers nearly three times as many days to wager compared to the Masters tournament. This extended period allows users to alter their exposure throughout the tournament, making prediction markets an attractive option for poker enthusiasts. The system allows traders to take multiple positions on players throughout the event, similar to how they can hedge in golf tournaments.