Two prominent high rollers with influence in the industry may have sparked a “paradigm shift” toward earlier poker tournament start times and shorter sessions.
PokerStars ambassador Jason Koon and 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Seth Davies, on X, gave their reasons as to why they’d like tournaments to begin earlier. Not everyone agreed with their takes, but many seem to be on board with the idea of beginning sessions as early as 10 a.m.
“The industry is due for a paradigm shift in tourney start times. Starting a tourney at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and playing really late is rough. Almost no one likes it, pros and recs alike. Let’s start tourneys at 10am. Finish at a reasonable time. If you bust early you can still have the evening free,” Davies wrote.
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Koon shared a similar take on the issue to Davies. But he took it one step further, claiming that earlier starts and finishes is better for everyone, “including staff.” He continued to explain that late finishes “wrecks sleep and is terrible for overall health.”
Many poker tournaments, especially large-field multi-day events, begin at noon or later, and often run until 3 in the morning.
The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event, which played down to a final table on Tuesday, has featured shorter sessions that don’t keep players stuck at the casino until the wee hours of the morning. But this structure isn’t too common around the tournament circuit.
“Pushing recreational poker players with normal lives into the late hours of the night during tournaments is a massive deterrent to the mainstream player,” Koon wrote, adding on to his original tweet.