WSOP Paradise was started in 2023, as an informal replacement to the Pokerstars PCA, which ended in 2019. It featured 15 bracelet events, and took place in December in the Bahamas at the Atlantis resort. The PCA was also at the Atlantis resort, usually in January, so they were very similar, except now it was WSOP affiliated instead of Pokerstars, and the events handed out bracelets.

There was some controversy when it started, as it was (likely correctly) perceived as a way to slow down the rapidly growing December WPT Wynn series in Vegas, which was highly popular in 2022 and a surprise hit. WSOP Paradise was scheduled at the same time as much of the WPT Wynn, which I'm sure was no accident.

In 2023 and 2024, the WSOP Paradise experience itself was relatively uncontroversial, other than a few hiccups.

However, this year, the second one under GGPoker rule (which bought the WSOP last year), had its share of issues.

First, it was discovered that suspended player Ren Lin, who was involved in a highly publicized online ghosting scandal, was quietly unsuspended right before WSOP Paradise. This frustrated people because it essentially rendered his supposed "WSOP suspension" meaningless, because he missed zero WSOP events!

However, this one died down pretty quickly, and it seemed GG dodged any major fallout from this faux-suspension.

But as the series went on, things got worse.

Players were increasingly unhappy with Atlantis itself. None of these complaints were new, and I've heard them going back to the 2000s, but the players were upset about:

- Some towers had tired-looking rooms, in major need of renovation
- Food was very expensive and not good
- Service was extremely slow, even by Bahamas standards
- Theft, presumably by staff members, was an issue for some people

Influencer Bryce Hall loudly complained on Instagram, which the WPT account (presumably run by SrslySirius) jumped on, in order to mock the WSOP's previous promotion of Bryce's attendance:

https://twitter.com/WPT/status/2000305455567192243


But there was a lot more people found unappealing about the tournament than just Atlantis itself. Read on...