GGPoker has brought back its Winter Giveaway Series (WGS) for a third year, locking in more than $100 million in total prizes across a record 45 days.
The festival runs from December 14 to January 27, covering both Christmas and New Year. It blends headline specials with a big slate of daily events at diverse buy-ins, ranging from $5 to $525.
Every guaranteed event carries a 5% added boost on top of the posted guarantee, worth roughly $5 million extra across the schedule.
That add-on acts like a direct giveback. It effectively turns a typical 10% rake structure into about 5% for tournaments that meet their guarantees.
The series is available to the international player pool including those playing online poker in Canada outside of Ontario.
Winter Giveaway Series at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | Dec 14 to Jan 27 |
| Total tournaments | 950 |
| Buy-ins | $5 to $525 |
| Posted guarantees | About $95 million plus |
| Add on | 5% added to every GTD event |
| Added total | About $5 million |
| Flagship finale | $250 buy-in, $5 million GTD, $250,000 added |
- Or get up to $100 worth of rewards
- Available in many regulated markets
- Great MTT schedule including WSOP events
Key details, dates, and the 5% add-on
The schedule features 950 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $5 to $525. Before any added money, the guarantees total just over $95 million. With the 5% top-ups included, the overall figure exceeds $100 million.
Every guaranteed event gets an additional 5% cash boost. For instance, a $100,000 guarantee receives $5,000 extra, while a $1 million guarantee gets a $50,000 add-on.
The operator clarifies that while the 5% is always added, if an event overlays, GGPoker will only cover the overlay up to that 5% amount. Even so, this structure offers strong value to players by effectively ensuring overlays across the entire schedule.
In practical terms, it acts like a flat 5% rake reduction. If the posted rake is around 10%, returning 5% directly to the prize pool brings the effective rake closer to 5% when events meet their guarantees.
GGPoker has promoted this model as the series’ headline benefit, and it has been a defining feature of the past two editions as well.
Flagship events and weekly structure
Seven specials anchor the calendar, each using multi-flight formats. Six of them carry seven-figure guarantees and fixed add-ons tied to the 5% rule.
The $50 Winter is Coming highlights the low buy-in side with a $1 million guarantee and a $50,000 add-on. Expect a large field and many Day 1 flights.
Santa’s Sled Bounty Turbo costs $25 and posts a $2 million guarantee. The 5% add-on adds another $100,000 to the pool.
Omaholic Mystery Ball at $125 also boasts a $1 million guarantee. The add-on there is $50,000, with mystery bounty mechanics driving unique sweats.
The Winter Giveaway Grand Finale serves as the capstone. It is a $250 buy-in with a $5 million guarantee and a $250,000 add-on.
Outside the headliners, the schedule leans on GGPoker’s regular formats, dressed in festive branding. Expect recurring slates like Winter Tick Tock, Holiday Heater, Merry Monster Stack, and Bounty Snowball through the week.
Daily pacing aims to offer multiple entry points for different bankrolls. The structure allows shot taking at key times, while still providing steady volume.
Context, history, and what is new this year
The Winter Giveaway Series debuted in 2023. That first edition posted $50 million in guarantees with a 10% add-on, worth about $4 million extra across the run, as outlined at launch.
GGPoker doubled guarantees to $100 million in 2024 and standardized the add-on to 5%, for an extra $5 million. That change established the modern format that continues this year.
This year’s calendar is the longest yet at 45 days. That length gives the operator space to build deep fields in the multi-flight anchors while keeping variety in the daily grind.
The series also lands during a busy live poker period. It overlaps with the final stretch of a major winter showdown in the Bahamas that is currently underway. Online qualifiers and cross promotion usually add buzz during this window.
Before WGS, GGPoker used to run the WSOP Winter Circuit in December. As the brand pivoted toward WSOP Paradise in December, the operator moved the Circuit online series to spring, when it returns as WSOP Super Circuit. The winter slot is now owned by WGS.
GGPoker also aligns WGS with a seasonal giveaway promo on the site. This year’s End of Year Giveaway is the largest yet by the operator, giving away $25 million across missions and leaderboards.
Players can expect published lobbies to label the added amounts clearly. The 5% bonus applies to guarantees, not to final prize pools if they exceed the GTD.
For bankroll planning, the lower buy in seven-figure events stand out. The $25 and $50 specials create rare shots at huge prize pools with modest entry fees. The schedule promotes repeatable volume with themed weeklies. Satellite paths into the flagship events typically run all day during the series.
The Winter Giveaway Series runs from December 14 through January 27, with the Grand Finale closing the action near the end of the festival.
