Four Mega Sats, One Night: The Landmark Satellite Numbers

The Horseshoe ran four Landmark Mega Satellites at once on the night of July 1, at $135, $585, $1,100, and $2,200, and the cheapest path to a seat wasn't the one you'd expect.

The Landmark is the marquee new event on the 2026 WSOP schedule, and its satellite ladder is unlike anything the series has offered before: four buy-in tiers, all firing the same evening, all awarding seats into the same target event. I pulled every milestone signal from the overnight session to map field sizes, survival rates, and the implied math at each level.

The $2,200 tier drew at least 100 entries while the $135 tier was down to 17 players with two tables left, a gap that reframes the cost-per-seat calculus entirely.

The Raw Numbers

Here's what we know from the milestone data captured between 1:35 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. PT on July 2, as each satellite ground toward its seat awards:

| Tier | Event | Buy-In | Milestone Observed | Players at Milestone | |------|-------|--------|--------------------|---------------------| | 1 | #391 | $135 | Two tables left | 17 | | 2 | (not captured) | $585 | n/a | n/a | | 3 | #383 | $1,100 | Down to 54 | 47 | | 4 | #389 | $2,200 | Down to 54 | 51 |

The $585 satellite didn't trigger a milestone signal in our window, so we're working with three of the four tiers. But even with that gap, the picture is revealing.

The $2,200 Mega (Event #389) was the biggest draw by far. It hit a "Down to 100" milestone at 5:05 a.m. with 98 players remaining, then a "Down to 54" milestone at 6:05 a.m. with 51 left. That means the field started well above 100 entries.

The $1,100 Mega (Event #383) hit its "Down to 54" milestone at 1:35 a.m. with 47 players remaining.

The $135 Daily Mega (Event #391) reached two tables (17 players) at 8:20 a.m., the latest of any tier. Smaller field, longer grind.

What the Fields Tell Us

The $2,200 tier pulling 100+ entries is the headline. At more than double the buy-in of the $1,100 tier, it still drew a comparable or larger field. Players voting with their bankrolls believe the higher buy-in offers a better conversion rate, fewer levels of satellite-chain risk, or both.

The $135 tier, by contrast, ran lean. With 17 players at two tables, the starting field was likely in the 30-to-60 range (depending on the starting-stack-to-blind ratio and structure speed). That's a small pool, which could mean fewer seats awarded.

The Names in the Field

These aren't high-profile fields. The players with the most recorded tournament earnings across all four tiers include Martin McCloskey ($35,224 lifetime) and Sami Alserri ($19,077 lifetime) from Canada. Guang Chen ($7,619), Daniel Garcia ($3,466), Roman Shcherbakov ($3,370), and Cedric Seguin ($2,950) round out the tracked results. Three Japanese players surfaced in the $2,200 tier: Shota Tomori, Issey Maeda, and Yui Tsutsumi.

This is a recreational-heavy field. The Landmark satellites are attracting exactly the audience they were designed for: players looking to buy into a prestige event at a discount, not bracelet veterans grinding a familiar structure.

What We Can't Calculate (Yet)

The missing variable is seats awarded. Without final results, we can't compute the effective cost-per-seat at each tier. Once the seat counts post, the math becomes simple: (buy-in × entries) ÷ seats = effective price. If the $2,200 tier awards proportionally more seats per entry than the $135 tier, it's the better deal despite costing 16× the buy-in.

That's the number worth watching. We'll update when final results land.

Methodology

All figures are drawn from WSOP milestone signals observed between 1:35 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. PT on July 2, 2026. Milestone labels ("Down to 100," "Down to 54," "Two tables left") are generated by the WSOP reporting system at predefined player-count thresholds. The $585 tier did not trigger a captured milestone during our observation window. Starting field sizes are inferred from milestone data and are approximate where noted.