News about poker pros
The pandemic isn’t over Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the in-person version of the World Series of Poker (along with most other live activities for months), the deadly virus is still having an impact on the WSOP. Things are “back to normal” at the Series, now located at Paris and… Read more »
As re-entry events have become commonplace over the last several years, many in the poker world – including some here on this site – have lamented their popularity with tournament organizers, seeing them as giving another advantage to the most deep-pocketed players. But sometimes the ability to re-enter a live tournament bites a player in… Read more »
Bluffing his way to victory Oh look, something new. Phil Hellmuth won a High Stakes Duel match. On Tuesday night, for the ninth time in ten tries, Hellmuth defeated his opponent in the heads-up poker battle and for the largest prize in the made-for-streaming show’s brief history. Hellmuth took down Scott Seiver in High Stakes… Read more »
One heck of an offer In what would be a combination of gambling giants, MGM Resorts International announced this week that it has offered to purchase internet gambling company LeoVegas AB for $607 million. The total comes from a purchase price of SEK 61.00 per share for the Sweden-based LeoVegas, which would be paid using… Read more »
Hey look, it’s Phil Hellmuth again It seems like every week there is something going on with Phil Hellmuth. Either he does something amazing, fails miserably, or makes an ass out of himself. Yesterday, it was both (a) and (c), as he starred in the Hustler Casino Live Poker Show alongside influencers, streamers, and YouTubers… Read more »
Influential vlogger The World Poker Tour (WPT) has announced the signing of Brad Owen as its second ambassador. As part of his ambassadorship, Owen will represent the Tour at live WPT events and create content for the World Poker Tour. “I am excited to be joining the team at WPT,” said Owen in Tuesday’s press… Read more »
Stakes have doubled once again Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan are going for yet another rematch, as they are set to square off in High Stakes Duel III Round 4 on May 12. Each man is putting $400,000 at stake, the highest level the heads-up battle has ever reached. PokerGO will broadcast the showdown beginning… Read more »
The 32-player bracket has been set for the first-ever PokerGO Tour Heads-Up Showdown, which begins on Thursday, April 21 at the ARIA in Las Vegas. The 16 first-round matches will all be played tomorrow, starting with the Clubs and Diamonds bracket at noon PST and continuing with the Spades and Hearts brackets at 4:00pm. The… Read more »
There is drama in the world of high stakes poker. Sunday night, poker pro Alex Foxen accused fellow pro of cheating, both live and online. And perhaps most interestingly, he did not get a lot of pushback. Posting on Twitter, Foxen said that Imsirovic is “known as a cheater to almost all in the high… Read more »
Helping those in need As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages on, around 3 million people have fled Ukraine for safer countries. Nearly 2 million more have been displaced inside the country. It is a horrible humanitarian crisis, but were it not for the efforts of thousands upon thousands in neighboring countries, even more Ukranians would… Read more »
Escaping the violence As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears the end of its first week, Ukraine residents continue to flee, hoping they can find refuge in neighboring countries. One of the hundreds of thousands who have made it to safety is former poker pro Eugene Katchalov, who made it to Hungary with his wife and… Read more »
Effective altruism movement According to a Bloomberg report, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk donated $5.7 billion worth of Tesla stock to charity in November. It appears that the man Musk has entrusted to decide where the money goes is poker pro Igor Kurganov. Kurganov, along with Stefan Huber, Phil Gruissem, and long-time girlfriend Liv… Read more »
Faded a bunch of outs Tony G went from professional poker play to politician, but now he’s back to poker and methinks he is not regretting it one bit. On Friday, Antanas “Tony G” Guoga won the largest pot in online poker history: $7.75 million. He accomplished the feat on CoinPoker, a site for which… Read more »
After skipping last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Global Poker Awards are back. This year, the winners will be announced during a ceremony on Friday, February 18, at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, streamed live by PokerGO. On Tuesday, the Global Poker Index and The Hendon Mob, which produce the Global… Read more »
Now he just needs the earnings title If you register for a high stakes poker tournament and see Michael Addamo there, I highly advise you to turn around and go home or turn off your computer. He is going to win it. On Tuesday, he continued his insane run, winning the $10,300 GGPoker Super MILLION$… Read more »
One of the nuttiest finishes in recent memory I don’t normally watch games involving teams I don’t care about unless it’s a championship game, but I am sure glad I had the TV tuned to NBC Sunday night for the NFL regular season finale between the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. I was… Read more »
The rematch Phil Hellmuth asked for it and now he’s got it. On Monday evening, PokerGO announced that the High Stakes Duel III rematch between Hellmuth and Tom Dwan is on, scheduled for January 26 at 8:00pm ET. As one would guess, PokerGO will be streaming the action. The two last met in August in… Read more »
Poker room owned by poker players Texas, of all places, is in the news once again for its poker rooms (though I suppose it’s weird that the state hasn’t made the poker headlines more, considering the most popular poker variant is name after it). This time, it is unretired poker pro Doug Polk who announced… Read more »
Total domination It wasn’t even close. Ali Imsirovic was named the 2021 PokerGO Tour Player of the Year this week, something that looked like an inevitability for months. For his accomplishment, Imsirovic wins $200,000 on behalf of Guaranteed Rate, the PokerGO Tour’s sponsor. Now, I’m not going to get into how Player of the Year… Read more »
Simple, yet revolutionary invention The poker world lost a legend Tuesday, as Henry Orenstein, the inventor of the hole card camera, passed away at the age of 98. While few details of his passing are known, it was confirmed by president and CEO of PokerGO, and fellow poker luminary, Mori Eskandani. Were it not for… Read more »
He may not be a tremendous fan of the World Series of Poker Player of the Year formula, but Phil Hellmuth certainly did his darndest to finish atop this year’s POY rankings. It doesn’t look like he will pull it off, but “The Poker Brat” has etched his name into the record books once again,… Read more »
Phil Hellmuth is having a tremendous 2021 World Series of Poker. With a record 16th gold bracelet and multiple final tables, he is having a WSOP that few can match. But despite this, he went on record Monday with his dissatisfaction of the WSOP Player of the Year rankings and specifically the formula that goes… Read more »
All legends in their own right The Poker Hall of Fame has announced its list of ten finalists for this year’s class, following a two-week open nominations process. The one winner will be revealed next month, with an enshrinement ceremony scheduled for November 17. The ten nominees are as follows: Eli ElezraAntonio EsfandiariChris FergusonLayne FlackTed… Read more »
Stairway to Millions steps tournament PokerGO has announced the first quarter schedule for the 2022 season of the PokerGO Tour. Beginning January 5 with the $10,000 No-Limit Venetian High Roller, the initial schedule includes half a dozen stops. One of those stops is the new Stairway to Millions at the ARIA Resort & Casino in… Read more »
Rewriting the record books yet again Though Phil Hellmuth’s meltdown at a final table last week has overshadowed his stellar poker play so far at the World Series of Poker, it kind of felt inevitable that he was going to have a breakthrough. And a breakthrough he had on Sunday, winning Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit… Read more »
