News about poker pros
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 »
The setup We are still very early in the 2021 World Series of Poker, but Phil Hellmuth is already making a strong Player of the Year case (in the official points standings, he is third behind Jason Koon and Ari Engel). The all-time WSOP bracelet leader with an insane 15 pieces of jewelry, Hellmuth has… Read more »
The entertainment and poker worlds received the shocking news today that Norm Macdonald has passed away at the age of 61. The legendary comedian, actor, and avid poker player had suffered with cancer for nine years, a diagnosis he did not share with the public. Now, if this were someone else, we might say that… Read more »
Looking for redemption Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan are almost set for another heads-up battle. Over the weekend, Hellmuth tweeted that he has formally challenged Dwan to a High Stakes Duel III rematch: The gauntlet throw-down comes about a week and a half after Dwan dispatched Hellmuth in Round 2 of PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel… Read more »
If Phil Ivey is officially back, that is some amazing news and terrible news for the poker world. Amazing because he’s arguably the best poker player of all time, so naturally getting to watch him play is a treat. Terrible because now other poker players are going to have to get past him in tournaments.… Read more »
That didn’t last long Phil Galfond is now four-for-four in his “Galfond Challenges” after his latest opponent, Brandon Adams, conceded the match on Monday to the RunItOnce poker room founder. Galfond was $270,000 ahead – he keeps that money – and won a $100,000 from Adams. The plan was to play 10,000 hands of $100/$200… Read more »
Poker legend Erik Seidel won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 1992. He won his eighth and last in 2007. It has been a long bracelet draught for the Poker Hall of Famer, but that draught ended Tuesday, as Seidel won Event #11: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller of the 2021 WSOP Online… Read more »
Marafioti’s troubles were known for years Tragedy has struck the poker community as law enforcement has confirmed the death of poker pro Matt Marafioti in an apparent suicide. Marafioti, 33, leaves behind a one-year-old son. Marafioti was of the generation who rose to prominence during the poker boom and around Black Friday. The Toronto-native won… Read more »
New Jersey players get another online event The World Poker Tour has announced the creation of the inaugural WPT Online Borgata Poker Open, running September 19-21. The $3,500 buy-in event, which can be accessed on BetMGM Poker, Borgata Poker, or partypoker NJ, will feature a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. Only people physically located in… Read more »
Fans have been waiting for this PokerGO has announced that the next matchup in its young, but increasingly popular High Stakes Duel series will be the undefeated Phil Hellmuth versus Tom Dwan. The contest will take place on August 25 at 8:00pm ET at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. The above image my look… Read more »
It has been six months since Phil Galfond’s last heads-up challenge, but this week, he is back in the game. And “this week” is the operative term here. From July 26 through July 30, Galfond will take on Brandon Adams in a new “Galfond Challenge” whose length is dictated by the calendar and the clock,… Read more »
A brilliant player from the jump The poker world received devastating news Monday night: poker pro Layne Flack has passed away at the age of 52. Little is known at this time about the circumstances surrounding his death except that he was found in his home. Living the first two decades of his life in… Read more »
Eight-year drought Daniel Negreanu is third on the all-time live tournament earnings list with over $43 million in lifetime winnings. He is enshrined in the Poker Hall of Fame. He is one of the most popular poker players in the history of the game. But entering this week, he had not won an open live… Read more »
Quit while you’re ahead As of this past holiday weekend, Landon Tice was leading Bill Perkins in the $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em heads-up challenge. But also as of this holiday weekend, Landon Tice has surrendered, conceding the match to the high stakes amateur poker player. It was an odd decision by the 22-year-old poker phenom who… Read more »
It usually is not a good thing when the poker police blotter makes the news, and this time around isn’t any different. In one case, a former WPT champion will be headed to jail for some unethical behaviors in business. In another case, a casino bandit who apparently never saw Elliott Gould’s Reuben Tishkoff’s speech… Read more »
Had to wait for Soverel It looked like it was going to happen, but we still had to wait a little while on Tuesday to be sure. David Peters has won the U.S. Poker Open Championship at the U.S. Poker Open for the second year in a row. Despite Peters’ dominance over the past week,… Read more »
That seems like a bad idea The heads-up challenges over the past year have produced their fair share of trash talking between opponents, commentary by the poker community, and some mild controversy at times. But not until now has a poker room inserted itself into the drama. Such is the case with the match between… Read more »
