Dan Katz

Quarter-century of poker Online poker giant PokerStars has announced that the 25th running of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) will be September 6-30. That is about all we know for the time being – complete schedule and details will be published in the coming weeks – but it enough for now for…

Love-ly casino resort The Las Vegas Strip might get more interesting looking in the next few years. On Wednesday, Clark County commissioners approved a plan to develop land across from Mandalay Bay into a 752-room casino resort, featuring a hotel tower with a giant, heart-shaped façade. It sounds like quite the ambitious project – a…

Divulging draft secrets The NFL suspended Arizona Cardinals director of college scouting Ryan Gold indefinitely for violating the league’s gambling policy. His attorney said this week that he is appealing the punishment and that the accusations are “blatantly false.” The sports world has unfortunately seen several betting scandals in the last couple of years, but…

Just like the old days For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Series of Poker is airing on the ESPN family of networks. Starting Tuesday night, ESPN and ESPN2 will broadcast episodes of the 2026 WSOP Main Event, culminating with the Main Event final table in early August. Ninety-nine of the…

Poker pro Jared Greiner took to social media earlier this week to detail the horrifying ordeal of returning to his Las Vegas-area Airbnb after playing in the WSOP, only to be assaulted, threatened, taped up, and robbed. In a post on X, Greiner shared a screenshot of a series of texts he sent, saying that…

All eyes on me Perhaps it is a little unfortunate that in writing about someone who won a cherished World Series of Poker bracelet, much or most of the focus is on the runner-up. But when the runner-up is Phil Hellmuth, that’s a big part of the story, like it or not. On Wednesday night,…

Hurtling towards the finish As the 2026 World Series of Poker winds down and we wait for the Main Event final table, there are still a handful of bracelets to be awarded. One of those went to David Peters last night, who won Event #94: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em for $1,001,391. Reflecting on a less-than-satisfying…

The attention of the poker world might be on the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event, which started Thursday, but let’s not forget that there are still other WSOP tournaments going on. Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu won one such tournament, the $100,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha event, for the eighth bracelet of…

Poker player, vlogger, and influencer Doug Polk has announced that he is “stepping back” from his role in the management of The Lodge Card Club near Austin, Texas. “As many of you know, I’ve always enjoyed building businesses and taking on new challenges,” Polk said in a social media post Friday morning. “With several other…

The company you keep It seems Nines are lucky this summer. On Tuesday, Shaun Deeb won 2026 World Series of Poker Event #74: $1,500 8-Game Mix for his ninth career WSOP bracelet. His accomplishment comes just a day after Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi won his ninth WSOP title and just a few days after Benny…

Call of the year? In just her second-ever World Series of Poker event, Skye Chen won the 2026 WSOP Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship, outlasting Aubrey Williams in a thrilling heads-up contest. It was the largest Ladies event in WSOP history, with 1,475 entrants, eclipsing last year’s record of 1,368 entrants. After Lisa Teebagy was eliminated…

Benny Glaser has had a heck of a poker career, but boy, this past year has been something. Among other accomplishments, in 2025, he became just the seventh player in history to win three bracelets in a single World Series of Poker. And now, he has won the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship, the most…

Athletes tired of the abuse The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has proposed a ban on player prop bets as part of the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with the league. The ban would include bets on prediction markets like Kalshi. The primary reason for the proposal is the abuse players take from upset bettors…

“Dead hand” … “Call, call” Ladies and gentlemen, another controversy has surfaced at the 2026 World Series of Poker. And while it did involve a hand that was dealt, rather than the usual Martin Kabrhel antics, it was not a mistake by the dealer, but, rather, the floor. Patrick Leonard was the unfortunate victim. He…

Calvin Anderson and Naoya Kihara should have dinner together and compare notes. This past weekend, Anderson became the second player – after Kihara – to become a double-bracelet winner in the 2026 World Series of Poker. But that’s not all, like Kihara, Anderson also won his two bracelets in back-to-back championship events. He previously won…

Uh…what just happened Another dealing controversy has arisen at the 2026 World Series of Poker. In the end, it seems like more of an oddity or minor mistake than a full-blown problem, but it is weird, nonetheless. Poker pro Dario Sammartino sounded the alarm on social media, which was then picked up by fellow pro…

Eagle eyes on the action Tuesday marked the end of the 2026 World Series of Poker $500 Colossus event, one of the most popular tournaments on the schedule, as it offers the chance at a huge payday for just a $500 buy-in. Justin Smith celebrated his win last night, shocked that he was able to…

NFL hopeful In a surprising turn of events, Brendan Sorsby has announced that he will not play quarterback at Texas Tech, instead declaring for the NFL’s supplemental draft. The decision comes just a week after a judge granted him a temporary injunction, allowing him to play college football after the NCAA ruled him ineligible for…

PokerStars often runs Spin & Go promotions in conjunction with popular sporting events, so naturally, the World Cup is no exception. On Thursday, the same day the World Cup began, PokerStars kicked off (pun sort of intended) its SpinGoal promo, giving players a chance to win additional cash prizes by playing Spin & Go’s like…