Dan Katz

Japan’s Naoya Kihara won the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Sunday night, making him the first player at the 2026 World Series of Poker to win two bracelets. What’s more is that he did it in back-to-back championship events, previously winning the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship just a few days earlier. Kihara’s accomplishment…

Greek gambling company Bally’s Intralot has agreed to acquire British bookmaker evoke plc in an all-stock deal for 52 pence per share. That represents a 30% premium over Thursday’s closing price, bringing the total purchase price to approximately £243 million ($326 million). Shares in evoke jumped 15% to 46p on Friday’s news. The industry has…

Flops only have three cards Mistakes happen in life, and that includes poker. Players act out of turn, misread the board, miscount chips, and more. Dealers also mess up sometimes, as like any one of us, they are human. Unfortunately for Ricky Landais, a dealer error may have cost him tens of thousands, hundreds of…

As Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby continues his legal battle to be able to play college football this upcoming season, the NCAA filed a legal brief Friday saying that because he bet on his own team, he should not be allowed to compete in NCAA games. On Monday judge Ken Curry heard from the NCAA…

Banned in Tennessee Three states – Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Iowa – have recently taken legislative action against sweepstakes casino sites as pressure for the sites to comply with state laws ramps up. Let’s get right into it, starting with Tennessee. Last Friday, Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 2136 into law, banning online sweepstakes casinos…

Annual poker celebration It’s that time of year again. Winter is in the rearview mirror and outdoor temps are comfortable, so it is time to spend the next month and a half in the air conditioning, playing poker. That’s right, the 2026 World Series of Poker kicks off on Tuesday, May 26 at Horseshoe Las…

State blazes a trail Minnesota has become the first state to ban prediction markets, after Governor Tim Walz signed SF4760, a public safety bill, into law. The bill was previously passed overwhelmingly by both chambers of the state legislature. The new law makes it a felony to create, operate, and even advertise prediction markets; penalties…

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has filed an injunction against the NCAA, looking to be reinstated and eligible to play in the upcoming season after admitting to gambling on his own team when he was at Indiana University. Sorsby, who was the most coveted quarterback in the transfer portal this past offseason (he previously played…

The Lodge Card Club just outside of Austin, Texas, has announced that it will reopen on May 26 at 9:00am, two and a half months after it was raided by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). The raid occurred on the morning of March 10, just hours after the end of the  Lodge Championship Series.…

Spin the wheel It seems that everything today is gambling in some form or another. The latest entry in the “cross your fingers and hope it hits” game is, perhaps inevitably, a debit card. Last week, a fintech company named Tuyo went viral upon introducing its “buy now, pay maybe” card, bringing gamification mechanics to…

The World Series of Poker has announced that players will be able to rate their dealers this summer from within the WSOP LIVE app. According to a 50-second video featuring the WSOP’s Jeff Platt, players can submit a dealer rating right at the table, using a 1-star to 5-star scale. The ratings will not be…

Say what? The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Taipei wrapped up over the weekend, but not before a really weird hand played out during the heads-up portion of the NT$120,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event. It was Ritwik Khanna versus Trung Quan Nguyen, Nguyen healthily in the lead, 22 million chips to 9.7 million. Nguyen…

Golden Entertainment, operator of The STRAT Hotel, Casino, and Tower on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, has made its transition to a privately-held company. In the move, Vici Properties acquired the real estate of seven of Golden’s casino resorts for $1.16 billion. Golden shareholders received .902 shares of Vici stock and $2.75…

$10 million windfall The age-old Las Vegas tipping debate has reared its ugly head on social media. Earlier this month, Vegas insider account Vital Vegas reported on someone hitting a $10.5 million slots jackpot at Mandalay Bay on just a $5 bet. Posting on X, the account said, “There is a 96% chance the winner…

After a six-year hiatus and uncertainty if it would ever return, the Aussie Millions is back. Running April 24 to May 10, the poker festival that used to be one of the most popular on the poker calendar has not been played since 2020. The Aussie Millions (officially the Aussie Millions Poker Championship Presented by…

Peters contrite Poker pro David Peters has responded publicly to Dylan Linde’s accusation that he has not paid his end of a staking deal, apologizing for the situation. On Wednesday afternoon, Peters posted an explanation of sorts on Twitter, not so much to rehash the situation, but to explain that he has always intended to…

In poker, money is at the forefront of everything, and with that comes all sorts of informal (and formal) financial deals between players. As high roller and super high roller tournaments have increased in popularity, staking deals have also become much more common, as even the deepest-pocketed players often can’t or don’t want to plunk…

Jail and a million bucks On November 13, 2023, poker player George Janssen disappeared. A month later, he was found, bloodied and hands bound, on the side of the road. And now he is going to prison. Last week, U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson sentenced Janssen to three years behind bars for financial institution…

Same place, different venue. If that makes sense, which it doesn’t. The World Series of Poker has announced that WSOP Paradise is on the move to a new home. It’s still in the Bahamas, but rather than at Atlantis Paradise Island like it has been for its first three years, WSOP Paradise is moving a…