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Sean Winter held the narrowest of leads in the 2026 PokerGO Tour race on Oct. 8, sitting on 1,850 points from 15 cashes. Eelis Parssinen was seven points back in second place as the tour moved into its final stretch, with about three-quarters of the season complete.

Winter took over first place at the PGT PLO Series event on Oct. 2. He finished fourth in the $15,700 pot-limit Omaha mystery bounty tournament for 58 points, while Parssinen’s fifth-place finish earned 44, according to Card Player. That 14-point swing turned a small Parssinen lead into Winter’s seven-point advantage.

Winter had more than $3.6 million in earnings from PGT-qualified events, including eight six-figure scores. His largest listed result was a fourth-place finish worth $1.3 million in the $250,000 no-limit hold’em high roller at the World Series of Poker.

His sole victory of the season to that point came in a $10,000 no-limit hold’em PokerGO Cup event. Winter beat 70 entries for his eighth career PGT title.

Parssinen had seven cashes and two wins, both at the WSOP within a six-day span. He beat 451 entries in a $25,000 PLO eight-max event for about $2.16 million, then won a $25,000 PLO and no-limit hold’em mixed tournament with 214 entries for about $1.17 million. His PGT earnings were approaching $3.8 million.

Brock Wilson stood third with 1,681 points from 13 in-the-money finishes and more than $1.4 million in earnings. He had won four PGT trophies, split between the U.S. Poker Open and PokerGO Cup, and captured the series championship at both festivals.

Alex Foxen was fourth with 1,642 points and more than $2.2 million in PGT earnings. Yuri Dzivielevski rounded out the top five and was the group’s highest earner, with more than $5.1 million across seven cashes. Lucas Jumalon, Joao Simao, Kristen Foxen, Calvin Anderson and Lauri Saaskilahti occupied sixth through 10th.

The PGT had paid more than $99.9 million across 102 completed events by Oct. 8. The tour’s season-long leaderboard covers high-stakes events under one ranking system, and points are generally tied to buy-in levels and prize money won.

The $100,000 no-limit hold’em Super High Roller Bowl XI runs through Oct. 10. Poker Masters follows from Oct. 12-22 with 10 events and buy-ins from $10,000 to $50,000. The top 40 players who have at least three season cashes qualify for the $1 million PGT Championship freeroll, which awards $500,000 to its winner.

The WPT Prime Lodge Championship moved into its second starting flight Friday at The Lodge Card Club in Austin, Texas, with Day 1B beginning at 12:15 p.m. The $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em event carries a $1 million guaranteed prize pool and has four opening flights before the surviving players combine for Day 2.

At the start of Level 3, Day 1B had drawn 85 entries and 81 players remained. The World Poker Tour live updates listed blinds at 200-400 with a 400 ante, while the average stack stood at 41,975 chips, or 104 big blinds. As reported in August, the championship was set as the centerpiece of the Sept. 24-Oct. 12 WPT Prime Lodge festival in Austin.

Players began Day 1B with 40,000 chips, with 40-minute levels and breaks after every three levels. Registration and unlimited re-entry remained available until the start of Level 10, at about 7:30 p.m., following a 45-minute dinner break after Level 9. Play is set to stop once 12.5% of the field remains, which is also the money bubble.

Day 1A attracted 173 entries, producing 22 Day 2 qualifiers when its money bubble burst during Level 16. Kenneth McKeown bagged the chip lead with 739,000, ahead of Justin Smith on 685,000 and David Pelosi on 592,000. WPT 2025 World Champion Schuyler Thornton also advanced.

The final two starting flights are set for Saturday, with Day 1C beginning at 11:15 a.m. and Day 1D at 6:15 p.m. Day 2 follows Sunday at 12:15 p.m., while the final table is scheduled for Monday at 2:15 p.m.

Eight dealerless Jackpot Blitz poker tables are now open at Pechanga Resort Casino outside Temecula, California, giving the property a new electronic, multiplayer poker option. The Oct. 9 launch is Jackpot Digital’s largest deployment at a single property to date.

The installation fulfills an eight-table agreement announced July 27. The agreement said Jackpot Digital’s technical and customer-success teams would support installation at the casino.

The tables sit in the Table Games section near the casino-floor escalator. Pechanga marked the opening with a ribbon-cutting attended by Pechanga Development Corporation board members, casino executives and Jackpot Digital leadership. Vice President of Table Games Paul Mollo also handed out EasyPlay and apparel prizes during the launch.

Jackpot Blitz is a fully automated system intended to retain a shared, face-to-face table experience without a live dealer. Each table has a 75-inch touchscreen surface and eight player seats. Its proprietary card-bending technology mechanically bends and reveals cards in real time at the table.

The company says eliminating a live dealer can produce faster play, more hands per hour, lower operating costs and greater table uptime. Jackpot Digital also markets the system as removing dealer mistakes and tipping, while supporting around-the-clock automated tournaments, including Sit ’N’ Go, multitable collapsible and satellite formats.

Players can use the system for Texas Hold’em and Omaha poker, including side bets, and can play blackjack, baccarat and video poker while seated. The platform supports ticket-in-ticket-out, integration with most casino-management systems, automated reporting, and real-time financial and gameplay statistics, according to Jackpot Digital’s product materials.

Pechanga’s poker offering around the launch includes cash games, tournaments, giveaways and bad-beat jackpots. The casino, owned and operated by the Pechanga Band of Indians, has 5,500 slot machines, table games and 1,100 hotel rooms. It has held AAA Four Diamond status since 2002.

Mollo said Pechanga expected both newcomers and established players to enjoy the modern dealerless format. Jackpot Digital President and CEO Jake Kalpakian called the eight-table opening an important scalability milestone for the company’s dealerless poker platform.

ACR Poker will launch its USA Weekly Leaderboard on Monday, Oct. 12, giving U.S.-registered accounts four nights of designated tournaments to earn points toward Sunday ticket packages. The top 10 finishers each week will split $6,195 in tournament tickets, rather than cash.

The inaugural contest runs Oct. 12-15. Tickets will be issued Friday, Oct. 16, for use in the featured Sunday events on Oct. 18. The same Monday-through-Thursday qualifying format, Friday distribution and following-Sunday redemption schedule will apply in later weeks.

Players can score points in 40 qualifying tournaments, with 10 starting each night from 6:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. ET. A USA flag in the poker client identifies eligible events; tournaments outside that designated lineup do not count. Only accounts registered in the United States can place on the leaderboard or receive rewards.

First place receives a $1,294 package covering all 10 featured Sunday tournaments. That bundle includes the $630 Sunday HR, which carries a $500,000 guarantee, and the $215 Sunday Special, with a $200,000 guarantee. Both begin at 12:05 p.m. ET.

Players finishing second through fifth receive $664 in tickets apiece, without the Sunday HR. Sixth through 10th each receive $449, excluding both the Sunday HR and Sunday Special.

Every rewarded player receives entries to eight other events: Sunday Splash, Major Mash up MB, Sunday Moneymaker, Sunday Smash, Mini-Special, Pardy Time PKO, The Encore MB and Curtain Call MB. The featured Sunday schedule begins at 10:30 a.m. ET and runs through a 4:15 p.m. ET start time.

The tickets do not automatically enter winners into those events. Recipients must register themselves before registration closes, and unused tickets expire at midnight ET on the first Sunday after the contest, with no carryover to a future week.

Nevada gubernatorial candidate Danielle Ford reached the final table of Charity Series of Poker’s Every Hand Makes a Difference fundraiser in Las Vegas on Oct. 3, finishing fifth and receiving two Vegas Golden Knights tickets.

The event, CSOP’s 108th, was held at Via Brasil Steakhouse and raised money for the Junior League of Las Vegas. Tamar Berkowitz of Volunteers of Las Vegas won the trophy and $2,000 top prize after defeating 2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess heads-up. Riess collected $1,500 for second place.

As we reported ahead of the event, Every Hand Makes a Difference paired the tournament with dinner, an open bar and a silent auction for the Junior League of Las Vegas. The advertised prize package included $5,000 in cash and $10,000 in donated prizes, while tournament-and-dinner admission cost $300.

Ford called the hockey tickets “great extra bonuses” from a fun night supporting a good cause. She said she enjoys poker as a way to step away from work and life stresses, describing the game as “almost meditative” because its many aspects keep her focused.

Riess and MGM Resorts International poker executive Sean McCormack were among the guest bounties who also made the final table. PokerNews reported that the other finalists included longtime CSOP supporter Sidney Coca and CSOP villain Dave Freeston. Actress Katie Morgan was also listed among the event’s guest bounties.

Ford serves on the Nevada State Board of Education and is running for governor without a party affiliation against Democratic candidate Aaron Ford and incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. Her campaign describes her as a “Nevada-first nonpartisan” candidate who wants to bring practical systems repair to public systems used by Nevada families.

Nevada’s gubernatorial election is scheduled for Nov. 3.