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BCPoker has launched a Telegram Mini-App that lets players jump straight into real-money poker inside Telegram, without a separate download or multiple registration steps. The entry point is the official @bcpoker_official_bot, and the new flow lets players open the poker room from inside the chat app.

According to PokerStrategy, the mini-app shows only the player’s Telegram username and folds BCPoker’s crypto cashier into the experience, so deposits and withdrawals can be handled directly instead of through external cashier agents. BCPoker says the goal is faster transactions and 24/7 control over funds. It also says player balances are backed 1:1 through Proof of Reserves and held separately from corporate assets.

As covered on Aug. 1, BCPoker had already rolled out a desktop client and cash-game rewards before adding Telegram. The company now says players can reach the tables through Telegram, Windows, Mac, web browser, iOS and Android. It also says its decentralized RNG system is designed to produce transparent and provably fair results on every hand.

The launch sits alongside a wider batch of product and pricing changes. BCPoker says the update also brought faster software, rakeback of up to 50%, reduced selected rake caps by up to 70%, a new CLUBS feature, a redesigned Spin & Go format, improved stability, smoother performance and multiple bug fixes. The operator also ran a Telegram launch promotion through the official bot offering players a chance to win up to $2,000.

A wider April GlobeNewswire release said BC Poker is operated by BC Poker Group and is licensed by the Anjouan Gaming Authority. It said the site supports six poker formats, from Texas Hold’em and Omaha to Short Deck (6+), Spin & Go, Sit & Go and Cash Tables, with buy-ins starting at about $1 equivalent. Webopedia says Telegram reached 1 billion monthly active users by March 2025, and describes Telegram mini-apps as lightweight web apps that run inside the platform without an external browser or download.

Bethesda family doctor Kyle Smith won the Potomac Summer Poker Open $3,000 Main Event after a heads-up deal with Phong Nguyen, and the published recap said he took home $136,054. He also left MGM National Harbor with the trophy after closing out a six-handed final table.

As reported yesterday, Patrick Martorella had gone into the final table with the chip lead after a first-hand double-up, but Smith changed the picture almost immediately. Smith started the day fourth in chips with 2.84 million, behind Martorella’s 3.805 million, Nguyen’s 3.75 million and Justin Liberto’s 3.53 million. The six finalists returned at 1 p.m. local time, and each had already locked up $37,204 from a $756,000 prize pool.

According to PokerNews, Smith said he had gone to work that morning before coming back for the final table and described himself as a recreational player. He said his live earnings were around $90,000 before this event, and his biggest previous score was $51,000 from a second-place finish in a $320 Mystery Bounty event at the 2023 Potomac Poker Open.

Smith’s first big swing came on one of the opening hands, when he called Martorella’s turn all-in with a pair of eights and then spiked a straight to bust Chris Kiani in sixth place. Martorella recovered some chips by calling Jonathan Moritz’s shove with two fives, but Moritz, who earned his seat through a BetMGM online qualifier, fell in fifth when he could not improve against Martorella. Martorella then lost a key pot to Smith and finished fourth, leaving Smith with about 60 percent of the chips in play three-handed.

Liberto, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner with more than $8 million in live earnings, entered the table as the most accomplished player left and went out in third after his last million went in from the small blind. Heads-up, Smith led 13.4 million to 3.4 million, but Nguyen kept pushing, first declining an extra $12,000 on top of the $112,048 second-place payout and later taking the lead after back-to-back hands that gave him a flush and then a nut straight. Smith briefly answered with kings over Nguyen’s pocket tens and later retook control when his ace-ten beat Nguyen’s queen-ten on a board with two tens, before the two reached a later deal that put Nguyen around $130,000 and Smith around $137,000 and left Smith with the glass MGM National Harbor trophy while Nguyen took the black BetMGM trophy.

The 2026 Borgata Summer Poker Open ran at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City in mid-to-late July. PokerNews listed the dates as July 16-31, while Pokerfuse put them at July 15-31, and both described a festival with more than $4 million in guaranteed prize pools across No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and mixed-game tournaments.

PokerNews also said it would live report six marquee events from the series, with chip counts, hand updates, photos and winner interviews from the tournament floor. Shirley Ang, PokerNews’ Senior Global Live Events Manager, said the outlet was thrilled to partner with BetMGM Poker to bring live reporting back to Borgata and called it one of the East Coast’s best tournament series.

The daily highlights labeled the $580 Monster Mirror Mystery Bounty the festival’s final trophy event. It drew 620 hopefuls, built a $310,000 prize pool, and used a unique format in which half the pool went to each side.

After 12 hours of play, Vance Martin III won the event, taking $25,650 for first and more than $37,000 in bounties. He beat George Grabe heads-up after a turbulent final table and hoisted the Borgata trophy.

Borgata Poker Open is a recurring live tournament series at the Borgata in Atlantic City, usually staged in winter, spring, summer and fall. Pokerfuse said the 2026 summer stop included a $1 million guaranteed Summer Poker Open Championship, and that Borgata’s annual poker calendar was completed when the Fall Poker Open returned in 2025 after a five-year hiatus. The same guide said Borgata’s winter series kicked off the new year with more than $8 million in guarantees across 75 events, while the spring open featured more than $4 million in guarantees overall and its championship drew 572 entries and paid almost $1.4 million to the top 72 finishers.

Shannon Lee won the $300 PokerNews PowerStack Mystery Bounty at Palace Poker in Grand Prairie, Texas, and beat Lynn Samples heads-up to close out the event. The finish gave Lee a career-best $17,842 payday, plus $3,100 more from bounties, along with her first RunGood Poker Series ring and trophy.

According to PokerNews, the tournament ran through six Day 1 flights and Day 2 and drew 648 entries. Only 79 players returned for the final day, and the $162,000 prize pool included $64,800 set aside for mystery bounties. The top bounty on offer when the cards went back in the air was $10,000.

RunGood’s Dallas schedule showed the tournament as part of the RGPS Golden Expedition stop at Palace Poker from Aug. 13-16, with flights spread across Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the Sunday restart. The event marked the series’ return to Grand Prairie after a spring Passport Season stop at the same room, and it opened the fall Golden Expedition calendar.

The final day also featured a strong showing from women in the Dallas poker scene, with Lee, Samples and Shannon Eason taking the biggest shares of the payout. Eason exited in 10th on the final-table bubble after pulling the $10,000 top bounty earlier in the day, and she later cashed another $7,500 bounty. Lee said the mystery-bounty format did not change her plan because she was focused on reaching the endgame rather than chasing knockouts. She also said she started playing poker in the 1990s, stepped away for about 15 years after having a child, and got back into the game about a year ago. Lee said Texas card rooms are welcoming for women and that nobody is trying to bully anybody.

The 2026 Arizona State Poker Championship reached 4,018 entries after four days at Talking Stick Resort, building a $4,018,000 prize pool and sending 469 players into Day 2. Toby Price led the returnees with 1,868,000 chips, and 12 players came back above the seven-figure mark.

As reported yesterday, according to PokerNews, the event stood at 2,881 entries through three starting flights, with 346 players already bagged and a field of 4,000 within reach. The final push took the tournament well past that mark, and there were 483 bags on the board before the double bags were removed to leave the 469 Day 2 survivors.

Gregory Brown returned with 1,354,000, Andrew Crookston with 1,278,000, Jean "Prince" Gaspard with 1,200,000 and Nicholas Julia with 1,138,000. Defending champion Brandon Mitchell will try to repeat with 390,000.

Day 2 is set to restart at 10:15 a.m. in Level 16, with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and 60-minute levels. The plan is to play 12 levels or continue until just 57 players remain, which works out to 12% of the returning field.

The tournament is a $1,130 buy-in event that starts players with 40,000 chips at 100/100 blinds and a 100 big blind ante. Day 1 levels ran 40 minutes apiece, with a 15-minute break every three levels and unlimited reentry open until the start of Level 10 around 5 p.m. local time.

The 469 returnees now play toward the next checkpoint, with the field set to be trimmed to 57 players if the day runs its full 12-level schedule.