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Sagami has withdrawn the advertisement that explicitly listed condoms and lubricant among the prizes for the Japan Open Poker Tour Ladies Championship in Tokyo, after the promotion drew widespread criticism from players and fans.

The ¥30,000 buy-in women-only event remains scheduled for Monday, Oct. 12, during JOPT 2026 Tokyo #03. The detailed listing had offered 150 condoms and three bottles of lubricant to the winner, with smaller condom and lubricant packages for the second- and third-place finishers.

As we reported earlier this week, the original prize list drew objections that a tournament intended to support women poker players was instead sexualizing its finalists.

The specific prize description has now been removed. Sagami’s remaining sponsorship language describes the awards more broadly as Sagami Product Gift Sets, and successful players still appear set to receive those generic packages. The top finishers were also due to receive sponsored merchandise, clothing and jewelry.

Sagami apologized Oct. 7 to people made uncomfortable by the sponsorship. The company said its aim was to promote poker as a mind game, support the challenges of female players, and encourage respect for opponents and oneself. Its original sponsorship materials had said Sagami, a manufacturer of condoms and related products, supported women players’ journeys and challenges.

The change narrows the public description of the sponsored awards, rather than removing the sponsor from the event. JOPT’s website had initially set out the contents of each gift set, including Sagami Original products and water-based lubricant, before switching to the general wording used in Sagami’s press release.

The bonus packages were separate from the tournament’s main prizes. Japanese gaming laws prevent cash payouts to tournament winners, so the Ladies Championship prize pool consists of player contracts and tournament tickets, reported at roughly $10,900 in value, rather than cash. The Ladies Championship is set to begin at noon local time on Oct. 12.

Sean Rafael won the fourth Super High Roller Bowl Pot-Limit Omaha in Las Vegas, taking $1.15 million and the PokerGO Tour trophy after defeating Brazil’s João Simao heads-up. The $100,000 buy-in event at PokerGO Studio drew 32 entries, generated a $3.2 million prize pool and paid its final six players.

Rafael began the final table with more than half the chips in play, holding just over 4.9 million. His closest challengers were Simao on 1.415 million and Lautaro Guerra on 1.125 million.

The eventual champion recorded six of the tournament’s final seven eliminations, including four of his five final-table opponents. He knocked out Cesar Garcia in sixth, Guerra in fifth, Talal Shakerchi in fourth and Richard Gryko in third before facing Simao heads-up.

Garcia earned $190,000, Guerra took $255,000 and Shakerchi received $350,000. Gryko collected $480,000, while Simao’s runner-up finish paid $775,000.

As covered in September, Simao had recently won the Triton Jeju Invitational in South Korea for a record $7.25 million, but he could not add another title here. Rafael entered heads-up with nearly a 4:1 chip lead, though the final hand left him needing help on the river.

Simao’s A-diamond, K-heart, 5-heart, 4-heart was ahead of Rafael’s A-club, 7-club, 7-spade, 6-diamond on a 9-diamond, 4-diamond, 4-club, 6-club board. Rafael had a 27.5% chance to win, and the 9-club river completed his flush to end the tournament.

The win was Rafael’s first seven-figure tournament score and the largest live result of his career, lifting his recorded career earnings to about $7.9 million. It was also his second PGT title, worth 400 tour points; his season total rose to 684, placing him 58th in the standings.

Rafael earned 480 Card Player Player of the Year points, bringing his annual total to 4,176 and putting him 36th on that leaderboard. He has spent nearly three years traveling the growing global PLO tournament circuit and said the United States needs more live events, particularly at mid-stakes buy-ins, because he often has to travel far to play.

Chances Casino Kelowna’s third annual Charity Poker Tournament generated C$20,000 in prize money for local charities when it was held Oct. 6.

Dale Conway, the founder of Current Taxi, secured C$4,000 for the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation while playing on its behalf. The rest of the prize pool was distributed among charities represented by the other players, meaning every dollar was directed to causes entered in the event.

Stan Walt, Chances Casino Kelowna’s owner-operator, said the tournament has become an annual event that organizers look forward to. He described it as a way to bring together people from across the community while allowing each participant to support a cause important to them.

The C$20,000 total matched the amount raised at the casino’s second annual Charity Poker Tournament. That earlier event had 17 participants competing for chosen causes, with each represented organization receiving a portion of the prize pool.

TeamUp Canada took the top C$5,000 prize in that second tournament for a second straight year, represented by West Kelowna Warriors general manager and head coach Simon Ferguson. Elvin Law of Crowe MacKay LLP finished second and secured C$2,500 for United Way BC.

The second tournament coincided with the casino’s first year of poker operations. At that point, Chances Casino Kelowna had expanded its schedule to four weekly tournaments and daily cash games.

PokerNews and 888poker will run the 2026 PokerNews Online Championship from Oct. 18 through Oct. 27, with 40 tournaments and more than $780,000 in guaranteed prize pools. Buy-ins range from $8.80 to $525, and the schedule spans traditional events, deep stacks, progressive knockouts and mystery bounties.

The series will award 40 titles across its 10 days. PokerNews said the schedule has three events from Monday through Saturday and 13 tournaments on Sundays, when its largest guarantees are scheduled.

The $109 Mystery Opening Event starts the festival on Oct. 18 with an $80,000 guarantee. Players can enter satellites for that tournament from $0.10 in the 888 lobby.

Two Main Events account for $300,000 of the overall guarantees. The $25 Mystery Mini Main, listed as Event 35, guarantees $50,000; its Day 1 flights begin Oct. 18, and the second and final day starts at 9:30 p.m. GMT on Oct. 26.

The larger Mystery Bounty Main Event carries a $250,000 guarantee. Its $250 Day 1 flights run from Oct. 11 through Oct. 26, meaning they begin a week before the official championship schedule opens, while satellites offer another route into the event.

Day 2 of the Mystery Bounty Main ends once eight players remain. Those finalists return at 7 p.m. GMT on Oct. 27, with the conclusion set to air on the 888poker Twitch stream.

This is a return engagement for the partnership. Pokerfuse reported that an earlier February PokerNews Online Championship also had 40 events, but offered more than $1 million in guarantees, including a $300,000-guaranteed $215 Main Event and a $50,000-guaranteed $25 Mystery Bounty Main Event.

Tonybet launched poker on its Irish platform Oct. 6, giving customers cash tables, scheduled tournaments and Spins alongside the operator’s existing sports betting, live casino and slots products.

The poker product runs within the Tonybet website, so existing Irish customers do not need a separate app or a new account. Sports betting, casino and poker now sit behind one account and wallet across desktop and mobile.

Cash-game players can join and leave tables at any time. Scheduled tournaments use buy-ins and prize pools, while Spins are faster tournaments played in smaller fields. Rules for each format are available on the Tonybet site.

EvenBet Gaming supplies the poker technology. The business-to-business poker provider has delivered more than 200 poker projects across 20 countries, according to Casino News Daily.

Poker becomes part of a wider Irish product range that includes a sportsbook covering more than 100 sports, plus a casino with more than 9,000 titles from over 1,000 providers. Tonybet also offers responsible-gaming tools across its markets, including deposit limits, session reminders, cooling-off periods and self-exclusion.

Tony Cascarino, a Tonybet ambassador and former Republic of Ireland striker, welcomed the launch. Cascarino won two Grosvenor UK Poker Tour titles and has more than $600,000 in live tournament winnings.