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The World Poker Federation’s Ladies Weekend returns Oct. 16-18, bringing women-only poker events and related activities to at least 14 countries. The second edition expands on last year’s inaugural weekend, which connected events in 10 countries and more than 15 cities.

The confirmed countries are Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Hong Kong, Israel, Liechtenstein, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. SoMuchPoker reported that further countries and individual stops could still be added before the weekend begins.

Rather than running one central festival, the WPF Women’s Committee coordinates connected local events. Local organizers can tailor their own schedules, with tournaments supplemented by training sessions, talks, cash games, networking and social events. The WPF says it also wants feedback on barriers that may keep women from taking part in poker, while encouraging local media coverage.

The first Ladies Weekend, held Oct. 24-26, 2025, drew more than 1,500 women and generated more than 2,200 entries, according to the WPF. Its stated purpose was to strengthen women’s visibility in poker. Last year’s program also included panels, workshops and other activities focused on leadership, education and inclusion.

The Hippodrome Casino in central London hosts the UK’s only 2026 stop. Victoria Livschitz, Marle Spragg and Jennifer Shahade are scheduled to participate. Spragg will play a livestreamed cash game on Friday, Oct. 16, host a strategy session on Saturday, and enter the £300 Hippodrome Women’s Classic on Sunday, Oct. 18.

The Women’s Classic carries a £20,000 guaranteed prize pool. Shahade is due to join the London program via Zoom to discuss her victory at the previous year’s Women’s Summer Festival at the Hippodrome. As previously reported, PokerStars is also awarding three seats to the same £300 Women’s Classic through its WCOOP Women’s World Championship.

Other confirmed locations include the Bellagio Poker Room in Las Vegas, H2 Poker Club in São Paulo, Pasino Grand Partouche in Aix-en-Provence, Monte Casino Sofia and City of Dreams Manila. Belgium’s Queens Millions has a €10,000 guarantee and a women’s league throughout October, while Israel’s first Ladies Weekend will include a two-day Main Event.

The WPF still hopes eventually to stage a global champion-of-champions event that brings together local winners from the various stops.

ACR Poker has set an October return for its Dual Venom progressive knockout tournaments, putting $6.5 million in guaranteed prize money across parallel no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha events. The $5 million NLH PKO and $1.5 million PLO PKO both carry a $2,650 direct buy-in and begin Sunday, Oct. 4.

Each tournament has five starting flights, scheduled for Oct. 4, Oct. 8, Oct. 11, Oct. 15 and Oct. 18 at 1:05 p.m. ET. Players who advance will return for Day 2 on Oct. 19. The PLO event matches ACR Poker’s largest PLO PKO guarantee to date.

As reported in August, ACR had also built a 91-event Venom Specials schedule around its summer Dual Venom campaign. This time, the site is again running the two variants side by side, with the October series using the progressive knockout format rather than the Mystery Bounty setup of the August events.

In a PKO, a player who eliminates an opponent immediately collects half that opponent’s bounty, while the other half is added to the winner’s own bounty. That makes players who have scored knockouts progressively more valuable targets, and bounty payments sit alongside the regular tournament prize money. Individual knockouts can grow to tens of thousands of dollars, according to the announcement.

The prior Dual Venom PKOs produced $7.85 million in combined final prize pools, above the combined guarantees. The NLH event drew 2,498 entries across five flights and created a $6.245 million pool; winner Rigapols81 earned $378,372 in regular prize money plus nearly $297,000 in bounties, for more than $675,000 overall.

The preceding PLO event attracted 641 entries and generated a $1.603 million prize pool. PohPohPohPAAAA won $135,789 in prize money and $117,099 in bounties, a combined return of $252,888.

Venom Fever satellites run from Sept. 29 through Oct. 18, with hundreds of seats available. The qualifying schedule includes Direct Satellites, Mega Satellites and Survivor Flips Step Satellites, which start at 80 cents; some Mega Satellite routes begin at no cost.

Thunder Valley Casino Resort is preparing a 16-ring WSOP Circuit series that pairs low-buy-in no-limit hold’em events with several mixed-game tournaments and a $500,000-guaranteed Main Event.

The schedule includes $600 H.O.R.S.E. and Omaha 8 or Better events, plus what PokerOrg calls the Circuit’s only 2-7 Triple Draw ring event. The series also has a $400 Mirror Mystery Bounty, with bounty payouts designed to mirror the tournament’s regular payout structure.

For no-limit players, the $400 Mini Main Event carries a $250,000 guarantee, while the $400 Monster Stack guarantees $100,000. The marquee $1,700 Main Event has a $500,000 guarantee.

Thunder Valley has regularly produced million-dollar prize pools in earlier Circuit Main Events, according to PokerOrg. The Northern California property has hosted major poker tours for almost 15 years, and the latest stop marks 10 years of WSOP Circuit action there.

The January Circuit stop was Thunder Valley’s first of 2026 and offered 18 ring events, according to WSOP. Its $1,700 Main Event also carried a $500,000 guarantee, while the $400 Opener guaranteed $250,000 and the Monster Stack guaranteed $100,000.

Players can use Main Event feeders, step tournaments and satellites to win packages into several ring events. Satellites starting at $120 offer routes into $400 and $600 tournaments as well as the Main Event, with details already listed on the WSOP Live app.

Nick Pupillo won Thunder Valley’s inaugural WSOP Circuit Main Event in 2017. More recently, Jaime Haletky won a January Thunder Valley Circuit event, while Rayo Kniep won the previous September edition.

PokerOrg plans to cover the Main Event from Friday, Oct. 2, through Monday, Oct. 5.

Andrii Novak won the 2026 WSOP Online Main Event on GGPoker, beating Simon Beckmann heads-up to collect $3.93 million, his first World Series of Poker bracelet and a $30,000 Super Pass for the WSOP Paradise Super Main Event.

The $5,000 buy-in tournament drew 6,008 entries and produced a $28.54 million prize pool, clearing its $25 million guarantee. Beckmann received $3.03 million as runner-up. The turnout made this the third-largest edition of the online Main Event, according to PokerStrategy.

As we reported in August, GGPoker had set the Main Event’s $25 million guarantee as part of a 33-bracelet WSOP Online schedule running through Sept. 29. Last year’s edition drew 5,961 players and paid $28.31 million, with Benjamin “bencb789” Rolle winning $3.9 million.

Novak began the nine-handed final table with 86.7 million chips, or about 108.5 big blinds. Beckmann started second on 70.9 million, ahead of Pablo Silva’s 45.7 million. The final table, reached after Day 2 cut 608 returning players to nine, was streamed on GGPoker’s YouTube channel with Jeff Gross and Phil Hellmuth on commentary.

Every finalist had locked up at least $491,676, while six of the nine eventually earned seven-figure payouts. Novak had previously recorded $485,767 in live tournament earnings and stood 72nd on Ukraine’s all-time money list.

Novak and Beckmann separated from the pack during four-handed play, but Beckmann entered heads-up with more than a two-to-one lead after eliminating Moyan Chen. TightPoker put the stacks at 250 million for Beckmann and 109 million for Novak.

The Ukrainian swung the match by calling Beckmann’s queen-five all-in with ace-king and doubling up to regain the lead. Novak then built a ten-to-one advantage before winning the last hand, his ace-jack beating Beckmann’s queen-seven. The final table lasted about three and a half hours, ending with Novak holding every chip in play.

The wider WSOP Online festival continues through Sept. 29 with further bracelet events still to be awarded.

Ignition has rolled out a new loyalty program that automatically awards Ignition Miles for eligible real-money poker and casino play. Miles can be redeemed in the Ignition Rewards Store for casino bonus cash and poker tournament tickets, while ticket availability and prices can change over time.

Ignition Casino says the program was introduced Sept. 14 and that new sign-ups are enrolled automatically. Existing members were moved into the tier they held at the time of the changeover. PokerStrategy.com said players do not need to opt in, complete missions or make manual claims for eligible activity to count.

For poker, cash games and tournaments award 15 Ignition Miles for every $1 paid in rake or tournament fees. Jackpot Sit & Go play also earns Miles, at a rate of 1.5 Miles per $1 spent on buy-ins, according to Ignition’s rewards guide. That rate is the same on mobile and desktop, and for new and existing players.

The program separates spendable reward currency from long-term tier progress. Ignition Miles can be redeemed in full or in part, but unused Miles expire 12 months after they are earned. The expiration does not affect a player’s status.

Program descriptions use different names for the long-term tracker. PokerStrategy and CardPlayer describe it as Lifetime Miles, while Ignition’s rewards material calls the measure Tier Miles. Both describe the tracker as separate from spendable Miles: it does not fall when Miles are redeemed and does not expire during a break from play. Ignition says players receive one Tier Mile for every Ignition Mile earned.

There are eight standard tiers: Steel, Chrome, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium and Diamond. Every player starts at Steel, and 2,500 long-term Miles are needed to reach Chrome. CardPlayer reported that Diamond requires 2.5 million Lifetime Miles, while Ignition’s launch page also refers to a hidden VIP tier.

Higher membership levels improve the conversion rate for casino bonus cash. At Steel, 2,500 Miles redeem for $1, compared with 1,000 Miles per $1 at Diamond. Chrome members and above can also enter weekly $2,500 poker freerolls, while Diamond members receive exclusive birthday bonuses.

Players can check their available Miles, tier and long-term progress through the Rewards area of their Ignition account or the Rewards Portal. Ignition says bonus-cash rollover requirements vary by the reward selected and that it may remove bonuses or take further action where play indicates abuse of the system.