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Day 1b of the Onyx High Roller Series $25,500 Main Event kicked off at 1 p.m. local time at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa after the opening flight drew 113 entries and sent 17 players through to Day 2. Fahredin Mustafov led the survivors with 3,555,000, while Aliaksandr Shylko bagged 2,920,000 and Ali Al-Kubasi finished with 2,640,000.

Manuel Fritz also advanced with 1,610,000 after a tricky bubble run. Daniel Rezaei returned with 1,410,000, Raoul Kanme with 1,325,000, Arsenii Karmatckii with 725,000 and Weiran Pu with 665,000.

According to PokerNews, the opener ended when Julian Pineda Lozano moved all in preflop and ran into Mustafov’s pocket aces. The board did not help Lozano, and the 17 survivors bagged up after the bubble burst. The day also had a wild stretch where three players were at risk on three tables at the same time, and all three survived that sequence before Daniel Koloszar and Zorlu Er got their money on the bubble.

As reported yesterday, Mustafov entered the series as the defending champion after winning the 2025 Onyx High Roller Series Main Event for $1.3 million. The Main Event carries a $5 million guarantee, and each player starts with 200,000 chips at 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante. The first two flights use 40-minute levels, while the turbo flight switches to 20-minute levels.

Instead of ending after a set number of levels, each starting flight plays until just 15% of the field remains. At that point, players secure a place in the money and bag their chips for Day 2. Two more starting flights remained for players who missed the opener, with a 1 p.m. local-time flight on Aug. 12 and a turbo session at 9 p.m. that night. Survivors from all flights return for Day 2 on Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. local time, and the field is set to play to a champion on Aug. 14.

PokerNews reported that the anonymous player known as Goofy won the Onyx High Roller Series $10,400 Premiere for $1 million at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. He beat Mikita Badziakouski heads-up to take the biggest share of the $4,765,800 prize pool, while Badziakouski earned $585,000 for second.

As covered on Aug. 10, Damir Gabdullin carried the chip lead into the nine-handed final table after the 507-entry event had already locked up 76 paid finishers. Goofy came into the last day third in chips, behind Italo Modena and just ahead of Badziakouski, with Sergio Aido also among the contenders.

Goofy sent Ravid Garbi out in ninth, then watched Badziakouski seize control by making quad kings against Gabdullin’s queens. Badziakouski later eliminated Gabdullin in sixth and Aido after that, and he kept building a lead as Goofy, Giorgiy Skhulukhiya and Oshri Lahmani tried to catch him.

That was the point where Goofy’s run looked shaky. He fell to the bottom of the counts with four left, but he chopped a pot to stay alive against Skhulukhiya, doubled with ace-king against pocket sixes, and later survived another dangerous spot against Badziakouski when a river card went his way.

The heads-up match still began with Goofy facing a steep deficit, and he said afterward that he knew there would be no deal and that the battle was “really tough.” He chipped away with an ace-nine double against king-seven, then a river check-jam with trip eights that Badziakouski paid off with top pair, and later a hero call with bottom pair that moved him into the lead for the first time.

The final hand started with Goofy opening to 2 million holding 9♦6♥ and Badziakouski defending with 5♥4♥. On a 9♠4♣2♦ board, Badziakouski check-shoved for 12.6 million, but Goofy called and held through the 7♥ turn and 2♠ river to finish the marathon match.

PokerStars is adding a new €2,200 “In the Money at 180,000” tournament to EPT Barcelona, and the gimmick is exactly what the name suggests. Once a player reaches 180,000 chips, the stack is bagged for Day 2 and a cash is locked up, which removes the usual money bubble pressure from the event.

A separate preview placed the new tournament on Aug. 17-27 at Casino Barcelona. The wider festival itself is listed for Aug. 16-29 at the same venue, and the card still revolves around the €5,300 EPT Main Event, the €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event, the €100,000 Super High Roller and the €10,300 EPT High Roller.

The stop also has some recent history behind it. Last year’s EPT Barcelona Main Event drew 2,045 entries, and Frenchman Thomas Eychenne won it for €1,426,900 after a deal with Romanian Sebastian Ionita. EPT Tournament Director Toby Stone said the new format was built for qualifiers, adding, “If you love our qualifiers, you’ll love In the Money at 180,000,” and, “Hit 180,000 chips, instantly bag your stack and lock up a Day 2 cash. No bubble sweat. Just pure poker and action.”

Barcelona also matters for PokerStars Live League. PokerNews says the 2026 race reaches its halfway point here, with Danilo Donnini leading the Low board, Andrew Hulme on top of Medium, and Juan Pardo leading High. The top three in each tier will split €157,500 in PokerStars LIVE credit, and the top 30 in each tier qualify for a €100,000 freeroll at the first EPT stop of 2027.

Away from the tables, the festival will add karaoke, quiz and games nights, welcome drinks, a sports matchup and a Guess the Hand contest, with prizes and Mini Spades also on offer. EPT Wellness Community will run daily yoga and Pilates from Aug. 18-27, and seven days of live streaming begin Aug. 23 on PokerStars’ Twitch and Facebook channels in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese and German, with Portuguese commentary making its festival debut.

World Poker Tour said it will open Season 25 in Phnom Penh with WPT Cambodia at NagaWorld Integrated Resort. The stop is being billed as a return to one of the tour’s recurring live venues.

EuropeanGaming.eu reported that NagaWorld has hosted WPT Cambodia festivals since 2019. In June, it said WPT would return there in August 2026 for a 13-day Passport to the World Championship festival with 70 events and $1 million in guaranteed prize pools, and that the Main Event would carry a $1,300 buy-in and a $500,000 guarantee.

The same report said the January-February 2026 Cambodia festival ran for 20 days and featured 138 tournaments with buy-ins from $200 to $20,000. It also said the 2025 Cambodia festival drew more than 10,000 entries and awarded over $10 million in prize money, while a July 2024 main event drew 913 entries and built a $1,040,592 prize pool.

ASGAM quoted WPT CEO Adam Pliska saying the Cambodia series gives players a chance to compete at one of the region’s premier poker destinations and offers a pathway to the WPT World Championship. The next Phnom Penh festival is scheduled for Jan. 12-Feb. 2, 2027.

PokerStars has put a combined $800,000 in guarantees behind the two WCOOP Boot Camp Main Events. The lower buy-in tournament costs $109 and carries a $500,000 prize pool guarantee, while the $1,050 version has a $300,000 guarantee.

Both Main Events start at 1:00 p.m. CEST on August 16 and run across two days of play.

PokerNews says the Boot Camp itself runs from August 2-17 and features 65 events across low and high buy-in tiers. The series is advertised with more than $6.5 million in combined guaranteed prize pool, far above the Main Event total on its own.

The schedule covers a broad mix of poker formats. It includes No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, H.O.R.S.E., No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw and 8-Game, along with progressive knockouts and mystery bounties. The events also vary by table format, with full ring, six-max and heads-up play all on the slate, plus regular, turbo and hyper-turbo blind structures.

Satellites for the opening-night $75 NLHE Progressive KO Sunday Special were already in the PokerStars lobby, with $11 buy-ins available. That event, WCOOP Boot Camp 04-L, carries the biggest guarantee on August 2 at $300,000.

Another $300,000 guaranteed event, WCOOP Boot Camp 32-H, is set for August 9. The wider WCOOP schedule is due to follow from September 6-30.

PokerStars has teamed up with BBZ Poker, founded by Jordan “bigbluffzinc” Drummond. Free sessions are set for every Friday at 1:00 p.m. EST on the BBZ Discord server, ending with a $0.01 buy-in, password-protected tournament at 2:00 p.m. CEST, where up to $1,500 in WCOOP tickets will be awarded.

PokerStars Ambassador Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg said the idea behind WCOOP Boot Camp is preparation: reviewing hands, challenging decisions and making small improvements before the main series begins.