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As Kara Scott enjoys her maternity leave The Poker Brief by 888poker returns, with David Tuchman filling in as the new temporary host as he wraps up all the poker happenings over the summer.

We get immediately stuck into the news, as 888 welcomes Spanish poker pro Ana Marquez to the roster as the operator launches a segregated online poker room in Spain. Her joining marks the third Spanish ambassador to join 888’s roster of team pros in the last three months.

“It’s been amazing. There’s so much love, it’s like a family,” said Marquez, who was unveiled at a media event held in Las Vegas back in July. “I think it’s a great addition to the team,” said fellow teammate Sofia Lovgren in an interview with PokerNews. “She’s an amazing player, she’s had great results lately. I’m so happy she’s joined the team.”

Tuchman goes on to look back on the World Series of Poker action over the summer—touching on Joe Cada, Justin Bonomo and Shaun Deeb’s bracelet wins—and who could forget it, but Phil Hellmuth’s WSOP entrance as Thor, God of Thunder.

Thanks to Shaun Deeb’s run good at the WSOP, he now leads the WSOP Player of the Year race.

And who could forget that it was his WSOP win at the Big One for One Drop that put Justin Bonomo in the poll position on the All-Time Money List with the top spot, knocking Daniel Negreanu off the top spot. Bonomo faced off against Fedor Holz to take the win in Las Vegas, last month. If you want to read more on Bonomo’s sick run in 2018 or how his stats compare to Kid Poker’s go over to pokerfuse to read the full article here.

Tuchman wraps up the Poker Brief by talking about the US’s decision to legalise sports betting and what it could mean for the future of online poker in the USA.

You can watch The Poker Brief in full below.

Poker legends Doyle and son Todd Brunson have launched their very own No Limit Hold’em poker training site, so that you can “play the game like a pro.”

Doyle Brunson has amassed 10 WSOP bracelets and a WPT title along with being a fixture in the high-stakes cash games run in the famous “Bobby’s Room” over the years.

The announcement of the father and son training site comes after Doyle retired from poker after the World Series of Poker concluded in July. At the time Brunson senior said:

“I’m planning on retiring after the summer. My wife is not in very good health, and I will stay with her for the duration of either her life or mine.”

The Brunson’s aren’t the first professional poker players to cash in on offering their insight and training into the game. For instance, earlier this summer Daniel Negreanu released his very own MasterClass.

Buying the Brunson’s training course costs $149 and covers:

The visual aspects of the game
Board Textures
Early Straights Flops
Reconizing your Outs
Combos & Blockers

Push / Fold Charts
Players and their Ranges
Betting Patterns
Math & Probabilities
Winning Percentage and your Hands

Hand Strength Heads Up
Nuts Evaluation
Poker Thought Process
The Mental Game
Tournament Play

Tells
Strong Hand Bets
Weak Hand Bluffs
Balancing your Ranges
Plus 208 Professional Poker Moves displayed on Flash Cards

You can learn more about Brunson Poker Pro, here.

A recent video from The New Yorker shows Bad Beat stories from poker pros Nick Schulman, Jamie Kerstetter and Asher Conniff.

The New Yorker has rounded them up to the most “Shocking, Stressful and Regrettable” hands.

India is a country of contrasts. $500 a night five-star hotel complexes stand alongside shanty towns where people live in the poorest conditions, and as you drive through the streets of New Delhi, there is a bizarre and almost jarring mix between traditional and western culture. Girls in jeans and sunglasses rub shoulders with contemporaries in saris, and nobody looks twice.

At heart, however, India is very much a country of traditional, some might say old-fashioned values, particularly when it comes to questions of gender equality. The arrival, then, of India’s first female poker professional on the circuit is making waves that go way beyond poker circles.

Inspired by the online poker scene

Muskan Sethi has always had a passion for card games. As a child, she learned card tricks to entertain family and friends, but it was the game of poker that really intrigued her. From a young age, she attended tournaments with her father to watch the professionals in action, but it was the advent of the internet age that inspired her to get involved herself.

In her student years, she began to watch global tournaments on youtube, and to play on Facebook. The proliferation of online poker sites is what made it possible for her to develop her own skills in what is still a male-dominated pastime. Sethi predicts that the accessibility that online poker brings means it will open the game up to more female players, both in India and the wider world.

She told local reporters: “The game is male dominated, but that’s only because most women have not tried it yet. In my opinion, online poker is the best place to start, you can enjoy it alongside any other commitments you may have, as a recreational hobby, that is relaxing and can be rewarding.”

Sethi is currently in Las Vegas, and is part of India’s team at the WSOP. But her main focus is on the Global Poker League, and on winning a platinum pass to join the top players in the world at the PokerStars Players Championship, which takes place in the Bahamas next January. Of the 108 players to have qualified so far, only two are women.

Breaking down boundaries

The 28 year old is only too well aware that not everyone will see her success in a positive light and has had to tolerate her share of inane questions and trolling on her Twitter feed.

However, she takes the negativity in her stride, and treats such inane tweets as “Why do you want to gamble for a living? Nobody will marry you!” with the contempt they deserve.

She has also used her profile as an empowered young Indian woman to make a stand in other areas. For example, during the recent Wimbledon tournament, she highlighted the lack of Indian women involved.

The tennis comparison is, perhaps one worth examining more closely. In some ways, Sethi’s profile is similar to that for Sania Mirza, the Indian tennis player whose career will sadly be better remembered for the controversy she attracted and the criticism that traditionalists in her homeland were eager to heap upon her than for her undoubted sporting talent.

A national celebrity

Nevertheless, ten years is a long time, and Sethi is different to Mirza in a number of ways. For one thing, he has the unstinting support of her family, who are all keen poker players themselves. But even more importantly, this is a woman with a nation behind her. Earlier this year, she was one of a number of women honoured by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at the nation’s inaugural “First Ladies” awards.

The ceremony paid tribute to 112 women from a whole range of areas who have challenged traditional stereotypes and forged careers in unconventional directions. To see the nation’s first professional poker player honoured alongside airline pilots, politicians, a racing driver, a mountaineer and even a professional wrestler shows just how much attitudes are changing at the highest level.

Sethi told reporters that she felt proud and honoured to be “counted amongst these strong, beautiful and accomplished women.”

More to come

Muskan Sethi is delighted to see the changing attitudes in her home country. She feels that these, along with the ability for anyone, regardless of age, sex or social background, to play poker online, mean that while she might be the first, she certainly will not be the last female poker pro to come out of India.

She feels that there is no physical reason women can’t be as successful as men in the game, given that success depends on strategic skills and mental capability. As someone who is already being held up as an example and an inspiration, it will be interesting to see how many follow in her footsteps over the coming months and years.

Unibet has announced that the Poker Princess, Molly Bloom, who’s “Hollywood high stakes poker game was the subject of the Oscar-nominated and critically acclaimed film Molly’s Game“ will be their special guest!

The Unibet Open will take place in Bucharest from August 2 to 4. There will be a press conference and book signing session with Bloom, and she will be opening the cash games and the #QueenRules Ladies Tournament on Friday, August 3.

As a reminder, the #QueenRules concept came about back in March when Unibet and creative agency FCB Inferno released a custom deck of cards to accompany the launch of a new poker format where the Queen outranks the King. The project was intended to help draw attention to gender equality and unconscious gender bias in poker.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have secured Molly for our event,” said Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events. “Molly’s Game has been highly rated by poker players for bringing the poker scene to life on screen and I’m especially pleased that Molly will be opening our #QueenRules Ladies event. It’s all part of our campaign to build conversations around gender bias and gender equality. We couldn’t have a more fitting participant than Molly Bloom who challenged stereotypes during her time as the Poker Princess.”

To read more on the Unibet Open Bucharest you can go to the Unibet site, here.

If you want more on Molly’s Game don’t forget, Robbie Strazynski at Card Player Lifestyle did some super sleuthing to bring us all an exclusive interview with the poker consultant on the film, Josh Leichner, which you can read here.

You can watch Joey Ingram’s review of the film below.