If you enjoy watching the big guns mix it up, be sure to check out this vid from Poker Night in America featuring three big hands between two of the biggest names in poker: Daniel Negreanu and Antonio Esfandiari.

In a recent 2+2 forum thread, there is another story of a poker player claiming to have money stolen from his room at the Barcelona Hotel Arts.

This time the incident allegedly took place during the partypoker MILLIONS event in Barcelona. It is claimed that $2,000 was stolen from a laptop bag that was left in the player’s room.
Barcelona Hotel Arts, has denied that their staff had anything to do with the theft. But you can make your own mind up and can read the full account here.

Similar stories of money missing from the rooms of poker players at the Hotel Arts can be found here.

When all the chips made their way into the middle of the table, Annette ‘Annette_15’ Obrestad’s set of 7’s had John Tabatabai’s two-pair absolutely crushed. And when the meaningless deuce hit the turn, it was official – Tabatabi was drawing dead. Obrestad would not only become the *World Series of Poker Europe*’s first title holder, she would also be the youngest player ever to win a WSOP bracelet.

That was back in 2007. Today, Obrestad continues to hold a precious place in the history of poker as well as the in Norwegian poker community.

Though the citizens of Norway have had their legal struggles with the game of poker, some of poker’s most notable names have emerged from the Kingdom of Norway. Like Obrestad, many of these sponsored pros and longtime players have left a lasting mark on the game.

Annette Obrestad

Perhaps the most notable is the aforementioned Obrestad who, as a teenager, epitomized the aggression and precision of the pre-Black Friday online grinder. She’s accumulated nearly $4 million in lifetime earnings, good for second place on the Norway All-Time Money List. Perhaps more than any of her individual wins though is the legend of her online 180-person online victory where she allegedly never looked at her cards (well…maybe once.). While Obrestad hasn’t been on the circuit as much these days, anytime she’s at the poker table she would still be considered one of poker’s most well-known players.

Thor Hansen

The “Godfather” of Norwegian poker, Thor Hansen is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, a 2017 Poker Hall of Fame finalist and third on the Norwegian All-Time Money List. Hansen is considered one of the true ambassadors of poker for the country, and that’s why the poker world was devastated when in 2012 he revealed that he’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Despite the odds given to him by the doctors, he’s kept on fighting and as recently as March 2018, the live-poker legend has kept on thriving and playing and even cashing, this time in the The Norwegian Open. Hansen is one of Norway’s most beloved poker players and he currently sits just $50,000 shy of $3 million in lifetime earnings.

Felix Stephensen

Norway’s All-Time Money List leader Felix Stephensen is Norway’s answer to the poker dream. With only a handful of live results to his name prior to playing the WSOP Main Event in 2014, Stephensen outlasted 6,682 runners to finish as the runner-up to Champion Martin Jacobson. His red-hot run brought him a life-changing cash of over $5.1 million. The very next year, instead of making a return to the November Nine, Stephensen found himself in the
Norwegian National Championships in Olso, Norway where he won the Main Event for another $161,000. Stephensen still finds time to grind and has been in the winner’s circle as recently as the 2018 Aussie Millions where he took down Event #19 for over $66,000.

Johnny Lodden

Everyone wants to know what Johnny Lodden thinks. The Norwegian poker pro may be well-known for being the titular character of the mind-bending game of poker prop betting founded by Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak, but it’s only because Lodden is a constant presence at the poker table. Lodden is a dual-threat in both cash games and tournaments and is a sponsored pro over at partypoker. A one-time regular on the European Poker Tour he’s cashed in the Main Event of the tour no fewer than 22 times and has accumulated over $2.8 million in lifetime earnings. Despite being a veteran on the poker scene, Lodden is still a youngster at age 32 with his best results very likely yet to come.

While these players have been ambassadors for the game of poker for some time, the country of Norway continues to produce ambassadors that turn new players on to the game of poker. Take for instance Stephan Kjerstad, a long-time grinder who plays online poker at betsson Norway. Though he’s not in the constant limelight, the Team bettson pro continues to grind the online cash games and been designated the “poker teacher” because of his sense of humor and ability to promote the game.

Though the country of Norway continues to take a hard stance against the game of poker, the players hailing from the kingdom continue to do an admirable job in representing both the game and their country for the future generation of players to come.

There’s no stopping New York Times Best Seller, Maria Konnikova, as she keeps on going from strength to strength in the poker world, despite being a relative newcomer to the circuit.

Putting in hours and hours of study under the guidance and tutelage of Erik Seidel, Konnikova has put on hold her plans to publish her book on her year long immersion into the world of poker to see show far she can take her new found poker success.

As well as making multiple final tables, she also took down the 2018 PCA National Championship for $84,000, plus a $30,000 PSPC Platinum Pass.

Here she sits down with Joey Ingram on the Poker Life Podcast to tell us more.

If Konnikova’s podcast with Ingram has left you wanting more, check out The Mindset Advantage Poker Podcast as Konnikova talks more about her year in poker.

Its time to get excited about a new series coming to Poker Go via Poker Central on May 10 called Insiders. The series features three high-roller regulars Daniel Negreanu, Brandon Adams and Seth Davies in the run up to the Super High Roller Bowl.

Watch the featurette below to see how some of the top poker stars prepare.

It has been reported by Forbes that 2016 World Series of Poker November Niner Gordon Vayo has filed a law suit against PokerStars for around $700,000.

Vayo won the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) last year and is still waiting to be paid.

PokerStars says that they will not pay out as Vayo, an American citizen, because he could have been playing SCOOP on US soil which would be against the site’s terms. Vayo on the other hand has evidence that he was in Canada (where you can legally play online poker on the dot-com market) during that time, so he contends he is owed his winnings.

Vayo told Forbes: “I am deeply disappointed it has come to this, but feel that taking legal action is necessary to protect my rights as well as those of other PokerStars players who are in my situation, but may not have the means to get their message out and protect themselves against the unwarranted bullying tactics that I have experienced during this ordeal.”

“We cannot comment on pending litigation matters and our investigation into this particular matter is ongoing,” a spokesperson for The Stars Group went on to say via press release. “However, as operator of the most regulated poker site in the world we believe that we have a duty to protect the integrity of the game and ensure we provide a safe and fair poker platform by enforcing our terms of service. We have paid out over half a billion dollars in tournaments winnings this year alone and will continue to implement rigorous security procedures to protect our players.”

Read the full article over on Forbes for all the details.

Kara Scott returns to recap the month of April in the latest edition of the 888poker sponsored The Poker Brief. This episode is the last time we will see Scott on our screens for a while as she prepares for maternity leave.

Scott talks about the latest happenings in the poker world, touching on Eric Danis’ new role at the Global Poker Index and partypoker’s MILLIONS festival in Barcelona. Scott also tells us about the recent 888poker and World Poker Tour (WPT) WPT500 event in London that was a big success.

Kicking off the show, Scott talks candidly about her recent Women in Poker Hall of Fame nomination and how poker has changed her life. She expresses how honored she is to be nominated along with such other wonderful women. Unfortunately for Scott, she did not make the cut this time. The inductees this time around will be Maria Ho and Lupe Soto. The two will be inducted during a ceremony in June of which 888 is the lead sponsor.

We also get news that 888poker is bringing back their 8-Team promotion for the World Series of Poker Main Event this summer. Six teams from different countries will compete among themselves in a last longer-type contest. This year the teams will hail from the UK, Canada,Germany, Brazil, Sweden and Spain. Each member of the winning team will get a $12.5k package to next year’s WSOP Main Event. To participate, players will need to qualify on 888poker by winning a Main Event package and explain why they would make a good team member. The chosen team members will receive “coaching and support” as part of their participation. Check out the 888poker website for all the details.

Scott also touches on how Stephen Chidwick is the first Brit to make it to number one on the GPI Ranking.

Congrats Stephen!