Texas Card House will stage Trailblazer Poker Tour Season III’s second stop across its Dallas and Las Colinas clubs from Oct. 8-19, led by an $800 Main Event with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

PokerNews reported that the festival opens Oct. 8 with a $400 Kick Off event carrying a $100,000 guarantee. It is followed by the $300 Dallas Signature, which has a $250,000 guarantee and six starting flights.

The Main Event begins Oct. 12 and offers 11 starting flights. Its winner will be decided on Day 3, Oct. 19. Most of the schedule, including the Main Event, will run at Texas Card House Dallas, while Las Colinas will host selected side events.

Those Las Colinas events include the $300 Lone Star PLO, $400 Big O and $300 Triple Triple Draw. The final day also includes the $250 Randy’s 6 Shooter and $200 Donkey Derby events.

As we covered in August, Season III opened with an Aug. 28-Sept. 8 Dallas and Las Colinas series that listed more than $1.2 million in guarantees. The five-stop Texas season awards points at every event toward its Trailblazer of the Year race, with $125,000 in season-long cash prizes for the top points earners.

Texas Card House CEO Ryan Crow said Trailblazer began as a bet that Texas players deserved their own tour, and called Season III its biggest yet. After the Dallas and Las Colinas dates, the tour is scheduled to move to Spring from Oct. 27 through Nov. 9, followed by Houston and Austin stops that conclude the season in February.

GBortoleto won CoinPoker’s Sept. 21 CoinMillion for $121,753, topping a 5,181-entry, $215 event during the final week of the Global Online Poker Championship. The tournament created a prize pool of about $1.03 million, making it the second GOPC CoinMillion to clear its $1 million guarantee.

The win followed a fourth-place Day 2 start for GBortoleto and added to a CoinMasters FLOKI title the player won in July. BustinDaNut69, who began Day 2 22nd in chips before reaching the final table as chip leader, finished second for $76,989, while Pipsis took $55,436 in third after qualifying through a $25 satellite.

As we reported Sept. 13, the previous CoinMillion drew a record 5,321 entries, so the Sept. 21 field fell short of that mark but still extended the run of million-dollar prize pools. CoinPoker recorded platform traffic above 30,000 players during the session.

CardPlayer’s breakdown of the closing action shows GBortoleto taking control with four players left. GBortoleto and BustinDaNut69 each had a little more than 60 big blinds, while Fuasyt and Pipsis were both short-stacked. Fuasyt moved all in for 33.9 million from under the gun at 1.75 million/3.5 million blinds with a 525,000 ante, and GBortoleto called from the big blind.

GBortoleto’s ace-eight trailed Fuasyt’s ace-nine on a 10♠-7♦-4♠ flop, but the 8♠ turn paired GBortoleto and gave the hand a flush draw. The 2♣ river held, eliminating Fuasyt and moving GBortoleto to 250 million chips.

After Fuasyt’s exit, GBortoleto and BustinDaNut69 each held 69 big blinds while Pipsis had seven. BustinDaNut69 had repeatedly proposed a deal from five-handed play onward, and GBortoleto replied that they could discuss it heads-up. PokerListings said a deal ultimately paid BustinDaNut69 $102,248 and GBortoleto $96,494, figures that differ from the published winner and runner-up payouts.

The heads-up match ended in a large river call. At 2 million/4 million with a 600,000 ante, GBortoleto opened to 12 million and called BustinDaNut69’s raise to 43.72 million on a 10♠-9♠-7♣ flop. After calling a 37.17 million bet on the 9♦ turn, GBortoleto faced a 135.4 million river shove when the 6♠ completed the board.

GBortoleto called with Q♠J♠ for a flush, beating BustinDaNut69’s 8♥6♥ straight to end the tournament. The final $1 million-guaranteed GOPC CoinMillion runs Sept. 27, with direct satellites starting at $12.50.

Polish online poker player rfcffddgg won a $250,000 jackpot in GGPoker’s $25 Mystery Battle Royale on Sept. 24, turning a four-way all-in against three short stacks into a $250,000 payout.

All three opponents held ace-x hands, while rfcffddgg was all-in on the flop with 7-4 offsuit and a straight draw. He collected each of the three bounties: two worth $31 apiece and the $250,000 jackpot.

PokerListings reported the result and said the player’s real-world identity is not known with certainty. But ResultHub records show the screen name appearing on various GGPoker leaderboards since June 2025, with a particular preference for the $25 Mystery Battle Royale. PokerCraft statistics also show results in both multi-table sit-and-gos and multi-table tournaments.

The score followed another $25 Mystery Battle Royale jackpot hit in July by Ukrainian player STALKKER. The two results underline the outsized prize variance available at the format’s highest reported stake, despite its $25 entry level.

Battle Royale launched on the GG Network in June 2021 as a fast poker format combining shootout-style elimination and knockout rewards. It initially used 100-player fields, which were cut to 30 players two months later before another overhaul in April 2024 reduced fields to 18 and made Mystery Bounty payouts the central mechanic.

A March 2025 GipsyTeam examination described the newer structure as a two-phase tournament in which knockouts pay at the final stage, followed by the opening of a Mystery Jackpot Bounty chest. The $25 stake was added in summer 2024. Regular players began moving into the format after other online poker rooms reduced or lost comparable action, drawn by its traffic, profit potential and jackpot prizes.

That same account characterized Battle Royale as a hybrid of multi-table sit-and-gos, zoom poker, knockout tournaments and spins, with high variance and random chest prizes. Players interviewed by GipsyTeam said good regulars could achieve roughly 5% to 7% ROI, while some players at $10 to $25 stakes reported 6% to 10% returns before rakeback.

Online poker revenue fell year over year in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania in August, even as internet casino revenue rose in each state. New Jersey poker revenue slipped 3.2% to $2.6 million, while Pennsylvania’s poker revenue dropped 5.2% to about $2.4 million.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported that its broader iGaming category grew 6.3% from a year earlier to $245.7 million. Poker therefore remained a small part of a category dominated by online slots, which generated about $195.2 million, and table games, which produced about $48.1 million.

Pennsylvania’s total gaming revenue, covering its regulated gaming categories, declined 2.2% to $569.7 million in August. The state collected about $249 million in gaming taxes. Sports-wagering handle fell 3.3% to $498.5 million, while taxable sports-betting revenue declined 19.9% to $39.4 million.

In New Jersey, internet gaming win increased 4.4% to $259.3 million, and year-to-date internet gaming win was up 13.2% to $2.13 billion through August. The state’s total gaming revenue nevertheless fell 4.1% to $615.7 million for the month, although it remained up 5.4% year to date at $4.81 billion.

New Jersey sports-wagering gross revenue fell 25% to $61.4 million. The Division of Gaming Enforcement attributed that decline primarily to a later start to the fall sports calendar, including college football, and a lower overall win percentage.

Michigan’s monthly release does not break out online poker, so its poker result cannot be measured from the state data. Its operators reported $303 million in iGaming gross receipts and $34.6 million in online sports-betting gross receipts, for $337.6 million combined, down 2.5% from July. On an adjusted-receipts basis, iGaming rose 0.1% month over month while online sports betting fell 21.4%.

CardPlayer characterized poker as continuing a negative streak and said Michigan poker likely declined alongside the reported New Jersey and Pennsylvania results, but that Michigan assessment was an inference rather than a separately published revenue figure.

The weak poker figures sit within a market where the segment remains relatively small. PokerSites.org estimates that regulated U.S. online poker produces roughly $100 million annually and represents about 1% to 2% of the regulated online-gaming market. The site also said player liquidity is central to poker revenue because games require enough active participants to run.

Michigan had 15 commercial and tribal operators authorized to offer iGaming and/or online sports betting as of August, with all 15 offering iGaming and 13 offering online sports betting.

Sam Soverel opened the PokerGO Tour’s return from its post-summer break by winning the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha kickoff at the PGT PLO Series in Las Vegas. The victory was worth $122,850 from a $455,000 prize pool generated by 91 entries and gave Soverel a record-extending 16th PGT title.

The one-day event played at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino, according to CardPlayer. Soverel now holds a three-title lead over Alex Foxen on the tour’s title leaderboard, after Foxen had tied Soverel’s then-record 13 titles with a $10,000 no-limit hold’em win in April, PokerNews reported.

Soverel’s latest title added 184 PGT points, pushing him into the top 20 of the season points race. He also collected 432 Card Player Player of the Year points, moving into that leaderboard’s top 200.

The result took Soverel’s recorded tournament earnings beyond $33.5 million. The four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner ranked 36th on poker’s all-time money list at the time and was one of 44 players with more than $30 million in recorded cashes.

Thirteen players cashed in the tournament. John Riordan, the 2025 Super High Roller Bowl PLO champion, fell on the money bubble, while Josh Arieh finished 12th, Mike Zulker placed 10th and Joao Simao exited in eighth.

Soverel eliminated Michael Wang, who earned $18,200 in seventh, and Sean Winter, who collected $22,750 in sixth, after the remaining players moved to the main stage. John Dapkus knocked out Ariel Mantel in fifth for $31,850 and James Chen in fourth for $40,950, before Soverel eliminated Dapkus in third for $56,875.

Soverel began heads-up play against Jonas Kronwitter with 6.125 million chips. In the deciding hand, the chips went in on a 10♥-7♥-3♣ flop; the 5♠ turn and 7♣ river left Soverel’s pocket aces in front to close out the tournament. Kronwitter received $79,625 for second place and left the event with nearly $3.9 million in lifetime tournament cashes.

The PGT PLO Series runs through Oct. 3.

PlayBlind has launched a crypto-native real-money poker platform offering No-Limit Texas Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, with no rake taken from pots. The browser-based service accepts crypto deposits and says it allows instant withdrawals of up to $750,000 in each 24-hour period directly to a player’s crypto wallet.

The platform says normal use requires no know-your-customer verification or personal information. Players can create an account, fund it with crypto and play without the banking channels and identity checks commonly used by online poker services.

The announcement was distributed as paid, sponsored press-release material on CryptoSlate. PlayBlind says its no-rake model is supported by advertising and sponsors rather than the conventional operator share of each pot. It also describes its games as loose and action-heavy, and includes table interaction and player chat.

USDC deposits are supported on Ethereum, Arbitrum and Base. The games run in a web browser on desktop and mobile devices.

Privacy is central to the platform’s pitch. PlayBlind says it uses zero-knowledge and other cryptographic technology, with players’ hole cards encrypted and kept private. It says cryptographic proofs and on-chain technology can verify aspects of the dealing process.

The service is not a licensed or regulated online poker operator, according to the release material, and operates as an unregistered crypto poker platform. The material advises prospective users to check whether online poker is permitted in their jurisdiction, and notes that an operator bankroll does not remove the financial or platform risks associated with using an unlicensed gambling service.

JackPoker will bring back its Lucky 8S Bombpot Fest on Sept. 26, giving cash-game players 16 days of daily quests, Instant Cash rewards and random Bomb Pots worth up to 30 big blinds.

The promotion runs through Oct. 11 and covers PLO5CB, PLO6CB and NLB tables. Players can tackle 32 challenges across the full run, with two quests per day unlocking Instant Cash rewards. Players who remain active throughout the 16-day promotion can complete all 32 challenges and maximize the available rewards.

PokerStrategy reported the returning promotion. JackPoker is also offering new customers additional first-deposit Instant Cash offers during the festival, adding a separate welcome boost alongside the table-based rewards.

Bomb Pots had already become available at selected Texas No Limit Hold’em and PLO5 cash-game tables on JackPoker before coverage of the Lucky 8S Bombpot Fest, according to PokerListings. In that format, every player contributes a set amount to the pot, preflop betting is skipped and action begins on the flop. The dealer button is randomly assigned among participating players.

JackPoker previously ran BombPots Quests built around three difficulty levels: easy, medium and hard. Players who completed all three quests received at least $200 in Instant Cash, offering some context for the site’s earlier use of mission-based rewards around the format.

The new festival is focused on cash games, although JackPoker also lets players move between cash tables and tournaments. Its wider schedule includes regular series, freerolls, missions and recurring promotions, while past Cash Splash promotions have offered up to $30,000 a day.

KPC Poker has added a two-stage Stairs Satellite as another route into the $15,000 King’s Main Event at its Jeju festival next month. Players who cash in the first stage will receive both a ticket for the second stage and a cash prize, while qualifying finishers in Stage 2 will earn Main Event seats plus cash.

The satellite opens at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 with a ₩1.1 million buy-in. PokerNews reported that Stage 2 begins at the same time on Oct. 16 and carries a ₩3.15 million buy-in. KPC Poker had not specified the cash amounts for either stage, which were due to be confirmed on site.

The King’s Main Event runs Oct. 17-20 and is among the largest tournaments on the schedule. It has two starting flights, on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18, before surviving players combine for Day 2 on Oct. 19. The champion will be decided on Oct. 20.

As covered in August, the Jeju stop is KPC Poker’s first major festival since K Poker Cup and King Poker Cup were brought together under the KPC Poker name. The 12-day series runs Oct. 10-21 at LES A Casino in Jeju Shinhwa World, with ₩3.1 billion, about $2.3 million, in guarantees across the festival.

The wider slate begins with the ₩800,000 KPC Bankroll Builder, carrying a ₩180 million guarantee, and the $5,000 King’s Debut, which has a $1 million guarantee. The schedule’s other Main Event is the ₩1.3 million KPC Main Event, with an ₩880 million guarantee, while the largest buy-in is the $60,000 King’s Super High Roller.

Players registering and seated before an event’s scheduled start can receive a 50% administration-fee discount in tournaments marked with the gift icon.

ACR Poker said in a Sept. 24 update that its $2.5 million guaranteed 25th Anniversary Tournament had 13 Day 1 flights left, leaving players a final run of qualification opportunities before Day 2 on Monday, Sept. 28. The $250 event’s final table is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Twelve of the 13 remaining flights were Turbo tournaments. The lone Main flight is set for Sunday, Sept. 27, at 1:05 p.m. ET, with Turbo flights that day at 10:15 a.m. and 7:05 p.m. ET. The last Day 1 is an 8:05 a.m. ET Turbo on Sept. 28, after which the surviving field moves into Day 2.

As reported Sept. 2, the tournament’s late-September Day 2 and final-table dates had already been set. The remaining slate listed three Turbo starts each on Thursday and Friday at 12:05 p.m., 3:05 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. ET, followed by Saturday Turbos at 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET.

The event uses a cumulative-stack format. Players who survive a Day 1 can enter again, and every stack they carry through is combined for Day 2 rather than replacing an earlier qualifying stack.

ACR Poker had expanded the tournament to 41 Day 1 flights, up from the 21 announced in July, while keeping the $2.5 million guarantee intact. The full schedule runs from July 18 through Sept. 29.

Players can buy in directly for $250 or use $33 satellites, with $3.15 Super Satellites feeding those qualifiers. A separate satellite route advertised by ACR starts at $1.05 for Saturday Turbo entries.

The tournament is part of ACR Poker’s celebration of 25 years since it began dealing cards in 2001.

ClubWPT Gold has begun withdrawing from Nevada, suspending player purchases immediately and setting Sept. 28 as the final day for sweepstakes poker play in the state. The operator told players it was winding down Nevada services in response to state regulatory action.

Nevada players can enter games until midnight Sept. 28 and have been encouraged to redeem remaining account balances by Oct. 2. Postal requests for free promotional currency from players in the state are no longer being accepted.

The withdrawal applies to people physically located in Nevada, while ClubWPT Gold continues in its other supported U.S. jurisdictions. Nevada’s exit reduces the site’s sweepstakes footprint from 42 states to 41.

The company did not give a detailed public explanation for the Nevada withdrawal. Its notice thanked its Nevada community and said the change was especially difficult to share.

ClubWPT Gold’s model does not technically sell poker chips, according to PokerNews. Players buy poker hand analysis and receive chips to use in games as part of the package; a chip is worth $1 when cashed out. More broadly, sweepstakes operators commonly use promotional currencies that can be used in games offering redeemable prizes, while maintaining that purchases are not direct wagers and offering free entry methods.

The exit comes amid expanding scrutiny of sweepstakes-style gambling models across the United States. A May legal analysis by Venable LLP said regulators, lawmakers and private plaintiffs were increasingly testing whether those offerings qualify as lawful promotions or unlicensed casino-style gambling. Connecticut, Montana, New Jersey, California and New York passed measures targeting such models in 2025, while Indiana, Maine, Oklahoma and Iowa had done so during the 2026 legislative cycle as of May 22.

Nevada’s regulated online poker market remains limited. ClubWPT Gold had competed alongside WSOP Online, which PokerNews described as the state’s only traditional licensed poker site, and had thousands of Nevada players before the withdrawal.

APT Jeju opened Friday at LES A Casino in Jeju Shinhwa World with 12 $10,000 seats to the APT Championship Main Event available across the 13-day festival. The series runs through Oct. 7 and centers on a KRW 2.7 million (about $2,000) Main Event carrying a KRW 2.2 billion (about $1.6 million) guarantee.

As reported earlier today, the Jeju stop is the fourth festival in the Asian Poker Tour’s 20th-anniversary season, with a broad schedule and the Main Event as its centerpiece.

The Main Event begins Sept. 27, with four starting flights running through Sept. 29. Survivors then return for Days 2 through 5 from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3.

Three of the APT Championship seats go to the top three Main Event finishers. Two more will be awarded by lucky draw among players still in contention on Days 3 and 4, adding a potential route to Taipei for players who have not necessarily reached the final table.

The other seven seats are attached to selected festival tournaments: the APT Super High Roller, APT High Roller, Superstar Challenge, Zodiac Classic, High Roller–Ultra Stack, another High Roller event and the Mini Main Event. The APT Championship Main Event is scheduled for Taipei from Nov. 13-29 with a $5 million guarantee.

There is a small discrepancy in how the overall schedule is counted. PokerOrg and The Hendon Mob describe 135 events, while the APT’s schedule announcement calls it 136 trophy events plus three satellites. The official event listing itself runs through Event #135. The APT’s schedule announcement and The Hendon Mob put total guaranteed prize pools above KRW 5.2 billion.

Beyond no-limit hold’em, the schedule includes PLO, stud, triple draw, OFC, Double Board Bomb Pots, single draw, dealer’s choice and ROSET. It also has 11 women’s events, while buy-ins range from about $150 to $27,000 and cash-game blinds from about $4/$8 to $40/$80.

The stop returns to a place where the tour’s Korean footprint has grown sharply. APT’s first recorded Jeju series was held at Royal Palace Casino in 2013, when its Main Event drew 166 entries. The earlier APT Jeju visit this year drew 1,718 entries and was described as South Korea’s largest international live poker tournament.

APT Jeju continues through Oct. 7 before the seat winners and qualifiers head toward the APT Championship in Taipei in November.

GGPoker will begin daily online step satellites for WSOP Circuit Panama on Sept. 26, offering a route from $5 buy-ins and Freebuy entries to the festival’s $1,700 Main Event. The satellite schedule runs through Oct. 31, ahead of the Panama City series from Nov. 5-15.

As we reported last week, the returning Panama stop will stage 12 ring events at the Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino, led by a $1,700 Main Event carrying a $500,000 guarantee. It will be the third WSOP Circuit Panama stop, while the prior Panama City event was held in November 2025 at the Panama City Hilton and StarBay Casino.

The GGPoker qualifiers begin with 10,000 chips and award a Main Event seat when a player reaches 100,000 chips. Players who commit to either Day 1A or Day 1B can receive an 11-night complimentary hotel stay.

Satellite winners have another incentive once they arrive in Panama. Any player who qualified through GGPoker and eliminates Michael Mizrachi in the Main Event can receive their $1,700 buy-in back in cash.

The wider festival also offers a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package in The Bahamas to every ring-event winner. The Panama series leaderboard pays $10,000 to its winner, with players required to cash in three events to qualify and points calculated under the WSOP Player of the Year system.

Entrants in any Panama ring event can also buy a $10,500 package for the January 2027 WSOP Super Circuit Punta Cana for $7,500.

888poker’s Spanish televised sit-and-go series Noche de Poker returns for an 11th season on Oct. 3, with eight episodes leading to a Dec. 5 Grand Final. Online qualification begins Sunday, Sept. 27, through General and Rookie satellites on 888poker.es, while EducaPoker supplies an additional weekly qualifier on Mondays.

Each televised table will bring together seven online qualifiers and one special guest. The seven seats are split between four awarded in the General satellite, two in the Rookie, and one through EducaPoker, according to PokerNews and Spanish poker outlet Poker-Red. Sunday and Monday qualifiers normally play at the televised table on the following Saturday.

The General satellite costs €10 and begins at 10 p.m. GMT on Sundays. The €5.50 Rookie starts 30 minutes earlier. Both have 45 minutes of late registration, six-minute blind levels and one permitted re-entry.

PokerNews lists the Monday EducaPoker event as a €5.50, password-protected satellite at 9 p.m. GMT. Poker-Red lists a €5 buy-in, one hour of late registration and five-minute levels. Both reports agree that it awards one televised-table seat, plus 50,000 EducaPoints to the winner, 25,000 to finishers from second through sixth, and 10,000 to other entrants.

Every player at an episode receives cash, with payouts ranging from €250 for eighth place to €1,500 for the winner. Episode winners advance automatically to the Grand Final, where the eight qualifiers are guaranteed at least €750 and the champion earns €8,000. The winner will succeed Season 10 champion Alejandro Sánchez.

Poker-Red reported that Álvaro Aspas, known as Darkored, and Jesús Ramos, known as El_Chur, will call the broadcasts live from 8 p.m. on the outlet’s Twitch and YouTube channels. When four players remain, viewers will vote to award three additional prizes: the top vote-getter receives an entry to 888poker LIVE Madrid, while second and third receive entries to Noche de Poker El Festival.

There is a planned break after Episode 3 on Oct. 17. No satellites run on Oct. 18, and qualifying returns Oct. 25 for Episode 4, which is played Nov. 6 in Murcia during Noche de Poker El Festival Murcia. Episodes 4 and 5 are set for Nov. 6 and 7, respectively.

During broadcasts, 888poker.es will also run freerolls awarding 20 tickets per week to the €10 General satellite.

Paul Volpe won the $5,300 BetMGM Big, Big Championship at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, taking the trophy and $492,415 after making a heads-up ICM deal with Frank Lagodich. The event drew 519 entries and generated a $3 million prize pool, paying 65 places.

Lagodich received $420,000 as runner-up. The two did not play a hand heads-up: Volpe held 15.25 million chips to Lagodich’s 5.5 million when they agreed to the deal. Volpe told PokerNews that both players were tired, respected each other’s games and chose to lock up the money.

The result turned around a difficult final day for Volpe. He said he had fallen to eight big blinds early on Day 3 before rebuilding, reaching the final table with the chip lead and eventually closing out the title. As we reported Sept. 23, Lagodich had started the final day as chip leader with 19 players left.

Tyler Hirschfeld finished third for $263,150, followed by Brock Wilson in fourth for $175,080 and Sanat Mehrotra in fifth for $122,850. Scott Blumstein took sixth for $97,865, while David Kinane, Julian Altieri and Sead Duraku completed the nine-handed final table.

Volpe’s route to the heads-up deal included a key elimination of Duraku, when his pocket jacks made a set against Duraku’s pocket aces. He later eliminated Altieri with ace-king against king-queen, then knocked out Hirschfeld in third with a jack-high straight on the river against Hirschfeld’s trip nines.

The $492,415 prize was Volpe’s biggest Borgata score, his third-largest recorded live-tournament cash and his biggest since summer 2018. It took his Borgata main-event winnings beyond $1.5 million across 10 final tables over 15 years, while his recorded lifetime live earnings rose to nearly $10.8 million.

Volpe called Borgata his home casino and favorite place to play because of its proximity to home. He also said he considers mixed games his stronger discipline, though he enjoys no-limit hold’em tournaments, and credited his recent results to “baby rungood.”

Lagodich’s $420,000 was the second-largest live cash of his career. The finish earned Volpe 1,680 Card Player Player of the Year points, taking his 2026 total to 2,105, while Lagodich collected 1,400 points to reach 3,287.

Volpe said he expected his next poker trip would probably be to the Wynn in December, while he has been spending time at home with his nine-month-old child.

Daniel Lowery won his 21st World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring after taking down Event #7, the $400 Big O at Horseshoe Council Bluffs. The victory paid $8,607 and came from a 96-entry field that created a $31,680 prize pool.

Lowery started Day 2 as the short stack among 11 returning players, then climbed through the field and beat Sean Moore heads-up. Moore earned $5,502 for second, while Ari Engel finished third. The tournament paid 15 places.

The result put Lowery on 21 Circuit rings, five behind all-time leader Maurice Hawkins, who has 26. As covered in July, Hawkins set that 26-ring record by winning the Choctaw Mini Main Event.

Poker.org reported that Engel won his own 21st Circuit ring at Council Bluffs the following day, leaving Lowery and Engel level on that total. Lowery’s Big O title was his third Circuit ring in a non-hold’em event, following two Pot-Limit Omaha wins.

It was Lowery’s first Circuit title since a $300 Seniors Event win at Hard Rock Tulsa in March, which delivered his 20th ring. He has now won at least one Circuit ring each year since 2022, and at least two annually since 2023.

Lowery’s recent pace stands out because he generally plays only one or two Circuit stops a year, rather than a full schedule. Earlier in his Circuit career, he said work at his Arkansas sawmill and family responsibilities limited the volume he could play, even as he pursued the top of the ring leaderboard.

His first Circuit ring came in May 2013, when he won a $365 No-Limit Hold’em event in New Orleans for $22,912. More than 12 years later, the Council Bluffs Big O win keeps him within five rings of Hawkins’ record.

Daniel Negreanu’s bid for a ninth World Series of Poker bracelet ended in fourth place in GGPoker’s WSOP Online $25,000 High Roller Championship. Casimir Seire eliminated him with two pair in a key blind-versus-blind all-in, then went on to win the bracelet and the $906,647 top prize.

Negreanu earned about $415,700 and livestreamed the nine-handed final table on YouTube with a delayed card-up broadcast. A ninth bracelet would have made him the 10th player in WSOP history to reach that mark, while the online title would have been his first bracelet won online.

He began the final day third of 14 players, holding 2.4 million chips, or 41 big blinds. By the time the official final table began, he was again third in chips with roughly 60 big blinds.

Negreanu built a bigger stack after the first break and eliminated Parahat Nurmuhammedov in eighth place with the superior full house. He took the chip lead with seven players left, but a three-way all-in against Ole Schemion and Roman Emelyanov changed the picture.

Negreanu held A♥K♠, Schemion had A♠Q♠ and Emelyanov held pocket sixes. The A♣-10♠-Q♥-9♥-9♦ board eliminated Emelyanov in seventh and left Negreanu among the short stacks, while Schemion moved up the counts.

Negreanu doubled more than once as the blinds rose, and Schemion later went out sixth to Pedro Neves’s pocket queens. Negreanu then knocked out Neves in fifth place, picking up pocket fives before calling a small three-bet.

The defining hand came immediately afterward. In the big blind, Negreanu called off about 28 big blinds with 10♦10♥ after Seire shoved 9♣8♦. Seire’s hand was estimated to have only a 14% chance before the flop, and Negreanu remained about a 4-to-1 favorite after the A♦9♥6♣ flop.

But the 8♠ turn gave Seire two pair. The K♣ river did not improve Negreanu, ending his tournament in fourth. “That was it, guys, that was our chance to win the tournament right there,” Negreanu said on the stream.

Seire held a commanding lead after the hand, quickly removed the remaining opponents and beat Fabiano Kovalski heads-up when he made quads. Erwann Pecheux had been eliminated third for $539,095.

The result followed Negreanu’s seventh-place finish in the $10,000 GGMillion$ PLO event, as we reported Sept. 21. Earlier this summer, he won his eighth bracelet in the $100,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha event for $2.26 million, ending an 11-year bracelet drought.

The GGPoker WSOP Online series runs through Sept. 29.

Paddy Power Poker is offering a route into the €500,000-guaranteed iPOPS Main Event for as little as €0.50, with the No-Limit Hold’em tournament set to begin at 4 p.m. BST on Sept. 27.

The €500 Main Event is the 147th numbered tournament of the iPOPS series. Players who buy in directly or qualify through a satellite receive 100,000 chips, so satellite winners are not playing a reduced-stack version of the event.

The feeder structure starts with €0.50 satellites that award €5 tickets. Those €5 events feed €50 satellites, while daily €50 qualifiers guarantee at least two €500 Main Event tickets each.

A larger €50 deadline Mega Satellite begins at 3 p.m. BST on Sept. 27, one hour before the Main Event. It guarantees 50 seats, equivalent to €25,000 in Main Event entries.

The Main Event’s €500 entry comprises €470 plus €30. That means 1,063 entries are needed to cover the €500,000 guarantee through buy-ins alone. PokerNews recorded 81 registrations at the time of its report.

Play uses 15-minute levels and begins at blinds of 200/400 with a 75 ante. Late registration remains available for 20 levels, or five hours, and is expected to close around 9 p.m. BST. Blinds at that point are 5,000/10,000/1,000a, rising to 6,000/12,000/1,200a after registration shuts.

Players can enter up to 20 times.

Lithuania’s Boris Smuskevicius won the $3,500 Merit Poker Cup at the 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party in Northern Cyprus, taking $217,000 after a three-way ICM deal and a final-hand finish with quad queens.

The tournament was held at Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino and drew 418 entries for a prize pool of about $1.27 million. The score was Smuskevicius’s largest live cash by a wide margin, surpassing his previous best of $39,800 at Aria Las Vegas in 2023.

Smuskevicius, Ekrem Sanioglu and Joseph Mouawad agreed the ICM deal with three players remaining. PokerNews reported that Smuskevicius received only $3,000 less than the advertised $220,000 top prize, while SpadePoker said the subsequent play for the trophy carried a $46,000 bonus.

The deal’s payout structure left Mouawad in third for $124,000, ahead of runner-up Sanioglu’s $118,000. Vyacheslav Kardash collected $74,000 for fourth, while Darko Svesko, who began the final table as chip leader, finished fifth for $58,000 after Mouawad flopped a wheel against his pair of sixes.

The decisive hand came heads-up when Sanioglu moved all-in with king-six and Smuskevicius called with ace-queen. The board ran queen-queen-ten-queen-six, giving Smuskevicius quad queens to close the event.

His path to the title included a pivotal all-in against Mehmet Dalkilic, when Smuskevicius called with pocket jacks while Dalkilic held pocket queens. A jack on the turn gave Smuskevicius a set and a lead he did not relinquish.

Sixty-three players returned for Day 2, with 24 eliminated in the first two hours. Chenxu Zhang, the only woman still in the field, finished 10th after a king on the flop gave Dalkilic a better pair than her pocket tens.

Smuskevicius said he had been visiting Merit for about 10 years, having learned poker at Olympic Casino in Lithuania roughly two decades ago before also playing in Berlin and Tallinn. He praised the tournament’s structure and said the enlarged bankroll could lead him to play Triton One events at Merit Diamond in November.

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.

Frank Lagodich took the chip lead into the final day of the $5,300 BetMGM Poker Big, Big Championship at Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. Day 2 reduced a 519-entry field to 19 players, with $538,640 awaiting the winner from a $3 million prize pool.

Lagodich bagged 2.25 million chips, or 90 big blinds when play resumed. Julian Altieri stood second with 1.88 million, followed by Thomas Cannuli on 1.745 million. Tyler Hirschfeld had 1.61 million, while Sanat Mehrotra, who won the largest pot of the tournament to that point, ended the night with 1.3 million.

Lucas Bernui returned with 1.165 million chips. David Kinane, Brock Wilson and Myles Mullaly rounded out a group of other million-chip or near-million-chip contenders, holding 1.005 million, 950,000 and 805,000, respectively.

The remaining players reached the money after Ben Bianco’s six-four offsuit beat Jason Ritchie’s aces, making Ritchie the bubble player. The minimum cash was $14,250. Daniel Iachan and Ari Katz each collected that amount, while Tony Sinishtaj earned $17,025 for 50th and David Stefanski, winner of the series’ Big, Big Baller, took $20,450 in 38th.

Three of the 10 BetMGM Poker qualifiers who began Day 2 remained in contention after 10 levels. BetMGM ambassadors Darren Elias, Esther Taylor and Michael Lavin all fell before the money, with Lavin eliminated by Justin Liberto in a three-out hand. Joe McKeehen also missed a cash.

As we reported when the championship opened, the event used three Day 1 flights, unlimited re-entry and 40,000-chip starting stacks. The $3 million guarantee was the largest in Borgata’s 11-event Big, Big Series, which carried more than $6 million in total guarantees.

Day 3 was scheduled to begin at 12:15 p.m. local time on Sept. 23 and play 60-minute levels until a champion was crowned.

Eric “Slick Ric” Chang won the $1,700 WSOP Circuit Main Event at Texas Card House Austin, collecting $433,670 after topping a record 2,090-entry field. The Sept. 17-21 tournament was the largest $1,700 WSOP Circuit Main Event held to date, according to Card Player and SpadePoker.

The win required a major turnaround. Chang began Day 2 ranked 259th among 267 returning players and was reduced to one big blind twice before reaching the final table. He said he had felt from Day 2 that a double-up would carry him to the title. The payday was more than eight times his previous best live cash and more than doubled his career tournament earnings.

Chang beat Anil Jivani heads-up. Jivani held a nearly five-to-one chip lead after a flush-over-flush hand, but Chang fought back to near even before closing out the match. Jivani earned $289,110 for second place.

The reported prize pool was $3.17 million, clearing the $2 million guarantee. The official WSOP results page also confirms Chang’s win, the 2,090 entries and his $433,670 payout, but lists a different event figure of about $2.97 million. The available reports do not explain the discrepancy.

Lucas Jumalon, fresh from winning the 2026 WSOP Main Event and its $10 million first prize six weeks earlier, entered the Austin event’s final day with the chip lead and 18 players remaining. His first tournament appearance since that victory ended in 14th place for $19,030.

It was the second WSOP Circuit Main Event at the Austin venue. The spring edition, the first WSOP-branded series held in Texas, drew 1,709 entries for a $2.59 million prize pool and was won by Thomas Brabham for $368,545. The latest field was more than 22% larger, extending the rapid growth seen at the venue’s first Circuit stop.

One detail remains unsettled in the coverage: Card Player described the victory as Chang’s second Circuit ring, while SpadePoker called it his first.

NHN has set a 2.2 billion won total prize pool for the sixth Hangame Poker Tour, its largest yet. The hold’em festival is built around the Hangame Royal Hold’em mobile game, with 2 billion won allocated to the main event and 200 million won to the Super Stack side event.

The tournament combines online satellites in Hangame Royal Hold’em with an offline finale. According to The Elec, Bithumb is hosting the tour, and prize money will be paid in Korean won through Bithumb accounts, while SOOP is responsible for operations.

The satellite phase began Sept. 18 and runs through Nov. 25, a 69-day stretch with five tournaments each day. No separate application is required. Each satellite awards 29 offline-event tickets: one each to players finishing first through 20th, plus an additional ticket for each of the top nine finishers.

The offline tournament runs Nov. 26-29 at S-Factory, a cultural complex in Seoul’s Seongsu-dong area. NHN expanded the main event’s DAY1 from two days to three, saying the change, along with the expanded online satellites, was intended to create more opportunities to reach the live event.

Players need two tickets to enter DAY1 and can re-enter by submitting two more. Those who progress will play DAY2 on Nov. 29 for the 2 billion won main-event prize pool. Super Stack also takes place Nov. 29, carries its 200 million won prize pool and requires one ticket to enter.

ACR Poker’s OSS XL moved into its final stretch, with several high rollers exceeding their guarantees, while the series’ three Main Events prepared for their next stages. The 336-event festival runs through Sept. 29 with more than $50 million guaranteed.

The $630 OSS XL #215 High Roller drew 1,204 entries and built a $722,400 prize pool, above its $600,000 guarantee. Slippy12 won $119,923 following a final-table deal, while runner-up a6amKa4ePB collected $114,033.

Another $630 event, OSS XL #213H, brought in 499 entries for a $299,400 prize pool against a $250,000 guarantee. G26 won $59,536 after a deal. Mini Phil’s Thrill #219 also cleared its guarantee, drawing 104 entries at $2,650 to create a $260,000 pool; Infliponcio won $58,500.

The Sunday results were not all over guarantee. ACR Poker covered overlays in the $215 OSS XL #216, the $16.50 Sunday Splash and the $27.50 Sunday Smash. The $2,650 Mini Phil’s Thrill PLO #220 met its $200,000 guarantee exactly.

As we reported last week, the $66, $1,050 and $2,650 Main Events together carry $5 million in guarantees. The $2,650 event, with a $2.5 million guarantee, recorded 468 entries in Day 1A, while the $1,050 Main Event’s opening flight drew 950 entries toward its $2 million guarantee.

Both higher-buy-in Main Events have final Day 1B flights on Sunday, Sept. 27, then play Day 2 on Sept. 28 and final tables on Sept. 29. The $66 Main Event returns for Day 2 on Sept. 27 with 493 players remaining; its $500,000 prize pool includes a $202,100 overlay.

There is also more than $60,000 in cash and tournament tickets left in the OSS XL Leaderboard Competition. GROOTHEDEGEN led the High division on Monday morning, with ITILTHARD atop Medium and MALEKSEY leading Low. Only in-the-money finishes in series events earn points.

Second Mortgage Week began Sept. 21 with 10 Nosebleed Stakes tournaments over five playing days. The schedule spans No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, in 6-max and 8-max formats, with buy-ins from $5,200 to $25,500. Its largest buy-in is the $25,500 NLH 8-Max on Sept. 27, before the high-stakes run closes Sept. 28 with $15,400 NLH 8-Max and $5,200 NLH 6-Max R/A events.

Greg Mueller’s third-place finish in the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event came with a $3.75 million payout and a rail of more than 100 supporters. The 55-year-old Vancouver player outlasted a 9,208-entry field in the $10,000 championship at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, which generated an $85.6 million prize pool.

Lucas Jumalon won the title and $10 million, defeating Lauri Saaskilahti heads-up. Saaskilahti earned $6 million, while Mueller’s $3.75 million marked the biggest result of his career. As we reported in July, Mueller entered the delayed final-table return fourth in chips.

A new Card Player profile says Mueller’s supporters included family, hockey friends, poker players and other friends, many wearing matching hats and shirts bearing his picture. He called it the “best, biggest, loudest rail in WSOP history,” but said the desire not to disappoint that group added to the pressure he felt at the final table.

Mueller was last in chips with seven players remaining on Day 9, but climbed four places to finish third, adding $2.25 million in payout value from that position. The final table had been paused for almost three weeks, and he used the break for training, healthier eating, sleep and study of tournament charts, ICM, stack sizes and positions.

The result had particular weight for a player whose poker career dates to 2003. Mueller has three WSOP bracelets, 73 WSOP cashes and $7.3 million in live tournament winnings. His first bracelet came in the 2009 $10,000 limit hold’em event, followed by a $1,500 limit hold’em shootout win a week later; his third arrived in the 2019 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.

Before poker, Mueller spent eight years playing professional hockey in Germany after arriving there at 19. He learned poker during bus trips between games, won a German hockey championship and played in the 1992 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. He retired from hockey early after his mother died and he lost his passion for the sport.

Mueller said the Main Event run stood alone above his earlier poker achievements, even without the bracelet. He does not plan to return to a full tournament schedule, saying he prefers to choose events while making time for golf, walking, training, family and friends. He still plays hockey two or three times a week and takes part in Canucks alumni and charity games.

Saracen Casino Resort will host the inaugural Arkansas Poker Classic from Oct. 6-11, bringing a six-day Gulf Coast Poker Tour series to the state for the first time. The festival’s $600 Main Event carries a $300,000 guaranteed prize pool, with five starting flights and 40-minute levels throughout.

The Main Event begins Oct. 8. Its starting flights run through Oct. 10, and winners from the Thursday Main Event flights are scheduled to return for the restart on Oct. 11. Organizers expect competitors from Arkansas and the surrounding region.

KATV reported that the opening day features a $30,000-guaranteed Seniors Event and a $20,000-guaranteed Big O tournament. Other guaranteed events include the $50,000 Big Monster Stack, a $20,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship and a $10,000 Ladies Event, alongside a Rookies Event, additional tournaments and qualifiers.

Bill Phillips of Gulf Coast Poker said the series was being offered because of Arkansas’ “deep and thriving poker community.” He said Saracen and Neal Atkinson are expected to provide a spacious playing area, amenities and a new hotel for the event.

Gulf Coast Poker was founded in 2006 by Gene Dudek and Phillips. Its tour had already featured stops in Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas during the year of the report, with Arkansas added to its schedule.

Players must be at least 21, present valid government-issued identification and hold a Saracen Casino Player’s Card in good standing. Tournament schedules, structures and guarantees remain subject to change with notice.

Daniel Negreanu’s bid for a ninth World Series of Poker bracelet ended in seventh place in GGPoker’s $10,000 WSOP Online GGMillion$ Pot-Limit Omaha event, after a near-200-big-blind pot against Andreas Freund turned on a higher club flush. Negreanu collected $71,111 from the 228-entry tournament.

He began the seven-handed final table second in chips, with 6.4 million, or about 92 big blinds. Only Freund was ahead, with 8.6 million chips and roughly 124 big blinds. Negreanu then won several early pots, including one against Freund, to take the lead.

The decisive hand began when Freund opened under the gun with Q♣10♠8♦8♣ and Negreanu defended the big blind holding Q♥J♣4♥4♣. Both checked the A♥3♣2♣ flop. After the 8♥ turn, Negreanu bet eight big blinds and Freund raised to 25.8 big blinds with a set of eights and the higher club draw.

Negreanu re-raised and called Freund’s all-in, creating a pot of almost 200 big blinds. The winner would have held about four times the stack of Samuli Sipila, then the next-largest player with 51.8 big blinds. Poker.org calculated that one of Negreanu’s flush draws was dominated, leaving him a 17.5% chance to win outright.

The 5♣ river gave both players a flush, but Freund’s was higher. Negreanu fell to just over six big blinds, nearly tripled on the following hand, then lost a subsequent coin-flip spot on the river to exit seventh. The final table lasted a little more than an hour.

Negreanu called the 8♥ “the sickest turn card,” arguing that it was the only card that could have produced such large action. He also said Freund’s turn raise was unusual in an ICM spot without the nut straight, 4-5, a hand Negreanu believed his two fours partially blocked. “I’m playing for first and nothing else,” he said.

This online PLO run came after Negreanu won his eighth bracelet in the $100,000 PLO High Roller in Las Vegas on July 2, as we reported in July. That victory paid $2.26 million.

Freund went on to defeat Vito Jhonny Recchimurzo heads-up, winning his first bracelet and $428,456. The winner also received a $30,000 Super Pass for the WSOP Super Main Event at WSOP Paradise in December.

Congya Zhang won the $2,200 Global Poker Championship at the 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party, banking $300,000 after a final-day comeback at Merit Crystal Cove Casino in Cyprus. Zhang topped an 830-entry field in the festival’s kickoff no-limit hold’em event, which carried a $2 million guaranteed prize pool paid across 124 places.

The victory was Zhang’s largest live tournament cash, surpassing the $150,000 she earned for finishing 61st in the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event. That July run, from a field of 9,208 entries, also made her the last woman standing in the championship.

Zhang began the final day 12th of 16 remaining players, while Sergei Petrushevskii led the counts with 13.245 million chips and Yilu Yuan was second with 11.045 million. PokerNews reported that Zhang scored an early elimination but reached the final table among the shorter stacks.

Adrian State controlled much of the early final-table action, eliminating several players and building a chip lead. The momentum began to turn after State lost substantial pots to Petrushevskii and Mengdian Peng.

Zhang’s climb accelerated with six players left. She doubled through Paul Esau, then moved into second after Petrushevskii paid off her rivered straight. Zhang then eliminated State in fifth when her ace-king held against State’s ace-five, taking a huge lead in the process.

She went on to knock out Peng in fourth for $100,000 and Yuan in third for $140,000. Zhang held pocket tens against Yuan’s ace-king in the latter hand, leaving her with roughly a 4-to-1 advantage over Petrushevskii at the start of heads-up play.

The final duel lasted less than 20 minutes. Petrushevskii, who earned $200,000 as runner-up, moved all-in with pocket fives; Zhang called with pocket jacks, which held on a 7-3-3-10-9 board to secure the title.

“I have a lot of feelings, but the main one, I feel peaceful. I feel calm,” Zhang said after the win. She described it as “a fantastic year” and said she had grown more confident.

The late stages also featured three Chinese players at the final table. Zhang said she was proud of the group, calling it “a big moment for China,” and said, “Every Chinese player who comes so far to be here, they are all very good players.” The win earned her 912 Card Player Player of the Year points.

Québec’s Liberal Party has made a campaign pledge to license private online gambling operators, a change that would end the province’s single-operator legal online market if enacted. Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has backed the idea, putting regulated iGaming on the agenda ahead of the Oct. 5 provincial election.

Liberal leader Charles Milliard announced the proposal Sept. 9. It would require every online gambling platform to obtain provincial accreditation and expand the mandate of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, or RACJ, so it oversees the whole sector, including Loto-Québec. A Liberal government would introduce the necessary bill in its first year.

Operators would face stricter rules on advertising, gambling-addiction prevention and protection of minors. The plan also calls for an independent organization, funded by the industry, to provide harm-prevention and support services. Part of the new revenue would go to a prevention fund.

Milliard projected annual revenue of C$310 million to C$320 million starting in fiscal 2027-28. That estimate appeared in the party’s Sept. 13 fiscal framework. It is a campaign projection, rather than an enacted government forecast.

The PQ has not set out its own costed framework or identified which regulator would supervise private operators. Still, Plamondon called the Liberal proposal “brilliant” and described online sports betting in Québec as a “Wild West,” pointing to American companies advertising in the province without regulation. He said potential proceeds could be directed to homelessness, school hunger and learning disabilities.

Québec currently authorizes Loto-Québec’s online products, including Espace Jeux, as the province’s legal online gambling offering. That leaves online poker players limited to the provincially run market, including Loto-Québec’s Canada Poker Network offering.

The Québec Online Gaming Coalition, an industry group representing private-sector companies, welcomed the commitments from both parties. Its February submission to the provincial government argued that the present system does not control private online offers and leaves about C$300 million in annual tax revenue uncollected. The coalition’s estimates should be read as industry advocacy, not government projections.

The coalition cited a survey of 1,010 Québec residents who said they played online: 73% used privately operated platforms for online casino games and sports betting, while 26.6% used Espace Jeux for those activities. It also cited a 2025 Blask estimate that Loto-Québec accounted for 17% of online gambling activity in the province.

The proposed direction resembles competitive-market reforms already adopted elsewhere in Canada. Ontario opened its market to private operators in April 2022 and generated C$1.26 billion in total gaming revenue in its first full year, with iGaming Ontario contributing C$145.7 million directly to the province. By fiscal 2024-25, total gaming revenue had reached C$2.9 billion and iGaming Ontario’s provincial contribution was C$261 million. Alberta became the second province with a regulated market open to private operators on July 13.

For poker, a Québec market opening could create a new regulated opportunity for operators, but it would not itself establish shared player liquidity with Ontario or Alberta. Ontario’s poker market remains ring-fenced, Alberta’s regulated online poker market has not launched, and any cross-provincial pool would depend on each province’s rules and agreements governing shared play.

Pallas Data polling published Sept. 12 put the PQ at 27% among decided and leaning voters, with the CAQ and Liberals both at 23%.

Phil Hellmuth and Shaun Deeb are set to headline Lilac Club Casino’s $60,000 Legends of Poker Tournament: One-Day Challenge in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Thursday, Sept. 24. The $600 buy-in event begins at 4 p.m. in the Lilac Club Poker Room, with 12 tables available and seating limited.

As we reported last week, the tournament will be the casino’s second major event to feature Hellmuth, who first played at the property last year. Jason White, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and Brandon Cantu are also scheduled to play.

Players who eliminate Hellmuth or Deeb will receive a $500 Champions Bounty for each headliner. Hellmuth and Deeb are the advertised stars, but the event is expected to draw between 150 and 200 entrants, according to NH Journal.

The tournament is expected to be the second-biggest poker event hosted in New Hampshire. A first satellite on Sept. 13 sent several players into the main event, while a final Mega Satellite Tournament is scheduled for Sept. 20. Players can also buy in for $600 at the poker room from 9 a.m. Sunday.

Thriving Roots Childcare and the Seacoast Educational Endowment of Dover will receive the charitable-gaming contributions assigned to the tournament dates. Thriving Roots provides affordable care for children from 6 weeks to 6 years old, and its share is intended to replace pre-K classroom flooring and buy playground equipment.

The Seacoast Educational Endowment of Dover supports Dover public-school educators through grants for continuing education, classroom resources and teaching tools. Granite State Gaming & Hospitality COO Eric Barbaro said the event’s support for organizations serving local children, families and educators was what made bringing it to New Hampshire especially meaningful.

New Hampshire Lottery rules classify poker as a regulated Game of Chance under RSA 287-D and state regulations. Licensed gaming operators can partner with up to two charities per day, and the partner charities receive 35% of gross gaming revenue on their assigned dates.

That formula means a $100 gaming loss generates $35 for the designated charity. Granite State Gaming & Hospitality uses a charity-selection committee to review applications, assess community needs and schedule charitable dates.

The broader contributions are substantial, though the reported measures differ. Granite State Gaming & Hospitality’s Rochester property had generated about $3 million in charitable contributions so far this year, while its Seabrook property had produced just over $1 million. Separately, the City of Rochester said in March that Lilac Club Casino had contributed more than $3.3 million to local charitable organizations since opening in March 2025.

Lilac Club Casino’s earlier charitable giving included more than $116,000 split between Rochester Main Street and the Rochester Rotary Club in 2025.

William Joyner led the largest opening flight so far in the inaugural $400 Mississippi State Poker Championship at Horseshoe Casino Tunica, bagging 607,000 from Day 1c’s 127 entries.

Fifteen players advanced from the third of four starting flights, putting Joyner ahead of runner-up Bill Onley, who finished with 515,000. Andrea Hizer completed the top three in chips, according to PokerNews’ live coverage.

Joyner’s surge began with a runner-runner flush against Colin Heaton that took him to roughly 250,000 chips. He also eliminated Paul Stewart on the money bubble: with 16 players left and 15 Day 2 spots available, Joyner called Stewart’s 54,000-chip shove and won an ace-versus-ace hand when his kicker played.

The event carries a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and started players with 30,000 chips. Each Day 1 flight used 30-minute levels, and the top 12.5%, rounded down, qualified for Day 2. Players could enter multiple flights and re-enter without limit; anyone who qualified more than once retained their largest stack, forfeited the smaller stack or stacks, and received the lowest Day 2 payout.

Day 1c was a clear jump from the 73 entries recorded in Day 1b, which sent nine players through. Kerry Dawson led that flight with 431,000, followed by Jesse Lott with 362,000 and Benjamin Ridge with 338,000.

The final Day 1d flight was underway when the Day 1c report was published. Day 2 is scheduled to begin at noon local time on Sunday, Sept. 20, with 35-minute levels before they increase to 40 minutes at the final table.

David Stefanski won the $10,200 BetMGM Poker Big, Big Baller at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. The tournament had a $500,000 guarantee and drew 69 entries for a $690,000 final prize pool. Stefanski collected $169,220 and his first title of the Borgata Big, Big Series.

The two-day no-limit hold’em event began Sept. 17 with 30,000-chip starting stacks, unlimited re-entry and registration open through the first hand of Day 2. PokerNews reported that 56 entries had been logged after Day 1, producing a provisional $560,000 prize pool. Thirteen players max-late registered at the start of Day 2.

Jeremy Becker had led the first-day survivors with 317,500 chips, more than 10 starting stacks and 105 big blinds. David Stefanski was second with 194,500, while Drew O’Connell bagged 184,500. Nicholas Verderamo, Brock Wilson and Daniel Monosson were also among those returning for Day 2.

There is a minor discrepancy in the Day 1 accounts. Bonus.com’s initial report said 12 players advanced from the 56-entry field, while the final event recap said 13 players bagged on Day 1 before being joined by the 13 max-late registrants.

Becker’s lead did not carry through the final day. He was eliminated first at the eight-handed stage when his ace-queen ran into Clemen Deng’s ace-king. Wilson then lost a flip to Stefanski, who later eliminated BetMGM ambassador Michael Gagliano in sixth place.

A three-handed ICM deal shaped the payouts near the end. O’Connell, who finished third, received $156,675, while runner-up Michael Wang earned $127,750. The three-way chop covered $149,260 of the prize pool, with a further $19,960 played for after the agreement.

Stefanski eliminated O’Connell and then Wang to take the trophy and the largest payout. He said he had entered Day 2 with roughly six and a half starting stacks and credited both the cards he received and the strength of the field for the result.

The win pushed Stefanski past $3 million in career live earnings and into the top 1,000 on The Hendon Mob’s all-time money list.

Daniel Negreanu is traveling from Las Vegas to Vancouver to play WSOP Online, saying he will spend a week in a hotel room competing online.

He plans to stream the run on his YouTube channel, beginning with the $10,000 GGMillion$ PLO event. As we reported in August, Negreanu had already booked Vancouver as the next stop on his Canadian poker trip after Montreal.

The eight-time bracelet winner used the trip to criticize the restricted U.S. online-poker landscape. “It is just so incredibly stupid that you have to leave America to play online poker,” Negreanu wrote on X. “What are we even doing?” He added that, despite repeated efforts over the years, he was not hopeful that anything would pass at the federal level.

Online poker remains unavailable to most Americans, although regulated options exist in a handful of states. Poker.org noted that other U.S. players commonly either use offshore sites such as ACR Poker, stop playing online, or travel abroad to access international player pools.

The Vancouver schedule also includes Day 1s in the $25 million guaranteed Main Event, followed by Day 2 on Monday and the final table on Tuesday. Other highlighted events are a $25,000 High Roller on Tuesday, a $5,000 High Roller Bounty PLO on Thursday and a $10,000 Heads-Up Championship next Saturday.

The online bracelet schedule ends with Day 2 of the $10,000 GGMillion$ High Rollers on Monday, Sept. 28.