In 2008, Obama was battling McCain for the leaderboard of the free world, Robert Downey Jr. first donned the Iron Man suit, and French poker pro Patrick Bueno found himself under the bright lights of the final table in one of the most prestigious tournaments on the calendar. Bueno finished in eighth place in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship in that year’s World Series of Poker, playing with the likes of Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, Matt Glantz, and Barry Greenstein.

A poker player has entered a guilty plea in connection to basketball player Jontay Porter’s lifetime ban from the NBA for betting on games. Long Phi Pham (“Bruce”), who claims to be a poker pro, was arrested at JFK airport and charged with wire fraud conspiracy, a federal crime, in June. He admitted to the charge on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

PokerNews ambassador Keith “whoopsboom” Becker is one step closer to winning a trip to NAPT Las Vegas after the Pennsylvania streamer won a $100 Path to NAPT satellite to earn a PokerStars Silver Power Pass to NAPT. The satellite, a $100 buy-in event on PokerStars PA and step four of the Path to NAPT, awarded two Silver Passes redeemable for NAPT Regional events and bi-weekly $1,000 satellites to the NAPT. The second pass went to fellow Pennsylvania grinder Mike “Dionysus1888” Lavin.

As we enter the last quarter of the year, it’s time to take a look at how the Global Poker Index world rankings are looking, as well as who is in with a chance of winning 2024 Player of the Year honors come the end of it. September was a massive month with EPT Barcelona and the Poker Masters at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, and some of the biggest and best poker players out there were in action.

The next step on the Asian Poker Tour (APT) is a big one and it’s also brand new! The APT Phu Quoc festival will take place on the picturesque Vietnamese island to close out 2024. The event takes place straight off the back of APT Manila and runs from the 8-17 of November, in partnership with the VPT. The festival boasts VND 44 billion (~$1.7 million) in guarantees and takes place at the Corona Resort & Casino.

Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden sat down at the 2024 PokerStars World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event with a reputation for being one of the toughest competitors in the tournament poker world. He leaves it as a world champion, a five-time WCOOP winner, and with $1,070,058 to show for his efforts in the $10,300 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. Vousden was fifth in chips when the star-studded final table commenced under the watchful eyes of the PokerStars Twitch stream, with a stack over three times smaller than chip leader Guillaume “Nolet20” Nolet.

A total of 515 hopefuls descended on the baize at King’s Resort for the €1,100 NLH Mystery Bounty at the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), but only one player cracked the code. Amir Mozaffarian emerged victorious, securing his first-ever WSOP bracelet along with a hard-fought €69,050 top prize. Having come agonizingly close earlier in the series with a runner-up finish in the €5,000 PLO, Mozaffarian finally struck gold. Over two intense days, he skillfully navigated the stacked field and the pressure of high-stakes bounty hunting to clinch poker’s ultimate prize—the elusive gold strap.

The second largest bad beat jackpot in live poker history — CAD $2,275,388 (approximately $1.7 million USD) — hit recently at Playground Poker Club in Quebec, Canada. Playground has played host to many of the biggest bad beat jackpots ever, and that includes the biggest of them all. One poker player took the largest share of a $1.9 million (USD) bad beat pot in August 2023, a record that still stands.

Casino operator Jack Binion and fellow Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu will host the Keep Memory Alive charity poker tournament Nov. 8 at in Las Vegas. The festivities begin at 5 p.m. and will feature some world-class poker players such as World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion Ryan Riess and high-stakes legend Jason Koon. All proceeds from the evening will go to charity. Playing Poker for a Good Cause The charity event will take place at the Keep Memory Alive Event Center at 888 W.

Last year’s €500 WSOP Europe Colossus bracelet winner has added another piece of jewellery to his collection. Ermanno Di Nicola came into Day 2 as the chip leader of the 2024 WSOPE €1,650 NLH 6-Max and finished it as the champion. He earned €111,250, including a WSOPE Main Event Ticket for his efforts in addition to a coveted gold bracelet, after besting a field of 351 entrants over two days and scooped the lion’s share of the €494,910 prize pool.

Last night, all three WCOOP Pot-Limit Omaha Main Events were crowned champions, with over $1.5 million in prize money awarded between them. The WCOOP NLHE Main Events have all reached their final tables on PokerStars, with Guillaume “Nolet20” Nolet leading the final nine in the $10,300 WCOOP NLHE Main Event. With one more night of action, and the final table livestreamed with cards-up coverage on Twitch. Jones Denies Dam Back-to-Back PLO Main Event Glory There was a familiar face leading the final seven in the $10,300 WCOOP PLO Main Event, with last year’s winner Martin “Imbajimbaa” Dam (pictured)looking to lock up back-to-back titles.

Nearly three years ago, Alessandro Pichierri was overjoyed to capture his first bracelet at King’s Resort during the 2021 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). Today, he surpassed that achievement with a victory in Event #8: €25,000 NLH GGMillion€. Pichierri overcame a star-studded field of 38 entrants to claim his second WSOP gold bracelet and a career-best prize of €335,900. Choosing to register as late as possible on Day 2, Pichierri stayed under the radar for most of the day, entering the final table in the middle of the pack.

Jesse Jones capped off a $73,448 win in the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) St. Louis Main Event over the weekend, and now the mid-stakes poker tour will turn its focus to a popular destination six hours away. Tulsa’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino will play host to the next RGPS event Oct. 8-13, and the series includes a $100,000 guaranteed Main Event. The Oklahoma casino is a popular spot for RGPS regulars.

The ninth Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival is returning to Resorts World Las Vegas and will take place from Nov. 3-7 in the middle of NAPT Las Vegas. Not only that but Cardplayer Lifestyle has partnered with PokerStars to run three co-branded tournaments during the festival, which takes place Nov. 1-10 at Resorts World Las Vegas. Mixed Things Up at Resorts World The Mixed Game Festival, which takes place several times a year, is a favorite of serious poker enthusiasts looking for a switch-up from Texas Hold’em.

There was action everywhere you looked on Monday night as all six WCOOP Main Events continued on PokerStars, and titles continued to be won in the most prestigious online poker festival around. Team easywithaces and Team tonkaaaa picked up titles courtesy of Patrick “pads1161” Leonard and Niklas “Lena900” Astedt respectively. This was Leonard’s second of the year and Astedt’s fourth, with both players winning the 11th WCOOP titles of their careers.

Pot Limit Omaha events made up 20% of the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe schedule, and the third and final four-card fiesta has wrapped up inside King’s Resort, Rozvadov. Dennis Weiss claimed the third and final PLO bracelet in Event #6: €5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, and followed in the footsteps of Volodymyr Kokoulin and Vivian Saliba, who triumphed in the €500 and €2,000 buy-in editions. Germany’s Weiss bested a star-studded field of 141 Omaha enthusiasts for his first WSOP bracelet alongside the €159,897 first-place prize from the €629,565 prize pool after defeating his copatriot Amir Mozaffarian in heads-up play.

The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Hammond Main Event, a $1,700 buy-in tournament, concluded Monday evening with Michael Estes securing the ring for $198,576. Series action inside the Horseshoe Hammond casino in Indiana, near Chicago, wrapped the same day with the 19th and final ring being awarded to Erik Hagerman who took down the $400 No-Limit Hold’em 30k Closer for $14,245, beating out 182 entrants. Estes Takes it Down There were 746 entrants in the Main Event, but none of them could outlast Estes, who defeated Grant Keller heads-up for the title.

Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot was in search of a lucky river card just to chop a $716,000 pot against Andrew Robl, while Jennifer Tilly couldn’t catch a break on the newest edition of High Stakes Poker on PokerGO. Episode 8 of Season 13 featured a monster bluff — one of the best in High Stakes Poker history — and multiple pots that cracked $500,000. Every player made their presence felt during Monday’s episode, which isn’t often the case when each show is crammed into just 45 minutes of play.

Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet is a dream for nearly every poker player, and the same was the case for Michal Schuh. Today, his dream became a reality when he took down Event #5: €550 NLHE Colossus at the World Series of Poker Europe for €171,350, besting a field of 2,799 entries. Poetically, he did so at King’s Resort in his home country of Czechia. Schuh, a retired pro who now plays the game recreationally, overcame Dutchman Erik van Hulst in a back-and-forth heads-up battle.

From a starting field of 861, there remains just one champion of the 2024 Unibet Deepstack Open Marrakech. After three long days of play, Nicolas Barkusky reigns victorious at the Casino de Marrakech. He takes home the first place prize of 705,000 MAD, equivalent to just over €65,000. Barkusky came into the day with a middling stack but he was short for the majority of the day. He came into the final table with just 16 big blinds.

Are you looking to take your poker game to the next level? Do you wish you could have a Game Theory Optimal expert critique your play in great detail? You are in luck if you answered yes because PokerNews and GTO Wizard have joined forced to bring you a fantastic feature we’re calling Ask a Wizard. Once per month, on every second Tuesday starting October 8, the incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable GTO Wizard team will take over the PokerNews X account for an ask-me-anything-type session where you are invited to join in the discussion.

A long day was ahead of the players who made Day 2 of the event, with the total number of entrants for the 3rd RunGood Poker Series St. Louis Main Eventtallied up to 547 creating a prize pool of $388,370. Judging by how deep the players were, it was assumed that the tournament would be a grind, and it was. At just after 1 a.m. (roughly 13 hours of play), the field of 67 was whittled down to just one sole survivor here at The Hollywood Casino.

A culmination of four starting flights saw 1,516 hopefuls make their way through the doors of the Banco Casino and onto the felt, competing for their share of the €667,040 prize pool. Three lengthy days of play concluded with Aliosha Staes lifting the trophy and laying claim to the first-place prize of €90,0000; a handsome return on the initial €500 investment to this Winamax Poker Open Main Event, here in Bratislava.

The penultimate stop of the 2024 888poker UK Poker League (UKPL) saw the fledgling tour head to the Grosvenor G Casino in Reading from September 24, and everything was wrapped up six days later. The final champion of the seven-event festival was that of the £560 UKPL Reading Main Event. Robin Gue is that man. The 888poker UKPL Reading Main Event drew in 327 entrants, meaning the top 51 finishers bagged a cash prize.

They say it’s not over until it’s over, but it looks like the WCOOP League trophy will be heading the way of Team peace&loove after four gruelling weeks of competition. Sebastian Huber’s team were 1,090 points ahead of their nearest rivals going into Sunday’s events and now have a 1,140-point lead thanks partly to the incredible “FAL1st” taking down his fifth WCOOP event of the 2024 series. “FAL1st” was one of 393 entrants in WCOOP 113-H: $530 NLHE 7-Max Hyper Turbo Mystery Supersonic, a twist on the usual Sunday Supersonic.

PokerNews has learned that famed gambler and avid poker player Archie Karas has passed away at age 73. Anargyros Karabourniotis, his birth name, famously went on a heater simply referred to as “The Run” in December 1992 when he drove to Las Vegas with just $50 in his pocket and would later turn that, along with a $10,000 loan, into $50 million before giving it all back a few years later.

King’s Resort in Rozvadov, once just a place where Christopher Campisano shuffled cards and dealt hands as an unassuming dealer, has transformed into the battleground where he etched his name into history. What was once his workplace has become an arena where he was crowned a world champion, a stage where every card turned was a step closer to destiny. The dealer’s seat is long behind him — the champion’s throne now belongs to Campisano.

Players enjoyed a welcomed day from the 2024 PokerStars World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) grind on September 27 but returned to the virtual felt the following day full of renewed vigor. The biggest event needing wrapping up was Day 2 of the $10,300 NLHE NLHE PKO Thursday Thrill High Roller, and one of online poker’s biggest names took it down: Niklas “Lena900” Astedt. Astedt, part of Team tonkaaaa in the WCOOP League, became only the sixth PokerStars player in history to reach ten career WCOOP titles.

Austin’s metro area has a booming live poker industry and, no disrespect to any other card rooms in the city, it’s dominated by two clubs that are trying relentlessly to one-up each other. Texas Card House Social (TCH) and The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock (Austin area), two of the biggest card clubs in the state, have more than 110 combined poker tables. Both rooms play host to the juiciest cash games and tournaments in Texas.

Those who have been following PokerNews’ World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) round-ups may have seen Danish player “AresVaettur” in the table of results. The Dane took down WCOOP 63-M: $530 NLHE 6-Max Turbo for $36,161, an impressive prize but one that many likely scanned past. However, there is more to this victory than meets the eye because “AresVaettur,” a PokerStars regular, was only playing in this tournament because he turned a $1.

Paul Bilzerian, convicted felon and father of controversial poker player Dan Bilzerian, used his son’s cannabis business to hide money he’s owed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for decades, federal investigators allege. The elder Bilzerian and Ignite, the aforementioned cannabis business, along with Bilzerian’s long-time accountant, Scott Rohleder, were indicted Friday by a grand jury in Los Angeles for fraud. Paul Bilzerian, who has claimed poverty for years, is said to have used Ignite to hide part of the money he’s owed the SEC since the early 1990s.

The RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) is returning to Atlantis Casino in Reno for RGPS Reno, a series that will take place Oct. 8-13. The series will culminate with a $600 buy-in Main Event with a $150,000 guarantee attached and will also feature a handful of side events with RGPS Rings up for grabs. The series will also award a Golden Player of the Series, who will receive a $10,000 Gold Pass package to NAPT Las Vegas and a chance to win a spot in the PokerGO Dream Seat Invitational.

Want to have some fun with the hosts of the PokerNews Podcast and Life Outside Poker? Well, now is your chance. A PokerNews meet-up game will take place on Saturday, October 12 at Resorts World Las Vegas in anticipation of its hosting of next month’s North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas festival. PokerNews Podcast co-hosts Chad Holloway, Kyna England and Mike Holtz will attend, as will Life Outside Poker host Connor Richards, not to mention any poker friends they may rope into making an appearance.

Unlucky for some, but for 13 players who were crowned champions last night, it was a very special night of World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) action on PokerStars! The festival takes its final rest day today, with action resuming on Saturday where all eyes will be on Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot to see if he could win an incredible fifth WCOOP title this year. Meanwhile, Team peace&loove once again outscored their nearest rivals and now hold more than an 1,000-point lead in the WCOOP League standings, surely cementing their victory in the inaugural contest.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) heads to Montreal this October, with WPT Playground running from October 14-31. Every tournament carries a guarantee on its prize pool, including the WPT Main Event that will award $1,500,000 to those lucky and skilful enough to navigate their way into the money places. You likely already know you can win your way into WPT live events online at WPT Global, but the online poker room is pulling out all of the stops for the WPT Playground festival.

The month of September is recognized as “Suicide Prevention Month” – a time to place the spotlight on the multiple resources available to those who may need crisis support or want to help someone they know. Given the poker community has recently lost several players who died by suicide, PokerNews felt compelled to consult an expert for information and details regarding suicide risks, warning signs, and more. As such, we reached out to the Nevada chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and spoke with Dr.