Whether it’s the warm breeze blowing in off the Mediterranean or just the fact that some of the top players in the world gather in the Catalan capital for one of the biggest poker festivals of the year, but Kayhan Mokri can feel something in the air whenever he comes to Barcelona. Mokri burst onto the poker scene when he made a run to sixth place in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event in 2022.

WPT Global is always pushing the boundaries of innovation on its industry-leading platform, and the latest updates are sure to excite fans. Building on the success of the Summer Festival, WPT Global has unveiled its largest-ever series—The Fall Festival—boasting $8.5 million in guarantees. In addition to the festival, WPT Global has introduced Mystery Bounty Tournaments, which will play a significant role in the upcoming poker extravaganza. They’ve also made a host of exciting changes to their poker cash games.

The Paris Olympics may be in the books, but when it comes to Olympic news there was a big announcement in the poker world. The most decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps, who won 28 medals in swimming, including 23 gold medals, has expanded his partnership with Global Poker. Phelps first worked with Global Poker as part of their 2023 Celebrity Challenge campaign, and now players and fans can expect to see him in a range of new and exciting marketing initiatives.

The poker world received sad news this past weekend when it was revealed that longtime poker media veteran Marty Derbyshire, 52, passed away unexpectedly from Melioidosis, also known as Whitmore’s disease, an uncommon bacterial infection. Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Derbyshire relocated to Thailand several years ago where he married his wife, Karnjanawan Jiamrum. She was the one to share the news on social media: “Martin Derbyshire has passed away at the age of 52 years with Melioidosis (Melioidosis).

Steve O’Dwyer had waited two years to get his hands on another PokerStars European Poker Tour spade trophy, so he didn’t seem to mind taking until the early hours of the morning to seal his victory in the €12,300 PokerStars Cuatro Knockout. With the clock approaching 5 a.m. inside the Casino Barcelona, O’Dwyer defeated Byron Kaverman in a short heads-up match to claim the bounty and €163,720 top prize, plus four bounties for an additional €48,000.

A familiar face arrived at Casino Barcelona, eager to challenge some of the world’s top poker players at the PokerStars European Poker Tour stop in Barcelona. Soccer legend Gerard Piqué took his seat in a €20,000 buy-in tournament, joining a star-studded field that included Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, triple crown winner Mike Watson, and 2024 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Niklas Astedt. Piqué is no stranger to the felt, having played at the World Series of Poker and other EPTs.

Boris Angelov has had an extraordinary summer in the world of poker. It all began in May when he secured a runner-up finish at the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Main Event (€620,500). Building on that success, the Bulgarian poker star achieved a remarkable fifth-place finish in the record-breaking World Series of Poker Main Event ($2,500,000). Now, Angelov has added another major achievement to his resume: his first career tournament victory at EPT Barcelona.

The Casino Barcelona hosted the 2024 edition of the Campeonato Espana de Poker (CEP) Barcelona festival before PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona kicked off, and it’s fair to say it was a roaring success. The €500 buy-in CEP Barcelona Main Event was the second-largest in the tour’s history, with 1,737 players entering. Only the 2023 edition, with its 1,960 entrants, is larger. Thanks to the massive prize pool, all but one of the nine finalists walked away with a five-figure haul.

Last year, Michael Persky became the first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Graton champion by taking down the Main Event for $175,595. One year later, Persky came close to winning back-to-back titles with a deep run in this year’s $1,700 Main Event as he finished fourth for $54,475 to be denied a third Circuit ring by fellow Californian Sasha Sabbaghian. Sabbaghian came out on top to win a career-best $168,015 and his first Circuit ring, but it isn’t the first major victory in the region for the Granite Bay grinder.

The RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) continues its “RunGood Resorts” season with a stop at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi September 3-8. The six-day series features several ring events that will culminate in a $600 buy-in, $200K GTD RunGood Main Event. That tournament will be live reported by PokerNews and offer a trio of starting flights beginning with Day 1a at 6 p.m. on Friday, September 6. Day 1b will then take place at 11 a.

Season 13 of the High Stakes Poker continued on Monday night with the season’s fifth episode on PokerGO. It was a continuation of last week’s game in which Jennifer Tilly and Andrew Robl squared off in what turned out to be the largest pot of the current season. Episode 5 continued with the $400/$800 no-limit hold’em cash game at PokerGO Studio. Here’s how things stacked up at the start of the episode.

“I’ve been waiting for that ring for a long time,” shared an ecstatic Yvan Gravel with PokerNews. After eleven hours of play, a winner has emerged in Event #2: $400 Monster Stack here at the World Series of Poker Circuit Montreal at Playground. Gravel bested Michael Malouin to take home $40,000 and his first WSOPC circuit ring. Winners Interview “I feel great… I’m very happy right now.” The joy was noticeable as Gravel showed his excitement after winning his first WSOPC ring.

888poker has released the fifth and final episode of its exciting World Series of Poker (WSOP) docuseries on its YouTube channel. The video series followed Team 888poker’s progress in the 2024 WSOP Main Event. Episode 4 ended with only three team members still searching for the $10 million top prize. Jack “JaackMaate” Dean, Vivian Saliba, and Aaron Barone headed into Day 3 of the $10,000 Main Event hoping to reach the money bubble, survive it, and remain in contention to become poker’s world champion.

Wai Hang Wong is on cloud nine today after becoming the latest player to take down an Irish Poker Tour Main Event. Wong had no previous results on his Hendon Mob profile but now boasts of the Irish Poker Tour Lunasa Lunacy Main Event title and €20,430 in winnings. Wong’s score was even more impressive when you consider he won his seat via an online satellite at Paddy Power Poker and also received a package to the upcoming Irish Poker Tour Killarney Main Event.

Romanian Tudor Purice secured the biggest win of his career with victory in the WPT Prime Cyprus Championship, defeating Aleks Apryan heads-up to win $183,270 after topping a field of 1,202 players. Purice came into the final table second in chips behind Yurii Senchylo, and bided his time before timing his assault on the chip lead perfectly to dominate the latter stages and secure victory, along with a seat to the WPT Championship this December.

“I knew at that moment I was winning,” an elated Maxime Jutras shared with PokerNews referencing a text exchange he had with his brother going into the final table of the 2024 World Series of Poker Circuit $300 Colossus. And, after nearly 11 hours of play, Jutras did just that as he reigned supreme at Playground, last defeating Amireza-Jaberi in heads-up play to take home the top prize of 85,000 CAD and his first piece of WSOP hardware.

The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, Texas featured some wild pots during its Saturday livestream, but none more memorable than a hand in which one player correctly folded a set of aces on a relatively dry board. Doug Polk’s card room has been in the news quite a few times lately. The ownership team that also includes poker vloggers Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen recently opened a second location in San Antonio, which will soon become the largest poker room in Texas.

As it celebrates 20 years of the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona, PokerStars announced several rule and procedure changes to maintain game integrity, including new rules banning solvers and preflop charts for players and spectators alike. Kenny Hallaert, a longtime tournament official who recently signed on as a PokerStars ambassador, announced the changes on social media on Monday as EPT Barcelona kicked off with the €1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event.

The machines of Manchester once powered the British Industrial Revolution, its factories and smoke stacks serving as the image of a history-changing era. Stephen Barnes worked like a tremendous machine today, moving with quick efficiency to dominate the final table of the £1,100 888poker Live Manchester Main Event. Barnes seized an overwhelming chip lead with a massive pot when there were still five players left and never relinquished it, emerging as the champion over the 279-player field to take home the trophy and £58,000 first prize.

The latest series of The Big Game on Tour has reached its conclusion, with Loose Cannon Lily Newhouse battling it out over the course of 150 hands against tough opposition to see if she could play with some of the world’s best. If you haven’t seen how she got on in the last episode — click here for the summary of the last episode or head to the PokerStars YouTube channel to find out.

Action has concluded in the $550 PSPC Event #1 at the Pennsylvania State Poker Championship. Luke Rothschild has emerged from the pack victorious with a career-high $47,474 score. The seven Day 1 starting flights saw a total of 890 entrants, 113 players made it to Day 2 and secured a minimum cash of $725. The prize pool generated a whopping $412,960 and when it was all said and done, five players decided on an ICM chop.

Over the years, countless players have experienced all that the European Poker Tour has to offer. Sam Grafton is no exception. So, as the EPT Barcelona festival gets underway today — marking the tour’s 20th anniversary — we spoke with the PokerStars Ambassador about his EPT memories and the impact it has had on his life. One Word: Amazing It’s easy to understate Grafton’s poker career. With over $15 million in career earnings and now a member of PokerStars Team Pro, he’s played on countless tours in countless venues and has seen the industry continue to change and evolve.

George Yazbek was eliminated in 15th place in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Cyprus Championship — but that’s only half the story after one of the craziest coolers reported deep in a poker tournament. The WPT live reporting team captured the four-way all in that could have been a five-way all in had one player not folded a monster preflop hand. Four premium pocket pairs — plus one that was sent into the muck — went to tangle for a crucial pot in the $1,100 buy-in tournament at Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino in Cyprus.

Just nine players remain in the WPT Prime Cyprus Championship, all eyeing up the $172,870 that awaits the winner. Leading the way is the same player that started Day 2 as the chip leader Senchylo Zuev who holds a slight lead from Tudor Purice in second and Emile Abi-Daher in third. The tournament resumes on the live stream at 13:00 local time and plays down to a winner. A reminder that the winner will also receive a $10,400 WPT Championship package for this December.

Seth Davies used a key blocker to pull off a massive bluff in a crucial pot, a hand that helped propel the high-stakes star to a Super High Roller Bowl Cyprus win and $3,206,000. The $300,000 buy-in PokerGO Tour event attracted 24 entrants, creating a prize pool of $7,056,000. Some of the top players in the world such as Davies, Phil Ivey, and Jeremy Ausmus showed up to compete at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in Cyprus.

Lily Newhouse’s time on The Big Game on Tour has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. The cancer survivor saw her stack plummet to $14,200 on just the third hand of play of the season after being on the wrong end of a trips versus full house cooler against PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton. On her second appearance, Newhouse was able to claw some chips back before another set-up against Grafton derailed some of her momentum in the third session.

It’s Day 2 of the WPT Prime Cyprus Main Event, and you can catch all the action from the feature table with the live stream below. WPT Prime Cyprus Main Event Payouts The remaining players are all guaranteed $1,940, with the winner walking away with over $172,000 and a $10,400 WPT Championship package. Place Payout 1st $172,870 (+ $10,400 WPT Championship package) 2nd $115,250 3rd $86,000 4th $64,000 5th $48,500 6th $37,000 7th $28,500 8th $22,200 9th-10th $17,400 11th-12th $14,400 13th-15th $12,000 16th-19th $10,000 20th-23rd $8,400 24th-31st $7,000 32nd-39th $5,900 40th-47th $4,940 48th-55th $4,180 56th-63rd $3,500 64th-79th $2,940 80th-99th $2,480 100th-121st $2,140 122nd-152nd $1,940 WPT Prime Cyprus Schedule Day Event Time (CET) Sunday, August 25 WPT Prime Cyprus Main Event Day 2 13:00 Monday, August 26 WPT Prime Cyprus Main Event Final Table TBD Win WPT Passports on WPT Global Career With a Hefty Welcome Package WPT Global understands its players want to travel the world, offering players an easy way to win tournament packages called WPT Passports.

The final two flights of the WPT Prime Cyprus have been completed, with 39 players advancing from the Day 1c field of 313 and 27 making it through from the turbo Day 1d field of 215. The payouts have also been confirmed, with everyone through to Day 2 guaranteed a payout of $1,940, with the winner taking home $172,870. The winner will also take home a $10,400 package to the WPT World Championship at the Wynn this December.

The 2024 Super High Roller Series is currently playing out at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in North Cyprus. The highlight of the series is the $306,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl IX, which attracted 24 entrants. That made it the 12th-largest field in SHRB history. Day 1 of the tournament played eight levels and some early eliminations were Masashi Oya, Leon Tsoukernik, and Artur Martirosian, while the legendary Phil Ivey busted after his two pair was outdrawn on the river by Alex Kulev’s flush draw.

“For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer…” It’s a year and five days since Jamie Nixon married his wife Ellie, and the pair are marking their first wedding anniversary here at WPT Prime Cyprus. The pair, like many, are enjoying the mix of Mediterranean sunshine and exciting WPT action at Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino and are balancing the holiday vibe with action at the tables. Balancing Playing with Holiday “It’s very easy to get trapped in the bubble of just playing poker when you’re at an event,” said Nixon.

As PokerStars celebrates the 20th anniversary of the European Poker Tour (EPT), the company is expanding its reach by forming strategic collaborations with other major poker tours, reshaping the landscape of live poker and offering new opportunities to players worldwide. Julien Liarte, PokerStars’ Live Events Senior Business Development Manager Europe, recently shared insights into these developments during an interview at the UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) London. UKIPT London, hosted at the iconic Hippodrome Casino, continues to be one of PokerStars’ flagship events in the UK.

On Day 1a of the WPT Prime Cyprus Main Event, there were 190 players seated at the start of play, with the number of entrants eventually topping out at 340. For Day 1b, things were slightly different with less than half that amount seated to begin Level 1. However, the poker room at Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino soon filled up, with eventually 334 entries joining the action. 42 players from Day 1b have now joined the 43 from Day 1a, with just two more flights remaining.

Thomas Keeling, aka “SrslySirius,” clipped a video on X from Ludwig Ahgren, in which the streaming mega star called out ACR Poker for allegedly refusing to pay him out. Ludwig is just a recreational poker player, but he does have some public history playing cards. He appeared in the iconic “MrBeast Game” on Hustler Casino Live in May 2022, which turned out to be the most watched poker livestream ever with over 100,000 concurrent viewers at some points.

The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) is celebrating its 20th anniversary at the upcoming EPT Barcelona stop. Since its inception, the EPT has awarded over €575 million in prize money while visiting 24 cities in 19 countries. Fittingly, the EPT celebrates its 20th birthday at the venue that kicked off one of live poker’s most prestigious tours. With that in mind, let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the first ten years of this incredible tour.

It’s Day 1b of the WPT Prime Cyprus Main Event, and after speaking with Matt Savage yesterday about how WPT Prime allows players to combine poker with the opportunity to travel the world, we found one player doing precisely that. Italian Priamo Carta notched the biggest result of his career earlier this year, winning the WPT Prime San Remo Main Event and he’s now in action here at the Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino.

Hustler Casino Live’s Thursday night stream wasn’t an ordinary non-Friday poker game. Two pots cracked $500,000 during the six-hour session, one involving a player who hit quads and earned maximum value. The $200/$400 ($400 big blind ante) no-limit hold’em cash game featured some familiar faces to those who watch the popular livestream from Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. That included the loose and entertaining Peter, HCL co-owner Ryan Feldman, poker vlogger Mariano Grandoli, and a new player to the game who goes by the name Max.