For the second time this year, the fantastic Playground in Montreal, Canada, is set to be crammed to capacity with poker players from far and wide between August 19 to September 3 because the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) is in town. The Playground has hosted dozens of prestigious live poker events over the years, but WSOPC Playground is an entirely different beast. The bustling schedule features 15 WSOPC ring-awarding events with buy-ins from $250 to $3,300, and each of those ring events boasts a guarantee in its prize pool.

In Episode 3 of 888poker’s thrilling docuseries, the team takes a well-deserved break after all five members successfully bagged chips on Day 1 of the World Series of Poker Main Event. But their day off is anything but ordinary. Join the 888poker pros as they dive into a whirlwind of excitement—attending soccer games, hunting for iconic Stu Ungar shades, and even bumping into past Main Event champions at the gym. Take a look at the behind-the-scenes excitement and experience the 888poker team’s off-the-felt adventures.

The 2024 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) kicked off at the end of July and wrapped up on Tuesday night with the conclusion of its traditional “Big Four” finale. That included the $5,300 buy-in, $3 million GTD SHRPO Championship, the $25,500 High Roller, $1,100 Deep Stack NLH, and $3,000 Deep Stack NLH. We already recapped Erik Seideltaking down a $10K tournament, as well as side event wins by Darryll Fish (Event #3: $600 Deep Stack Big O for $16,830), Ari Engel (Event #8: $600 Eight-Game Mix for $12,875), Phil Hui (Event #12: $600 Mixed PLO for $18,495), Javier Zarco (Event #25: $600 Deep Stack Six-Max NLH for $19,740), and Nick Yunis (Event #29: $1,100 Deep Stack Turbo NLH for $15,580).

Will Shillibier is the Managing Editor of PokerNews and has worked in the industry for a decade, working at some of the world’s biggest poker festivals including the World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour. The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. The Poker Hall of Fame is sleepwalking into a crisis. And next year, that crisis will come to a head.

Another edition of 888poker’s flagship online poker tournament has crowned its champion, with “Luiz1958” coming out on top in the latest Mystery Bounty Main Event on the platform. The Brazilian put on a final table clinic as they stormed their way to the title. The victor banked a final payday of $9,714 after claiming the $7,277 winner’s payout, which was topped up by $2,437 in bounties. Luiz1958 overcame “TOMA188288” in heads-up play, where the duo agreed on a deal which left a little money to play for along with the bragging rights.

Ben Gazzola emerged victorious in the $2,200 Main Event at the Maryland State Poker Championship, taking home a first-place prize of $110,578. From Hagerstown, MD, Gazzola outlasted PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot in heads-up. Talbot, known in the poker world as “tonkaaaa,” secured a runner-up prize of $73,719. Gazzola’s victory marks a career milestone. His Main Event win set a new personal best and almost doubled his previous $155,555 in live tournament earnings.

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 15 years since the World Poker Tour first visited Cyprus, but the WPT returns later this month to the Mediterranean island for a $1,000,000 GTD WPT Prime event as part of its Season XXII schedule. This brand-new festival will run from Aug. 15-26 at the Chamada Prestige Hotel & Spa, which features 50 poker tables. Here we take a look at the long history of the WPT and Cyprus.

Hustler Casino Live co-owner Nick Vertucci, during Monday’s livestream, said NBA star Jimmy Butler is “not welcome back” on his poker cash game show due to “rude” behavior the last and only time he appeared. “Jimmy Buckets,” a 14-year NBA veteran and future Hall of Famer, competed on Hustler Casino Live June 22 in what was one of the most memorable streams in televised poker history. Social media playboy Dan Bilzerian, Twitch streaming legend Ninja, boxer Ryan Garcia, and HCL fan favorite Alan Keating were among those in on the action.

The 20-event World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) stop at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina has reached its conclusion. Donovan Dean, for the second time since 2022, wrapped the series by taking down the $1,700 buy-in Main Event, a $1.5 million guaranteed tournament, for $326,206 and a shiny gold ring. Susan Faber also made headlines during the series, having won two rings. She first defeated Maurice Hawkins heads-up to win Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold’em for $33,493.

Season 13 of High Stakes Poker continued Monday night on PokerGO with Episode 3, which featured some new faces to the lineup including businessman Brandon Steven and 38-year-old Andrew Pacheco out of Chicago. They were joined by High Stakes Poker regulars like Andrew Robl and Jennifer Tilly, as well as returnees Sameh Elamawy, Sean Dempsey, Justin Gavri, Bo Brownstein, and Japanese poker vlogger Masato Yokosawa. The game was played $200/$400 no-limit hold’em with a $500 big blind ante.

It’s fast becoming one of poker’s must-have items, and now there’s an extra reason to try and get your hands on a coveted NAPT Gold Pass. A $10,300 NAPT Gold Pass sees players win entry to the NAPT Las Vegas Main Event, seven nights’ accommodation for them and a guest along with spending money, and plenty of Gold Passes have already been won. However, today sees the launch of the PokerStars NAPT Las Vegas Power Path campaign, giving players the opportunity to win their way to Vegas through the innovative online program.

Do you need a summer getaway? How about throwing some poker into the mix as well? If that sounds like your cup of tea, you should seriously consider attending the Coolbet Open 7th Edition this month. From August 26 to September 1, the Chesterfield Poker Club in Tallinn, Estonia, opens its doors to card-playing aficionados for a poker extravaganza that is headlined by a €550 Main Event. This is a tournament series for every type of player, and there are plenty of opportunities for players to get in on the action without breaking the bank, thanks to a variety of affordable satellite tournaments.

The PokerStars UKIPT London £1,100 Main Event has been nothing less than a roaring success, packing out the Hippodrome Casino from floor to ceiling across four days of action. Out of 725 entries, 13 hopefuls returned for the final day to compete for the lion’s share of the £696,000 prize pool. In the end, after over 12 hours of action, Gaspare Sposato of Italy emerged as the outright winner. The 28-year-old Italian poker pro has only recently stepped onto the live circuit and has come close to winning titles on several occasions before finally locking up the first-place finish in the UKIPT Main Event.

Are you ready for a summer treat like no other? 888poker is heating things up with their Summer Sale Week, running from August 12-19. This limited-time promotion offers players the chance to enter some of 888poker’s most popular tournaments for half the usual buy-in—without any reduction in the guaranteed prize pools. Unbeatable 50% Discounts on Major Tournaments The platform has slashed the buy-ins on several of their major tournaments, making it even more accessible to chase those big wins.

The 2024 SunBet Poker Tour Time Square Main Event has crowned a winner, and SPT regular Harold Brooks posed for the winner shots inside of the Time Square Casino in Pretoria after a short-lived day. Brooks cut a deal with four other dealers to claim the largest piece of the ZAR4,926,600 ($266,036) prize pool and essentially take home second-place money based on regular payouts without having to play any further hand.

The Venetian Las Vegas recently debuted its new poker room, which at 50 tables across 14,000 square feet became the largest on the Strip. Venetian’s card room had long been situated across from the Venetian sportsbook, just around the corner from the exit door to Las Vegas Boulevard. It is now in between the Venetian and Palazzo casino floors in the Grand Canal Shoppes on the second level (go up the escalator past the Louis Vuitton store and you can’t miss it).

The Celebrity Poker Tour (CPT) and its popular Game Night sit n’ go style poker event returns Monday night at 6 p.m. PT on PokerGO. PokerNews will be on-site to conduct interviews and provide other content. Game Night III is headlined by Hustler Casino Live player and social media personality Bryce Hall and popular podcaster Tana Mongeau. They’ll be joined at the table by an entertaining cast of celebrity opponents, including Ethan Klein and wife Hila Klein, JC Caylen, Zach Justice, Steiny, Makoa, and Sofie Dossie.

PokerStars recently announced the return of The Big Game on Tour for another season, with new episodes set to be filmed during the NAPT Las Vegas festival. As the show prepares to wrap up its first season, one player remains in the spotlight: Lily Newhouse, the latest Loose Cannon chasing a life-changing payday. However, Newhouse’s journey is about more than just poker. In the latest episode, she opened up about her battle with breast cancer, revealing how her experience shaped her outlook on life.

WPT Global has just unveiled two game-changing promotions that are set to transform your poker experience: the Table Starter Boost and the Global Spins Jackpots. Whether you’re a table starter looking to rake in rewards or a spin player dreaming of life-changing jackpots, the site has something for everyone to keep the blood pumping. Table Starter Boost Gets You Paid for Sparking the Action Ever wish you could earn just for getting the game going?

After years of hearing my poker friends rave about it, I finally attended the Grosvenor Goliath in Coventry, UK, last week. I’m excited to share my first-hand experience with you! What is the Grosvenor Goliath Poker Tournament? The Grosvenor Goliath first launched in the UK in 2011 with the mission of offering a low buy-in event with a massive field. Since its inception, the Goliath has lived up to its promise, with the 2023 event setting a record of 11,493 entries and a staggering £1.

Tiffany Wong was mostly just a recreational poker player with a passion for the game a few months back. Now she’s one of the hottest mid-stakes tournament players in the US, and has quite a story to tell. The New Yorker who lives in Manhattan spoke with PokerNews to explain how she came out of nowhere to win three big poker tournaments since March. How She Got into Poker Wong, who also spent some time growing up in Hong Kong, sort of accidentally began playing poker a little over five years ago.

The poker world received sad news on Friday morning as news surfaced that poker player Mark Dickstein, a noted mixed game enthusiast, had passed away. The news was shared by Ari Engel on social media: “Sad news to report: my friend Mark B. Dickstein has passed away. Many of you especially mixed game players will have played with him over the years. I only became friends with him over the last year when he was already sick but even in that short time we had some really interesting talks – he had a very different perspective to many issues – which made for some long (and occasionally heated) back and forth and a number of prop bets.

Is the next great poker movie weeks away from being released? That’s hard to say, but the trailer is out for Dead Money, a poker related crime thriller starring Emile Hirsch. Movie review sites claim the film will be heading straight to Video on Demand (VOD) on September 13, along with select US theaters. Dead Money, a Samuel Goldwyn Films creation, is about a down-on-his-luck poker player named Andy (Hirsch) who, along with his girlfriend Chloe (India Eisley), gets into trouble with the wrong people following their response to a poker home game robbery.

We’re almost at the halfway stage of WCOOP Bootcamp — a two-week warm-up for players who are looking to win their way into the World Championship of Online Poker next month. One of those players looking to the Bootcamp to aid his preparation is PokerStars Team Pro Lasse Jagd Lauritsen aka Wistern who, after streaming over 200 hours of SCOOP action earlier this year, is getting ready for another big grind in the most prestigious online festival in all of online poker

Ethan “Rampage” Yau is a 15.5 handicap golfer, but he’s willing to bet he can become a scratch golfer by the end of next year. The poker vlogger tweeted out an offer to anyone willing to take his action. But actually winning that bet won’t be easy, assuming he isn’t better on the golf course than he’s leading on potential bettors. What are the Odds? Yau is an avid gambler, but it appears the odds are stacked against him to win this prop bet.

The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise schedule is out, and it includes 15 gold bracelet events highlighted by the largest guaranteed poker tournament prize pool ever. All the action takes place at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas from Dec. 3-13. The series will, for the second straight year, compete directly with the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas. Breaking Records Tournament poker saw its largest guaranteed event last December at Wynn with the WPT World Championship promising at least $40 million in the pot.

Antanas ‘Tony G’ Guoga had a brutal session in Wednesday’s Triton Poker Montenegro Cash Game Invitational, losing two seven-figure pots in quick succession. The two hands sent the poker legend ‘on his bike’ before coming back to the table with a fresh stack of $1.5 million. Upon his return, Guoga showed some patented ‘heart and commitment’ with an ambitious bluff in a $2 million pot that helped him recoup some of his losses on the day.

It’s All-Star Week on Hustler Casino Live, and the star of the first show was the show’s co-owner, Ryan Feldman, whose massive win was so unlikely it surprised even the announcer. The first of two All-Star Games took place on livestream Wednesday night, and a second one is scheduled for Friday night, a game that will feature Alan Keating and potentially Tom Dwan as a late entry. Dwan also competed in the first game, and left Hustler Casino in Los Angeles $87,725 in the red.

The 2024 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) kicked off at the end of July and is slated to run until August 13. During that time 102 events will take place including the $5,300 buy-in, $3,000,000 GTD SHRPO Championship that will take place August 9-13. More than two dozen tournaments are already in the books with some big names capturing titles including Darryll Fish (Event #3: $600 Deep Stack Big O for $16,830), Ari Engel (Event #8: $600 Eight-Game Mix for $12,875), Phil Hui (Event #12: $600 Mixed PLO for $18,495), Javier Zarco (Event #25: $600 Deep Stack Six-Max NLH for $19,740), and Nick Yunis (Event #29: $1,100 Deep Stack Turbo NLH for $15,580).

The PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) jaunt to London may have begun on August 4, but the festival in England’s capital turned up a notch on Tuesday with the PokerStars Ambassador Meet-Up Game (MUG). Hundreds descended on The Hippodrome Casino to battle against the faces of the Spadie brand, where plenty of prizes were up for grabs. A plethora of Power Path Passes were dished out in the poker fiesta, with smiles, excitement and camaraderie filling the room as UKIPT London shifted into fifth gear.

David Tuchman got to take Daniel “Jungleman” Cates for a ride recently as part of his Youtube interview series 888Ride. Cates is one of tournament poker’s top all-time money winners, a super high roller event regular, and a legend from the heyday of online poker. During their short drive together, Tuchman grilled Jungleman on some of his biggest wins, what he gets up to when he isn’t playing poker, and how he hopes to change the poker community for the better.

The WPT Global Summer Festival is in full swing, and from now until August 18, you can still compete for your share of over $8 million in total guarantees. And in addition to the cash prizes handed out across the extensive schedule, WPT Global is hosting freerolls where there are some incredible rewards, including a package to the prestigious WPT World Championship this December at Wynn Las Vegas. Festival Freeroll: Secure Your Spot for August 25 One of the festival highlights is the $75,000 Freeroll on August 25.

888poker is the virtual home of Mystery Bounty poker tournaments, with their $100,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Main Event being the flagship tournament of their weekly offering. The format continues to prove popular as, once again, the six-figure guarantee was surpassed thanks to the 1,072 entries that created the $107,200 prize pool. One of the highlights each week is finding out which lucky player scored the $10,000 jackpot bounty, and the latest winner of the top mystery prize was none other than 888poker ambassador Ian Simpson.

The Summer Poker Open is in full swing at Champions Club Texas in Houston with the series running July 31-Aug. 20. The series consists of dozens of events and is offering more than $1.8 million in guaranteed prize money. The bulk of that will be in the $1 million guaranteed event, a $1,500 buy-in event that gets underway on July 12 and will give players several starting flights to choose from.

Controversial poker pro Maurice Hawkins sought a record-tying 17th World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring on Monday at Harrah’s Cherokee. But he was denied during heads-up play by Susan Faber in the $600 No-Limit Hold’em event. Event #5 attracted 305 entrants, creating a prize pool of $157,075 at the Cherokee, North Carolina casino. In the end, it came down to a bracelet winner against a longtime pro with a history of unpaid debts accusations.

Via a six-way chop, Karl Creazzo took down the first event of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open — $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em for $146,829 — and he isn’t even old enough to play in most US card rooms. The 19-year-old primarily cash game player not only won all that money, but he did so playing in his first ever live poker tournament. And he beat out a field that included many grizzled poker veterans.