Midwest Poker Tournaments
Unlike today’s coverage, ESPN featured no pre-taped interviews or profiles on the players. Generally, ESPN used poker-playing actors such as Dick Van Patten, Vince Van Patten, and Gabe Kaplan, with either the tournament director (usually Jim Albrecht) or a poker professional, of which one was Phil Hellmuth, joining the team. Barbara is also the first woman to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, and the Senior Poker Hall of Fame, making her the only poker player to be in all three poker halls of fame. An Ambassador of Poker League of Nations, Barbara is the first woman to win two WSOP bracelets, the first woman to win three bracelets, and the first woman to win an open event at the World Series of Poker.
There were some reporters who refused to do chip counts because they thought it beneath them even though tournament coverage without chip counts is like a baseball game without a scoreboard. When people remember the boom-era WSOP, they tend to focus on famous players and televised hands. Towards the tail end of my career, as Black Friday’s immediate effects had worn off and people realized the new status quo was never going to be the boom again, players became very wary of the media. I can promise you, more often than not, the voice in the meetings speaking up for the players was Seth’s. No one ever said, \”well, you can’t interview players because you have to be hot to do that,\” but no one was really clamoring for me to interview players on camera. I always thought it was an advantage to be a woman in the tournament reporting space because poker tournaments are very boring and these guys are stuck in their seats and just want someone to talk to.
In 2026, Michael’s perseverance was finally rewarded in the Badugi event. The live tournament victory also moved Dimitar up to 2nd place on Bulgaria’s All Time Money List. A well-known high roller from Bulgaria outlasted 127 opponents in one of the most prestigious WSOP 2026 events. Wang entered heads-up play against Jesse Lonis with a 5-to-1 chip lead and quickly closed out the match.
At the final table of Event #75, only two players had shorter stacks than Grapenthien. The final hand came in PLO, where the players got all the chips in on the flop. On the final day, Gonsalves started as the chip leader with a stack of 69 big blinds and continued to build on his advantage, eliminating three of the six remaining players.
The WSOP bracelet is the ultimate symbol of poker history and greatness. If you wish to Opt In your player name please click here. We don’t have the chip leaders of Day 1B finalized as of yet, but here are some notable chip stacks after Day 1B. In September 2009, Harrah’s signed an agreement with Dragonfish, the B2B arm of 888 Holdings, to provide its online gaming services. In an interview for Card Player Magazine, PokerGO President Mori Eskandani mentioned longtime WSOP broadcasters Lon McEachern and Norman Chad would be back in the booth, along with Ali Nejad, David Tuchman, and Jeff Platt. Former pro turned executive producer Mori Eskandani’s team pioneered the live broadcast format seen at the WSOP since 2011.
Event #28, despite its modest buy-in, featured several big names at the final table. “I wanted to win this tournament more than any other, except the PPC and the Main Event. At the final table of Event #26, Erwann Pecheux and Braxton Dunaway were dominating the action. Brayden spent almost the entire $500 Freezeout near the top of the chip counts and entered heads-up play against Jason Hoffman with an eight-to-one chip lead. The most accomplished among them was Chance Kornuth, but he was also the first to exit the final table after losing an all-in confrontation with A♦K♠ against A♣Q♣. The final table featured competitors from five different countries.
The winner of the final table WSOP not only takes away an impressive prize, but also receives a WSOP bracelet. Yes, many tournament series, including the WSOP and PokerStars online events, have buy-in levels suitable for beginners. For live events like the WSOP or EPT, choose tournaments that match your skill level and budget. To succeed in poker tournaments, whether live or online, you need to tailor your strategy to the format while staying disciplined and prepared. Below, we take a look at the best poker tournaments in both live and online formats.
Caleb Bruno Furth won the $5,000 PLO event with an incredible stroke of luck. In the final hand against Joe Ford, Shmuel was dealt A-A-K-K — a picture-perfect hand for the victory shot. Event #4 has concluded, with David Shmuel capturing his first-ever WSOP bracelet. It’s Galiana’s second bracelet in two years, just like Furth.
Prior to WSOP 2026, he had not recorded a win in any Omaha tournament with a prize higher than $8K. Best cash of $490,617 and his first two WSOP bracelets, Zachary Gruneberg won in Hold’em events. In the end, it was the record-breaking Nine Game Mix event that delivered the American his third WSOP bracelet and the largest payout of his career. Joey Couden spent many years as a professional No-Limit Hold’em player, while mixed games remained more of a hobby for him. In the final hand of the tournament, Anton made a straight on the turn against pocket tens and secured his first WSOP bracelet. Anton entered the Event #51 final table as the chip leader in the top 9, although his advantage over Josh Reichard was only 1 big blind.
To earn the trophy, Latimer had to beat Jianfeng Sun heads up. He took down the $600 No Limit Hold’em Turbo ($50k GTD), earning $28,492 and the final WSC trophy of the summer. Of the prize pool, some $29,637 went to Jordan Henegar, Stiller’s heads-up opponent. The tournament’s guarantee of $50,000 anticipated a turnout of just over one-fifth of those numbers. Yesterday (July 14), was the last day of action at the Wynn Summer Classic, closing out what has been an incredible summer of poker.
Poker players during that era had television identities, online personas, forum reputations, and private selves that could be very different from one another. There were a few players like Kathy Liebert, JJ Liu, and Jennifer Harman that weren’t sexualized all the time, but the default for players and media personalities alike was to frame them in a sexy way. While the other students in her graduate program spent the summer teaching or taking classes, Welman headed to Las Vegas under the extremely convenient premise that the trip would further her research into poker players. We are the number one source for poker news, gambling industry updates, reviews and free educational content for players of all levels.
This was the third expansion of the tournament and increased its geography. Come to Las Vegas and go to the casino where the tournament is being held. Look for reliable online platforms and participate in satellites. It traditionally gathers professionals who strive to compete for the Main Title of the tournament.
By the time the field was down to three players, Kenzo Ishida had caught up to the American in chips, but he too lost his entire stack to Johnson in just two hands. The tournament’s final nine also featured well-known players such as Faraz Jaka and Chino Rheem. Spain’s best player won his sixth bracelet, and for the second time Adrian Mateos became the champion of the most expensive event at the World Series of Poker. At the same time, he is not primarily a tournament player and is better known as a high-stakes cash game specialist in mixed games.
The Hendon Mob Championship Nottingham
In 2008, the WSOP introduced the November Nine where the Main Event plays down to a final table of nine in July, before resuming in November. Barbara Enright became the only woman to make the Main Event final table with her fifth-place finish in 1995, until Leo Margets achieved the same feat in 2025 where she finished seventh. More famous players added their names to WSOP history, as Dan Harrington, Huck Seed and Scotty Nguyen all won Main Events. That year saw the first non-American win the Main Event as Mansour Matloubi triumphed, and 1991 saw the first prize reach $1,000,000 for the first time.
Event #13: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
The inaugural WSOPE consisted of three events held in London from September 6–17, 2007. Various events led up to the Main Event, which was held from July 28 until August 10. The Rio also hosted the 2006 World Series of Poker, which began on June 25 with satellite events and formally began the day after with the annual Casino Employee event, won in 2006 by Chris Gros. The WSOP added a made-for-television $2 million “freeroll” invitational Tournament of Champions (TOC) event first won by Annie Duke as a “winner-take-all” event. The winner in 1970, Johnny Moss, was elected by his peers as the first “World Champion of Poker” and received a silver cup as a prize.
Anderson’s combined haul of $770,606 from those two events alone was a summer most players would envy. Mateos has consistently proven himself across all buy-in levels, from $1,500 events to the nosebleed stakes that only a handful of players can afford. If you are curious about how these high-stakes pros approach the game differently from recreational players, our poker strategy section covers concepts like ICM, position play, and bet sizing that apply at every level.
The 57th annual World Series of Poker ran May 26 through July 15 at Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas, delivering 100 bracelet events and a record 251,899 total entries across the series. Sorel Mizzi, also known as “Imper1um”, is starting to dominate live poker tournaments the same way he has absolutely crushed online tournaments for the last year plus. In April 2026, the schedule for the 2026 WSOP Online bracelet series was released, featuring 30 events running from May 30 through July 14. WSOP video poker machines now appear at some Harrah’s casinos; the machines are standard video poker machines, but have a bonus feature which allows a player to play a modified game of Texas Hold ’em against the machine.
At this table, the viewers could see the player’s hole cards and subsequent strategy. However, the final table broadcast was expanded over two one-hour episodes. ESPN’s coverage in 2002 was typical of their coverage in the 1990s (recorded in video, little or no post-production commentary or player profiles, no card cams).
Keijzer came out on top in this large-field event, a run that ended with a $67,850 payday. That guarantee was completely obliterated after reaching 351 entries, creating a $342,225 prize in the 1 p.m. An $1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Max tournament was spread, and it came with a $50,000 guarantee. Late registration will close at around 9 p.m., when level nine of the event is due to start. This event also has 30,000 starting stacks, but comes with 20-minute blind levels. Then at 6 p.m., final shuffle up and deal of the festival will be latest online poker news called to start the $600 No Limit Hold’em Turbo ($50k GTD).
The winner beat Linus Goh heads-up for the win, while Goh earned $30,349 for his near win. The field reached 215 entries before registration closed, making for a $209,625 prize pool, more than double the $100,000 guarantee. He beat Arie Kliper, who received $45,261, heads-up to close out the win.
The biggest overall first-place prizes went to Mateos, Yuri Dzivielevski ($2,841,432 in the $100K HR), Jamie Dwan ($2,276,691 in the $50K HR 8-Handed), and Daniel Negreanu ($2,257,718 in the $100K PLO). Adrian Mateos won the largest single prize — $4,334,411 in the $250,000 Super High Roller. Visit our homepage for the latest poker site reviews, bonuses, and industry coverage updated throughout 2026. The WSOP results above span dozens of poker variants — No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Razz, HORSE, and more. For the full poker television schedule including WSOP coverage, High Stakes Poker, and Poker After Dark, check our poker on TV guide. The broadcast features hole-card cameras with a short delay, commentary from Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, and on-set analysis from poker pros.
By early December 2011, the field size had increased to 22, the minimum required for an official bracelet tournament. In 2024, entry fees across all events range from $300 to $250,000, the latter being for the Super High Roller event. In the main event alone, the number of participants grew from 839 in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006, and has hovered between 6,300 and 7,200 entrants in the eleven years since. The event moved again in 2013, this time to the Paris suburb of Enghien-les-Bains. However, it is currently treated as a WSOP Circuit event, with no bracelets awarded. This made her the youngest person ever to win a WSOP bracelet, a record that cannot be broken in the Las Vegas WSOP under current laws because the minimum legal age for casino gaming in Nevada is 21.
- In heads-up play against Matt Vengrin, Smith entered with a significant chip lead and defeated his opponent in about half an hour.
- The main event, a £10,000 buy-in no-limit hold ’em tournament, was won by Norwegian online prodigy Annette Obrestad on the day before her 19th birthday.
- The Poker Players Championship – Behind the main event the most prestigious tournament at the WSOP is the Players Championship.
- On this page, you’ll find all the details about the Borgata Poker Open festivals happening throughout the year, including results, schedules, and online satellites for upcoming tournaments.
- The buy-in for most WPT events range from $3,500 to $10,000.
- The final stage of Event #38 featured a star-studded lineup that included Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Benny Glaser, and Jeremy Ausmus.
Jiang eliminated Maurice in fourth place, preventing the WSOPC record holder for most wins from finally claiming his first bracelet. Johnny plans to invest most of his winnings through his investment company and also play in WSOP Circuit events, including this week’s stop in Las Vegas. He arrived at the 2026 WSOP without major expectations, but managed to cash in two events and then went all the way to the bracelet in his third tournament. On the final day of Event #76, five players remained, and Negreanu got off to a rough start, losing nearly half of his stack to Chris Frank, who made a rivered flush. All three of his six-figure scores in his career came in WSOP events in this poker variant, and he won his first bracelet in 2014. However, that did not prevent the American from winning more than $3 million in live events.
The end of the decade saw another back-to-back winner, with Johnny Chan winning in both 1987 and 1988. The 70s featured some of the most iconic names in World Series of Poker history, with Moss and Doyle Brunson winning five Main Events between them. Each year, a dedicated team of live reporters, editors, presenters, videographers and photographers help make PokerNews the place to be when it comes to staying up-to-date on the World Series. PokerNews has attended every World Series of Poker since 2007, and is proud to serve as the official live coverage partner of the WSOP, including Main Event coverage. Eliot Hudon was the inaugural WPT World Championship winner in 2022, taking it down for $4,136,000 while topping a field of 2,960 entrants.
Poker.pro brings you live reporting from poker events across the globe. There were four players left in the $10,000 6-Handed Championship, and Soverel closed it out in just 19 minutes on the final additional day. Joshua Boulton won a unique event where bounties were awarded only for eliminating players from the Poker Hall of Fame (btw, the newest inductee is Nick Schulman).
Most of his live earnings and both of his bracelets have come from events in this poker variant. Yes, you can qualify online for Borgata Poker Open Championship events as well as other flagship tournaments. Players can qualify for Borgata Poker Open events and/or buy in for select tournaments online via BetMGM Poker and Borgata Poker Online. The Borgata Poker Open is one of the largest and most popular live poker events in the United States, traditionally taking place at least three times a year at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Sterling won his first major pot at the final table against Jesse Lonis and eliminated David Bach shortly afterward. This time, the American secured his first bracelet and the first six-figure cash of his career. Sterling Lopez had already reached a WSOP T.O.R.S.E. final table last year, but he was unable to finish higher than sixth place. This time, Benso entered the final eight with just 19 big blinds, while Justin Liberto held a commanding 121-big-blind stack. Prior to this World Series, the Italian had reached only one WSOP final table, back in 2024.
We are the official live coverage partner of several major poker festivals including the World Series of Poker. PokerNews regularly live reports on some of the biggest poker tours from around the world. The most prestigious tournaments such as the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas are on the more expensive end. The buy-in for most WPT events range from $3,500 to $10,000. It’s tough to go against the player who holds so many key records.
These events offered a mix of online and live access, including qualifying opportunities on the BetMGM Poker app, same-day live registration, and the chance to earn redeemable Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards points. That final edition featured nearly two dozen events, including a $2,700 Championship, and drew major attention before the series was halted due to the pandemic. The Borgata Poker Open is a common name for a live tournament festival series taking place multiple times a year at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Your full guide to the Borgata Poker Open series, including dates, schedules, results, and online qualifiers for upcoming events. In its place, a summer schedule of online bracelet events were establish, with separate schedules for WSOP.com and GGPoker bracelets. The full schedule released in February, showing 100 bracelet events with buy-ins ranging from $300 to $250,000.
The day saw action in two events, both of them smaller no-limit hold’em events. Daily tournaments resume at the Wynn Las Vegas poker room today. The main event of the Wynn Summer Classic, the $10,400 Wynn Summer Championship, garnered a total of 1,537 entries, for a total prize pool of $15,062,600. So, the 2025 Wynn Summer Classic ended with a total of $69,175,810 in prizes across 87 events. Phillip Latimer had the honor of winning the last event of the 2025 Wynn Summer Classic. The final day of the event had just two simple one-day events to complete.