Twelfth of Thirty on Wednesday Night. Every Chip in the Building on Thursday.

Today's Big Question

What happened

Mayukh Chakraborty of Canada won the CA$5,000 WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event at Playground in Kahnawake, Quebec, beating a field of 2,844 entries for CA$1,500,000 and the first WSOP Circuit ring of his career. He began the final day twelfth in chips out of the thirty players left, with 5,500,000 and 54 big blinds. Benjamin Veenstra finished second for CA$1,000,000 and Jack Salter third for CA$750,000. Chance Kornuth, who two days earlier called for the exact river card that eliminated Daniel Negreanu from this tournament, finished fourth for CA$600,000. The tournament ran three Day One flights across six days and is the largest live poker tournament ever staged in Canada.

Why it matters

Paul Klann started that same final day first in chips with 11,300,000, a stack 32 big blinds clear of second place. He does not appear on the published final table. The payout release lists nine names and his is not among them, which puts him somewhere between tenth and thirtieth with no outlet having said where. This publication spent a story yesterday on the thirteen years between Klann's 2013 WPT L.A. Poker Classic title and this run. The run has an ending and nobody has printed it.

In the Spotlight

The Record Prize Pool Shrank by CA$392,472 Between the Chip Counts and the Trophy Photo

What happened

Two prize pool figures are in circulation for the same tournament. Live reporting on Wednesday put the WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event prize pool at CA$13,082,400 from 2,844 entries. The WSOP's own announcement of the champion on Thursday night put it at CA$12,689,928 from the same 2,844 entries. The difference is CA$392,472. Both accounts call it the largest prize pool in Canadian poker history and both are right about that part. Neither has been corrected, amended or explained, and the published payouts from first through ninth are identical in both.

Why it matters

The Muck ran the larger figure on Tuesday, because that was the number everyone had. Today it is one of two numbers everyone has. The honest thing to do with a record that comes in two sizes is print both sizes rather than pick the one that sounds better in a headline, so both are above. Until somebody publishes a correction, the largest prize pool in the history of Canadian poker is a range.

The Explainer

Kiat Lee Won the Tournament on Thursday. He Finds Out What He Won on Friday.

What happened

Kiat Lee of Malaysia won the $40,000 mystery bounty no-limit hold'em event at Triton Jeju II, topping 133 entries. The final hand was Lee's jack of clubs and ten of clubs against Jamil Wakil's ace of hearts and six of spades, and Lee flopped a ten. He has $619,000 from the main prize pool and eight sealed mystery bounty envelopes worth a minimum of $40,000 each, which sets his floor at $939,000 and his ceiling at whatever is in the envelopes. They are opened at a ceremony in Jeju on Friday. The tournament's $5,320,000 prize pool was split precisely down the middle: $2,660,000 in ordinary prize money and $2,660,000 in envelopes.

Why it matters

This is Lee's fourth Triton title in eighteen months and it takes him to $27,593,086 in career tournament earnings, of which close to $24 million has come from this one tour. On the way to it he eliminated Seth Davies in eleventh for $52,000, Samuel Mullur in tenth for $52,000, Phil Ivey in ninth for $62,000 and David Coleman in eighth for $77,500, collecting paper from each of them. Asked afterward how it felt, Lee said: "Overwhelming." He then said he got lucky, twice, in the space of four sentences.

Follow the Money

Punnat Punsri Took Over the Player of the Year Race by Busting Fourth

What happened

Four-handed at the Triton Jeju II $40,000 mystery bounty, Punnat Punsri got all in with the ace of hearts and nine of diamonds. Alex Anton was also at risk with the ace and king of diamonds, and Jamil Wakil covered both with the king of spades and jack of clubs. The board ran out king of clubs, jack of hearts, eight of spades, nine of hearts, five of hearts. Wakil's two pair took it, Punsri finished fourth for $229,000, and the 462 Card Player Player of the Year points attached to that finish moved him past Brandon Wilson into first place in the 2026 race.

Why it matters

Punsri has close to $39.5 million in career cashes and is the all-time money leader from Thailand. He finished second to Jesse Lonis on the 2025 leaderboard and now leads the 2026 one on the strength of a hand he lost. Kiat Lee, who won the same tournament, collected 924 points for it and sits 26th with 4,157.

The Circuit

Eighteen Gold Rings and $4 Million in Guarantees, in a Room You Have to Join First

What happened

The WSOP Circuit returned to Texas Card House in Austin on Thursday for 18 ring events running through September 21, with nearly $4 million in guaranteed prize pools. The $1,700 no-limit hold'em Main Event carries a $2 million guarantee and starts September 17 with three Day One flights, and there is a $750,000 guaranteed Mini Main alongside it. Every ring winner receives a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package covering entry to the $2,750 Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty and four nights at Baha Mar. The series also introduces action clocks on the marquee tournaments. Texas Card House is a membership club rather than a casino, and ahead of the venue's first Circuit series in April the WSOP told players a two-week membership would cost $15.

Why it matters

That April series produced the largest tournament prize pool in Texas history and Thomas Brabham won the Main Event. Five months later the same room is back on the calendar with a guarantee double the original one. The WSOP has spent 2026 discovering that its gold ring works in places that are not casinos, and the entry requirement for the largest guaranteed prize pool in Texas remains a membership card.

Beyond the Felt

The Casino's Argument Is That It Paid 36.8 Percent More While Earning 1.9 Percent More

What happened

About 1,300 union workers at Encore Boston Harbor walked out on Labor Day and are still out. UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 coordinated the stoppage after contract talks with Wynn Resorts stalled and the previous agreement expired on August 31. The unions represent housekeepers, cooks, servers, bartenders, slot attendants and drivers, and are asking for higher wages, continued medical benefits and protection against jobs lost to automation. Ahead of the expiry, 93 percent of represented workers voted to authorize a strike. Company representatives said wages and benefits for those employees have risen 36.8 percent over four years against a 1.9 percent rise in company revenue, and that the average represented worker makes $95,000 a year in wages and benefits. The property is open and being run by management and non-union staff.

Why it matters

Both sets of numbers can be true at once, which is what makes the standoff durable. The union's comparison is to downtown Boston hotels that take in less money and pay more. The company's comparison is to itself four years ago. The poker room is inside a building that currently has a picket line around it and a full schedule inside it, and that is the part players will notice.

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SEPT 10 Day 005 - The One Hand Edition

The Heads-Up Match Lasted One Hand. Dvoress Had Pocket Threes and Made a Wheel.

Daniel Dvoress won the $30,000 no-limit hold'em eight-max event at Triton Jeju II on September 9, beating 135 entries and a $4,050,000 prize pool for $942,000 and his seventh trident trophy. He took a 4.5 to 1 chip lead into heads-up play against Xuan Liu and needed one deal to finish it. The chips went in preflop. Dvoress held the three of spades and the three of clubs, Liu the king of hearts and the queen of spades. The board came jack of hearts, four of diamonds, two of clubs, ace of spades, five of hearts. Dvoress made a wheel. Liu took $638,000 for second, the second-largest score of her career. It was the second time the two Canadians had played heads-up for a Triton title, making them the first pair in the tour's history to do it twice. Last spring in Montenegro, Liu won that match and $860,000 and became the first woman ever to win a Triton event.

AlsoStephen Chidwick Busted in Fifth and Crossed $80 Million on the Walk to the Payout Desk Read this brief →

Chance Kornuth Called for the Ace of Diamonds by Name. The Dealer Produced It.

SEPT 9

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