Recent News
Every day's real poker news, one day at a time.
He Ran GTO Software For 111 Hands And Lost $13.12
09/18/26ACR Poker permanently banned the account UGLYRETD on September 17 after a video circulated on social media showing the real time assistance tool TrenirusGTO running live alongside the ACR client. The site's security and game integrity team said the account was created on August 2, deposited $14.13, and played for a single day: 65 hands at $0.05/$0.10, 27 hands at $0.02/$0.05 and 19 hands at $0.01/$0.02. Across all 111 of them it recorded a net loss of $13.12, finishing a dollar short of break even with a machine telling it what to do. Seven players who lost money directly to the account will be refunded for the affected hands and notified within 24 hours.
Wagner Died In This Palace. It Now Guarantees A Million Euros.
09/18/26La Notte Degli Assi returns to the Casino di Venezia from October 11 to 19 with a 1,000,000 euro guaranteed Main Event. The house opened in 1638 and is the oldest casino in the world. The cards get dealt in its second home, a 15th century Renaissance palace on the Grand Canal that housed Venetian Doges and where Richard Wagner spent his final days. Entry starts at 400 euros across four early flights and rises to 600 euros for five later ones, every one of them dealing a 200,000 starting stack on a 30 minute clock. The schedule also carries a 1,500 euro High Roller, a 60 euro mega satellite awarding 25 seats, and a freeroll satellite giving away 12 tickets with optional 20 euro rebuys.
$46.2 Billion In Tribal Gaming Is Arguing With A Crypto Bill
09/18/26The Indian Gaming Association has urged Congress to vote down the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, the crypto bill sponsored by Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming that would hand the CFTC authority over parts of the digital asset market. IGA chair David Z. Bean called it the largest expansion of CFTC authority since the 2010 Dodd-Frank bill and said the agency has already been allowing gaming to occur on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. The association has named its price for dropping the opposition. The text has to say plainly that state law, tribal gaming law and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act are not preempted by federal commodities law, and that designated contract markets may not list contracts on sports betting or casino games. Lummis has said the act mostly legalizes additional crypto trading activity and does not change the current status of prediction markets. Tribal casinos reported $46.2 billion in gross gaming revenue last year, up 5.5 percent.
He Shoved A Seven High Flush For Value And Got A Fold
09/18/26Nik "Airball" Arcot moved all in on the river during All Star Game week on Hustler Casino Live holding the seven high flush, and Ryan Garcia folded the jack high flush face up. The boxer was in the game because host Ryan Feldman needed a replacement for Alan Keating on night two, and he was up more than $200,000 inside the first hour. Garcia limped under the gun with the jack of hearts and the three of hearts, Feldman raised to $2,000 with the five of diamonds and the five of clubs, and Arcot three bet to $6,000 with the seven and six of hearts. The flop came king of hearts, ten of hearts, nine of hearts. Arcot overbet $25,000, fired $40,000 on the ten of diamonds turn, and shoved the deuce of diamonds river for Garcia's remaining $194,500. Garcia turned his cards face up as he released them and said he had a flush. Arcot showed his and said he had thought he was ahead.
They Locked Up $6,795,000, Then Played For The Other $140,000
09/17/26Nick Schulman won the $100,000 buy-in Main Event at the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju II on Wednesday at Les A Casino in Jeju, South Korea, taking $3,854,888 from a 196-entry field and a $19,600,000 prize pool. It is the largest score of his career and his second Triton title, the first having come in the same room in 2018. Heads-up began with Schulman holding a three-to-one lead over Bernhard Binder, and the two immediately made a deal worth $3,714,888 to Schulman and $3,080,112 to Binder, which left $140,000 and the trophy as the only things still in dispute. On the last hand Schulman limped the button for 1,000,000 with two kings, Binder raised to 3,500,000 with king-jack, and the board ran ace-eight-deuce, five, ten. Binder bet the flop and the turn, checked the river, called Schulman's shove for his last chips and was shown the kings. Binder took $3,080,112 for second. Two days earlier Schulman had finished second in a $50,000 event at the same festival for $810,279, at the time the sixth-largest cash of his career.
He Won $3.85 Million And Led The Points Race For One Day
09/17/26Schulman's Main Event win brought 1,680 Card Player Player of the Year points and moved him to 7,556, an outright lead of 58 points over Punnat Punsri. On Thursday the festival's closing event, a $30,000 turbo with 23 entries and a $690,000 prize pool, paid five places. Punsri finished fourth for $81,000 and 126 points, which put him at 7,624 and back in front by 68. Wang Ye won that turbo for $256,000 and his first Triton title in his twentieth cash on the tour, beating Kiat Lee heads-up when Lee made a straight and Wang made sevens full of jacks. Punsri now has four titles and 25 final tables in 2026 and is Thailand's all-time money leader. The festival closed with $103.2 million awarded across 14 events and 1,752 entries.
The Winner Made $304,180 Less Than The Man He Beat
09/17/26Nick Petrangelo won the $150,000 10th Anniversary Special at Triton Jeju II, a 67-entry event with a $10,050,000 prize pool where first place was scheduled to pay $2,765,000. He and Joao Simao struck a heads-up deal that gave Simao the larger share, $2,517,090 against Petrangelo's $2,212,910, and then agreed to put the rest in blind every hand until somebody won. It took three. Petrangelo doubled twice and took the remainder on the third. Adrian Mateos finished third for $1,286,000, Miroslav Atanasov fourth for $990,000 and Thomas Boivin fifth for $783,000. Earlier in the event, on a hand outside the money at Level 14, four players got all in at once: Sam Greenwood with king-queen, Matthias Eibinger with two eights, Patrik Antonius with ace-king of spades and Daniel Dvoress with two jacks. The board came deuce, ace, four with two hearts, then the seven of hearts and the deuce of hearts, and Dvoress made a runner-runner flush to knock out all three. Simao had already won the $200,000 Invitational at the same festival for the largest score of his career.
The $250,000 Amateur Event Has An Approval Committee
09/17/26The World Series of Poker announced a $250,000 buy-in Pro-Am bracelet event for WSOP Paradise, which runs December 2 to 17 at Baha Mar in the Bahamas. The three-day tournament seats amateurs and pros at separate tables to start and combines the fields once the money is reached, playing down to one bracelet. Professionals may register on their own. Amateurs must submit an application to a WSOP Pro-Am committee, which reviews each one and decides. The event joins a Paradise schedule the WSOP now puts at 21 bracelet events, headlined by a Super Main Event with a $50,000,000 guarantee. The comparison the WSOP itself reached for was Triton's $250,000 Invitational, held at Paradise last year and won by Kayhan Mokri for $7,725,000, an event where pros need an amateur's invitation to enter.
A Man Who Plays Twice A Year Beat 1,282 People, Then Quit
09/16/26Pierre Chevalier won the 1,500 euro WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event at the Partouche Pasino Club on Tuesday, beating 1,282 entries for 260,000 euros, his first Circuit ring and a 5,000 euro package to WSOP Paradise. It is the largest field a WSOP Circuit Main Event has ever drawn in Europe. Chevalier plays once or twice a year, has cashed in 13 or 14 of the 15 or 16 tournaments he has entered in his life, and had to change his train to be there for the final table. The table he beat included Davidi Kitai in fifth for 63,000 euros and Luca Bernardi, the start-of-day chip leader, in third for 123,000 euros. Hervé Gouzil finished second for 175,000 euros. Chevalier then announced he is almost done playing.
Thirty-Five Men Played A Turbo And $1,750,000 Changed Hands
09/16/26Ben Tollerene won the $50,000 turbo bounty at Triton Jeju II on Monday night, taking $412,000 in prize money plus $240,000 in bounties for a $652,000 night and his fifth Triton title. The field was 28 unique players and seven re-entries, 35 total, for a $1,750,000 prize pool and nine bounties worth $60,000 each. Six places paid. Tollerene arrived at the final table with a stack, lost about three quarters of it to Daniel Rezaei without ever seeing a showdown, doubled back, and finished the heads-up match in two hands. Rezaei took $465,000 for second and Ding Biao $241,000 for third, one night after Ding lost the $200,000 Invitational heads-up for a career-best $4,940,000. Tollerene banked $1.1 million across the two days and is past $38.9 million for his career.
Congress Is Now Discussing Repealing What Congress Did
09/16/26The House Ways and Means Committee is taking up the FULL HOUSE Act this week. It is a bipartisan bill, filed in January by Steven Horsford of Nevada and Max Miller of Ohio, that would repeal the gambling provision in last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That provision caps deductible gambling losses at 90 percent. A player who breaks even for the year now owes tax on money that does not exist. Separately, Dina Titus of Nevada said her FAIR BET Act has finally been attached to a tax package moving through the House, after it was cut from a defense bill in September 2025 and rejected from a spending bill in January. The committee is reviewing the fix alongside crypto tax and health care bills. A floor vote is not guaranteed.
16,455 People Entered A $400 Tournament And Brazil Won It
09/16/26Roberto Firmino Santos Filho won the $400 Colossus at the 2026 WSOP Online on GGPoker for $752,277 and a bracelet, topping 16,455 entries. The prize pool came to $6,187,080 against a $5,000,000 guarantee, and 1,675 players returned for Day 2. Evaldas Narmontas finished second for $579,973 and Matthew Vengrin fourth for $344,876, denying Vengrin a second bracelet. Ole Schemion took eighth. It is Brazil's sixth bracelet of this online series, from 16 podium finishes and $3,370,411 in prize money, which puts the country on top of the WSOP Online Bracelet Leaderboard and in line for a $200,000 country freeroll. The series runs through September 29.
Joao Simao Bluffed Twice, Got Caught Twice, and Won $7,250,000
09/15/26The $200,000 Invitational at Triton Jeju II closed on Monday with a record 173 entries, a $34,600,000 prize pool and Joao Simao of Brazil holding the only part of it anybody remembers. He reached heads-up play with 66 big blinds against Ding Biao's 38. A deal was discussed and not agreed. Ding then looked up a Simao bluff with top pair, looked up a second one with second pair, and turned that deficit into a lead of nearly five to one. Simao got value with queen ten on a board of ten, nine, nine, three, three, drew a hero call out of Ding holding king six, and was level again. Trip eights put him in front. On the final hand Ding limped the button for 1,000,000 with the ten of hearts and the nine of spades and Simao raised to 2,300,000 with the king of spades and the king of diamonds. The flop came nine of hearts, five of spades, five of diamonds. Simao led for 1,400,000, Ding raised to 3,000,000, Simao called. The two of spades turned, Ding moved all in for 5,600,000 and Simao called quickly. The seven of diamonds finished it. Simao took $7,250,000, Ding $4,940,000 and Seth Davies $3,470,000 in third.
They Chopped $1,647,000 and Then Played Heads-Up for $30,000
09/15/26Matthew Wantman won the $50,000 seven-handed event at Triton Jeju II, outlasting 70 entries from 49 unique players and a $3,500,000 prize pool for his first Triton title. He got heads-up with Nick Schulman, one of his closest friends, and the counts were virtually even when they got there, so the two of them cut an almost even deal and left $30,000 on the table for whoever finished the job. Wantman doubled on the first hand of heads-up play. Schulman doubled back once. On the last hand Wantman held the ace and jack of hearts against Schulman's queen and seven of spades. Wantman was paid $836,721 and Schulman $810,279. Americans swept the podium, with Ben Tollerene third for $448,000. Daniel Dvoress went out fourth for $344,000 and six-time champion Danny Tang sixth for $213,000. Schulman's only other Triton title came in Jeju eight years ago, in the first Triton event he ever entered.
Jean-Noel Thorel Called a Three-Bet With Three-Deuce and Flopped Quads
09/15/26The $100,000 Main Event at Triton Jeju II is days from finishing and may already have had its hand of the tournament. At Level 5, blinds 1,000/2,500, Jean-Noel Thorel opened to 5,000 from middle position holding the three of clubs and the two of clubs. Nick Petrangelo three-bet to 20,000 from the button and Thorel called out of position. The flop came three of hearts, two of diamonds, three of diamonds and Thorel check-called 20,000. The king of hearts turned and Thorel check-called 80,000. The three of spades completed the board and gave Thorel four of a kind. He checked a third time. Petrangelo bet 300,000, leaving 36,000 behind, Thorel check-raised, and Petrangelo called off with the ace of hearts and the ace of clubs for aces full. Thorel went to more than 1,000,000 chips and Petrangelo went home. At the last reported break Thorel led the field on 1,200,000, ahead of Quan Zhou on 966,000 and Defeng Chen on 720,000.
The $500 Tournament Takes 17 Percent. The $10,400 Takes 5.77.
09/15/26A decade of live tournament rake figures published Tuesday set four buy-in levels against their 2015 and 2019 equivalents, and the shape of the answer is the story. At the top the movement is small. The WSOP $10,000 Main Event went from 5.99 percent to 7. The L.A. Poker Classic Main Event went from 4 percent to 7. The WPT's $10,400 Championship went the other way, from 6.73 percent down to 5.77. At the bottom it is a different chart entirely. The WSOP $500 Colossus charged 11.50 percent in 2015 and charges 17 percent now. A Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood multi-flight around $400 went from 14.29 percent to 18. The WSOPC $400 multi-flight held at 17.50 percent, which in this company counts as restraint. EPT Prague's 5,300 euro Main Event has not moved off 8.49 percent in eleven years. The study was prompted by a question Patrick Leonard posted last October asking whether the data existed at all.
Semi Sun Turned a Pair of Eights Into a Bluff. Yang Wang Turned It Into $2,820,000.
09/14/26The $200,000 Invitational at Triton Jeju II drew 173 entries and built a prize pool of $34,600,000, of which 31 players would see a cent. Semi Sun came into hand-for-hand play with the chip lead at his table and left before the bubble burst. At Level 20, blinds 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante, Yang Wang raised to 140,000 and Sun called on the button. Wang bet 225,000 on a seven of clubs, seven of spades, eight of spades flop, then 450,000 on the ace of hearts turn. Sun raised to 1,100,000 and Wang called. The queen of spades completed the board and Wang checked. Sun moved all in for 2,100,000 with the eight of clubs and the five of clubs, a pair of eights he had decided to stop believing in. Wang called with the ace of diamonds and the seven of hearts for a full house. Sun finished 32nd for nothing. Thirty-first place paid $305,000. Wang finished fourth for $2,820,000.
1,282 People Entered the Paris Main Event. First Place Pays Less Than Jeju Pays for Thirty-First.
09/14/26The WSOP Circuit Paris 1,500 euro Main Event at the Partouche Pasino Club drew 1,282 entries and reached its final table on Monday with nine players left. Luca Bernardi led on 12,100,000, ahead of Mathieu Selides on 10,575,000 and Herve Gouzil on 8,500,000. Gouzil got there by three-betting into Pierre Chevalier's pocket aces with pocket jacks and flopping a set. Davidi Kitai is seventh in chips on 5,600,000, Natasha Mercier fifth on 7,600,000. The winner takes 260,000 euros and ninth takes 20,500 euros. Will Kassouf finished 55th for 5,100 euros.
The Hall of Fame Changed the Rules to Admit More Than One Person. It Admitted One Person.
09/14/26The Poker Hall of Fame overhauled its voting process this year so that more than one player could be inducted in a single class. In the Class of 2026, exactly one name reached the 22-vote threshold: Jason Koon. Scott Seiver, Isaac Haxton and Shaun Deeb all missed. Scott Seiver went through the result at length with Phil Laak and Brian Rast on the Late Reg Podcast. In his own account of why it stung, "me knowing I'm great in my own head wasn't enough." The reward he wanted, he told them, was his peers saying the life he spent on this was worth remembering.
Poker's Anti-Stalling Enforcement Mechanism Is One Man Walking Over and Having a Word With You
09/14/26Justin Hammer, the Live Events Director for PokerAtlas and a tournament director at Thunder Valley, published a column on Sunday about meeting Lucas Jumalon, the reigning WSOP Main Event champion, at the WSOP Circuit stop running at Texas Card House in Austin. At an earlier Circuit event Hammer had been called to Jumalon's table as the floor, after players complained that he was taking a long time with a table break approaching. Hammer told him he thought the practice made the game miserable for recreational players. This weekend Jumalon reminded him of the conversation and said he no longer does it. Hammer wrote that he cleared the story with Jumalon before publishing, that he does not think he is an angler, and that he expects him to be a good ambassador for the game. The actual argument of the column is for shot clocks. A shot clock would have made the entire exchange unnecessary.
