The East Coast poker community recently received the sad news that David Goldberg (1949-2023), 74, passed away on July 22 due to complications with COVID.

Goldberg was a familiar face in Atlantic City during the early days of casinos in New Jersey. He was a fixture at the Taj Mahal and eventually the Borgata. In Atlantic City, Goldberg formed a friendship with Phil Ivey, who was just starting his poker career.

“David was just a terrific and generous person, and I knew him well during my time coming up the ranks in Atlantic City.”

– Phil Ivey

“David was just a terrific and generous person, and I knew him well during my time coming up the ranks in Atlantic City,” Ivey said. “David even co-signed my first car loan when I was 19 years old. He will be greatly missed by anyone that ever knew him”.

An avid poker player, Goldberg was known for winning a huge pot and saying “What did you think I had?”

When someone would tell him a bad-beat story, he would often remark that “10 to 1 is not 10 to none.”

According to The Hendon Mob, Goldberg amassed $183,595 in lifetime tournament earnings dating back to 1996. That included a career-best $86,440 for winning the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Event #27: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for an online gold bracelet.

David “lox10” Goldberg Wins 2021 WSOP Online Event #27: $1,000 PLO Championship ($86,440)

The Spirit of a Gambler

Born June 18, 1949, and originally from Margate, New Jersey, Goldberg majored in Business at NYU and graduated in 1971. He married his wife, Andi, in 1975, and two years later they welcomed their son, Larry.

Goldberg owned Atlantic City Linens, which did the laundry for most of the casinos there and in Connecticut in the 1980s. After selling the business, Goldberg turned his attention to supporting his son’s Boxing Insider website and promotion of live fight cards in New York City.

According to his obituary: “When he wasn’t working, he volunteered his time with Catholic Charities of Atlantic County, the Food Bank of Southern NJ, and JFS, among others, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Tisch MS Research Center of New York, and Linwood Country Club (where he served as President for over a decade).”

Goldberg was also said to be “born with the spirit of a gambler” and “instinctively gregarious.” In 1999, he finished fourth in the WSOP $1,500 Limit Hold’em event for $54,810

“Everyone loved David, and he would always help anyone that was down on their luck,” said friend Larry Bernstein. “Not just the poker community, he helped people in every aspect of life. David had a unique depth and understanding of what you were going through, and was the nicest, most loyal, and genuine person one could ever meet.”

Goldberg is survived by his wife Andi, his son Larry, and his brother Howard (Margaret), and sister Beth (Stan). He was cherished by his nephews, Dan, Eric, Michael, Jason, Matt, and Scott, and leaves behind a long list of adoring extended family and dear friends.

Goldberg was laid to rest last week at Shirat Hayam/Emeth Shalom Cemetery, Lincoln Road, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

Asia has always been a hotbed of poker action, with the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) long being the premier tour. The APPT is currently in the Philippines, Manila to be exact, for an action-packed festival running from July 27 through August 6.

PokerStars Live at Okada Manila is the venue for APPT Manila, an iconic integrated resort situated on a picturesque seafront. Hopefully, you will not get to see much of the stunning views because you will be too busy bulldozing your way through vast fields and helping yourself to more than your fair share of Philippines Pesos!

2023 PokerStars APPT Manila Key Events

• APPT Kickoff – July 27-29 – PHP 20,000 buy-in – PHP 3,000,000 guarantee
• APPT National – July 29-August 1 – PHP 35,000 buy-in – PHP 5,000,000 guarantee
• APPT Manila Super High Roller – August 1-2 – PHP 500,000 buy-in
• APPT Manila Main Event – August 3-6 – PHP 65,000 buy-in – PHP 20,000,000 guarantee
• APPT Superstack – August 5-6 – PHP 40,000 buy-in – PHP 2,000,000 guarantee
• APPT High Roller – August 5-6 – PHP 250,000 buy-in

The 2023 APPT Manila schedule has something for everyone, with buy-ins ranging from ₱10,000 ($180) right up to ₱500,000 ($9,090). Players heading to PokerStars Live at Okada Manila can battle in freezeout and re-entries, knockout and mystery bounty, No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and Short Deck events, and across turbos and hyper turbos.

2023 PokerStars APPT Manila Schedule

_{Approx. exchange rate is 55 Philippine Pesos to $1}

It is the APPT Manila Main Event that every player heading to the Philippines wants to take down. Costing ₱65,000 ($1,180) to enter and guaranteeing ₱20,000,000 ($363,000), the Main Event is the juiciest tournament on the schedule. This will be the ninth APPT Manila Main Event on record, and PokerNews’ Live Reporting team is on hand, bringing you all of the action from start to finish.

Singapore’s Xin Hua Lai is the APPT Manila Main Event’s reigning champion. Lai outlasted 800 opponents in August 2022, turning their ₱65,000 into ₱5,973,000 ($107,281) plus a seat at the 2023 PokerStars Players Showdown (PSPC). Hua struck a three-handed deal with Netherlands’ Thijs Hilberts (₱6,071,000 – $109,041) and fellow Singaporean Dhanesh Chainani (₱5,409,000 – $97,151)

Last year’s APPT Manila Main Event also had a 20,000,000 guarantee on its prize pool, but the event paid out ₱45,452,745, more than double what was advertised. PokerNews expects a similar scenario this time around, especially when you see how live poker is booming right now.

Past PokerStars APPT Manila Main Event Champions

Keep your browser locked to PokerNews throughout the 2023 APPT Manila Main Event (August 3-6) to discover the latest champion of this prestigious tournament.

The 2023 Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown has crowned its Main Event champion, and Finland’s Kai Lehto is the man who will forever be remembered as being the king of Tallinn.

The €1,100 buy-in Main Event attracted 564 players from across Europe and further afield, proving the lure of this incredible series is as strong as ever. Those entrants created a €530,160 prize pool that the top 71 finishers shared. A min-cashed weighed in at €2,000, progressing to the final table increased that payout to €7,700, with a cool €108,260 reserved for the eventual champion.

Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event Final Table Results

A double elimination late into Day 2 resulted in the money bubble bursting and the curtain coming down on proceedings. The surviving 71 in-the-money players bagged up for the night, knowing they had locked in at least a min-cash for their efforts.

Day 3 saw 71 players reduced to only ten over the course of 13 hours of intense poker action. Lehto bagged up the chip lead, but he had the chasing pack breathing down his neck.

Main Event Final Day Action

It did not take long for the official final table to be set because Tapio Altonen made a move for his last five big blinds with king-deuce and found himself up against Tarmo Tammel‘s suited ace-six. Tammel flopped an ace and faded a gutshot Broadway straight draw, sending Altonen home in tenth.

Ninth place went to Sweden’s Jakob Linden, who was down to a shade over 11 big blinds at the start of his final hand. Linden moved all-in with jack-ten of clubs from middle position, and Magnus Pukk called with ace-king in the small blind. Both players missed the flop, with the ace of club on the turn improving Pull to top pair, but it also gave Linden outs to a flush. Another ace on the river was no help to Linden, and his tournament ended.

A cooler of a hand sent Pukk to the showers in eighth. Pukk min-raised to 120,000 with king-queen, and Ville Keranen called with pocket sixes. The flop fell king-queen-six, and the writing was on the wall for one of the players. Pukk checked, Keranen jammed for 1,400,000, and Pukk called. The turn and river were bricks, and Pukk was gone.

Arponen Runs Into Aces

Pukk’s seat had not yet gone cold when Tomi Arponen found himself with fresh air where his chips once stood. Arponen open-shoved for 12 big blinds from under the gun with ace-four of diamonds. Unfortunately for him, Tammel was lying in wait with pocket aces. Tammel flopped top set on an all-heart board before improving to an unnecessary full house on the river.

The final six became five with the untimely demise of Mikael Haapaniemi. Urmo Velvelt opened to 175,000 during the 40,000/80,000/80,000a level, Germany’s Phil Gross called before Haapaniemi shoved for 1,400,000 shove. Velvelt ducked out of the way, but Gross found a call. It was king-jack for Gross against pocket fives, a typical coinflip scenario. A jack on the flop was more than enough to halt Haapaniemi in his tracks. Although disappointed not to win, Haapaniami did captured a Summer Showdown title, taking down the €250 NLH/PLO/PLO5 event earlier in the series.

The popular Tammel was the next player heading to the cashier’s desk, something he has done almost 70 times in events held at the Olympic Park Casino. Lehto min-raised to 200,000 from the cutoff, Gross responded with a three-bet to 500,000 on the button, only for Tammel to rip it in for 1,200,000 in the small blind. Lehto had seen enough and mucked, but Gross tossed in calling chips. Gross flipped over ace-six, and was way behind the dominating ace-king of serial casher, Tammel. That was until the board ran out to give Gross the most unlikely of ten-high straights, eliminating the dangerous Tammel in fifth place.

Keranen had managed to win a few flips to keep his head above water, but Lehto ended any hopes of a miraculous comeback. Blinds were now 50,000/125,000/125,000a, and Lehto min-raised to 250,000 with king-ten of diamonds. Keranen three-bet all-in for 2,300,000 with king-jack, and Lehto called. Lehto was rewarded with a ten on the flop, and Keranen crashed out when neither the turn nor river was a jack.

Heads-up was set when Velvelt had his snowmen melted by Gross. Gross moved all-in on the button with ace-jack, and Velvelt called off his last 15 big blinds with pocket eights. Velvelt’s hand remained the best on the flop and turn, but a cruel ace on the river ended his participation in this massive event.

That hand gifted Gross a substantial lead going into the one-on-one battle with Lehto. Gross’ stack was 12,600,000 chips deep compared to Lehto’s 4,325,000 arsenal. Lehto clawed his way almost level before winning a huge pot when his pair of kings held against a diamond flush draw.

However, Gross refused to throw in the towel. The final hand saw Gross min-raise to 400,000 with jack-nine, and Lehto defended his blinds with six-four offsuit. A nine-six-three flop saw Lehto check-call a 300,000 continuation bet. An eight on the turn saw Lehto check-call again, this time a chunkier 500,000 bet, which led them to another six on the turn. Lehto expertly checked his trip sixes, and Gross took the bait, firing a 1,300,000 bet. Lehto tanked before check-raising all-in. Gross did not believe Lehto’s story, but he should have, and he called, only to see his two pair was an expensive second-best hand.

Gross crashed out in second place for €72,700, leaving Lehto to capture the €108,260 top prize. Lehto loves Kings of Tallinn festivals, having reached the final table of a €1,100 Main Event in 2016 and having won a €3,000 High Roller in 2021. Lehto is now a Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown champion, a superb result that bagged the Finn his first six-figure haul.

WSOP Circuit Tallinn Runs September 14-24

Do not worry if you missed out on experiencing the Kings of Tallin Summer Showdown because the next major festival is right around the corner. The World Series of Poker Circuit Tallinn takes place between September 14-24 at the Olympic Park Casino in Tallinn, and it will be spectacular.

Players from far and wide will descend on the Estonian capital as they attempt to capture on of the 12 gold circuit rings on offer. One of those ring-awarding events in a €1,500 WSOPC Main Event, which comes with a €1 million guarantee on its prize pool! Watch this space for more details about the inaugural WSOPC Tallinn festival.

_{Lead image courtesy of Kings of Tallinn and Elena Task}

Espen Jorstad, last year’s world champion, came out victorious in the $40,000 Mystery Bounty event at the Triton Poker London series, a 133-entrant tournament.

Along the way, the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner defeated some stiff competition, including his heads-up opponent, Phil Ivey. The Norwegian poker pro took home $639,000 plus the bounties he opens on Monday. It was his first live tournament victory since last year’s WSOP Main Event.

World Series of Poker Champion Crushes it at Triton

The Mystery Bounty tournament came down to three poker legends — Jorstad, Ivey, and Stephen Chidwick. It would be difficult to find a more star-studded final three in any tournament. Following his victory, the 2022 world champion said, “the three-way was the craziest three-way I’ve ever played.”

During that three-handed play, the action was back-and-forth with all three players going from short stack to big stack multiple times. Jorstad would eventually send the short-stacked Chidwick home in third place ($287,000), creating a heads-up match against arguably the best poker player of all-time.

Ivey held a fairly sizable heads-up advantage when play began, but neither player had above 28 big blinds. Jorstad quickly took over the lead and then on the final hand he was all in with K♦J♠ against K♥2♥ preflop. The best hand held up, giving Jorstad his first Triton title while denying Ivey his fifth.

“Playing heads up against Ivey, the biggest legend of the game in my opinion, just makes it even more special,” Jorstad said in his post-game interview, “I’m extremely grateful for all the run good I’ve had on the last three years. It’s insane.”

Despite being unable to claim first place, the Poker Hall of Famer received $434,000 as a consolation prize and now has over $39 million in lifetime live tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob. Jorstad, on the other hand, surpassed $11.5 million in cashes, easily making him Norway’s all-time leader (Felix Vincent Stephensen is second with $5.8 million).

Both players still have an opportunity to add on to their scores. On Monday, the mystery bounty envelopes will be drawn with the top prize of $400,000 to be awarded to one lucky player. Triton London also kicked off a $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed tournament on Sunday. There were 112 players registered on Day 1, 42 of which advanced to Day 2. Ignacio Moron Chavero bagged the chip lead but has less than one big blind more than Leon Sturm, a 2023 WSOP bracelet winner.

Triton Poker Mystery Bounty Final Table Results