WPT Ambassadors Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen are preparing to host one of their famous Meet-Up Games (MUG) at the upcoming WPT Prime Cambodia festival. WPT Prime returns to NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh, Cambodia between March 9-21, with Neeme and Owen’s eagerly anticipated Meet-Up Game pencilled in for March 15.

March 15 at 1:00 p.m. local time is when the latest Meet-Up Game kicks off. At least 12 tables of $1/$3 and $2/$5 No-Limit Hold’em cash games will run, with Neeme and Owen playing at the 5-star hotel and luxury casino, giving cash game players and fans of their pair’s vlogs a chance to rub shoulders with them. Following the cash game action, Neeme and Owen are hosting a meet and greet from 8:30-10:00 p.m. complete with complimentary food and drinks.

Neeme was in the southeast Asia in 2022 when the WPT Prime tour stopped off in Cambodia.

“I had the pleasure of traveling to Cambodia last year, and it was an unforgettable experience with great food, great people, and great poker. I’m happy to have the opportunity to return and excited to run back the Meet-Up Game.”

Owen was not in Cambodia last year. Indeed, this coming March will be the first time the popular pro has played poker in the Asian country.

“After hearing about Andrew’s time in Cambodia, I really wanted to make the trip as well. I couldn’t let him have all the fun! The MUG is going to be a great time and I’m also pumped to play some tournament poker in Cambodia for the first time.”

The MUG takes place one day before the $1,100 buy-in WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event, a five-day affair boasting a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. It is likely the guarantee will be blown out of the water, at least if the 2022 edition of the WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event is anything to go by.

In August 2022, some 1,050 players bought in and created a $1,008,100 prize pool. Philippines’ David Erquiaga triumphed in the 2022 WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event and walked away with $137,008 plus a $10,400 seat to the WPT World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas. The high-volume pro defeated Taiwan’s Chi Je Chu heads-up, resigning the runner-up to a $120,980 consolation prize. Third-place finisher Junnie Pamplona banked $106,482, the Main Event’s other six-figure payout.

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Fabrice Bigot Tops Bumper WPT Prime Paris Main Event Field (€177,240)

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You might not know, but there are no casinos in Paris!

Instead, you can show off your poker skills or have fun with table games at one of the French capital’s gaming clubs. With the first European Poker Tour Paris in history just around the corner, let’s take a look at the relationship between Paris and gambling.

Stay up to date with all the action at EPT Paris

The turbulent arrival of gambling in Paris

The French have always been gamblers and in the early 16th century, lotteries could be found throughout the French states. They were so successful that they were even banned in Paris in 1598 and 1661, only to return in 1700 following the creation of a national lottery. It was, officially at least, the only game allowed in the capital. Unofficially, clandestine gambling houses were still “the place to be” and all the high aristocracy mixed there.

The closest game to poker at the time is thought to have been poque, which spread to France in the 17th century. Poque was based on a 16th-century Spanish game, primero, in which each player was dealt three cards and bluffing was a key element of the game.

The appeal of the game grew further following the French Revolution and by the end of the 19th century many ‘cercles’, modelled on the English gambling clubs, had sprung up in Paris and in the seaside resorts frequented by the bourgeoisie.

It was not until the 20th century, in 1907, that the state resigned itself to legalising gambling activities in France in an attempt to keep control. Poker and table games first appeared in casinos in seaside resorts, then in 1923 in private circles, but still not in Paris! For fear of creating public disorder in the capital, the State banned all casinos within a 100-kilometre radius, with the exception of the spa town of Enghien-les-Bains.

“Ginormous” PCA Sets the Tone for 2023 Ahead of EPT Paris says Walsh

The rise of poker and gambling in Paris and then its sudden end in the 2000s

In order to fight against illegal gambling, the Ministry of the Interior eventually changed its mind and granted special dispensations authorising a few gaming circles. This was the beginning of the golden age of gambling in Paris. At the end of the Second World War, the French rediscovered their love for gambling and in the 20th century there were a good dozen “cercles” in Paris; Aviation Club de France, Cercle Haussmann, Cercle Wagram, Cercle Anglais, Cercle Clichy-Montmartre, l’Industrie, Cercle Gaillon and so on…to name only the most famous.

What could you play? At first, there were the traditional table games and games against the bank, but no poker or games such as blackjack, roulette or slot machines, as games of pure chance were forbidden. The historic ACF was the first gaming club to open a poker room in France in 1995. Three years later, the first Grand Prix de Paris was organised, bringing together poker players from around the world.

But this truce with the government did not last long. These establishments were run as associations under the French law of 1901, officially non-profit, which ended up being a problem. Faced with the opaque accounting of some circles, the State began to fight against these places in the 2000s.

As a result of increasingly stringent regulations, the circles closed their doors one after the other. The Cercle Clichy Montmartre was the last establishment to close its doors in autumn 2018, sounding the end, temporarily, of the long history of Parisian gaming circles.

January 1, 2018: the return of gambling in Paris

Farewell to the gaming cercles, hello to the gaming clubs! In 2018, the State authorises the reopening of gambling establishments in Paris under certain conditions and on an experimental basis. Instead of “cercles”, they will now be gambling clubs, organised under a commercial company system with an auditor.

Seven establishments opened their doors:

In July 2020, the Club Pierre Charron also opened. A stone’s throw from the Champs-Elysées they offer cash game tables and several table games such as Poker 21, Baccarat or Punto Banco but still no slot machines, blackjack or roulette.

Poker tournaments returned to the capital in small steps with a few small events in 2019, then in 2020, no less than 10 festivals were organised before the covid pandemic hit the world.

The government gives the green light for table games to reopen in Paris in June 2021. And now since November 2022, four new games are authorised in Parisian establishments, Black Jack, Craps, Sic-bo (a dice game of Chinese origin) and Bingo.

Finally, after the grand return to Paris of the World Poker Tour in 2023, which has been taking place since 22 January and until 5 February at the Club Circus Paris, it was PokerStars who announced last December that the very first European Poker Tour would be held in the capital from 15 to 26 February. The festival will be held at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile, in partnership with Le Club Barrière Paris, which is housed at the iconic 104 Avenue des Champs-Elysées.

Chris Moneymaker has been forced to cease poker operations at his Kentucky card room, Moneymaker Social Club, following threats of criminal action from local authorities.

The poker room, located in Paducah, had just opened in September and had originally received approval from the then McCracken County Attorney Sam Clymer. But Clymer’s replacement, Cade Foster, has reversed course on the decision to allow Moneymaker Social Club to continue spreading poker games.

Chris Moneymaker to Open KY Poker Room

Why Moneymaker Social Club was Forced to Close

Moneymaker, who potentially would have faced misdemeanor and felony charges related to illegal gambling — gambling is illegal in Kentucky — told PokerNews in an exclusive interview that will be available on this week’s upcoming episode of the PokerNews Podcast what happened and what his plans are now with the business he invested hundreds of thousands to open less than a year ago.

“We’ve decided to pull out the poker tables and shut down the poker part of the business,” Moneymaker said. “Actually, that’s the biggest part of the business right now.”

“We had grumblings last week that the (district attorney) was going to press charges and it could have gotten myself and some of my staff in trouble potentially.”

Moneymaker Social Club operates similarly to card rooms in Texas in that dealers don’t scoop rake out of the pots. Instead, they charge membership and seat fees to players. For the time being, the business will continue to operate as a social club (food, pool tables, etc.), just without the poker, and that is how the 2003 poker champion will be able to keep his workers on staff. Well, at least for now.

“We had grumblings last week that the (district attorney) was going to press charges and it could have gotten myself and some of my staff in trouble potentially,” Moneymaker explained. “So, on the err of caution, we decided to shut it down.”

Between September, when his business license was approved, and now, something clearly changed. Moneymaker shared his thoughts on why his club is now being targeted.

“(Before we opened) we went and talked to the county attorney, Sam Clymer, and he wrote a big, nice long 10-12 page document saying that everything that we’re going to be doing in the room is completely, 100% legal.”

The former poker champ, who was largely responsible for the poker boom era growth in the 2000s, said that back before he opened Moneymaker Social Club’s doors he received the blessing of McCracken County and the City of Paducah, a small blue-collar town of about 27,000 residents.

“So we opened in September using this letter, and it’s perfectly fine, no one has said a word to us. We never heard one negative thing about the room.”

Moneymaker then said that a few months ago he’d applied for a liquor license through the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Control (ABC). It was then when things turned south for his new business.

“Initially, it looked like (the ABC) was going to approve us, but we ended up getting declined,” Moneymaker said. “Fast forward about two months to basically this last week, I guess the ABC, the Alcoholic Beverage Commission of Kentucky had written a letter and sent it to the new county attorney, a guy by the name of Cade (Foster).”

Foster, who was voted in as county attorney in November after Clymer declined to run for reelection, received the liquor license letter recently. The liquor license was declined, as Moneymaker explained, due to the ABC recognizing that gambling is illegal in Kentucky.

So, according to the Poker Hall of Famer, Foster presumably then began “looking into what we are doing,” but admits he isn’t certain exactly what caused the county attorney to change his mind about the legality of Moneymaker Social Club.

Moneymaker said in the PokerNews Podcast interview that Foster was aware of his business model before stepping into his current role, and had told the poker player he approved of the social poker club model.

PokerNews reached out to Foster for comment but hadn’t received a return call at the time of publishing.

Check out our player profile on Chris Moneymaker here!

What’s Next for Chris Moneymaker as a Business Owner

While Moneymaker was in England last week at the iGB Affiliate Awards, his attorney reached out to Foster’s office to make a deal that he’d avoid criminal charges in exchange for shutting down the poker aspect of the business. He also asked for permission to finish up a $50,000 guaranteed tournament his club was running first. Both requests were granted.

On top of avoiding criminal prosecution, the business owner wanted to ensure his employees weren’t stuck without jobs. As he explained in the interview, he is now considering alternatives such as, perhaps, turning the establishment into a pool hall and bar, or possibly something else. But he still hopes to one day be able to legally bring poker back to Moneymaker Social Club.

“As of right now now, we are going to continue to be open,” Moneymaker said. “I’m going to pay the employees, give them a place to work. It’s not their fault that the county attorney had a change of heart.”

He also said, however, that he doesn’t know how long the doors will remain open. Without poker, the main revenue stream, he can’t predict what will happen with the business financially.

“It depends on if we can find a sustainable business model that will generate enough revenue to pay for our employees,” Moneymaker said in regards to his ability to remain in business.

He admitted that it will be challenging going forward without having poker or alcohol to offer. But he’s hopeful he can figure something out to keep the doors open, keep his workers employed, and perhaps one day bring back legal poker to Moneymaker Social Club.

You can hear the full 30-minute interview with Chris Moneymaker on Thursday’s PokerNews Podcast.

Earlier this month, the poker world received the news that longtime grinder Mike McClain passed away from stomach cancer.

McClain had a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and previously worked in the computer industry before taking up poker full-time.

“Mike had been a poker mentor to me. Just listening to him describe hands made me a much better player,” poker author Lee Jones, a friend of McClain’s, shared in a remembrance on Poker.org. “He would drive down from his home in the Sacramento area and sit in Bay 101’s $60-120 LHE game for a few days, make enough money to last a month, then drive home.”

Lee explained that McClain, who was diagnosed in 2021, recently make the decision to end chemo and spend his remaining days with family and friends.

“Mike didn’t make decisions like most people do, but in the years I knew him, he made many more correct decisions than he made wrong ones,” Lee added. “His last important decision was certainly tougher than any of us would want to face, but I’ve no doubt that Mike made the right decision for himself and his family – that’s all that matters.”

According to the Hendon Mob, McClain had $1,303,837 in lifetime tournament earnings including a career-best of $470,400 for finishing ninth in the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. In fact, it was that tournament where he first got major time in the poker spotlight thanks in no small part to battling with eventual champ Greg Raymer.

Aces Cracked at 2004 WSOP Final Table

At the final table of the 2004 WSOP, which can be viewed on demand at PokerGO, McClain looked down at the and raised to 150,000. Raymer looked down at the on the button and three-bet to 500,000. Both blinds folded and McClain moved all in.

Raymer called and got lucky when the flop came to give him a set. The turn meant a nine would chop it, but the river was a brick to eliminate McClain.

“In my limited interactions with him, what probably stood out the most was just how well he took the bad beat I gave him at the final table,” Raymer told PokerNews after learning of McClain’s passing. “While obviously disappointed, he was calm and composed, and never had a bad word to say about any of it. He honestly seemed to handle it as perfectly as possible. Instead of focusing on the bad luck of that hand, he kept in mind all of the good luck that got him that far and helped him win almost half a million dollars. I doubt even 2% of all poker players could have handled it as well, and that is a great testament to him and his skill at poker.”

Raymer added: “I ran into him several times after that final table, and he was always a super nice guy, very calm and quiet. I think what stood out to me the most about Mike was his clearly obvious intelligence. Somehow, even if he had hardly said a word, you just knew he was brilliant.”

Other highlights on McClain’s poker résumé included $182,900 for taking fifth in the 2007 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker, $99,648 for finishing ninth in the 2006 WPT LA Poker Classic, and $53,777 for placing fourth in the 2008 WSOP Circuit Lake Tahoe $5,150 Main Event. His last documented tournament cash came in March 2020 when he placed 16th in the Bay 101 Shooting Star $5,200 Main Event for $17,595.

PokerNews offers condolences to the friends and family of Mike McClain, who will be sorely missed by the poker world.

_{*2004 WSOP images courtesy of PokerGO broadcast.}

Executive Editor U.S.

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

Actress Jennifer Tilly starred on Tuesday’s High Stakes Poker episode, but her role was that of an unlucky poker player.

Season 10 Episode 4 brought about some juicy pots and solid table banter. Chino Rheem picked up some hands and came out swinging. Jean-Robert Bellande couldn’t pull the trigger on a river bluff with ace-high against Matt Hanks in a $100,000 pot and lost to a small pair at showdown, and Ema Zajmovic paid off a $20,000 bet on the river with a 10-high flush against Rheem’s king-high flush. But Tilly brought most of the action during this action-packed episode.

Jennifer Tilly was recently inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame!

Jennifer Tilly Came to Play Poker

Tilly was on quite the roller coaster ride throughout the 45-minute show. She won some pots, she lost some pots, but the biggest ones didn’t go her way, especially a monster pot she played against Bellande.

In that hand, with an $800 straddle on and a few limpers in the pot, the Bride of Chucky star made it $10,000 from the small blind with . Only “JRB,” who was holding in the big blind, called.

The flop was , giving Bellande middle set. Tilly, who didn’t improve on that flop, bet out $15,000, and this is where the hand went off the rails. Bellande raised it up to $40,000, and then Tilly came in for an aggressive re-raise to $125,000, turning her pocket pair into a bluff.

Aggression often pays off in no-limit Texas hold’em, but not when your opponent has the second nuts. Bellande didn’t waste any time moving all in for $281,000, and both players had almost identical stacks. There wasn’t anything Tilly could do at that point other than to fold her hand.

In a hand against Rheem, the Hollywood star bet $10,000 with on a board of , which gave her a flush and straight draw. Her opponent, however, flopped a set of deuces and raised it up to $25,000.

Tilly wasn’t going anywhere with 12 outs, so she made the call and hit the worst card in the deck for her hand against a set — . When Rheem bet $21,000, she paid it off and then saw the bad news.

Tilly didn’t lose every hand she played, however. She flopped two pair against Bobby Baldwin in another hand and scooped a $60,000 pot when the former poker world champion failed to connect on his straight draw.

“The Magician” Returns to Action

At the end of the Episode 4, PokerGO teased next Tuesday’s show, which includes a slight but major change at the table. Antonio Esfandiari will appear in the game, which should create some action.

“The Magician” has mostly retired from poker and hasn’t played much the past couple of years since becoming a father. Esfandiari was a regular on High Stakes Poker during the show’s early years on Game Show Network in the 2000s.

Later in the season, numerous old-school pros such as Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Ivey will appear. The 10th season has already undergone some significant changes, most notably the retirement of legendary broadcaster Gabe Kaplan, who was subsequently replaced by Nick Schulman.

High Stakes Poker Season 10 returns next week on PokerGO at 5 p.m. PT with Episode 5.

Gabe Kaplan Retires from High Stakes Poker

Past High Stakes Poker Recaps

Check out our past recaps from Season 10 of High Stakes Poker on PokerGO:

_{*Images courtesy of PokerGO.}

888poker is giving you a chance to join the fun and excitement of the 888poker LIVE tour by winning a $2,000 package to a destination of your choice. The 888poker LIVE Passport promotion is in full swing, and it is so easy to get involved with that every 888poker customer should try to win a package.

The 888poker LIVE Passport promotion is giving away two 888poker LIVE packages worth $2,000 each. Those packages are awarded in the Ultimate Passport Tournament at 8:00 p.m. GMT on March 4. Finish in the top two of the Ultimate Passport Tournament, and a $2,000 888poker LIVE package is all yours. The only way to gain access to this special freeroll is to complete one of the following three challenges before March 4

888poker Shares Schedule for One of a Kind Mystery Bounty Festival

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888poker Casts The Wizard’s Spell and Gives Away $300,000

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Each of the eight finalists locked up five-figure sums, but the tournament belonged to Spain’s Adrian Garcia, who received a bankroll-boosting €92,000 after he came out on top and became a poker champion in Spain.

888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event Final Table Results

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Cash Climber Prize Wheel Breakdown

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You need a Bet365 Poker account to get involved in the Cash Climber promotion. Those of you that already have an account can fire up the Bet365 Poker software, opt-in, and make your predictions. Anyone reading this without an account can download Bet365 Poker via PokerNews and become eligible for a sizable welcome package.

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For the second straight day, Phil Hellmuth lost six figures on a live-stream, but on Tuesday night’s Live at the Bike show, he quit the game after losing a monster pot to Eric Hicks.

Robbi Jade Lew, making her first live-stream appearance since the infamous Sept. 29 Hustler Casino Live stream, was originally expected to be the headliner for the game. But that all changed in the middle of the session thanks to one $285,000 pot.

Hicks Breaks Hellmuth

Hellmuth, who bought in for $300,000, couldn’t catch a break the first few hours of the game and was down around $80,000 before picking up the aggression. He’d chopped about $30,000 off his losses within just a few hands. And then it all fell apart.

Matt Berkey started the fireworks by three-betting to $5,500 with in the big blind. Hicks, aka the “Mad Genius,” the original raiser from under the gun with , four-bet to $20,000. Hellmuth then just called with in the hijack, and Berkey folded.

The flop came out , giving Hicks the nutter-butters. He refrained from slow-playing and fired out a bet of $20,000, to which his opponent made the call. Both players saw the on the turn, ending any hope for a “Poker Brat” suck-out. Still with the nuts, Hicks bet $50,000 and again received a call.

When the on the river brought four cards to a flush, it killed some of the action. But Hicks was still intent on maximizing value, so he bet $50,000 for the second consecutive time. Despite not having a diamond in his hand, Hellmuth ended up surprisingly making the call and lost the $285,000 pot.

Immediately after the hand, he stood up from his seat, grabbed his chips, and exited the game about three hours into the stream down about $195,000. Some of the players at the table needled the Poker Hall of Famer on the way out.

“Are you sure, Phil? The only way to get out of a deep hole is to keep digging,” Lew joked as Hellmuth left Parkwest Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.

“At least he handled it well,” Berkey sarcastically said.

Hellmuth would return 30 minutes later to shake hands with the players and record a segment for Bally’s Big Bet Poker, a Bally Sports cable TV poker show that films during Live at the Bike streams.

Upon his brief return to the live-stream, Lew asked the “Poker Brat” if he will be back in the game on Wednesday night. Hellmuth, who was originally scheduled to play three straight nights, told the table he won’t be playing the next two days due to running so bad the last two sessions. He lost over $150,000 during Monday’s Hustler Casino Live show, his largest on live-stream in a decade.

Shortly after the hand, Hicks mentioned that he was disappointed the fourth diamond hit on the river because he felt he otherwise could have gotten Hellmuth’s remaining $105,000 stack. But he can’t complain much about it because moments later he coolered “Aussie Al” with on a flop of against . The board would run out and , which saved “Aussie Al” a bit, but he did still pay off a $20,000 bet on the river.

Honoring Robbi, Berkey Bluffs it Off

With a jack-four bounty on at the table, Berkey attempted to make a play with the hand that Lew called Garrett Adelstein with in the 2022 Hustler Casino Live controversial hand.

Berkey three-bet preflop with the infamous hand to $7,000 and Hicks decided to slow-play his pocket kings and just called. The flop came out and the preflop raiser continued for the same bet, and he received a call.

The turn was a , giving Berkey a pair, but he opted to check. Hicks, however, ripped off a sizable bet of $15,000, which didn’t convince his opponent to fold.

When the appeared on the river, Berkey found an opportunity to pull off a bluff, and he jammed all in for $61,000. Unfortunately, for the Solve for Why founder, Hicks is a mad genius and found the call. It appears that only Robbi Jade Lew knows how to win big pots with jack-four.

The One Drop Foundation and the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced a partnership agreement to collaborate on charitable initiatives within the poker community.

Both organizations have a strong commitment to philanthropy. One Drop, founded by former high-stakes poker player Guy Laliberte, who also founded Cirque du Soleil, is a nonprofit that provides the underprivileged around the world access to safe drinking water.

Check out the WPT Hub on PokerNews here!

One Drop’s Poker Connection

The Canadian-based organization has long promoted its initiatives through poker, and the poker community has stepped up to help raise money for the good causes. In 2012, 2014, and 2018, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) hosted the first ever $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop events in Las Vegas. A portion of each buy-in went to the helping people all around the world get access to safe drinking water, a cause Laliberte, and new CEO Jean-Louis Dufresne, is passionate about.

Since 2012, the WSOP has also hosted annual lower cost charity bracelet One Drop events ranging from $1,111 to $111,111. The WPT and One Drop have together raised over $70 million for various global causes over the years. Laliberte set out a goal of donating $100 million (CAD) to the organization over 25 years when he started the nonprofit in 2007.

“WPT has always committed to giving back to those in need both locally and globally,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “Through the World Poker Tour Foundation™, we have utilized our position in the poker community to raise millions of dollars in funding for non-profit organizations, and we are eager to continue this charitable thread by teaming up with the incredible One Drop Foundation.”

The WPT also has an extensive history raising money for useful causes. Over the past decade, the World Poker Tour Foundation has raised more than $45 million for over three-dozen charities, including the NASCAR Foundation, Special Olympics, and the Conservation International.

“The One Drop Foundation has raised more than $25 million through poker events over the past decade,” said Alexandre Meunier, One Drop Foundation’s Chief Marketing and Events Officer. “We now look forward to the next milestone in our mission to improve access to safe water and living conditions for millions across the globe. We are confident the World Poker Tour is the ideal partner to help us achieve that goal, hand in hand with the global poker community.”

The partnership, according to a press release, will include premier events hosted by WPT casino partners around the world. Further details will be released in the near future.