888poker remains the only online poker site running daily mystery bounty tournaments, and the only site that offers its players the chance to win a share of $100,000 every Sunday in huge mystery bounty event: the $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event.

The latest edition of the $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event saw a field of 908, made up of 725 unique players and 183 re-entries, fight it out for a share of $100,000. Half the pot was paid out in a traditional payment structure, with the remaining 50% divvied up into sealed golden envelopes and awarded after each elimination from Level 18 onwards.

$100,000 Mystery Bounty Prizes

The biggest mystery bounty this week was worth an impressive $10,000, and it went to the United Kingdom’s “xxkim62.” The Brit busted in 21st place for a $255 score, but that five-figure mystery bounty meant xxkim62 walked away with $10,448 in total, which was the largest payout of the tournament.

Other big winners from the mystery bounty pool included 19th place finisher “pokanuktus” and 12th place finisher “diego7791” who opened envelopes containing $3,000 prizes.

888poker Ambassador Alexandre “Cavalito” Mantovani Sets His Sights on Crushing 2023

$100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results

Nobody at the nine-handed final table took home less than $1,116 for their $109 investment. “Dar1nskas” of Lithuania bowed out in ninth and received that sum. Montenegro’s “Hvalavam” and Romanian “ieduiezilor” were the next players heading for the exits, doing so with total prizes worth $1,357 and $2,528, respectively.

“Sim0nK,” also of Lithuania, fell in fifth for $3,191, with two Brazilians crashing out in quick succession and leaving only two players in the hunt for the title; “joelmito” ($3,608) and “GiordanoKK” ($4,823) being those busted Samba stars.

Heads-up pitted Germany’s “alligatorboy” against “blachu3232” of Argentina. Blachu3232 had alligatorboy on the ropes for a large part of the one-on-one battle, and eventually clinched the title when their pocket sixes flopped a set and rivered a boat to stay way ahead of their opponent’s queen-ten. Blachu3232 won the $200 mystery bounty that was on the head of alligatorboy plus the $140 that started on their head, taking their total bounty haul to $1,390 and their overall prize $9,130.

“AMG_people” Comes from Behind to Win 2023 888poker XL Winter Series Main Event

Win Your $109 Mystery Bounty Main Event Seat for $0.10

Don’t worry of the $109 buy-in for the $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event is too steep for your bankroll, there are plenty of satellites feeding into this week’s game. The tournament shuffles up and deals at 7:00 p.m. GMT on February 12, so you have some time to capture a seat.

If you are VIP Level 40 or above, there is a freeroll at 3:45 p.m. GMT on February 11 that has 50x $109 seats in its prize pool. A more traditional manner to win a seat is via the $16.50 buy-in satellites that frequently run and have up to five seats guaranteed. You can play your way into the $16.50 satellites for as little as $0.10!

Start Your 888poker Journey With a Free $88 and a $400 Bonus

Now is the perfect time to join 888poker if you have not already done so because you need an 888poker account to get involved in the $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event! Download 888poker via PokerNews, create your free account, and 888poker will give you a free $88 worth of cash game and tournament tickets – this is a free £20 for residents of the United Kingdom – just for reaching this stage.

Your first deposit is matched 100% up to $400 in the form or a releasable bonus. You have 90 days to release as much bonus as you can. Contact 888poker support for more details.

How well do you know the English Premier League? Do you think you can predict the outcomes of the weekend’s fixtures? If you do, the Bet365 Premium League could be the poker promotion that is perfect for you. Putting your Premier League knowledge to the test could see you walk away with up to €1,000 every week during the 2022-23 Premier League season.

The Bet365 Premium League combines online poker challenges with football match predictions. First, head to your Bet365 Poker account and head to the missions section. Once here, opt-in to the Premium League promotion; you must do this each week otherwise, your predictions will not count. You’ll find a handful of upcoming Premier League fixtures that require your attention. Simply predict whether the game will end in a home win, an away victory, or a draw, complete your poker-related mission, and you’ll earn one leaderboard point for each logged prediction and three points if that prediction comes true in the actual fixture.

Finish at the top of the weekly leaderboard and Bet365 Poker hands you €1,000 in cash to do with as you please. The €1,000 prize is shared equally among all players in the result of there being a tie at the top. It is a simple yet potentially lucrative promotion that is open to all Bet365 customers.

Start Your Bet365 Career With a €365 Welcome Bonus

You need a Bet365 Poker account to get involved in the Premium League 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.

Regardless of the size of your initial deposit, new Bet365 Poker customers receive a €365 redeemable bonus that releases into your account as you play real money cash games and tournaments. You receive 10 Status Points for every €1 or £1 you contribute to the cash game rake or pay in tournament fees.

The first two €2.50 bonus payments release into your playable balance once you earn 25 and 50 Status Points, respectively. The following 24 increments land in your account each time you earn 100 Status Points, with the remaining installments redeeming after every 250 Status Points earned.

In addition to the €365 bonus, you also reel in a €1 Twister ticket, a free spin on the Welcome Prize Wheel, and some special welcome missions where you earn one-off prizes

The 30th Anniversary Los Angeles Poker Classic (LAPC) at The Commerce continues into February before the festival wraps up on March 5. This week, legendary actor James Woods and Razz specialist Lynda Tran teamed up to take down Event #45 $600 Partners HEROS.

The duo takes home $1,700 each after getting through a field of 19 teams and defeating Robert Turner and Larry Ziman during heads-up play.

The victory gives the Once Upon a Time in America and Salvador star his third LAPC title after winning $1,100 Omaha 8 or Better for $21,065 in 2016 and $570 Triple Triple Draw in 2019 for $7,560. Fellow Los Angeles native Tran, meanwhile, picks up her first LAPC title after several final table appearances.

The HEROES event, a play on the popular HORSE format, featured Hold’em with a Tag Team twist, Stud, Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Razz and Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. Others who cashed in the event include Henry Ferguson III and Jorge Alba (3rd – $1,750) and Kathy Chang and Daniel Geyser (4th – $1,150).

LAPC Event #45 $600 Partners HEROS Final Table Results

Woods is not the only legend to run hot at LAPC as earlier in the series 86-year-old Perry Green took down $400 Mixed Omaha for $7,020 and his first tournament victory in 35 years.

Read about Perry Green winning his first tournament in 35 Years at LAPC!

Woods & Tran Crushing Mixed Games

Woods, who in addition to being a legendary actor is a regular in the LA poker scene and at the WSOP, was already having a strong series heading into this week’s HEROES event. Earlier in the month, Woods finished seventh in the $400 TOE event for $750 and fifth in the $400 BEAST event for $1,060.

Tran, whose Twitter biography notes her to have been the “#1 Female Razz Player” of 2022, finished runner-up in Event #73: $1,500 Razz at the 2022 WSOP to Daniel Strelitz as Tran took home a career-best $71,527.

A big portion of Tran’s Hendon Mob cashes dating back to 2010 come from mixed game events, including a fourth-place finish in $350 Triple Stud at the 2019 LAPC and an eighth-place finish in the $2,140 HORSE event at the following year’s festival.

There’s plenty of action ahead at the 30th Anniversary LAPC with dozens of events still to come, including the $100,000 guaranteed “Remington” No-Limit Hold’em event that will get close out the series.

For more information about the LAPC, visit www.commercecasino.com/tournament/los-angeles-poker-classic.

_{Lead image courtesy of Commerce Casino}

While we await the return of Garrett Adelstein, the woman he accused of cheating on Hustler Casino Live in September — Robbi Jade Lew — has already planned her first appearance on live-stream since the incident, and it will be Valentine’s Day on Live at the Bike.

Joining the game will be Phil Hellmuth whose infamous appearance on LATB in August was heavily criticized when he bought in for only a fraction of the top stacks. He’s since vowed to only buy in for $300,000 or more when he competes on live-streamed poker shows going forward.

Robbi Sends a Message

Although the “Poker Brat” is almost always a headliner when he appears on TV or a live-stream, that won’t necessarily be the case next week. Lew, who teased a possible return to Hustler Casino Live in December, has decided that her live-stream return will instead be on Live at the Bike for three straight days beginning Feb. 14.

The social media account for the longest-standing live-streamed poker show at Parkwest Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles tweeted out a video with Lew promoting the event, as did Hellmuth.

According to info provided to PokerNews from Live at the Bike, Hellmuth is scheduled to play all three days (14th, 15th, and 16th) and, yes, he has committed to buying in for $300,000. The blinds will start at $100/$200/$200 along with straddles the first two nights and then $50/$100/$100 plus straddles the third evening.

A full roster hasn’t yet been determined but poker pro and commentator Maria Ho is slated to play the 15th and 16th, streamer Kevin Martin will play the 16th, and LATB regular Aussie Al is scheduled for all three days. Expect the full lineups to be announced soon.

Where’s Garrett?

On Sep. 29, Adelstein accused Lew of cheating during the infamous Hustler Casino Live stream. He emphatically claimed she somehow had access to his hole cards when she called off a six-figure bet on the turn with nothing but jack-high (Jx4x) and no draw while he was semi-bluffing with eight-high on a draw.

The hand took on a life of its own, and the accusations reached mainstream non-poker media. Many poker fans and even non-poker fans accused Lew of cheating, but she has maintained her innocence ever since. No hard proof was ever discovered against her, and she’s remained in the spotlight at times since, competing in some tournaments including the record-setting WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December.

As for Adelstein, outside of the occasional random tweet and an interview with The Los Angeles Times, he’s been non-existent in the poker world since the alleged cheating incident. But he did tweet out the possibility of returning to action in May when Hustler Casino Live hosts a $1 million buy-in cash game.

It’s unlikely we’ll see Adelstein and Lew at the same table any time soon, if ever again. But it appears we are getting close to the return of both of them in live-streamed high-stakes poker games.

The nominees for the 4th annual Global Poker Awards have been announced and several players are in the running to pick up multiple awards, including two-time GPI award winner Jamie Kerstetter as well as World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Espen Jorstad and content creators Ethan “Rampage” Yau, Caitlin Comeskey and Marle Spragg, the latter four of whom are after their first awards.

Voting panels in 17 categories completed the process earlier this month and this week the final four of the fan’s choice categories were also announced. There are plenty of previous GPI award winners among the nominees, including players like Stephen Chidwick, Daniel Negreanu, Brad Owen and Lex Veldhuis as well as industry professionals like Matt Savage, Paul Campbell and Jeff Platt.

The winners of each category will be announced at the live-streamed Global Poker Awards inside PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas on March 3 at 5:30 p.m. local time.

For more information about the 4th annual Global Poker Awards, visit www.globalpokerindex.com/awards.

Read about the 3rd annunal Global Poker Awards!

Full 4th Global Poker Awards Nominees

Here is a list of all the nominees for the 4th Global Poker Awards:

Fans Choice – Best Trophy

• EPT Main Event Trophy
• PGT Stairway to Millions Trophy
• WPA – Women’s Poker Association
• WSOP Main Event Bracelet

In the race for best trophy, the golden European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event trophy faces off against the winding PokerGO Tour Stairway to Millions trophy and the suggestive Women’s Poker Association (WPA) trophy, as well as the iconic WSOP Main Event Bracelet.

Fans Choice: Fave Livestream

• EPT Live – PokerStarsLive
• King’s Casino Livestream
• Hustler Casino Live
• Poker at the Lodge

2022 was dominated by live streams as live poker bounced back at casinos and card rooms around the US.

The frontrunner in the live stream race is Hustler Casino Live, which drew mainstream attention with its content creator game and the jack-four hand seen around the world.

However, the other nominees are all worthy contenders, including the EPT Live – PokerStarsLive broadcast handled by James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton, the King’s Casino Livestream and always entertaining Poker at the Lodge.

People’s Choice for Poker Personality

• Ryan DePaulo
• Felipe Mojave Ramos
• Lex Veldhuis
• Ethan “Rampage” Yau

Content creators made up the final four of the People’s Choice for Poker Personality race, including vloggers Ryan DePaulo and Ethan “Rampage” Yau and streamers Felipe Ramos of GGPoker and Lex Veldhuis of PokerStars.

Yau and DePaulo were both nominated for Best Vlogger last year but lost out to Brad Owen, while Veldhuis is after his second award after being named Streamer of the Year in 2019.

Fans Choice – Best Hand

• Daniel Negreanu hits runner-runner quads on way to SHRB victory
• David Diaz lays down absolute monster on Day 7 of WSOP Main Event
• PapoMC pulls monster bluff in WSOP Main Event
• Wild J4 vs 89 hand between Robbi Jade Lew and Garrett Adelstein

Leading the way in the Best Hand category is the wild jack-four hand between Robbi Jade Lew and Garrett Adelstein that resulted in an intensive investigation and international news coverage, but there were other big hands this year.

One such hand is the runner-runner quads Daniel Negreanu hit against poker villain Bryn Kenney in the Super High Roller Bowl VII that propelled him to victory to win $3.3 million. There was also a massive laydown David Diaz made on Day 7 of the WSOP Main event and an even bigger bluff that Alejandro Lococo pulled in the same event.

Players Choice for Toughest Opponent

While Brian Altman and GPI award winners Alex Foxen and Stephen Chidwick are all solid contenders for the toughest opponent award, it will be hard to outshine Stephen Song’s incredible 2022 performance that earned him both the overall GPI Player of the Year and the Mid-Major Player of the Year.

• Brian Altman (USA)
• Stephen Chidwick (England)
• Alex Foxen (USA)
• Stephen Song (USA)

Best Final Table Performance

• Daniel “Jungleman” Cates (USA), WSOP 50K Poker Players Championship
• Espen Uhlen Jørstad (Norway), WSOP Main Event
• Daniel Negreanu (Canada), Super High Roller Bowl VII
• Stephen Song (USA), WPT Prime Championship

Song’s performance at the WPT Prime Championship in December 2022 is up for nomination for Best Final Table performance, alongside Espen Jorstad’s WSOP Main Event performance and Negreanu’s Super High Roller Bowl victory. But it will be tough to compete against Dan “Jungleman” Cates‘ historic back-to-back victories in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

GPI Breakout Player

• Angela Jordison (USA)
• Espen Uhlen Jørstad (Norway)
• Alejandro Lococo “PapoMC” (Argentina)
• Punnat Punsri (Thailand)
• Ethan “Rampage” Yau (USA)

Angela Jordison is a nominee for GPI Breakout Player after narrowly coming short of being named the GPI Female Player of the Year and Mid-Major Player of the Year. Also up for nomination is Jorstad, who won two bracelets last summer, as well as rising poker personalities Lococo and Yau and high-stakes up-and-comer Punnat Punsri.

Comeback Player

• Phil Ivey (USA)
• Alex Keating (USA)
• Taylor von Kriegenbergh (USA)
• Daniel Weinman (USA)

Poker Hall of Famer Phil Ivey’s return to the felt has earned the poker legend a nomination for Comeback Player as he competes against fellow nominees Alex Keating, Taylor von Kriegenbergh and Daniel Weinman.

Rising Star in Content Creation

• Natalie Bode (USA)
• Caitlin Comeskey (USA)
• Jesse Fullen (USA)
• Lexy Gavin-Mather (USA)

Among the four nominees for Rising Star in Content Creation is PokerNews’ own Jesse Fullen, who in 2022 did everything from orchestrate an elaborate April Fool’s prank to coordinate the 2022 PokerNews Cup.

Also nominated in the category is Caitlin Comeskey, who is also in the running for Best Media Content: Video for her hilarious spoof of the jack-four controversy, as well as PokerGO’s Natalie Bode and PokerCoaching.com’s Lexy Gavin-Mather.

Best Media Content: Written

PokerNews’ received a second GPI award nomination as Connor Richards’ December 2022 article about Erik Seidel’s creative side was nominated for Best Media Content: Written alongside pieces by Jen Shahade for the Wall Street Journal, Robbie Strazynski for Cardplayer Lifestyle and Tim Fiorvanti for WPT.

Best Media Content: Photo

Moments captured by the PokerNews WSOP photo team make up three of the four nominees for Best Media Content: Photo, including Hayley Hochstetler’s photo of Matt Glantz pulling the million-dollar bounty, Spenser Sembrat’s shooting of a memorable final table celebration and Alec Rome’s poignant capture of Jake Schindler’s bracelet victory.

Also in the running is Antonio Abrego’s photo of Cates’ historic back-to-back win for PokerGO.

Best Media Content: Video

Best Podcast

Twitter Personality

• Phil Galfond (USA)
• Will Jaffe (USA)
• Jamie Kerstetter (USA)
• Marle Spragg (USA)

Best Streamer

• Kevin Martin “kevinmartin” (Canada)
• Benjamin Spragg “Spraggy” (England)
• Jon Van Fleet “apestylespoker” (USA)
• Lex Veldhuis “LexVeldhuis” (Netherlands)

Best Vlogger

• Jaman Burton (USA)
• Mariano Grandoli (ARG)
• Brad Owen (USA)
• Ethan “Rampage” Yau (USA)

Best Industry Person

• Ryan Beauregard (USA)
• Jack Effel (USA)
• Mori Eskandani (Iran/USA)
• Tana Karn (USA)

Best Tournament Director

• Paul Campbell (USA)
• Ray Pulford (USA)
• Matt Savage (USA)
• Toby Stone (England)

Best Event

• EPT Barcelona Main Event
• Triton Poker Coin Rivet Invitational
• World Series of Poker Main Event
• WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas

Best Mid-Major Circuit/Tour

• RUNGOOD Poker Series (RGPS)
• Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT)
• World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC)
• WPT Prime (WPTP)

Best Broadcaster

• James Hartigan (Ireland)
• Jamie Kerstetter (USA)
• Jeff Platt (USA)
• Nick Schulman (USA)

_{*Photos courtesy of Global Poker Index}

After a 2022 that saw Alexandre Mantovani join 888poker, represent the site at live events around the world and cash in the WSOP Main Event, the Brazilian is looking forward to 2023.

PokerNews caught up with “Cavalito” to find out just how ready and raring to go he is, and found him determined to put in the effort to make this an extra special year — both on and off the felt.

888poker LIVE Madrid

“Before Madrid, I had been on vacation and had only played two small online sessions,” he told PokerNews. “I managed to win two online tournaments, so it’s been a good start to the year.

“Cashing in the first 888poker LIVE event of the year was great, but I’m really wanting a big live event final table”

With 2023 already well underway, Mantovani is targeting two New Years resolutions to get the most out of his year and came close to achieving one with a 20th place finish in the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event.

“Cashing in the first 888poker LIVE event of the year was great, but I’m really wanting a big live event final table. It’s been a while so that would be nice. I would have loved to have it here in Madrid, as my wife was there with me.

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“They’ve Nailed It!” says Mantovani as 888poker Adds MORE Mystery Bounty Tournaments to Schedule

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“It would have been nice to have a big occasion like that while she’s with me, as I’m not sure if she’ll be able to join me on other stops.”

Off the felt, Mantovani is also keen to put in the hard yards, and is determined to get in the “best shape of his life” to help his poker. However, he admits that it’s a tough balancing act.

“I’ve been putting more attention on fitness and nutrition, but I’m taking it steady. I’ve burnt out twice in the past five years, so I need to be able to maintain a pace that means I don’t hurt myself.

“I know I have the ability to just flick a switch and put in the hours to make things happen, but it has to be done in a sustainable way. So that’s another part of my plan for 2023 — improve as a player and as a person, but not get burnt out in the process — if possible!”

Discover The Wizard’s Spell on 888poker

There is still plenty of time to win a share of $300,000 in freerolls on 888poker thanks to The Wizard’s Spell.

The freeroll-focused promotion runs until April 23 with daily, weekly an monthly freerolls waiting for you to play your way into!

PokerGO aired Episode 3 of High Stakes Poker Season 10 Tuesday night, but it will host a truly high stakes game on Feb. 17.

When we say “high stakes,” we mean nosebleed level, times ten. No Gamble No Future, a usually pre-recorded and edited for TV cash game show with hosts Jeff Platt and Brent Hanks, will go live for three hours next Friday starting at 5:30 p.m. ET on PokerGO, and the game will require a minimum $1 million buy-in.

The blinds will start at $500/$1,000, but if you’ve ever watched a high roller cash game, you know that’s really just a starting point. Expect to see straddles — sometimes even multiple straddles — and perhaps the blinds increasing as the show progresses.

On Tuesday, Hustler Casino Live also announced plans for a $1 million buy-in cash game, and that will take place in May (no firm date determined).

The lineup for the HCL game isn’t yet set, but the No Gamble No Future game already has its cast of characters ready for what could be the largest live-streamed poker game ever. Those players include Eric Persson, Patrik Antonius, Rob Yong, Andrew Robl, MJ Gonzales, and Rick Salomon.

Persson will get ready for the No Gamble No Future nosebleed game Feb. 17. On Tuesday night, he appeared on PokerGO’s High Stakes Poker episode, and flopped the world against Jennifer Tilly. But, as commentator Nick Schulman said, his aggression may have cost him money.

The blinds were at $200/$400, but there were two staddles on ($800 and $1,600), Persson limped from the button with , as did Tilly in the small blind with . Ema Zajmovic, holding , also called in the first straddle before Matt Hanks, in the second straddle, bumped it up to $6,600 with . Only Zajmovic folded.

The flop came out , giving Persson quads and one opponent, Tilly, a little something to stay interested (flush draw). The poker playing actress fired out a bet of $10,000, music to Persson’s ears. Hanks called, but Persson decided to avoid slow-playing his hand and bumped it up to $35,000. That narrowed the field down to one player, Tilly.

When the appeared on the turn, action folded to the button, and he ripped off a bet of $60,000.

“I’m not crazy about this sixty,” Schulman, making his second appearance as a co-host on High Stakes Poker, said. “Maybe mix in a check there or just go small.

With the board paired and facing a large-sized bet, Tilly decided to keep her remaining $169,000 to fight another day. She folded and Persson scooped the pot, but perhaps he left some money on the table.

Persson Talks His Way Into Big High Stakes Poker Win

Rockets for Chino But No Action

Speaking of not getting maximum value from a monster hand, Chino Rheem three-bet his on the button to $12,500 after Hanks had opened to $3,000 with . Unfortunately, for the player with pocket rockets, that ended the hand.

Jean-Robert Bellande also was unable to maximize value with a monster hand. The long-time poker player and former Survivor contestant was facing a raise to $4,800 from Persson’s . Tilly had already called that raise with . When action rolled over to Bellande in the big blind, he three-bet it to $28,500 with .

Both players ended up folding, surprisingly including Persson, who had a big hand himself. Later in the show, Persson won a $60,000 pot with trips and a better kicker than the trips of Hanks.

High Stakes Poker Season 10 returns next week on PokerGO at 5 p.m. PT with Episode 4.

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.}

Event #11: $2,700 Main Event at the Winter Potomac Poker Open attracted 533 entrants, generating a prize pool of $1,274,400. On Monday, February 6, just seven players returned for Day 3, all of them looking to capture the title of main event champion and thefirst-place prize of $277,053.

Once the dust settled after just four hours of play, local poker pro and WSOP bracelet winner Justin Liberto emerged victorious, besting start-of-day chip leader Caitlyn Cobb in heads-up play to add another tournament victory to his already impressive poker resume.

“I feel happy, I feel fortunate how it all happened,” said Liberto when asked what the victory meant to him. It is indeed fortunate that he was playing in the tournament at all. “I actually was in the Bahamas until Day 1b and I landed here at 6:30 p.m. I got here at 9 p.m. and late registration closed at 9:45 p.m., so I got to play one level before late reg ended.”

One can only imagine how different things would have been had his flight been even slightly delayed.

As for Liberto’s plans for the future, he does intend to cut back on live poker. “I just had a kid that’s about to turn one so I play a little less frequently than I did for the past decade.” Still, he is not in full retirement mode just yet. “I’m going to keep being out there, keep trying to win, keep trying to make some more money.”

Event #11:$2,700 Main Event Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

Anthony Lam came into the day as the second shortest stack with just 17 big blinds and was sent to the exits early on when his king-jack fell to Liberto’s ace-ten. Shouyi Gao was the short stack entering play and, though he was able to find a pay jump with Lam’s elimination, hit the showers in 6th place after an unfortunate river card saw his king-queen felled by Cobb’s queen-jack.

Cobb continued her red-hot run by next downing the ladies of Christopher Brown to bring his tournament to a close in 5th place. Mark Dickstein struggled to get much of anything going throughout the day and eventually bowed out in 4th in a blind on blind confrontation with Liberto.

All of those eliminations took place in a short space of time. It would take a little longer, however, for the final three to be cut down to two. With the ever increasing blinds, though, it was only a matter of time before someone was sent to the rail. That unfortunate individual was Joseph Lebrun when he called off for his tournament life with top pair against Liberto who held two pair.

That elimination set up a heads-up showdown between Cobb and Liberto. Although Liberto held the chip lead for much of the remainder of the tournament, winning a battle of attrition against Cobb, she did double on several occasions to remain in contention. After a couple of hours of play, her luck ran out when her top pair fell to Liberto’s full house to bring the tournament to a close.

Although Cobb was unable to secure the victory, she was visibly thrilled with her deep run and the accompanying $172,044 second-place prize. What makes the result all the more impressive is the fact that this is one of her first live tournaments after she was introduced to poker by her husband, local player Justin Arnwine.

That concludes PokerNews coverage of the Potomac Winter Poker Open at MGM National Harbor in Maryland. The series offered well over $1,000,000 in prizes over 16 events, and you can see some of the winners from our live coverage below:

2023 Potomac Winter Open Live Coverage Results

Be sure to stay tuned to Pokernews for live updates from some of the biggest poker tournaments around the world.

check out the rest of the results from the 2023 potomac winter poker open

In May, Hustler Casino Live (HCL) will host what producer Ryan Feldman anticipates to be the “biggest event in live-streamed poker history,” — a $1 million minimum buy-in cash game.

Actually, there might be two games, if Feldman puts together multiple nosebleed games, which he told PokerNews he’ll attempt to pull off. The exact date of the stream isn’t yet determined. The show’s co-founder said they won’t set a date until the lineup is in place.

What we do know at this point is that the no-limit hold’em blinds will start at $500/$1,000, but you can expect frequent straddles, the blinds to increase as the session progresses, and potentially upwards of $15 million or more on the table before it’s all said and done. Feldman appeared on the HCL pre-game show on Tuesday afternoon with host Billy “DGAF” to share the announcement.

Shooting for the Stars

Feldman, who along with Nick Vertucci, launched Hustler Casino Live in August 2021, and the live-streamed poker show from Hustler Casino in Los Angeles has since dominated the industry. There’s never been a more popular live-stream show, not even Live at the Bike, which Feldman previously ran.

Last May, HCL hosted the legendary “MrBeast Game,” a table full of YouTube and Twitch mega-stars along with poker pros Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan. At one point, viewership reached 37,000 concurrent on HCL’s YouTube channel and over 100,000 across various channels, far and away a poker record. If the show’s producer has any say, the $1 million buy-in game will crush those numbers.

“Our goal is to get more views than the MrBeast game,” Feldman said.

So, who can viewers expect to see competing for unthinkable amounts of money in May? One fan favorite, Alan Keating, is certainly a possibility.

“Keating is a superstar and we want him to be on every one of the biggest shows that we put together,” Feldman said. “And we are confident that we will have him in this game.”

But, as Feldman explained, Keating isn’t locked into the game yet and neither is Eric Persson, another regular in the highest stakes games in Southern California and Las Vegas. But both are on Hustler’s radar.

“We have enough of our local players that we’ll be able to pull this off.”

Although he doesn’t have a lineup ready yet, Feldman expressed confidence in being able to pull it off and put together a roster of players with hefty bankrolls who can also entertain the audience.

“We have enough of our local players that we’ll be able to pull this off,” he confidently stated.

The potential lineup could be a mix of players such as Keating and Persson, mainstream poker legends, and perhaps non-poker celebrities similar to the MrBeast game, which Feldman said he’d love to get.

“We’re going to shoot for the stars.”

On Monday, PokerGO also announced a $1 million buy-in live-stream to air Feb. 17. The lineup will include Persson, Patrik Antonius, MJ Gonzales, Rob Yong, Rick Salomon, and Andrew Robl.

Both games should be highly entertaining and should bring in a massive audience.

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He’s a high school football and baseball coach by profession, but Justin Macella of McRae, GA is also now a major tournament poker champion after defeating a field of 327 players to take down the $2,000 bestbet Winter Open Main Event for a career-best $122,017 score.

In an interesting twist that was fitting of some of the crazy events of the tournament, Macella defeated high-stakes cash game player Russell Quick heads-up. Quick was the same player Macella needed to hit a miracle two-outer against on Day 2 to survive when he jammed his ace-five into Quick’s ace-jack and needed not one but two fives to hit to survive after both players paired their kicker on the flop.

“When the hand happened, I kept telling myself he can’t run over me all day, he can’t always have it and I was making a bluff with it and didn’t expect to get called and didn’t expect to get called by ace-jack, he made a heck of a call. Now knowing afterwards, he wouldn’t be the player I pick to shove ace-five on. I thought I was out. But then the turn hits and here we are.”

Their heads-up match featured plenty of big pots and aggressive play with Quick taking the lead from Macella early in their one-hour duel. Macella clawed back and retook the lead late when he earned a disbelieving call with ace-high from Quick when he held a winning straight.

Macella won shortly after when he turned a better top pair versus Quick’s flopped top pair and Quick moved all in and got called.

After that key hand on Day 2, Macella said felt it was fitting that it was Quick that he got heads-up with for the title.

“It was fun. We have similar styles in that we’re both fearless, it doesn’t matter what two cards we’re holding, we’re willing to mix it up and find spots, so that was a lot of fun.”

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Final Table Action

The nine remaining players arrived with their eyes on taking home the lion’s share of the $580,425 prizepool, but it didn’t take long for the first player’s hopes to be dashed as Bryce McVay was eliminated within the first 15 minutes of play on the bestbetLIVE stage.

More tough competition fell early as Maxwell Young was eliminated before the first break in 8th place.

After the break the other two most accomplished players left in the field were the next to go as David Tuthill busted in 7th place and Toby Boas fell in 6th.

With a combined $7 million in career-tournament earnings now gone from the table, it felt like it could be Thomas Carroll’s tournament to lose, as the most accomplished player remaining was building chips and was just behind Macella.

However, following the elimination of Michael Frierson in 5th place, a rough stretch in level 24 shrunk Carroll’s stack and Macella solidified his lead again.

After Aftab Patni was eliminated in 4th place, Carroll’s run ended in 3rd place at the hands of Macella, leaving him heads-up with Quick for the title he would eventually claim.

Parting Words From the Winner

With his first career six-figure score now in the books after a great performance this week, Macella was asked if he’d be trading in his coaching whistle for more time on the tournament grind.

“No, no, I’m a high school coach, an old football and baseball coach. I do this on the side just to try to add some extra pocket change and have some fun from time to time. No, I’m not going pro or anything like that.”

Well, Macella certainly has a hefty bit of pocket change after Monday’s win. Congratulations to him for his impressive victory.

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