There’s an early frontrunner for Best Bluff of 2023, and although the play Ethan “RampagePoker” Yau made during Friday night’s Hustler Casino Live session likely won’t hold up throughout the year, it was still epic.

The game was $100/$200 no-limit hold’em with a $200 big blind ante. Bill Klein opened from an early position to $1,400 with and was called by Yau’s in a middle position, along with the of “Prince Charles” in the cut-off before “J.R.” went for a three-bet on the button with .

Klein folded but the other two that called the initial raise came along for the ride to see a flop of . With top pair and top kicker, after both opponents checked, J.R. made a continuation bet of $11,000.

Top 5 Hustler Casino Live Hands of 2022

Rampage, who picked up a gut-shot straight draw and had two over cards to the board, went for an ambitious check-raise to $35,000. That eliminated one player, but J.R. wasn’t going anywhere with top pair. The turn was the , pairing the board, and the bluffer again ripped out a bet, this time for $33,000, which again received a call.

When the appeared on the river, double-pairing the board, the poker vlogger had two options — check and surrender the pot, or empty the clip. He chose the latter, ripping out a wager of $120,000 into a pot of $165,000 with nothing but king-high. After some thought, his opponent folded the best hand.

Hustler Casino Live Poker Scandal Investigation Finds ‘No Evidence of Wrongdoing’

After an eventful 2022 celebrating 20 years of 888poker, the site is gearing up for another incredible year of poker — both on the online felt and at live poker events around the world.

While the XL Winter Series and Wizard’s Spell promotion are underway online, 888poker held its first stop of the year at the Casino Gran Via in Madrid, the first of five 888poker LIVE festivals scheduled for 2023.

“There’s no better place to kickstart 2023 than here in Madrid”

“We had such a great time celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2022, being named EGR Poker Operator of the Year, and of course the Anniversary Edition in Madrid was the perfect way to round off the year,” said 888poker Head of Business Development, Doron Ziony.

“There’s no better place to kickstart 2023 than here in Madrid — Madrid is one of the most amazing cities in the world, and I’m so glad to be starting 2023 off here by continuing our strong partnership with CNP.”

“Our live events wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the entire team behind them, and the success of our live events belongs to them.

“I want to thank all the teams that have been involved — not just in this event, but all our past events — and I hope that this success will continue into 2023 and beyond!”

888poker have been keen to listen to player feedback, and launched a Discord to encourage greater levels of communication between players and 888poker. The live product has also been improved as a result of player feedback, with the popular Mystery Bounty format making several appearances on the 2023 schedule.

Join the 888poker Official Discord!

“We all love surprises!” said Ziony. “888poker took the Mystery Bounty format to the next level by modifying most of our major online events to include this great format. Players love it online, and players love the live version as well, as we saw here in Madrid.”

2023 888poker LIVE Festival Dates

So what can players expect from the rest of the 888poker LIVE schedule in 2023?

“We hope players will find a schedule that’s familiar to them from online — not just Mystery Bounty tournaments, but tournaments like the Big Shot, the Rumble or the Triple Threat. Not only do you get to play your favourite tournaments, but you can do it in some of the best poker destinations in Europe.

888poker is the Perfect Site for Beginner Poker Players

“Every time we go to an event — be it Barcelona, London, Bucharest or here in Madrid — we’re learning and we’re improving; working hard to ensure every single player has a positive experience while they’re here.

“We want our players to have fun and enjoy themselves, and we’re doing everything we can to try and make that happen at every 888poker LIVE stop.”

$88 Free Plus a $400 Welcome Bonus

Now is the perfect time to join 888poker if you have not already done so. 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.

Executive Editor E.U.

Will Shillibier is based in the United Kingdom. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German, and then studied for a NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism at Sportsbeat in Manchester. He previously worked as a freelance live reporter, and video presenter for the World Poker Tour.

The final event of the 2023 PokerGO Cup wrapped up with Event #8: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em and saw Isaac Haxton defeating heads-up opponent Cary Katz to win $598,000 and deny Katz the victory. However, the runner-up finish still gave the PokerGO founder enough points to squeak past Anthony Hu to win the overall PokerGO Cup race, in addition to the $364,000 tournament payout.

Katz and fellow final tablists Dan Colpoys and Sean Winter all had shots at winning the overall PokerGO Cup. But it was Haxton who topped them all in the final event for his only cash of the series to add to his $30 million in Hendon Mob-reported earnings, while Katz takes home the $50,000 bonus prize and the magnificent silver trophy.

Katz joins previous PokerGO Cup champions Daniel Negreanu (2021) and Jeremy Ausmus (2022) and is already well on his way to qualifying into the PokerGO Championship Million Dollar Freeroll at the end of the PGT Season.

Event #8: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results

Listen to PokerGO’s Mori Eskandani on the PokerNews Podcast!

Strong Series for Katz, Hu & Foxen

Katz is proving that he is not only the guy who owns the studio, he is a force to be reckoned with on the felt. The mild-mannered businessman began the series with a tenth-place finish in Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $27,000, which he followed up with a sixth-place finish in Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $49,800.

Katz was just warming up as he then finished fourth in the next event for $90,000 and his third consecutive cash. Katz pumped the brakes a bit until Event #6: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em, which he finished fourth in for $125,000.

There were several strong performances across the eight events that made up the 2023 PokerGO Cup. Alex Foxen took down the $25,000 event for the trophy and $317,040 after a heads-up deal with Orpen Kisacikoglu.

That’s after Foxen started the series with a runner-up finish in Event #1 for $153,000 against Winter, who himself had quite the series as he went on to finish third in the finale for $208,000.

But only Katz had a better series than Hu, who took down Event #5: $15,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $268,800 after finishing runner-up to the on-fire Justin Saliba in Event #4: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $140,400. Hu led the race with 454 points up to the end until Winter’s third-place elimination gave Katz a lock on the race.

Haxton entered the four-handed final table with the chip lead and dominated his opponents before reaching heads-up play with a sizable lead against Katz, according to the PokerGO live stream.

Haxton only grew his lead until the final hand where he moved all in with before Katz called with to be ahead. The board proceeded to run out to give Haxton the best hand to take down the event.

2023 PokerGO Cup Final Standings

Read how Jeremy Ausmus won the 2022 PokerGO Cup

Other Winners

Other players who picked up trophies at the 2023 PokerGO Cup include Aram Zobian (Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em – $207,500), Punnat Punsri (Event #7: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em – $310,000) and Ed Sebesta (Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em – $216,000), who opted to donate his winnings to the Holy Cross in honor of his son, a Catholic priest, who passed away in 2012.

PokerNews highlighted the early winners of the 2023 Poker GO Cup in an article that you can read here.

A full list of winners at the 2023 PokerGO Cup is available in the table below.

2023 PokerGO Cup Winners

_{*Photos courtesy of PokerGO}

Those looking to play in a value-packed tournament this weekend need look no further than the $200K XL Winter #17 – Mystery Bounty 8-Max at 888poker. The $160 buy-in event has a whopping $200,000 guaranteed, but early indications are that there could be a significant overlay.

The tournament needs 1,333 players to hit the $200,000 guarantee, but only 330 have bought in across the opening seven flights. Another 14 Day 1s run from 6:00 p.m. GMT on January 21 through to 6:40 p.m. GMT on January 23, and 888poker could be looking at a $50,000 overlay if the current attendance trends continue.

Players in the $200K tournament sit down with 10,000 chips and are permitted to purchase up to ten rebuys, which are available for three hours. Day 1 action concludes after the 18th level, or when only 14% of the field remains, with anyone progressing from Day 1 finding themselves in the money.

Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 8:00 p.m. GMT on January 23, starts at Level 19, and sees the mystery bounties enter the mix. A $20,000 jackpot bounty waits to be won, with other wallet-filling amounts including at least two weighing in at $6,000 and at least six envelopes containing $2,000.

$22 satellites are available if the $160 buy-in is out of the constraints of your bankroll.

Romania Strikes Gold Again in the XL Winter Series

After winning two of the four opening events, Romania has another 888poker XL Winter champion in “bucurestean.” The Romanian came out on top in the $30,000 XL Winter #06 – Mystery Bounty Turbo Deep, outlasting 101 opponents and capturing the largest slice of the $30,600 pie.

The largest mystery bounty was worth $3,000, and it went to Brazil’s “s.totuli” who busted in 12th place. Their total prize of $3,366 was beaten only by the champion and the runner-up. The mystery bounty element was also kind to another Brazilian, “JTaichou,” who crashed out in 25th place and missed out on a piece of the main prize pool, but they did pull out a $1,500 bounty from the golden envelope.

British grinder Tom “sheeeeeeet” Hall almost came away with the victory but ultimately had to make do with a third-place finish that earned him a total of $2,583. Hall’s exit left bucurestean heads-up against Canadian “algsxr,” a regular at the 888poker tables. The Canadian busted in second place, but thanks to capturing a total of $4,350 worth of bounties, received only $98 less than the champion. Second place paid $7,158 with bounties included, with the winner heading into the night with $7,254 in tow.

$30,000 XL Winter #06 – Mystery Bounty Turbo Deep Final Table Results

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

XL Winter Results So Far

*includes bounty payments

Daniel Negreanu cashed in third place for $124,000 on Thursday in a $25,000 buy-in PokerGO Cup event, and in doing so he became the third player ever to reach the $50 million live tournament cashes milestone.

According to Hendon Mob, the GGPoker ambassador now has $50,116,496 in cashes on his resume. Only Bryn Kenney ($57,221,865) and Justin Bonomo ($58,954,124) have more. Stephen Chidwick is currently in fourth place at $44,665,132, followed by Erik Seidel who just hit $42,441,244 with a runner-up finish in the PokerGO Cup.

Negreanu took third place in Event #7, a no-limit hold’em tournament one day after busting in eighth place in Event #6, also an NLH tournament ($50,000). The PokerGO Cup series is wrapping up Friday with the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em final table, which can be seen on PokerGO.

Check out our player profile on Daniel Negreanu here!

How Much is $50 Million Poker Cashes Really Worth?

Hendon Mob is the leading database for tournament results, but the data only includes cashes as it would be nearly impossible to compile profits. But Negreanu has always been open with his results. During his annual World Series of Poker vlogs, he keeps a running tab on his wins and losses throughout the summer.

Last year, he frustratingly lost $1.1 million and failed to win a bracelet for the ninth straight year. His sixth and most recent WSOP title came in 2013 at WSOP Europe and he hasn’t won a bracelet in Las Vegas since 2008.

Last month, the Poker Hall of Famer shared the data on his overall profits since 2013. According to his calculations, he’s up just over $13 million during that nine-year stretch (2020 excluded due to COVID).

Those $1 million, or even $50,000, buy-in tournaments weren’t even a thing back in the 2000s. Now the high roller events are a dime a dozen. Negreanu said his WSOP buy-ins from 2013-2022 were at $20.5 million total, or around a $2 million annual average. In recent years, he has limited his tournament exposure to the WSOP and World Poker Tour events in Las Vegas, and tournaments on the PokerGO Tour.

Current All-Time Live Poker Tournament Money Leaders

Negreanu’s Career in a Nutshell

Outside of Erik Seidel and Phil Hellmuth, there isn’t anyone who has performed so consistently over the past 20 years in live tournaments.

Months before he turned 24, he won his first WSOP bracelet in 1998, a $169,460 cash, his first ever six-figure score. One year later, he won the $7,600 buy-in televised US Poker Championship in Atlantic City for $210,000. By 2003, he’d already racked up five years of six-figure earnings in tournaments, which might not seem like a big deal in 2023, but the fields were much smaller, as were the buy-ins.

Cashing for $1 million in a year during the 1990s and early 2000s was a rare accomplishment, and usually only the WSOP Main Event winner could pull it off.

When the poker boom era hit in the mid-2000s, the earnings began to rise along with the field sizes. There were also more $10k’s and juicier tournaments. He won bracelets in 2003, 2004, 2008, and two in 2013, along with capturing WSOP Player of the Year honors in 2004 and 2013, and briefly in 2019 before the results were recalculated.

As the tournament landscape changed for the highest stakes players, so did Negreanu’s earnings. He began playing $25,000 buy-in and above tournaments regularly, mostly in small-field events but against some of the best players in the world. Outside of 2016 and the COVID year (2020), he’s cashed for over $1 million every year since 2011, and 14 times in his life.

In October 2022, he picked up his second largest score ever — $3.3 million — for winning the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas, the only town he plays poker in these days.

One-third of Negreanu’s overall cashes have come in just five tournaments (see below). But even without those, he’s still racked up $33 million in cashes, which would be good enough alone for a top 15 all-time spot on the Hendon Mob charts. How much he profited from those 431 events, if you’re wondering, more than enough to buy a mansion in Las Vegas, and we’ll leave it at that.

Negreanu’s Five Largest Cashes

New York lawmakers are once again considering legislation that would legalize online poker and are also looking at a bill that would expand live poker beyond land-based casinos.

Assembly Bill 1380, sponsored by Democratic State Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, would allow “certain interactive poker games (to) be considered games of skill rather than games of luck,” a crucial distinction that would clear the way for New York entering the online poker market.

Meanwhile, fellow Democrat David Weprin’s AB 1580 would allow “any person who holds a license to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on premises to allow players to engage in certain recreational contests,” including contests involving poker.

But there’s still a long path ahead as both bills are in the introductory phases and still need to make it through committee and the full New York legislature.

Find out more about poker in New York

Defining Poker as a Game of Skill

The online poker bill, which was introduced this week, mentions both Texas Hold’em and Omaha and cites case law that has determined poker to be a game of skill rather than a game of chance.

“These games are considered to be complex forms of poker which involve player strategy and decision-making and which pit the skill levels of the players against each other,” states the bill. “As games of skill, these forms of poker do not fall under the definition of gambling as prohibited by the penal law.”

“Regulatory oversight is intended to safeguard the integrity of the games and participants and to ensure accountability and the public trust.”

The bill further notes that “the internet has become an integral part of society, and internet poker a major form of entertainment for many consumers” and adds that “any interactive gaming enforcement and regulatory structure must begin from the bedrock premise that participation in a lawful and licensed gaming industry is a privilege and not a right, and that regulatory oversight is intended to safeguard the integrity of the games and participants and to ensure accountability and the public trust.”

AB 1580, meanwhile, would expand live poker by allowing “recreational contests involving skill in establishments with licenses to sell alcoholic beverages.” Poker is specifically mentioned as the bill states these contests would include “recreational games such as playing cards, penny poker, (and) cribbage.”

Live poker has been legal at land-based casinos in New York since lawmakers passed Upstate NY Economic Development Gaming Act in 2013. Before that, tribal casinos and underground poker clubs were the only places to play.

Online Poker in the Big Apple?

This is not the first time New York lawmakers have attempted to bring online poker to their state.

In 2016, a bill that would’ve allowed the New York State Gaming Commission to grant up to 11 online poker licenses and expanded poker licenses beyond land-based casinos in New York made it through the New York Senate before the Assembly shot it down. Lawmakers considered a similar bill to no avail in 2017.

But if the latest attempt can make its way through both legislative bodies and onto Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk, it would certainly be a big win for online poker advocates.

With a population of 19.8 million, New York could bring huge liquidity if it entered a multi-state gaming compact with states like New Jersey, Michigan and Nevada.

The New York State Legislative Session got underway on Jan. 4 and will wrap up in June. PokerNews will keep an eye on both bills as they make their way through the New York legislature.

Read about 2017 attempts to legalize online poker in New York

Amid reports that the Aussie Millions may not be returning this year, Crown Resorts has confirmed that the iconic poker stop “has been postponed for the time being.”

However, the Australian gambling giant also acknowledged the massive role Aussie Millions has had on poker history and vowed to work with stakeholders to bring the festival back.

“Our highly acclaimed Aussie Millions Poker Championship is an iconic part of poker history and brings some of the world’s most renowned players to Crown Melbourne,” a Crown Resorts spokesman said in a press release. “We are continuing to work with a range of stakeholders on new ways to bring the global poker community together and look forward to sharing more on the Aussie Millions soon.”

Read about the 2020 Aussie Millions Main Event

Woes Continue for Crown Resorts

While the announcement from Crown Resorts is a disappointing one, it is hardly surprising. Earlier this month, a Crown Poker representative replied to a Facebook comment on the Crown Poker page and noted that “poker tournaments will no longer be running at Crown.”

That Facebook comment followed months of silence about the future of the Aussie Millions, long considered one of the most prestigious stops on the international poker circuit.

The last Aussie Millions took place in 2020 before the 2021 and 2022 festivals were postponed amid COVID-19 closures and concerns.

In that same period, Crown Resorts underwent a two-year investigation that ended with regulators declaring the gambling company unfit to hold a casino operating license for its various Australian properties.

Crown Resorts was allowed to continue operating and underwent several changes and reforms, including implementing a brand-new Board of Directors and changes to the way the company operates.

Naturally, these legal difficulties have marked trouble for the Aussie Millions. And “as a result of the ongoing discussions,” Crown Resorts made the official decision to postpone the 2023 festival.

Uncertain Future for Iconic Poker Stop

The Aussie Millions festival — defined by massive stakes, balmy weather and luxurious beaches — dates back to 1998 when Alex Horowitz won what was then the AU$1,000 Australian Poker Championships for AU$25,900, as PokerNews recounted in a blog post at the 2015 Aussie Millions.

While the first event only drew 74 entries, the festival grew in popularity and eventually rebranded as the Aussie Millions as it switched to a No-Limit Hold’em format and had the buy-in upped to AU$10,000. Jamil Dia won was the first player to become a millionaire at the festival when he took down the 2005 Aussie Millions for AU$1 million.

The biggest-ever Aussie Millions prize of AU$1.7 million went to Alexander Kostritsyn in 2008 when he won the Main Event. The previous year, Gus Hansen took down the event for AU$1.5 million and documented his stellar tournament run in the proverbial poker book Every Hand Played.

Later winners of the Aussie Millions include Ari Engel (2016 – $1.1 million), Toby Lewis (2018 – $1.2 million) and the infamous Bryn Kenney (2018 – $914,616).

PokerNews will continue monitoring the status of the Aussie Millions festival. A full list of Aussie Millions winners is available in the table below.

All Aussie Millions Winners

January 20, 2023

Traditional slot games have long involved a steady money-in and money-out system. While still popular, the modern market offers potential far beyond this style alone.

Today, contemporary free slots from services like social casinos can also pay out prizes, shaking up the slot systems players enjoy on both mobiles and computers.

Which Free Slots Apps Offer ‘Real’ Rewards?

The world wide web is no stranger to offering slot apps with real rewards, but just like with any other casino, not all are created equal.

The free slot apps with real rewards tend to be larger and professionally developed names that go out of their way to keep everything obvious and above board.

Though all of these names indeed have to start somewhere, we’d recommend newcomers stick to the more established names like Slotomania and House of Fun. These have already gone through a huge amount of public testing, so we know the real rewards are more than just empty words.

What are the Best Rewards on Offer?

For most free slots that offer prizes, the rewards come indirectly from cash payouts. These are easy to understand, are always appreciated, and help keep the online systems as streamlined as possible.

Depending on the website, other payouts can also include gift cards, more premium currency to keep playing, and even little esoteric prizes like toys in some instances.

Some websites also include heavy gamification systems as part of their experience. Rewards on these lines can be unlocked in tiers, with each tier granted extra bonuses and special features.

These include extra points, the ability to help friends’ accounts, payout multipliers, access to VIP games, and much more.

Of course, what counts as the best reward depends on the player. Some might like more opportunities to keep trying for the largest jackpot possible, while others might prefer any cash wins as their ultimate goal.

Looking at it this way, the real question becomes what does the ultimate prize mean to you?

How Do You Qualify for Real Rewards from Online Slot Games?

This will depend on the website, with each system having different rules and regulations players need to adhere to. Qualifying usually revolves around playing a certain number of games and gambling a certain number of coins. After this point, the player also has to be able to prove their identity to the website to ensure the safety and security of everyone involved.

Claiming the winnings is also usually only possible once the player has a minimum balance in their bank. For LuckyLand Slots, as an example, this unlocks once a player has at least 50 Sweep Coins in their wallet.

Finally, players need to be aware that many of these apps commonly offer different forms of currency which can be a little confusing if you’re not paying close attention. Generally, these will operate one totally free type of currency, which can only be used to play and can never be traded for cash. The other type of currency will be the premium option, which is more difficult to obtain.

These systems are simple enough that you’ll understand them within a few minutes anyway, but just keep in mind that only one form will usually qualify for real rewards.

Where to Play Free Slot Games with Real Rewards

If you’re unsure where to find slots with ‘real’ rewards then don’t worry as they’re not especially difficult to find. Free online games are widely loved and reported on by the public, so simple Google searches or browsing our site can point you in the right direction.

You could also consider one of the following options:

• Slotomania is a well-established name in the free slot app market, offering dozens of free slots like Dragon Lore and Ghost Motel. Players can check out our Slotomania review to see why we gave it a 9/10 rating.

• LuckyLand Slots is one of the more visually striking slot apps with free rewards, even if you’re playing from a smaller mobile screen. Our LuckyLand review explores more of why we found this website among the best.

• With a name that boasts what it has to offer, House of Fun is lucky that it lives up to its name. Offering more than 200 slots, this website is a contender for the best library, as we cover in our House of Fun review.

Any of these above options are great places to start, for anyone tickled by the potential of free slots with real rewards.

Regardless of your tastes, these websites and games have something for everyone.

What are you doing on March 26? That date may be a couple of months away but it is a date that you want free in your calendar because March 26 is when the massive 17th Anniversary edition of the PokerStars Sunday Million takes place.

The 17th-anniversary edition of the PokerStars Sunday Million is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. GMT on March 26. it comes with a $215 buy-in and an eye-popping $7.5 million guarantee, although the prize pool could be much larger if past Sunday Million special editions are anything to go by.

For your $215 investment, or much less if you satellite your way in, you receive 20,000 chips, and play to a 20-minute clock where the blinds start at 50/100/12a. Don’t worry if you dust off your stack early doors because up to five re-entries are permitted before Day 2 shuffles up and deals. It is certainly worthwhile trying to bag yourself multiple Sunday Million 17th Anniversary edition seats via the plethora of satellites so you have plenty of ammunition as you hunt the lion’s share of the $7.5 million guarantee.

Day 1 ends after the completion of the 18th level, with Day 2 starting at 6:10 p.m. GMT on March 27. Some 32 levels are penciled in for Day 2, which could make for a long grind, although levels on the second day’s play are reduced to 15 minutes. The third and final day commences at 6:00 p.m. GMT prompt on March 28 and continues until only one player has all of the chips in play.

PokerStars Sunday Million 17th Anniversary Edition Satellites

Satellites for the 17th-anniversary edition of the Sunday Million can be found in the PokerStars lobby right now. Ensure you enter the correct tournaments because there are satellites for the standard Sunday Million running alongside the $7.5 million guaranteed event.

Those on a tight budget should look at the freebuy satellites that run a few times per day. They cost nothing to enter but allow $0.27 rebuys, and guarantee at least one $215 seat. Other buy-in satellites that are currently in the PokerStars lobby cost $2.20 and $22, which are at the more affordable end of the scale.

PokerNews fully expects PokerStars to run Sunday Million 17th Anniversary edition Spin & Go tournaments in the run-up to the $7.5 million guaranteed tournament. Currently, the special edition Spin & Go games are set to award $109 seats to the traditional Sunday Million.

Past Sunday Million Anniversary Results

The anniversary editions of the Sunday Million have always proven popular, not least because they pay their champions colossal sums of money. Last year, Germany’s “Blackbeaty” came out on top of a 52,120-strong field and reeled in a $931,885 prize. The German’s score would have been larger but they made a deal with “JanRas1983” of Denmark when heads-up; the runner-up scooped $817,235.

Other past champions include Vanessa “Niffller” Kade, who captured a $1,514,920 prize in the 15th anniversary Sunday Million, and Alex “AAAArthur” Brito who triumphed the year before Kade and saw $1,192,802 land in his PokerStars account.

After a long, twelve-month battle against thousands of other players, AJ “sacakewalk” Sacher handily finished atop the 2023 WSOP.com Player of the Year leaderboard for Nevada and New Jersey players to win $10,000 in cash, $1,500 in online tournament tickets, and an exclusive WSOP.com Player of the Year ring.

Sacher follows in the footsteps of both Mike “BrockLesnar” Holtz, who won it last year, and YK “LuckySpewy1” Kwon, who won WSOP.com Player of the Year in 2020. Additionally, he joined fellow 2022 winner David “DrKool” Kuder, who was named the first-ever WSOP PA Player of the Year.

PokerNews recently caught up with Sacher to not only get his thoughts on the victory but also to learn more about the man behind the screen name.

Former Dealer David “DrKool” Kuder Named First-Ever WSOP PA Player of the Year

From Magic to Poker

Sacher, pronounced like soccer, lived in California and Chicago before moving to Vegas about 10 years ago. In his late teens and early 20s, he was a professional Magic: The Gathering player, content creator, and streamer. Now 32, Sacher grinds online poker.

“I come from a card-playing family, so I was always picking up various games,” he told PokerNews. “We still play big card games at family reunions and the like. I ended up falling in love with Magic, and playing that competitively is like training at altitude for poker; there’s a big overlap in the skill sets required for each like weighing odds and inductive reasoning, but Magic is a lot more complicated and ever-changing. That’s why there are a lot of very successful poker players–much more so than me–that come from competitive Magic.”

When he was around seven years old, Sacher played poker for the first time, but it wasn’t until his late teens that he discovered online poker. He ground up a small bankroll on Full Tilt Poker, but two days before he turned 21, Black Friday hit.

“While traveling for the Magic Pro Tour, I became good friends with a Japanese pro, Shuhei Nakamura, who also played poker,” Sacher continued. “Since most major Magic tournaments are in the US, he would come here a lot. Rather than take the approximately one-billion-hour flight home only to board another flight back a few days later, we would just come to Vegas together instead. We’d grind live cash during the week before flying to the next Magic tournament on the weekend.”

He continued: “To put multiple very long stories irresponsibly short, I moved to Vegas to play full time, but, upon arriving, I immediately got burgled and my roll was stolen. I was robbed multiple times after that as well, so I have had to start over from zero a few times. Over the next few years, I would play off and on, moving from live cash to online tournaments when WSOP.com became available. When the pandemic hit, I committed to playing full-time again.”

Unlike some players who set out to win POY from the start, Sacher’s run came towards the end when he realized was near the top of the leaderboard.

“I definitely thought it would be cool to do and definitely checked the leaderboards from time to time, but I’m a big ‘keep your goals actionable, and trust the process’ guy, and I don’t think POY is the type of thing you can really plan for; you just have to put in your volume and work, and at the end of the year, if the results are there, then they’re there.”

He continued: “It ended up being way too good of a sweat. The race was pretty insane as it really came down to the wire. I actually had a sizable lead by mid-March, but that’s way too early to start watching the scoreboard, which was proven true when I unexpectedly had to take over two full months off. By the time I came back, it was already clear it was going to be a two-horse race between Qinghai “011POKERDR” Pan and myself, but I assumed the gap insurmountable. After a few good months to grind back to the front, I took a big weekend off in October for a family wedding and all he did was go and win a bracelet. I somehow managed to wrestle the lead back by the end of November, but it stayed extremely tight the rest of the way, flip-flopping multiple times.”

Sacher was fortunate to finish the year with a good week and eke it out with a win of less than 300 points. For context, the difference between second place and third was 16,855 points.

“After thousands of hours over 365 days, I had a margin of victory of just one third of one percent,” said Sacher. “It doesn’t get any closer than that. I even got the poetic honor of locking it up by personally knocking him out of the last relevant tournament of the year.”

So, what’s next for Sacher?

“I’ll be playing this year, at least for the foreseeable future,” he said. “I don’t have a ton of interest in live poker these days, but I’m not indignantly opposed to it by any means; if the right opportunity were to come along then it’s definitely possible, but it’s not in the plan as it stands. As cool as it would be to go back-to-back, realistically speaking it doesn’t seem very likely. It’s a question that’s basically impossible to answer until like November, but if I can get in enough volume, then who’s to say?”

_{*Images courtesy of AJ Sacher.}

Executive Editor U.S.

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