In light of debate over the threat that real-time assistance (RTA) apps pose to live poker, World Series of Poker (WSOP) officials reiterated their rules for use of solvers at the poker table.

Players at the 2023 WSOP will be penalized if they are caught using or referencing a solver during a live hand. Additionally, the WSOP reserves the right to issue penalties to players who are using solvers in between hands.

“If caught using RTA/GTO software during a hand, player will be subject to penalty up to and including DQ (disqualification) / trespass,” WSOP said in a prepared statement. “We reserve the right to further penalize a player for using RTA/GTO in any other situation in our sole and absolute discretion. Players may continue to use their device to play wsop.com or use the Caesars Sportsbook app while in/out of a hand.”

Solver tools like GTOWizard, which can tell poker players the optimal way to play “any spot you can imagine,”, came under fire last week when a video surfaced of Andrew Esposito consulting a solver output during the WPT Gardens Poker Championship.

Esposito denied doing so while in a live hand and the tournament floor ruled that Esposito did not violate Poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA) Rule 5, which states that “betting apps and charts may not be used by players with live hands.”

Read About the Solver Controversy at the WPT Gardens Poker Championship

Opinions in the poker community about use of solvers outside of hands have varied, with some pros saying an absolute ban is necessary to protect game integrity and others stating that they don’t see an issue if they aren’t being used during hands.

With the 2023 WSOP kicking off this week, Vice President Jack Effel addressed concerns about solvers to PokerNews staff and reiterated the WSOP’s rules for phones at the table.

The WSOP’s RTA policy highlights efforts in the poker industry to grapple with rapidly advancing poker tools that many believe pose a threat to game integrity.

During a controversy at the 2016 WSOP where a player printed a push-fold chart that he looked at in between hands, then-Tournament Director Effel ruled that “when you’re out of the hand, you’re more than welcome to reference anything that you have, your notes or anything like that, but not during the play of hands.”

Effel, who mentioned GTOWizard by name, told PokerNews that GTO solvers differ in their capabilities from other poker training tools like preflop charts that are fair game to consult at the table in between hands.

In another update ahead of the festival kickoff, WSOP announced that chips will be in play at the start of every event for all registered players. Registration time is considered at the time a seat is purchased, not when it is printed from a FasTrac kiosk.

Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden will not become the 2023 PokerStars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event champion, but he did manage to take down his fourth career SCOOP title, and add $71,414 to his lifetime winnings tally.

Vousden is also five eliminations away from a fifth SCOOP title and a monster-sized $362,102 because he has navigated his way to the final table of the $25,000 Super High Roller.

Finland’s Vousden was one of 1,118 entrants in the $530 No-Limit Hold’em PKO freezeout, and he bagged the largest slice of the $559,000 prize pool.

A whole host of stars reached the money place but fell shy of the final table, including Team PokerStars’ Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis and Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, two players that have enjoyed some remarkable SCOOP results this year.

With bounties included, only two of the nine finalists did not walk away with at least five figures for their efforts. Ireland’s “Chanaldo9” ($6,854) and “GlobalHappiness” of Sweden ($6,175) being that pair.

Arsenii “josef_shvejk” Karmatckii, who won a $1,050 7-Max NHLE event for $$53,329, finished seventh here ($11,050), while “grind4fame” ($10,616) crashed out in sixth.

Fifth place and $15,327 went to Thomas “MarToMchat” Boivin, fourth place and $24,582 to “xpronto,” with the event progressing to the heads-up stages when Aleksejs “APonakov” Ponakovs busted in third and collected $35,722.

Vousden found himself heads-up against Germany’s “DeadMonkey13,” and he made short work of his final opponent. Vousden’s fourth SCOOP victory came with $71,414, which left “DeadMonkey13” to claim a $46,436 consolation prize.

SCOOP 107-H: $530 NLHE PKO Freezeout Final Table Results

Mike Watson Running Hot in the Super High Roller

Forty-two PokerStars players created a $1,030,050 prize pool in the $25,000 Super High Roller, but only six of those entrants remain in contention for a $362,102 score.

Mike “SirWatts” Watson, who is second in chips in the $10,300 SCOOP Main Event, finished top of the pile when the curtain came down on Day 1’s proceedings. Watson has locked in $54,482 but will have his sights set on the huge top prize.

Vousden returns to the action second in chips, while such luminaries as Bruno “great dant” Volkmann, Pedro “pvigar” Garagnani, Daniel “SmilleThHero” Smiljkovic, and Sam “Str8$$$Homey” Greenwood make up the rest of the final table, although htye are not there to simply make up the numbers.

The pay-jumps are substantial, with a $25,000 difference in prize money between fifth and sixth place, and a whopping $115,000 difference between first and second.

PokerStars’ Twitch team is streaming all the Super High Roller final table action from 6:00 p.m. BST on May 30.

SCOOP 113-H: $25,000 NLHE Super High Roller Final Table Chip Counts

“uwinitakeit” Denies Some of Poker’s Elite Main Event 2nd Chance Glory

Eighty-seven players turned out in force for the $5,200 NLHE Turbo Main Event 2nd Chance, and created a $435,000 prize pool. Of that princely sum, $103,950 was reserved for the champion, and Canada’s “uwinitakeit” is that player.

Any of the nine players at the final table would have made a worthy champion; the final table read like a who’s who of the online poker world.

Jonathan “x_zola25” Skovsen ($13,706), Mark “AceSpades11” Radoja ($17,113), and Leonard “Grozzorg” Maue ($22,144) were the first trio of casualties at the final table. Timothy “Tim0thee” Adams ($28,654), Espen “Hymn2Nikasi” Jorstad ($37,078), and Steven “random_chu” Chew ($47,978) soon joined the list of busted players.

Sam “Str8$$$Homey” Greenwood ($62,082) saw his tournament end in third place, leaving “uwinitakeit” against Benjamin “bencb789” Rolle in a one-on-one battle for the lion’s share of the prize pool.

There was no deal between the heads-up duo, so Rolle had to make do with the $80,333 consolation prize when “uwinitakeit” defeated him. The champion reeled in a $103,950 score for their impressive performance.

SCOOP 114-H: $5,200 NLHE Turbo Main Event 2nd Chance Final Table Results

Other Selected PokerStars SCOOP Results

Allan “allan sheik” Mello helped himself to a massive $164,980 by taking down the $5,200 NHLE PKO SCOOP edition of the popular Thursday Thrill, which concluded on Sunday.

There was a $94,245 score for “pokanuktus” and a $61,299 prize awarded to Jargo “bungakat” Alavali, the latter becoming the champion of the $530 buy-in Main Event 2nd Chance.

*includes bounty payments

For the third consecutive year, Daniel Negreanu and Shaun Deeb were the highest bids during the $25K Fantasy Draft for the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

The draft took place Monday night at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, one day prior to the start of the WSOP. There are 20 teams in the league, all investing $25,000 to win a maximum of $250,000 with the top three spots paid.

Each team drafted eight players they felt would perform well this summer in bracelet events. Teams were limited to a maximum of $200 total to be spent on players during the bidding-style draft. The team that accumulates the most points throughout the series wins. Team Maria Ho took it down last year.

Ho’s team was carried by the performance of Koray Aldemir, whom she picked up for just $2, the steal of the 2022 WSOP 25k Fantasy Draft. Aldemir, who won the 2021 WSOP Main Event, accumulated 358 points, topping the charts.

WSOP Player of the Year Frontrunners Receive Highest Bids

With just $200 to spend, many teams avoid drafting players like Negreanu and Deeb even though they often contend for WSOP Player of the Year. The reason for that is they cost so much to acquire in the 25k Fantasy Draft, making it difficult to fill the remaining seven spots with players who will tear it up at the WSOP. In fact, since the league was formed in 2011, neither poker legend has appeared on a first place roster.

Still, both pros, save for last year when Negreanu lost $1.1 million, usually contend for the Player of the Year award. Thus, there’s always a team willing to bid half or more of its allotted budget to draft them.

On Monday, Deeb went for a draft-high $112 (Team DPMC), while Negreanu was the second highest valued pick at $111 (Team Noori). Dan Zack, the reigning WSOP Player of the Year champion, was chosen for $109 (Team Jew-ish).

Every other player was picked up for under $100, although Yuri Dzivielevski (Team Maria’s Ho’mies) went for $99, just a shade under triple digits.

Phil Hellmuth, another annual high bid, went for $71 this year (Team Fleyshman). The “Poker Brat,” in search of his record-extending 17th bracelet, had an overall ho-hum 2022 WSOP, but he did have a runner-up finish last summer.

Other notable high bids include Jeremy Ausmus for $86 (Team No Gamble No Future), Alex Foxen for $77 (Team Zamani), and this year Aldemir was taken for $70 (Team Riess).

Phil Ivey, who isn’t expected to play much this summer, was selected for $19 by Team Lang. Last year, the 10-time bracelet winner went for just $33 to the same team but was one of the steals of the draft as he accumulated 258 points, sixth most overall.

Complete rosters can be found at 25kfantasy.com.

After several weeks of poker tournament action on Global Poker, the Rattlesnake Open VI has reached its conclusion. The series on the popular social poker site featured 109 events in each of Global Poker’s in-game currencies—Gold Coins (GC) events and Sweeps Coins (SC) with combined guarantees of GC 896,500,000 and SC 1,943,000.

The series, which kicked off on May 7 and wrapped up on May 28, culminated with two main events that saw “Donkeychem” and “Nobsfor1” being named champions. “Donkeychem” took down the GC 40,000,000 guaranteed 31-H: Main Event NLHE for GC 8,160,000, while “Nobsfor1” emerged victorious in 31-H: Main Event NLHE SC 200,000 Guaranteed for SC 34,420.

PokerNews provided live-stream coverage of the Main Event action, which can be viewed at twitch.tv/pokernews.

“Donkeychem” Denies “HumboldtRat” in GC Main Event

The Gold Coin Main Event had a buy-in of GC 99,000 and attracted 201 players as it got underway on May 28.

Some of the players who ran deep in the GC Main Event include“GAM8L3R777” (8th – GC 1,000,000), “Dking4207” (6th – GC 1,800,000), “Oriholic” (4th – GC 3,400,000) and “Fishie1554” (GC 4,520,000), all of whom received seven figures of Gold Coins after their final table runs.

But it was “Donkeychem” who walked away with the top prize of GC 8,160,000 and the rattlesnake trophy after defeating “HumboldtRat”, who earned GC 6,000,000 for their runner-up finish.

	PLACE	PLAYER	PRIZE (IN GC)
	1	“Donkeychem”	8,160,000
	2	“HumboldtRat”	6,000,000
	3	“Fishie1554”	4,520,000
	4	“Oriholic”	3,400,000
	5	“Ace Theodore”	2,320,000
	6	“Dking4207”	1,800,000
	7	“Wolfyt”	1,400,000
	8	“GAM8L3R777”	1,000,000
	9	“CincyKid23”	780,000

“Nobsfor1”, “Qwazzy” & “PostivelyGhoulish” Top SC Main Event

Looking at the Sweeps Coins side of things, the 31-H: Main Event NLHE SC 200,000 Guaranteed drew a field of 1,009 runners with a buy-in of SC 99. In the end, it was “Nobsfor1” who walked away with the trophy and SC 34,420 after defeating heads-up opponent “Qwazzy” (2nd – SC 25,000).

Other players who ran deep in the SC Main Event include third-place finisher “PostivelyGhoulish” (SC 19,000), fourth-place finisher “KybalionKing” (SC 13,920) and fifth-place finisher “Crazysixes” (SC 9,900).

	PLACE	PLAYER	PRIZE (IN SC)
	1	“Nobsfor1”	34,420
	2	“Qwazzy”	25,000
	3	“PostivelyGhoulish”	19,000
	4	“KybalionKing”	13,920
	5	“Crazysixes”	9,900
	6	“YoursTruly-“	7,900
	7	“Shamwowed”	5,900
	8	“Happydeath”	3,900
	9	“Illegit21”	2,300

Other Rattlesnake Open Winners

There were plenty of other big winners during the nearly monthlong Rattlesnake Open. PokerNews highlighted several early winners in the series, including Team PokerNews streamer Kyle “KAA17” Anderson, who started things off by winning the GC 9,000,000 guaranteed 01-M: NLHE for GC 1,837,440.

Other Rattlesnake Open winners include 24-M: NLHE GC 6,000,000 Guaranteed winner “Toughtobeat” (GC 1,352,520), 24-M: NLHE SC 10,000 Guaranteed victor “TheRealCappy” (SC 2,032.67) and 25-L: NLHE SC 6,000 Guaranteed champion “Muppet Baby” (SC 1,410.94).

More recently, “Scootorama” took down 31-M: NLHE GC 20,000,000 Guaranteed for GC 4,290,000 and “YouGonGetThisWork” won 31-M: NLHE SC 50,000 Guaranteed for SC 9,350.

The 5,500 dirham Winamax SISMIX Main Event, running at the Casino de Marrakech at the El Saadi Resort, has now wrapped up and a new champion has been crowned.

Issam Benhaddou has been crowned the champion. He takes 937,500 dirham for his efforts (€86,250). Benhaddou outlasted a field of 1,900 entrants to win the tournament.

According to Hendon Mob, Benhaddou has $17,724 in live tournament winnings. His previous biggest prize was 46,000 dirhams in the WSOPC Marrakech event in 2020. This, then, is by far his most impressive and lucrative score.

After only around 10 minutes of heads-up play, Benhaddou got the better of Christophe Beyer to win the tournament. Beyer made a bluff that didn’t pay off before shoving his short stack from the button and getting called by his opponent. Benhaddou held up to end what has been an intense, exciting and fun five days of poker.

Luis Cabello of Spain came third for 520,000 dirham, Ewen Trevidy came fourth for 370,000 and Mehdi Chaoui came in fifth place for 270,000 dirham. Gonzalo Serrano came sixth for 200,000 dirham, and Alexis Plumet came seventh for 145,000 dirham.

SISMIX Final Table Results

WWinner’s Interview

“There are a lot of things going through my mind right now,” said Benhaddou. “Most of all I’m very pound of my performance, and it makes me so happy to win at home.”

“I’m a local, typical, authentic and original product. So I can’t be anything but happy.”

“My secret is that I called my mom at every break. She prayed for me so I can win my triple barrel bluffs. And I tried to manage my game, to put pressure on when needed, and it worked for me.”

“I had a good energy. After my Day 1b, I went to the swimming pool to chill and relax to be in the best conditions for the rest of the tournament.”

Bustouts Happen Fast on the Final Day

The first few hours of the final day were nothing short of intense. Of the 18 players who returned to the felt, Adil Oubaaous was the first to his the rail. Less than 10-minutes later, Rui Tiago Pinto Campo and Jordi Garcia had both joined him, followed by Javier Ortiz and Enis Chetita, all within the first hour of play.

Action didn’t slow down after that. The all ins continued to come with relentless speed. Victor De Sa Camboa was on the wrong end of a bad beat and was knocked out by Alexis Plumet. Then, Rachid El Yaacoubi hit trips, only to find himself outkicked by Benhaddou’s, who was also holding trips.

Inigo Naveiro lost an all in against Ewen Trevidy to bust in 11th place and then Antoine Guidez lost a flip against Mehdi Chaoui to bust in 10th.

Sylvain Neyroud, who started the day as chip leader, was involved in a huge all in and got his kings cracked by Benhaddou to bust in 9th place. By this point, Benhaddou was accumulating chips and positioning himself nicely for what was to come.

His stack was further improved when he got it in good to eliminate Mohamed Mehalleg in 8th place to bring about the final table redraw. When the final table began, Benhaddou had 30,000,000 chips and close to a 2-1 chip lead over second place Luis Cabello.

SISMIX Final Table Action

Benhaddou continued his reign, winning a coinflip against Alexis Plumet, who was the first to leave the final table. Gonzalo Serrano was the next to go. He shoved pocket sixes and was called by Cabello, whose tens held up to send Serrano to the rail.

Winamax Pro Mehdi Chaoui got it in ahead against Benhaddou, but Benhaddou hit trips to knock Chaoui out of the tournament in 5th place.

With four remaining, Benhaddou still had the chip lead. Christophe Beyer closed the gap when he doubled up through Trevidy and then again through Benhaddou. Trevidy then got it in against Cabello, whose pocket jacks held up to knock Trevidy out of the tournament. Just a few minutes later, however, Luis Cabello busted when he got his cards in behind against Beyer and lost.

Christophe Beyer went heads up against chip leader Benhaddou. Despite his lead, Benhaddou was happy to make an even spilt deal with Beyer to leave 150,000 dirham to play for.

The heads-up battle lasted only a matter of minutes before Benhaddou picked off Beyer’s bluff to get well ahead. After a shove and a call, it was all over. Benhaddou was crowned the SISMIX Main Event champion.

The 888poker XL Spring Series is nearing its conclusion, with the $500,000 guaranteed Main Event right around the corner. 888poker players are hitting the tables in huge numbers as they attempt to hit form in time for that Main Event, giving them the best chance of becoming the series’ biggest winner.

Germany’s “BTC23” will fancy their chances of experiencing glory in the Main Event after taking down the $35,000 XL Spring #14 – Mystery Bounty 8-Max event over the weekend. A field of 744 exchanged $55 for the chance to become an XL Spring Series champion, ensuring the $35,000 guarantee was surpassed by $2,200.

The two largest mystery bounty prizes were won by players that fell short of the final table. Romania’s “PopicuSTAR” crashed out in 13th, but not before capturing a $1,750 bounty payment.

Brazilian “kelsen.lab” fell in 16th yet walked away with the most money of any other player, thanks to pulling out $4,121 worth of mystery bounties before they dusted off their stack.

All but two of the eight finalists saw four-figure sums land in their 888poker accounts; “julianopk10” and “M.Baranov” being that duo.

One by one, the field thinned, with the eliminations of “TtAaKeE,” “Zer0013,” “guizones27,” and “EduAraujo” bowing out in success. Those exits left “BTC23” heads-up against “WalnutPix” of the United Kingdom.

It was “BTC23” that came out on top, and they padded their 888poker bankroll with $4,297, leaving “WalnutPix” to clinch a $3,445 runner-up prize.

$35,000 XL Spring #14 – Mystery Bounty 8-Max Final Table Results

Never Miss an 888poker Tournament Again

888poker has an incredible schedule of poker tournaments for players of all skill and bankroll levels. The PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar allows you to see all of the upcoming tournaments for 888poker, so you will never miss out ever again!

“Scholomance” Leads the $200,000 Mystery Bounty With Nine Remaining

Only nine players remain in contention to become the 888poker XL Spring Series $200,000 Mystery Bounty champion, and it is Montenegro’s “Scholomance” who is in pole position to become the tournament’s champion.

888poker ambassador Ian “Simpioni” Simpson was one of the 848 unique entrants in the field, but the popular streamer came unstuck in 104th place, and logged off empty-handed.

The eight stars that have navigated their way to the final table have each locked in at least $2,030 from the main prize pool, and at least $755 worth of mystery bounties.

“tehnats,” the player currently occupying third place in the chip counts, pulled out a $6,000 mystery bounty on their way to the final table. They already have $6,955 guaranteed plus whatever they bank from their finishing position.

Win up to $10K Free With 888poker’s Card Strike Feature

The biggest bounty, one weighing in at an eye-popping $20,000, has been won. Thirteenth-place finisher “NoGanoUnFlip” of Argentina reeled in $21,540 worth of bounties before bowing out.

The eventual champion will secure $17,299 for their efforts, and it is “Scholomance” who looks on course for that sum as they sit down with the chip lead. However, there are only 13 big blinds separating the leader from fourth place, so the title is far from won.

Cards are back in the air from 7:00 p.m. BST, with the 888poker Twitch channel streaming all of the action from the first pitched cards to the elated champion being announced. Of course, PokerNews will have a full recap of the final table action for you on May 31.

$200,000 XL Spring #19 – Mystery Bounty Final Table Chip Counts

Day 2 of the 2023 PokerStars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) $10,300 Main Event is complete with 40 players left in the game. “AnyExtras” bagged a monster stack of 10,313,553 at the end for the biggest stack, while Canada’s Mike “SirWatts” Watson ended the night with just over eight million.

They played 10 full levels on Day 2, with some action in Level 26 before it all ended for the day. There were 235 players that came back for Day 2 after quite a few overnight entries swelled the field to 587 with a prize pool of $5.87 million.

Both of the leaders got their milestones very near the end of the day. Watson, a two-time European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event champion, bagged his 8,077,187 stack thanks to the final hand of the night, while “AnyExtras” got their 10 million with a 500,000 pot three hands from the end.

SCOOP 108-H: Main Event High Top 10 Chip Counts

The 587 total entries generated a prize pool of $5.87 million, and the biggest piece of that will be more than $1 million for the champion on Wednesday. Some of the prizes started getting awarded today, but it took some time to get there though, with 235 players returning but only 71 players sharing in the money.

Plenty of stellar names fell just shy of the prize money, including Team PokerStars’ Rafael “GM_VALTER” Moraes, Martin “M.nosbocaJ” Jacobson, Juan “Malaka$tyle” Pardo, and the unfortunate bubble boy Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky.

Some of those who cashed in the $10,300 Main Event but will play no further part in the tournament include Patrick “pads1161” Leonard, Joni “bustoville” Jouhkimainen, Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira, Adrian “Amadi_017” Mateos, and Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet; the latter was the last player eliminated on Day 2.

There is almost $3.7 million waiting to be won on Wednesday’s final table, but still quite a bit of money left to hand out on Day 3 as well. Players are now guaranteed $29,432, with the next pay jump to $37,590 at 31st place.

Final Table Prizes for SCOOP 108-H: Main Event High

Day 3 action kicks off at 12:30 ET and PokerNews will be on the virtual floor live from the opening hand. However, coverage will be hybrid and will switch to delayed coverage when the PokerStars Twitch stream switches to coverage of this event.

Vicente “vicenfish” Delgado Bags Eight-Figure Stack on Day 2 of the $1,050 SCOOP Main Event

Day 2 of the $1,050 SCOOP Main Event has come to a close, and what a thrilling day it was. Day 2 saw the 1,278 surviving players from Day 1 be joined by 361 fresh entries. Together, they created a prize pool of $4,206,000, of which 591 players would receive a share of at least $2,279.23, and only 80 of them would be bagging at the end of the day, resulting in a guaranteed cash of $5,103.13.

Of those 80, “2ndOnly2God” accumulated the most chips throughout the day. They will take 19,267,210 of them into Day 3, good for 138 big blinds. The most recognizable name in the top ten chip counts is probably that of Vicente “vicenfish” Delgado. The Spaniard playing from Andorra will be playing a stack of 11,135,501 chips at the start of Day 3. Meanwhile, Morocco’s “soulmekki” sits in second place with 16,629,839 chips, and Romania’s “blebelea” rounds out the top three with a stack of 15,972,872.

SCOOP 108-M: Main Event High Top 10 Chip Counts

PokerStars Ambassador Ramon “RamonColillas” Colillas (7,390,053) and online poker legends Anatoly “NL_Profit” Filatov (4,489,462) and Niklas “Lena900” Astedt (2,394,980) also found their way to Day 3.

However, it would take many eliminations before the 80 remaining players could bag. Predictably, they came in quickly and in great numbers, and the money would eventually be reached after about three hours of play. Among those unfortunate enough to not cash this version of the main event were PokerStars Ambassadors Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot, Fintan “EasyWithAces” Hand, and Sam “SamSquid” Grafton, the latter of which busting very close to the money in 596th place.

Many more household names would join them, such as Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger, Sam “Str8$$$Homey” Greenwood, and Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer. The likes of Christoph “26071985” Vogelsang, Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, and Alex “FutureofMe” Kulev did find a cash, but could not make a deep run unto the tail end of Day 2.

Just before a double elimination would conclude Day 2 with 79 remaining players, powerhouses Nicolas “PKaiser” Fierro, Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis, and Jans “Graftekkel” Arends would also be forced to join the rail.

Those 79 remaining players will return on May 30th, when Day 3 will commence at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The players will then play down to a final table of nine players, which will be played out on Day 4 on May 31st. Blinds on Day 3 will start at 70,000/140,000 with an ante of 17,500, and all levels will have a duration of 25 minutes.

As always, PokerNews will be present with a live report of the entire day, so be sure to tune in to this page tomorrow to find out who the final nine players battling for the $600,639.75 top prize will be and how they will get there.

Ukraine’s Sodaski Leads Going Into Day 3 of the $109 SCOOP Main Event

A thrilling Day 2 in the $109 SCOOP Main Event saw the field whittled down to just 157 players, who will return for Day 3 tomorrow, May 30th at 12:30 pm ET.

Late registration remained open for today’s event until just before cards got in the air for Day 2. As players took their seats, the field had reached a total of 22,663 entries, with 7,493 players still vying for their share of the prize pool, which reached $2,266,300.

A total of 3,183 players made the money, taking home at least the min-cash of $194.44. The eventual champion will take home $232,581.89. The remaining 157 players have locked up a score of at least $1,318.30.

Play will resume with Day 3 on May 30, with cards getting in the air at 12:30 pm ET. Play will continue until just nine remain. These nine will make up the event’s final table, which will be played the following day. Day 3 will begin at Level 42, with blinds at 60,000/120,000 with an ante of 15,000.

No PokerStars Ambassadors managed to bag today. Felix “xflixx” Schneiders was the last member of the team standing, finishing in 1,402nd for a cash of $327.70.

The chip lead went back and forth among a number of players throughout, but “Sodaski” took a sizable lead late in play and managed to hold onto it until the conclusion of play. They bagged 16,848,127, more than two million more than second place.

SCOOP 108-L: Main Event High Top 10 Chip Counts

This summer, hundreds of thousands of players will pass through the doors of the newly-renovated Horseshoe Las Vegas, formerly known as Bally’s. For the second year in a row, the venue will play host to the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP).

As players pack the casino for the 54th annual WSOP, many of them will saunter by a lavish steakhouse. For some, it’ll be just another restaurant, maybe one they’ll attend to celebrate a bracelet win, but for others, they’ll recognize the name on the sign, the man responsible for poker’s premier event – Jack Binion.

Now 86 years old, Binion is a titan of the gaming industry and the son of casino magnate Benny Binion. Together, they launched the WSOP back in 1970 at Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. Over the next four decades, Jack Binion would go on to change not only the poker landscape but also the casino industry throughout the United States. Along the way, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and became an icon of the game.

Binion doesn’t relish the spotlight, so interviews with the born-and-raised Texan are few and far between. However, late last year he sat down with PokerNews for an intimate and in-depth conversation about his life in poker.

Here’s the Full Schedule for 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP); Win Main Event for Life!

Making Their Way to Vegas

In the early part of his life, Benny Binion ran illegal gambling operations in Dallas, Texas. The exploits of the gambling icon have been immortalized in books such as I’ll Do My Own Damn Killin’ by Gary Sleeper and Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker by Doug J. Swanson and is a tale too long to tell here. However, his son, Jack, remembered those early days.

“My family left Texas in 1947. Actually, my dad came out early,” Binion told PokerNews. “Let’s face it, there were many illegal gambling casinos in America at this time, and it was right after the war. People can now travel again, and I don’t know if you remember what the Kefauver Committee was, but there was a movement throughout the country to close illegal gambling there. In the Fall of 1946, a reformed administration came into Dallas and they shut the town down. When I say they shut the town down, it was always illegal but it was tolerated. All right. Well, after this, we would not be tolerated, and that’s when we moved to Vegas. I came out here in 1947 at a semester break.”

Despite his father’s business, which often involved run-ins with the law and incidences fraught with violence, Jack remembers his time in Texas as a happy time.

“I always had a great childhood,” he said. “Yeah, my father and my mother, I can’t think of two people that were more devoted to your children than my parents were. My dad was very permissive in a way. But anyway, so, yeah, I had a great childhood and he opened [the Horseshoe] in 1951. Before that we would always go to a ranch he owned in Montana and all summer we’d spend all our time at the ranch.”

The Binion family bounced back and forth between Vegas and the Montana Ranch, but eventually, the patriarch’s past came knocking.

“[My dad] opened the Horseshoe and he was very successful with it, and then, unfortunately, they indicted him for income tax evasion and Gambling Row back in Texas. They finally got him back there and they put him in jail and he had to sell the Horseshoe. Right. And he sold it to Joe W. Brown, who is a gambler from New Orleans that had a play for many years in Saint Bernard Parish, which is just actually a suburb of New Orleans.”

Binion continued: “Actually, he didn’t know Joe Brown that well, but Joe Brown was a good guy, and his reputation was well-deserved. He was very rich. Yeah. What had happened – he was a very successful gambler but then he invested in oil, and he hit a huge gas field down in Louisiana. After he died, they sold that gas field for $47.5 million, which at this time would be at least $470 million. Probably more, right? Probably double that. In fact, there’s a good chance that if they had the Forbes 400 in those days, Joe Brown would have been on it.”

Eventually, Brown got sick and sold the casino to a group that owned The Fremont. At the time, Jack Binion, who was 27, owned 2.5 percent of the business, but when the group hit money problems and was looking to sell, he managed to work it up to 25 percent.

“Then when we bought it out, we borrowed the money from the bank and a bunch of stuff. We owned 100% of the place,” explained Binion, who would go on to serve as both President and General Manager of the Horseshoe.

WSOP Formation

While Jack Binion was the top dog on the Horseshoe on paper, Benny still pulled the strings behind the scenes. Known for their $1 million display of $10,000 bills and a willingness to take bets of any amount, Binion’s Horseshoe became a popular Vegas destination. That was good news for poker players as Benny Binion had a fondness for them, including long-time friend Johnny Moss.

It was Benny’s connection to the game that would lead to an invitation to Reno in 1969.

“Me and my brother and my father kind of never traveled much together, but the guy from Austin, Texas, that owned a casino in Reno, and he invited us to a thing called a Gamblers Convention,” Jack Binion explained. “Well, my dad said, let’s go up there. So, we did. We all liked it. He loved to travel with me and my brother or one of us, you know? And it was just a poker game. That’s where I met Doyle [Brunson]. The next year we remodeled the Horseshoe and expanded it including a card room.”

The man Binion referred to was Tom Moore, owner of the Holiday Hotel. He opted not to run the reunion the following year, which inspired the Binions to step up to the plate.

As Binion told PokerNews: “So, we said, okay, that’s not a bad idea. I called those guys up and said, ‘You guys going to do that convention again?’ They said no and I said, ‘Well, you know what? And if we do it?’ He said, no [problem]. And that’s how it took off and how it started.”

Thus, the World Series of Poker was born, though that first year in Vegas wasn’t played in a tournament format. Instead, attendees played various cash games and at the end of it all they voted on the best player, which wound up being the aforementioned Johnny Moss.

“They just got six guys together to do it and I named it the World Series of Poker.”

“I’m going to tell you what, okay? It never crossed my mind or anybody else’s, obviously, to have an actual game, a gambling tournament where there was a winner,” said Binion. “So, I just go around and say, you know, who do you think the better player is? So, the guy that got the most second-place votes, he was kind of the king of the gamblers then. Right. And I’ll tell you who really came up with the idea of a freeze out was Amarillo Slim.”

He continued: “In the old days, most of the freezeouts were like two guys would play, and they’d put up ten apiece and just one would win at all. I don’t even think anybody ever had a multiple-person freezeout. The truth was, it was just an afterthought. And they just got six guys together to do it and I named it the World Series of Poker because at the time I thought, well, say in the ‘World of Poker Championship’ is a little bit presumptuous. You know, there are six people … Actually, it didn’t really catch on right away, and we didn’t really get any publicity. None of the gamblers wanted any publicity.”

In those early years, the WSOP Main Event wasn’t the main attraction. The players much preferred cash games, but for the sake of the media, a tournament was held to crown a world champion.

“We just had a poker tournament every year and we’d get the poker tournament because it was good publicity and everything,” Binion admitted. “Yeah. But the rest of the time, we put slots in that area. Slots made a lot more money for sure.”

Poker & Pop Culture: Jack Binion Sorts Fact From Fiction Regarding Moss-Dandolos Match

Remembering Some WSOP Legends

One of the reasons the WSOP caught on was due to a colorful cast of characters, many of who Binion remembers fondly such as the late Puggy Pearson.

“Pug was a good poker player. What interested me in Pug, he said to me that his family moved – I think nine times in 18 months – because his father would never pay the rent. And he had like eight or nine kids. And he says, ‘I was so poor the first time I ever saw sliced bread I thought it was cake.’ … Pug just was self-raised, and self-educated. It’s kind of interesting because Pug, how he approached stuff, and he just his deductive reasoning. He did it not only with gambling but everything.”

Then there was fellow Texas Jack “Treetop “ Strauss.

“Strauss was one of the most unique player. Now the trouble with Strauss, he loved to play so much that he stayed broke all the time and he bet sports. He was the first guy I ever saw that … would be playing and listening on a transistor radio to baseball games and all that kind of stuff. So, he was just go, go, go, go all the time.”

“Strauss was a pretty big bookmaker around Houston, okay, but he was always running low and nobody realized it back then.”

To demonstrate his point, Binion shared a story about Treetop.

“It doesn’t have anything to do really with poker, but it shows how Strauss was. Strauss was a pretty big bookmaker around Houston, okay, but he was always running low and nobody realized it back then. But he was always very thin in the bankroll department. So, his best customer was from Lafayette, Louisiana and the guy called Strauss up and said, ‘Listen, I’ll be over there Tuesday morning to come get the money.’

“So now Strauss doesn’t have the money, but after the Monday Night Football, he could go out and he would be able to, you know, collect it away. By Tuesday night, he would have the money, but he was not going to have the money when the guy showed up. So, he said, ‘Oh, what am I going to do?’ The point of the story was how clever Strauss was. He looks over and there was a friend of his that had gone to work for an insurance company that had kind of a plain Ford sedan, and a guy, you know, dressed in a kind of a plain suit. He called the guy up and he said, ‘Listen, I’ll wait underneath there for the cashier of whatever hotel and I’ll come get you. I’ll bring the money.’ He knew that the guy would be able to see coming up the way.

“So, he’s coming up with a sack, carrying this sack headed for the guy, and about a block and a half away, the car comes up. [His friend] get out and throws him up against the wall. He throws him in the car and they drive off. Later he calls the other guy up and he says, ‘You’re not going to believe what happened.’ The guy said, ‘Don’t say a word. I saw the whole thing.; Strauss said the guy didn’t come to get the money for another two weeks, and it shows how quick Strauss would think.”

Speaking of Strauss, he is well-known for his “chip-and-a-chair” comeback in the 1982 WSOP Main Event where he seemingly went all in only to notice after the hand that he had one chip underneath a napkin. Because he never said “all in,” the chip was live and he made a historic comeback. Binion remembers it well, and he doesn’t think it was an accident.

“He knew what the hell he was doing,” Binion shared. “I think he knew that chip was there. He knew, I think so … But that’s typical Strauss.”

A Poker Family

Because the community was much smaller back then, those who attended the WSOP became like a family with the Binions playing a prominent role. It became apparent that if you were at the WSOP at Binion’s Horseshoe, you were going to see Jack, which is evidenced by the numerous WSOP photos from the 1970s through the 90s.

“I was really working hard. I work seven days a week. One time, I went a year and a half without a day off,” said Binion. “When we first took over the Horseshoe, I wanted to make sure it was a success. But almost more than anything else, fear of failure made me work really hard.”

As for the players, Binion remembered them as a sort of fraternity.

“Number one, everybody came from kind of a same background and they had more in common and they played every day with each other. The camaraderie and interaction with each other now are nowhere near what it was in those days. In those days, every night they had dinner together or you know, they played golf together. So, there was always a lot of interaction.”

He continued: “There was just a lot more interaction with each other, and like I say, a lot more camaraderie. They were all what you might say, maybe not their best friend, but they were all together. It was a click, you know, of all these players, like a family.”

Eventually, newer players began to infiltrate the WSOP and change the game. Binion remembers Phil Hellmuth, now the most decorated player in WSOP history with 16 gold bracelets, as a disruptor.

“Phil was really the first what I call ‘modern players.’ He was a college kid who came out of nowhere … Phil won that tournament [in 1989], and by then, people at first, they didn’t really understand how important strategy was in those poker tournaments. Phil was one of the first ones, I think, to really do that.”

Poker Hall of Famer Jack Binion on 2022 WSOP: “My Hat’s Off to Them

Building an Empire Outside Vegas

The year that Hellmuth won the WSOP was the same year that Benny Binion passed away on Christmas Day. Jack would continue to run the Horseshoe with other family input, but after a decade, during which his mother Teddy Jane passed away in 1994, family politics and drama led to him selling his shares to his sister, Becky Binion-Behnen. As part of the deal, he was able to take the Horseshoe brand on the road.

“I sold out to my sister in 1998 … I said there’s going to be a big opportunity [as gambling expanded across the country] and they wouldn’t do it. So, I said, ‘Well, I’m going to take the kids and I’m going to go.’ Do I want to save the kids, the grandchildren, the grand nieces and nephews? We formed a new company, and that the company that had all the Horseshoes in the Midwest and South.”

For Jack, it proved a wise decision as his casinos, such as Horseshoe Tunica, quickly flourished. Meanwhile, his sister’s woes continued and she eventually sold the Las Vegas casino to Harrah’s, which would later become Caesars Entertainment. Binion’s properties would follow, but what he built lives on as Horseshoe venues can be found in Baltimore, Hammond, Bossier City, Council Bluffs, Tunica, Indianapolis, Lake Charles, St. Louis, Black Hawk, and now, once again, in Las Vegas!

“To this day, this financial office runs all the money for me and all the kids, and now we’re into the next generation,” Binion said with a smile. “There’s 16 people in the next generation, from 13 down to about three weeks old as part of the whole family. So, the whole family is really together right now.”

So, this summer while you’re at the WSOP, maybe stop into Jack Binion’s Steak and raise a glass to the man who helped start it all.

For more, listen to Jack Binion tell his stories on this episode of the PokerNews Podcast:

From April 3-May 21, Venetian Las Vegas hosted the DeepStack Extravaganza II poker series, which offered more than $2.2 million in guaranteed prize pools across 70 events. At the end of it, the series catered to 7,226 entrants and awarded $2,821,878 in prize money.

Among those to claim titles were Jessica Vierling (Event #10: $400 PLO for $5,168), Karapet Galstyan (Event #46: $800 NLH Mystery Bounty for $43,649), Brendan Shiller (Event #49: MonsterStack Throwback for $5,042), and Tuan Mai (Event #61: $400 NLH UltimateStack for $20,295.

Additionally, Lucas Tae, Ivan Ruban, and Kao Saechao each claimed two titles during the series. Tae bested a 91-entry field to win Event #19: $400 EpicStack for $6,534 and later was victorious in the 100-entry Event #51: $400 NLH Epic Bounty for $3,842 plus bounties. Ruban topped Event #11: $400 NLH EpicStack for $8,700 and nine days later emerged victorious in Event #25: $400 NLH EpicStack for $7,789.

Saechao won three titles in a series earlier this year and picked up another couple of victories with a win in Event #56: $300 NLH Bounty and then another win in Event #59: $400 Big O just two days later.

Here are some other notable winners from the series.

Check out the Venetian Poker Room Review on PokerNews here!

Dan Sepiol Defeats Red-Hot Jeremy Becker

On May 17, Event #64: $500 NLH EpicStack saw 71 entrants battle it out on the felt for a $29,962 prize pool paid out to the top nine finishers.

It would have been no surprise to see Jeremy Becker at another final table as the red-hot player won eight tournaments during the month. However, Becker fell just short of another victory when he finished runner-up to the victor, Dan Sepiol.

Notably, Sepiol won the tournament with the same hand Becker is usually seen holding in his winner photos: five-three offsuit.

Event #64 Final Table Results

Samy Dighlawi Wins Event #40 Amid Three Victories

Samy Dighlawi found himself in the winner’s circle three times during the DeepStack Extravaganza II series, beginning with a victory early in the series on April 4 when he topped a 70-entrant field in Event #3: $400 NLH EpicStack for $3,810.

He would again find himself with all the chips in a tournament at the end of the month when he bested a 77-entrant field in Event #40: $500 NLH EpicStack for $8,179 on April 30. He defeated David Howard (2nd – $5,495) in heads-up play and navigated through a final table which comprised of Andrew Rodgers (5th – $2,502) and Lucas Tae (9th – $1,079).

His Event #40 win wouldn’t be his last of the series though, as he claimed a third title just days later on May 3 when he took the $9,147 first-place prize over an 89-entrant field in Event #44: $600 NLH EpicStack.

Event #40 Final Table Results

Jarvis, Becker & Poe Among 2023 Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza I Winners

Justin Young Takes Down Event #33

Justin Young is often seen playing in some of the highest stakes, but the poker pro decided to venture to the Venetian on April 24 to take part in Event #33: $500 NLH EpicStack, which saw 136 runners generate a $57,392 prize pool and paid the top 17 finishers.

Among those who cashed but fell short of the final table were Rommel Liscano (11th – $1,285), Steven Stowe (14th – $1,079), and Alexander Nachtwey (15th – $1,079).

Ultimately, Young defeated David Erisman in heads-up play to claim the title and $14,608 first-place prize, as he continues to collect victories in tournaments of all stakes.

Event #33 Final Table Results

Foxen, Weissman, and Black Among Venetian March DeepStack Showdown Winners

Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza II Winners

What’s Coming Up Next?

The Venetian is already hosting their 2023 DeepStack Championship Poker Series, which kicked off on May 22 and will run through July 31. That summer series will offer nearly $14 million in guaranteed prize pools across 75 events.

The opening day of the PokerStars SCOOP 108-H: Main Event is now in the books, and with entries still open until the start of Day 2, there are 518 entries in the game.

Canada’s Rayan “beriuzy” Chamas is the chip leader going into the second day of play with 2,372,359 but there are five other players with more than 2 million chips to start Day 2. Quite a few of the PokerStars Team Pro members got into this event, but at the end of the day, only Lex “L.Veldhuis” Veldhuis had chips remaining, a bit less than double the start stack.

Ben “Spraggy” Spragg had a particularly rough, and quick, go of it in the $10k today. He tweeted that he played exactly one hand before busting.

PokerStrs SCOOP $10,300 Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

Place	Player	Country	Chips
1	Rayan “beriuzy” Chamas	Canada	2,372,359
2	Pargo18	Ireland	2,289,272
3	David “MissOracle” Yan	New Zealand	2,242,398
4	Dumitru “pora adrian” Pora	Romania	2,135,976
5	AnyExtras	Canada	2,075,897
6	Stumpfed	Canada	2,042,669
7	Fakeee1	Poland	1,947,513
8	Alex “FutureofMe” Kulev	Ireland	1,859,986
9	Retro_cheetah01	Poland	1,781,440
10	Christopher “lissi stinkt” Frank	Austria	1,751,752

Follow all the $10,300 SCOOP Main Event updates!

Don’t miss any of the SCOOP Main Event action

Action of the Day

The game got underway at 12:30 ET with 173 entries, but the field grew steadily throughout the day, ending with 515 entries when the final hand was dealt. That was enough to put $5.15 million into the prize pool, but that will grow before entries close at the start of Day 2.

Players weren’t really afraid to get their chips in early on, depsite the $10k buy-in. PokerStars Team Pro Lex “L.Veldhuis” Veldhuis five-bet shoved 179k in Level 2 to take down a big pot and he was able to run that through to a Day 2 stack.

He wasn’t the only Team PokerStars player to enter the game today, but he was the last one standing. Sam “SamSquid” Grafton made the second deepest run, but he couldn’t quite make it to a bag. He was in the top five during Level 2 after he rivered a flush, but he busted near the end of the night.

Among the other Team members in play today were Alejandro “[Papo]AR” Lococo, Ramon “RamonColillas” Colillas, Rafael “GM_VALTER” Moraes, Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot, Sebastian “peace&loove” Huber, and Fintan “EasyWithAces” Hand.

The chip leader going into the second day was a late-comer to the big stacks. Rayan “beriuzy” Chamas first found a big stack early in Level 14 and was among the first players stacking up 2 million chips. Day 2 action kicks off at 12:35 ET on Monday, May 29, and you can follow the action right here on PokerNews.

$1,050 SCOOP Main Event

Day 1 of the PokerStars SCOOP $1,050 Main Event saw 3,845 entrants reduced to 1,278, although those numbers should rise with late registration open until the start of Day 2.

A whole host of stars progressed to Day 2, including Christoph “26071985” Vogelsang (1,067,360) and Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky (1,047,595). However, it is Canada’s “Zabiggesmaj” who leads the way going into the second day’s action with a 245 big blind stack, or 1,469,772 in old money.

$109 SCOOP Main Event

Some 20,373 players bought into the PokerStars $109 Main Event, but only 5,203 of those starters punched their Day 2 tickets at the first time of asking. Team PokerStars’ Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis (78,748), Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg (70,252), and Sebastian “peace&loove” Huber (142,476) are among those players to look out for on Day 2.

Another member of Team PokerStars, Alejandro “[Papo]AR” Lococo found himself in the top ten chip counts for large parts of Day 1, but lost a little ground late on. He still managed to bag up 345,425 chips, enough for 36th place at the restart.