Tomi Brouk added a PartyPoker MILLIONS Online KO title to his long list of poker accomplishments after he came out on top in the $320 buy-in 7-Max Championship.

Brouk, one of Finland’s elite-level poker tournament grinders, has compiled an impressive spread of results since launching his professional career in 2009 and has more than $12.3 million in online earnings. He banked $37,887 from this PartyPoker event which has helped boost that impressive sum.

MILLIONS Online KO 7-Max Championship Final Table Results

The MILLIONS Online KO 7-Max Championship attracted 886 players across several starting flights, and 133 made it through to Day 2. The Day 2 field was littered with household names, including Niklas Astedt, Scott Margereson, Enrico Camosci, Benjamin Chalot, Team PartyPoker pro Patrick Leonard, and Jack Hardcastle.

Four of the seven finalists saw five-figure prizes land in their PartyPoker accounts. Brazilian duo Murilo Milhomem ($3,808) and Luciano Hollanda ($5,194) were the first players eliminated from the final table, with Hungarian star Marton Czuczor ($5,994) joining them on the rail.

Czuczor’s exit left four players in the hunt for the title, with all four now guaranteed prizes of over $10,000 thanks to the bounty element of the tournament.

Jerry Odeen Shines During PartyPoker MILLIONS Online KO Early Stages

Fourth place and $12,499 went to Albert Cigliano of Malta, before seasoned British pro Charlie Combes bowed out in third, for a result that earned him $13,157.

Heads-up pitted Brouk against Estonia’s Juan Vecino. Both players banked over $17,600 from the main prize pool, but the final bounty payments added up to over $20,000, meaning there was still everything to play for.

Brouk eventually came out on top and reeled in a total score worth $37,887, leaving Vecino to head into the night with a $22,188 consolation prize.

Custodio Captures Sunday Party Title

The Sunday Party is one of the newest weekly tournaments at PartyPoker. Usually, it costs $109 and guarantees $150,000. However, the MILLIONS Online KO edition saw its guarantee boosted to $200,000 while keeping the same $109 buy-in.

Some 1,734 players bought in, leaving PartyPoker to add $26,600 to the prize pool to compensate for the shortfall. Overlays are good news for players because they represent added value, and Brazilian Eduardo Custodio took full advantage of the extra value by coming out on top and grabbing the bulk of the prize pool.

Custodio was one of four Brazilians to navigate their way to the nine-handed final table. The country famous for its football/soccer and samba dancing lost a player early on when Tales Braga bowed out in ninth for a $2,177 score.

Brazil lost another player when Tomas Cytrynowicz was relieved of his stack, and he had to make do with a $5,199 sixth-place prize. Luiz Gordilho busted in fourth for $6,417, leaving Custodio as Brazil’s sole representative in the Sunday Party.

Yulian Bogdanov Crowned PartyPoker MILLIONS Online KO 6-Max Champion

The heads-up stage was reached with British star Tom Hall crashed out in third for $9,676. Here, Custodio battled with Malta’s Kevin Lebeda, with both players locking in at least $12,686 from the main prize pool.

The final bounty payments are now nestled in Custodio’s PartyPoker account because he defeated his Maltese opponent in the one-on-one battle and walked away with the title of champion plus $21,936. Lebeda banked $14,091 for his second-place finish.

MILLIONS Online KO Sunday Party Final Table Results

Check Out These Upcoming PartyPoker Tournaments!

MILLIONS Online KO Concludes This Weekend!

The 2023 PartyPoker MILLIONS Online KO series concludes on May 29, with several big events wrapping matters up.

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New poker players commonly ask about the differences between online and live poker and how the game changes in each realm. Experienced players already know how the dynamics differ, and thankfully the amazing ambassadors from 888poker have extended a helping hand to help bring novice poker players up to speed.

So if you’re thinking about trying live or online poker for the first time, be sure to check out the advice from the 888poker pros in the video and article below.

Pace of Play

“The main difference for me between live and online poker is the pace of play,” says ambassador Ian Simpson. “When you’re playing online, there is no dealer. You get many more hands per hour than when you do live…You need to have a lot more patience playing live than online.”

Visualization

Ambassador Josh Manley explains, “When I play online, I find it so much easier just to visualize everything because you can see everything right in front of you.”

“When I play live, sometimes it’s a little bit different. I don’t really get it quite the same way. I sometimes struggle with things like bet-sizing…a lot more thought process has to go into it in live poker.”

888poker XL Spring Series Explodes Into Action

Player Information Easier in Live Poker

Ambassador Lucia Navarro points to the social setting of live poker, which makes it easier to pick up information on your opponents.

“I think playing live poker, you talk to the players, see how they behave so that you can get a lot of information from that…online poker is more limited.”

Ambassador Vivian Saliba agrees with Navarro on the subject and says when online, “You will play a more GTO strategy. In live poker, you can see your opponents, use your live reads and play it more exploitatively.”

Cash Game Dynamics Vary

“In terms of cash games, the opens are larger. People are generally a little bit looser. You obviously go multi-way a great deal.” says Stream Team member Nick Eastwood.

“You’re also deep more often. Online, you have 100 big blinds a lot. In a casino, you’ll have games that are 300 big blinds deep, so that can affect the strategy quite a bit.”

Online Poker is Harder

Navarro also adds, “Online is harder than live, as the online players can play more volume and hands, so the experience they have is usually higher than the live player.”

Join the Fun, Action, and Value at 888poker Today

Signing up for an 888poker account is easy. Download 888poker via PokerNews, create your free account, and you are good to go. Always check out our 888poker review to ensure you are getting your hands on the best 888poker bonus codes and, therefore, welcome bonuses and rewards. It is as simple as that. Good luck at the tables!

Have you ever dreamed of winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event or becoming a champion on the European Poker Tour (EPT). Of course, you have because tournament poker is one of the most exciting forms of the game, and one that gives you the chance to turn a relatively small investment into a massive sum of money.

Although there are thousands of tournaments running every week on various online poker sites, nothing beats the excitement of sitting down in a real-life casino, feeling the cards and chips in your hands, and competing for huge cash prizes and elaborate trophies and bracelets.

The three biggest and most popular live tournament festivals are the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the World Poker Tour (WPT), although the PartyPoker LIVE, 888poker LIVE, and Unibet Open are worth mentioning, too.

All of these festivals offer dozens of tournaments at some amazing venues around the world, capped off with a high buy-in Main Event that pays hundreds of thousands of dollars (or euros), or millions in some cases. It’s also a chance for players to immortalize themselves in the poker history books by winning titles and the accompanying trophies.

However, the high cost of entering these major live tournaments is a significant deterrent to many budding poker players. A typical EPT Main Event costs €5,300 to buy into, whilst WSOP entry prices range from $500 and increase to an eye-watering $50,000 for the highest buy-in events.

Unless you are a successful professional poker player or have a very well-paid job, investing €5,300 plus travel and accommodation for a single tournament may be a step too far. Fear not, however, because thankfully, there are ways to win your seat at the biggest championships, and you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home.

Build your bankroll with free-to-play poker freeroll tournaments.

Most online poker sites including: PokerStars, partypoker, WPT Global, and 888poker offer special tournaments known as satellites.

These satellites play like any standard tournament but with one key difference: they do not boast a cash prize. Instead, they offer seats to Main Events and sometimes entire packages that include hotel accommodation and travel expenses.

Below are the most popular type of satellite competitions that are available on most online poker sites:

Full Package Satellites

A satellite that offers a full package to an event usually awards the winner with a seat to the Main Event, money towards travel and accommodation costs, and sometimes spending money. Full Package Satellites generally become available a month or two before the big events begin. It should come as no surprise to learn that the sponsors of the live tours run satellites on their respective online poke site.

For example, you can play EPT satellites at PokerStars, 888poker LIVE satellites at 888poker, PartyPoker LIVE satellites online at PartyPoker, and WPT satellites at WPT Global.

Sometimes, major festivals partner with online poker sites to run satellites. The Irish Open is the perfect example of this. The Irish Open recently joined forces with both Paddy Power Poker and PokerStars to run online satellites, while the WSOP often uses 888poker and GGPoker. WPT Global regularly runs satellites online that award packages to the WPT events. In December 2022, Stephen Kehoe won a satellite online at WPT Global that cost him $550 to enter. It awarded him a package to the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas, where he cashed for $269,900.

Seat-Only Satellites

These tournaments are similar to the full package tournaments except the winner(s) only receive a seat to the Main Event and nothing else. If you live near the tournament venue or know someone staying nearby, these types of satellites are perfect.

Steps or Phase Satellites

Steps satellites have grown significantly in popularity during recent years because they offer hopefuls the chance to win a comprehensive package for very little outlay. Steps usually take the form of several tournaments, where the winners progress to the next highest step and continue doing so until they win the main prize.

You can buy into any step or phase that your bankroll allows, making them a great satellite format regardless of your bankroll’s size.

Flip or All-In Satellites

If you are short of time and want to leave qualifying for an event completely up to chance, then participating in Flip or All-in satellites is the best option. These tournaments see the blinds and antes placed so high that everyone is automatically all-in at the start of the tournament and will remain so until the winner is determined.

Generally speaking, this form of satellite commands low buy-ins, and they are great fun to watch!

Once you’ve decided what type of satellite is best for you, make sure you sign up to your preferred poker site via PokerNews for all the best, latest and biggest sign-up bonuses.

Satellite Tournament FAQs

There was a commotion on the floor and on social media during Day 2 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) $5,250 buy-in Gardens Poker Championship as a player used a game theory optimal (GTO) solver while at the table.

Andrew Esposito, a San Antonio poker regular who recently had a runner-up finish in the $3,500 Wynn Millions Championship in Las Vegas, denied using the app, GTO Wizard, during a hand and told PokerNews he was looking at an output in between hands.

Others, including Peter Cross, who called Esposito out in the moment in a video shared to Twitter by Josh Arieh, claimed that Esposito was indeed using the poker training app during hands. The floor addressed the incident and ruled that the young San Antonian had not violated Poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA) rules.

“I addressed this situation at the table, the matter was taken care of and we had no further instances,” Gardens Casino Tournament Manager Cavin Quintanilla wrote on Twitter as he cited TDA Rule 5, which addresses Electronic Devices and Communication and states that “betting apps and charts may not be used by players with live hands.”

While all are in agreement that using a solver in a hand amounts to cheating, poker players on social media had varying opinions on the use of real-time solvers when not in a hand. That debate makes up the latest edition of The Muck.

What Happened

Esposito was not penalized or disqualified and hopped into a side event after busting out of the Gardens Poker Championship. It was there that PokerNews asked Esposito about the controversy, which he called a “frustrating situation.”

“It looked like I was on it the whole time for every hand, but it was just one hand that I was referencing,” he said in an interview. “I did have the app open … and it was to reference a hand that I got into maybe 10 or 15 minutes before. And as odd as it sounds, I literally downloaded the app probably like last Saturday or Friday, my first time using it.”

Esposito, who showed PokerNews a receipt of his first payment for GTO Wizard dated May 20 as evidence that he is a newcomer to the app, added that he “see(s) people with it open (at tables while not in hands) quite often.”

“And I don’t think it’s clear cut whether (it is against tournament rules),” he said. “I think it needs to be a clear-cut rule.”

Esposito was roundly criticized as video of a back-and-forth between him and Cross made its way around poker Twitter.

“I mean DQ from tournament at a bare minimum,” wrote poker coach Faraz Jaka. “What about a full ban, too harsh? I imagine everyone knows using even preflop charts mid hand is cheating. I worry they’d try again. ”

“Can we finally just get to the point where cheaters are automatically 86ed? This is ridiculous at this point,” wrote Kenneth “K.L.” Cleeton of RangeTrainerPro.

In June 2022, high-stakes pro Brock Wilson took heat when Jared Jaffee shared a photo of Wilson in a live tournament with what appeared to be a preflop chart or a sim pulled up on his phone. Like with the latest incident, some said they didn’t see a problem since Wilson wasn’t using the chart during a hand.

There was also a controversy at the 2016 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table as Jason Mcconnon brought a printed push-fold chart that he consulted in between hands. Tournament Director Jack 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.

In light of the incident at Gardens Casino, some were adamant that solvers shouldn’t be allowed at the table at all.

“Allowing it at any time, even between hands will destroy live poker,” wrote MonkerGuy. “Speak to your peers for a total ban on anything strategy related.”

There may also be a responsibility for the software providers to prevent potential cheating. Earlier this year, the poker training software Odin Poker was called out for removing its 20-second delay, a feature that Odin founder Rory Young noted was never even a part of competing tools like GTO Wizard.

“It’s almost if products like @GTOWizard not having a time delay leads to rampant cheating, online especially,” wrote RangeTrainerPro’s Ryan Laplante.

Eric Persson, in partnership with Bally’s Corporation, has revealed plans to open a one-of-a-kind poker room and live-stream at Tropicana Las Vegas, the reported future site of the Oakland A’s.

Maverick Gaming, founded by Persson, will bring a poker room to the Las Vegas Strip resort for the first time since 2013. The old card room, promoted by 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Jamie Gold, closed a decade ago and was replaced by slot machines.

Poker Returning to The Trop

Poker will soon return to The Trop, although an official launch date hasn’t been disclosed, and it will include more than just a standard poker room. Bally’s Big Bet Poker, a televised show that originally was edited from Live at the Bike live-streams, will bring a state-of-the-art live-stream studio to Tropicana for some high-stakes games along with a new show called Live at the Tropicana.

If you’re wondering why this is all taking place at the Tropicana, the answer is Bally’s Corp owns the hotel and casino. Over the next few years, much of the property will be torn down to build a new stadium for the Oakland A’s, who will be moving to Las Vegas in 2027.

The casino has already informed its employees job layoffs will begin over the next 18-24 months and the resort built in 1957, making it one of the longest standing casinos in Las Vegas, will be demolished. There’s still some disputes between the A’s and Clark County on how the stadium will be funded, but it appears the team is destined to eventually iron out the financials of the move.

When the building is demolished, it is expected that the poker room and the live-stream studio will remain in tact. Persson, who owns casinos in Northern Nevada and Washington state, gave a few details on Twitter about the future Las Vegas poker room. He wrote: “We are going to build the best 1-3 and 2-5 games on the Las Vegas Strip,” and advertised low rake, hourly high hands, and daily tournaments.

Persson is one of the most active high rollers in poker these days and will be competing in the $1 million buy-in games on Hustler Casino Live this coming weekend. He’s appeared numerous times on Live at the Bike and PokerGO’s various shows. The casino mogul infamously lost the largest pot in US televised poker history — $1,978,000 — on No Gamble No Future in February.

The high roller casino owner will compete in the Bally’s Big Bet Poker live-stream games. Persson said on Twitter the Maverick Gaming Poker Room will open this coming October, but the debut of Live at the Tropicana will take place in June.

There’s certainly a plethora of competition for poker in Las Vegas, and especially on the Strip. Established card rooms such as Bellagio, Wynn, and Aria have attracted large crowds and some of the biggest games for years.

That said, the aspirations of the Maverick Gaming Poker Room and the casino’s future poker show are huge.

“Get ready for a poker experience that will leave you breathless, invigorated, and craving more. Stay tuned for updates and prepare to embrace the Maverick spirit,” Persson said in a press release.

“When Bally’s gave us the opportunity to expand the Bally’s Big Bet Poker® brand to the Tropicana Las Vegas, we immediately thought of Eric as a tremendous asset, both on and off the felt. Persson’s industry expertise and proven ability to build successful poker rooms superbly aligns with Bally’s omnichannel network,” said Houston Curtis, executive producer of Bally’s Big Bet Poker.

As for the future, Curtis elaborated: “The A’s will happen when it happens. We plan on still being in the middle of a huge pot when the building starts to come down.”

With Low rake, a live stream with players such as Persson, promotions, and a prime location — it just might be a winning combination.

On the latest High Stakes Poker show on PokerGO, which aired Tuesday night, Ben Lamb and Daniel Negreanu dominated the action.

There weren’t any changes at the table for Episode 16 of Season 10 compared to last week’s game. The seven players included the already mentioned duo, along with Bill Klein, Stanley Choi, Charles Yu, Eric Hicks, and Eric Persson. Here’s a look at the early stack sizes shown on PokerGO:

Lamb Attempts a River Bluff After Missing Flush Draw

On the first hand of the show, Lamb went to work with K♠J♥, raising it up to $3,000 before calling a three-bet to $13,000 from Choi, who had A♠K♥.

The monotone flop came out 4♥5♥6♥, and both players had one hidden heart. After Lamb checked, Choi went for a continuation bet of $7,000 with his superior flush draw. A call was made and then a board-pairing 5♦ appeared on the turn.

This time it went check-check to the 8♦ river. Both players missed their flush draws and were sitting on nothing but high cards. Lamb led for $19,500 and was able to get the bluff through. On the next hand, he hit trip aces and won a $150,000 pot against Persson and Choi.

The three-time near World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion was off and running in what was a profitable session for the high-stakes poker pro.

“Kid Poker” on a Heater

During the old days of High Stakes Poker on the Game Show Network, no one ran worse than Negreanu. But “Kid Poker” is all grown up now and the results on the legendary poker show have been much better for him. On Episode 16, the deck was rather kind to the Poker Hall of Famer.

With $13,000 in the pot heading to the flop, which came out 8♠6♦4♥, Persson bet out $3,000 with 4♠4♦ for bottom set. Negreanu made the call with 10♥7♦, chasing a double-gutter. Back in the day, there was absolutely no way the straight would come in, and the K♣ turn was no help. Persson dark bet $9,000 and received a call only to have his set cracked by the 5♠ on the river.

The aggressive Persson bet $30,000 before having his bet raised to $75,000. Persson showed his cards as he pondered his move, and then Negreanu exposed the 10♥, which confused his opponent. After some thought, the Maverick Gaming owner made the wise decision to fold and cut his losses short.

One hand later, Lamb got back in on the action and pulled off another successful bluff with bottom pair, getting Hicks off a straight draw and Klein off a higher pair to take down a $27,000 pot. Moments later, Lamb would river trips to crack Persson’s top pair and got maximum value when he raised a $6,000 bet to $31,000 and received a call.

It was then Negreanu’s turn to suck-out. Klein had K♠K♥ and three-bet preflop, but fell way behind Negreanu’s 9♥9♦ when the flop came Q♣10♠9♠. “DNegs” bet $6,000 and was called before the 8♠ scare card appeared on the turn, bringing four cards to a straight and three to a flush on the board. Both players checked, and the river 8♦ paired the board, a perfect card for Negreanu and an awful one for Klein.

An unfazed Klein led out for $10,000 but was put in a tough spot with an over pair when a raise to $60,000 was announced. The wealthy businessman couldn’t find a fold and then found out the bad news after his opponent turned over a full house.

Negreanu’s good fortune would continue in another hand against Persson when he turned the nut straight and Persson rivered an inferior straight. The pot had ballooned to $101,000 and the casino owner this time was able to sense his hand was beat when he folded to a massive raise on the river.

Once again, it was Lamb’s turn to hit a monster when he flopped a set of aces against Yu’s pocket jacks, and took down a pot of more than $110,000.

Negreanu and Persson Can’t Get Enough of Each Other

Klein Goes for the Bluff

Klein, a regular on the high-stakes poker scene, has an ABC poker reputation. But his image doesn’t always reflect his play. Take, for example, the epic bluff he pulled off with ace-high on Hustler Casino Live earlier this year.

On Episode 16 of High Stakes Poker, the high roller took a stab at another bluff against Hicks in what turned out to be a sizable pot. Hicks had raised to $1,200 from an early position with Q♣J♥. Klein made the call from late position with Q♠3♥. The flop of 9♣J♦2♠ was quite favorable to the preflop raiser.

Hicks bet out $2,000 with top pair and received a call from queen-high. The turn was the 5♣, no use to either player, and Hicks again bet, this time for $6,000. Klein then began to tell the story that he had a monster hand and raised it to $15,000. His opponent, confused at the play for a brief moment, made the call.

When the 10♠ came on the river, again helping neither player, Hicks checked it over to Klein, who fired one last bullet — $35,000. The bluff got through and Klein proudly turned his cards over so that everyone could see his tight image isn’t always accurate.

Next week’s episode will be the last of Season 10. PokerGO has already filmed Season 11’s sessions, which will air post-WSOP at a date undetermined.

Past High Stakes Poker Recaps

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

_{*Images courtesy of PokerGO.}

Marco Soto had dreams of striking it big when he packed up his Toyota and made a 2,000-mile drive from Tampa, Florida to Los Angeles to play in the currently underway World Poker Tour (WPT) $5,250 buy-in Gardens Poker Championship.

A longtime ClubWPT user who plays under the username “Trippz305,” Soto ran pure in a qualifying event and was hoping to to bring some of that online run-good to the live felt at The Gardens Casino.

“In some tournaments, you can’t lose. Three-seven, nine-four, I was winning with any two cards,” Soto said about his ClubWPT victory. “If that happens in something like this (the WPT Gardens Poker Championship), you can win big money.”

Unfortunately for the 46-year-old qualifier, this wasn’t one of those tournaments. A few hours after arriving for Day 1b and getting a warm introduction from Gardens Casino Tournament Manager Cavin Quintanilla, and getting to pose with the WPT Championship Belt, Soto was eliminated in the final hand before the first break of the day.

As WPT ambassador Brad Owen (who was in the Day 1b field with Soto) would say, there’s no right way to play jiggities. The notoriously tricky Hold’em hand couldn’t do anything for Soto and he lost all three times he had them, twice against pocket queens and again against Big Slick, as documented in WPT live updates.

Though he wasn’t able to make a deep run in the Gardens Poker Championship, the trip out west has been well worth it for the Floridian. From a 36-hour drive across the southwest with his wife, Millicent, to visiting the Hollywood Walk of Fame for the first time, Soto made plenty of memories off the felt.

Satellite Into the WPT World Championship on ClubWPT

Battling With the Pros

While he will occasionally play $2/$5 cash games in his hometown Tampa, Soto in primarily a ClubWPT grinder.

“I pretty much prefer sitting at home and playing on ClubWPT,” said Soto, a Diamond-status member who has used the app for four years.

The competition in the Gardens Poker Championship was undoubtedly tougher than what Soto has faced on the social poker site. Those in the Day 1b field with Soto included two-time WPT champions Alex Foxen and Art Papazyan, as well as other crushers like Dan Colpoys, Michael Wang and Francis Anderson.

The field also included Southern California businessman Bill Klein, who Soto saw walking in and recognized “just by watching him on TV.”

“You can tell he’d be a great person to know,” Soto remarked.

The Road to California

When they first got into town, Marco and Millicent, who have been married for 26 years, had the chance to visit Hollywood and see the historic Walk of Fame and experience California’s “bipolar” weather.

“I didn’t bring enough jackets,” Millicent commented.

There was also the long drive into town, which saw the couple stopping in Louisiana, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and New Mexico as they made their way to The Golden State. Millicent slept most of the ride and awoke only when her husband would purposely veer off the road to wake his “passenger princess.”

During dinner at Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que with a few WPT team members on May 22, the two also got plenty of food recommendations for the drive back home as they learned about Alabama White Sauce.

“We’ve got to drive through Alabama!” said Soto, who was wearing his newly acquired ClubWPT cap and hoodie. “We actually do have to drive through there to get home.”

Before the drive to Tampa, Marco and Millicent plan to enjoy a few more days relaxing and exploring in Southern California. As for poker, “Trippz305,” said he doesn’t plan on playing any of the famous LA cash games while he’s here.

“He says that now,” laughed Millicent.

_{*Images courtesy of WPT.}

Florida’s Marco Soto Gets ClubWPT Qualifier Experience in California

May 23, 2023

After a marathon day of poker, Andre Allen has been crowned the winner of the RGPS Kansas City Main Event after a chop deal with Casey Henry. He was awarded $86,550, the RGPS champions ring, and the Dream Seat in Las Vegas for later this year. Henry was awarded $75,000 (more than second-place money) for his efforts.

“Man, to be honest, I’ve been chasing this ring for eight years, plus my son graduated today, so I wanted both of us to come home a winner,” Allen said about the chop deal after the event.

Allen is no stranger to tournaments with over $200,000 in live cashes according to The Hendon Mob, but this is his largest score to date as his previous record was $59,356 from a WSOP Circuit Baltimore score in 2016.

When the 43-year-old Kansas City native isn’t cashing tournaments, he runs a barber shop in the Kansas City Airport called Director’s Cut Take II with his partner Armon Lasker. When asked what he planned to do with his winnings, he said he would put most of it back into his business and make several crypto investments (and also pad his WSOP bankroll).

RGPS Kansas City Main Event Final Table Results

*indicates chop deal

Day 2 Action

Throughout the day, it was Saied Moradi and Jesse Jones that were the forces to be reckoned with, amassing large piles of chips early in the day and keeping it as such all the way to the final table. They were first and second in chips going into the final table, Moradi with 3,310,000 and Jones with 3,135,000. Things went downhill for Moradi when he made a huge bluff on the river against Allen, but he could sniff it out and made the call with top pair. Left short, Moradi busted soon after in seventh place, followed by Iman Alsaden when her ace-ten couldn’t improve against Jason Brin’s pocket fours.

After Jackson Turrentine busted with ace-nine versus Brin’s pocket nines, Allen caught fire by picking up pocket aces to bust Brin in fourth a few hands later. Then the hand of the night occurred, when big stacks Jones and Allen got it all in preflop, Jones with pocket treys, Allen with ace-king. Allen flopped top pair of kings but Jones flopped bottom set on the king-three-nine board for a huge lead. Miraculously, Allen went runner-runner king-nine to make a bigger boat on the river and busted Jones in third place. That’s when he and Henry made the deal and he was crowned champion of the $1,100 Main Event.

Other RGPS Kansas City Ring Winners

The 2023 Bar Poker Open (BPO) will be taking place at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas June 10-16, and it will culminate with the BPO World Championship from June 12-15.

Bar poker leagues provide a fun and friendly environment for poker enthusiasts to play and improve their skills. Casual players can learn the game in a low-pressure setting at their local establishments and ultimately win big money.

The Bar Poker Open is the ultimate easy-access poker tournament,” the Bar Poker Open website states. “Start at the bar, and end up in Vegas.”

That’s exactly what many players will soon experience as they journey to the desert oasis, and one player will be returning home six figures richer as the upcoming “World’s Largest Bar Poker Open Championship” guarantees a $100,000 top prize.

The invite-only championship event will feature a record-breaking $100,000 guaranteed first-place prize with an estimated prize pool of $400,000+. There will be cards-up coverage of featured tables and the final table across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. In addition, it will be live-reported by PokerNews as will this year’s Tag Team event.

Even if you didn’t qualify for the championship this year, plenty of ways exist to get in on the excitement. The Bar Poker Open Pro-Am is an open event June 15-16 with a $1,000 buy-in and is expected to showcase some well-known poker stars. This event will also feature a televised final table and can be seen on the BPO socials.

Additionally, players can qualify for the BPO Pro-Am for free in several ways, including via a live drawing slated to take place in the Golden Nugget cash games during the week of the BPO, according to the Bar Poker Open blog.

Throughout the week, the Golden Nugget will also be hosting other open tournaments with affordable buy-ins for casual players, including a Black Chip Bounty PLO $300 buy-in event, a Green Chip Bounty NLH $130 buy-in event, and a Tag Team NLH $200 buy-in event. The events are all part of the Golden Nugget’s Grand Poker Series, which hosts the $1,000,000 GTD PokerNews Cup Mystery Bounty tournament later in the summer.

Click here to learn more about the Bar Poker Open!

Qualifying for BPO Championship

The Bar Poker Open Championship event is only open to players who pre-qualified from their local poker leagues. Throughout the year, players can qualify by playing at their local bars and finishing in the top 3 to earn a “BPO Token”. Those tokens can be redeemed online each week for access to over $600,000 in annual championship seats and vacation packages.

Another way to qualify for the championship event is to collect league points by playing in BPO-sanctioned games. Top finishers in the super league standings will also be invited to the premier Bar Poker Open event. Hundreds of players started their journey by playing in their local bar and will soon flock to Vegas with a chance to take home a big payday.

The championship event kicks off on June 12 with the first flight of Day 1A at 10 a.m., followed by the second flight at 4 p.m. Day 1B will begin on June 13 and is a second chance flight for all Day 1A participants. Day 2 is slated for 11 a.m. on June 14, and the Day 3 final table will commence at 3 p.m. on June 15.

For more information on how to qualify for the Bar Poker Open Championship, visit BarPokerOpen.com.

Previous Winner

Tommy Nefcy of Sunshine Poker League claimed the trophy and $37,115 in the 2022 BPO Championship. Nefcy defeated Kourtney Sims (2nd – $25,385) of Eastern Poker Tour in heads-up play to secure the victory.

The invite-only tournament saw hundreds of players make their way to Golden Nugget Las Vegas after winning their seats by competing in bars and online. In total, 1,240 entries across three starting flights created a prize pool of $229,400.

Other players who made a deep run in the 2022 BPO Championship event include John Kelly (3rd – 16,615) of Eastern Poker Tour, and Carlin Soto (4th – $11,460) and Adam Iaccarino (5th – $8,800), both of NY Free Poker.

2022 Bar Poker Open Championship Final Table Results

Check out the Golden Nugget Poker Room review here on PokerNews!

2023 Bar Poker Open Full Schedule

Patrick “pads1161” Leonard helped himself to his seventh PokerStars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) title on May 22 by taking down the $5,200 No-Limit Hold’em Progressive KO Titans event.

Leonard’s latest result under his “pads1161” screenname saw him add a monster-sized $197,115 to his bankroll. Leonard’s triumph also prolonged PokerStars ambassador Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis’ SCOOP draught, with the Dutchman still searching for his maiden SCOOP title.

SCOOP 75-H: $5,200 NLHE PKO Titans Event Final Table Results

Some 154 PokerStars players bought into the $5,200 Titans event and created a $770,000 prize pool. Usually, the Titans is played as a traditional No-Limit Hold’em tournament, but this one was played as a PKO, meaning there were some massive bounty payments along the way.

Day 1 concluded with only nine players after a raft of superstars bowed out. Team PokerStars’ Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg crashed out in 42nd place, missing out on some main prize pool money but banking a $2,500 bounty before he busted.

Ognyan “cocojamb0” Dimov was the unfortunate bubble boy, although he picked up over $6,500 worth of scalps before leaving the tournament in 18th place.

The likes of recent SCOOP champion Elias “SinKarma” Gutierrez, Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford, and PokerStars ambassador Sam “SamSquid” Grafton joined the list of busted players, Grafton being eliminated in tenth place, setting the final table, and bringing the curtain down on Day 1’s proceedings.

It took an hour for the first player to bust from the final table, and Felipe “lipe piv” Boianovsky was that initial casualty. Boianovsky lost all but a handful of big blinds after turning two pair with king-queen but lost out to Jonathan “x_zola25” Skovsen‘s turned Broadway straight.

Boianovsky finally open-shoved for under six big blinds with ace-deuce of diamonds and ran into the dominating ace-queen of “PAX176”. The Brazilian bowed out, while PAX176 claimed their first bounty of the tournament.

Despite taking some time to lose the first player, the tournament was then done and dusted following another 70 minutes of play.

Pedro “PadILhA SP” Padilha lost half of his stack in a battle of the blinds with Veldhuis, the latter holding pocket aces against Padilha’s ace-trey. A couple of hands later, Padilha shoved for 6.5 big blinds with pocket kings, “milanov888” reshoved with pocket nine and flopped a set to send Padilha out in eighth.

Veldhuis was third in chips at the start of seven-handed play, but he still fell by the wayside in seventh thanks to a disgusting hand against Leonard.

With blinds of 100,000/200,000/25,000a, Veldhuis made it 410,000 from early position with ace-five of hearts, and Leonard called in the big blind with queen-ten. The flop fell queen-king-ten with two hearts, and Leonard check-called a 300,000-continuation bet. The turn was an offsuit queen, gifting Leonard a full house. Leonard checked, and Veldhuis checked behind. The three of hearts completed the board, improving Veldhuis to an expensive second-best hand. Leonard paused before moving all in, and Veldhuis called off his 4,776,878 stack. Ouch.

Skovsen was the next player to fall victim to Leonard. The Dane open-shoved from under the gun for a shade over 7.5 big blinds with pocket fives; Leonard re-shoved with ace-jack from the next seat along and spiked an ace on the turn.

Leonard now held 22.7 million chips, over seven million more than all the remaining players’ stacks combined; it was his tournament to lose.

A Leonard victory drew closer with the untimely demise of Bulgaria’s milanov888, who ripped in their last four big blinds with ace-jack and lost to the eight-six of Leonard courtesy of an eight on the turn and a six on the river.

Malta’s “Haringbuis” was eliminated in fourth, and it was Leonard that claimed the scalp. Leonard raised enough to set everyone else all in, doing so with eight-five of spades. Haringbuis called with ace-jack of clubs. Haringbuis flopped a jack, but Leonard’s sun run continued with him improving to a flush on the turn!

Talbot Falls Short as Dzivielevski Bags Second SCOOP Title of 2023

Leonard’s one-man wrecking crew of the final table continued with the head of “retro_cheetah01.” They initially limped with ace-queen in the small blind before jamming over the top of Leonard’s 720,000 raise for their last 14 big blinds. Leonard called with ace-ten of clubs and flopped a flush to send the Titans event into heads-up.

PAX176 went into the one-on-one battle with Leonard trailing by more than seven-to-one, and it did not take long for Leonard to clinch the title. The final hand was typical of Leonard’s incredible run.

PAX176 jammed seven-six for ten big blinds, and Leonard called with pocket fours. The five-eight-four flop gave PAX176 a straight, but Leonard had a set. Another five on the turn gave Leonard a full house, rendering the river meaningless.

Leonard picked up $197,115 in total, including $126,093 from the bounty prize pool, almost double the size of first-place prize money! PAX176 headed into the night with $81,334 to show for their runner-up finish.

Grafton is the Bridesmaid in the $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up

Grafton narrowly missed out on 2023 SCOOP glory, but the $81,003 he picked up for his runner-up finish should go some way to numbing the pain of not winning.

Grafton was one of 635 entrants in SCOOP 754-H: $1,050 NLHE Sunday Warm-Up, with those entrants smashing the $435,000 guarantee out of the water by almost $200,000.

The top 79 finishers received a slice of the pie. Those in-the-money players included such luminaries as Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot, Dzmitry “Colisea” Urbanovich, and the one and only Patrick “pads1161” Leonard, the latter falling in tenth and popping the final table bubble.

The nine-handed final table was equally, if not more, star-studded. Andy “BowieEffect” Wilson, Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver, Dejan “dejanlc357” Kaladjurdjevic, and third-place finisher Tomi “elmerixx” Brouk were all in contention at one stage.

Grafton found himself heads-up against Finland’s “PotnaPekka” in what was a $30,000 one-on-one clash. The Finn tripped Grafton up at the final hurdle and helped themselves to $110,835, resigning Grafton to a still very respectable $81,003.

SCOOP 74-H: $1,050 NLHE Sunday Warm-Up Final Table Results

Birthday Delight for Spragg; Veldhuis Looking to Shake Off SCOOP Hoodoo

Other Notable SCOOP Victories

A special mention must go to Niklas “Lena900” Astedt, who triumphed in two SCOOP events, the seventh and eighth of his career. Astedt took down a $530 NLHE PKO event for $42,610 and a $215 NLO8 6-Max PKO for an additional $16,022.

*includes bounty payments