The poker world is mourning the loss of one of its most iconic superstars, Doyle Brunson, who passed away this weekend at the age of 89. Details of his passing and the cause of death weren’t available at the time of publishing.

“It is with a heavy heart we announce the passing of our father, Doyle Brunson,” Brian Balsbaugh shared on behalf of the Brunson family. “He was a beloved Christian man, husband, father and grandfather. We’ll have more to say over the coming days as we honor his legacy. Please keep Doyle and our family in your prayers. May he rest in peace.”

“Texas Dolly,” as he was often referred, rose to poker fame in the 1970s and was a staple in the high-stakes world right up until his death. He even appeared on in some televised poker games over the past year, including the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

Brunson leaves behind quite a legacy in poker, including 10 WSOP bracelets, tied for second behind Phil Hellmuth (16), and competed in the highest stakes cash games for more than 50 years.

Prior to becoming a poker pro, Doyle was a talented basketball player in the 1950s at Hardin-Simmons where he starred on the hardwood in college. The future poker legend had a shot at making the NBA but a knee injury derailed those aspirations. Instead, he took on a career path in poker that worked out quite well.

Related: Doyle Brunson Proves He Still Has it Despite WSOP Main Event Exit

Doyle Brunson Left Behind an Unmatched Legacy in Poker

Brunson’s impact on the poker community spans far beyond his incredible accomplishments on the felt. He wrote Super System and Super System 2, still to this day two of the most iconic poker strategy books ever. He was also an ambassador for the game for decades, and recently served as an ambassador for the World Poker Tour (WPT).

Daniel Negreanu, who faced Brunson countless times at the poker table, broke the devastating news on Twitter. He wrote that “there will never be another Doyle Brunson.”

Brunson’s son, Todd Brunson, is also a Poker Hall of Famer (2016). The elder Brunson was born in 1933 in Longworth, Texas, a small town PokerNews visited on its Texas Week road trip last year, but spent most of his adulthood in Las Vegas. He’s been married to his wife, Louise, since 1962, and met her in 1952.

PokerNews would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Doyle Brunson, one of the greatest and most beloved poker players of all-time.

Doyle Brunson’s WSOP Bracelets

Friday night’s Hustler Casino Live stream was so entertaining that producer Ryan Feldman cut it short and will air the rest on May 25, one day prior to the show’s historic $1 million buy-in poker game.

The decision to stop the stream in the middle of a juicy game didn’t sit well with many fans who expressed their displeasure on social media. But, as Feldman explained in a tweet, there were “good reasons” to do so. In that high-stakes game, one player lost nearly $600,000, a mystery player showed up and became an instant legend, and poker vlogger Mariano Grandoli took down a $600,000 pot with a straight flush against the nut flush.

Mariano Wins One of the Sickest Poker Hands of the Year

If there was an award for the best poker hand of 2023 thus far, many would vote for this one. In the hand in question, Mariano raised from under the gun to $500 with K♦10♦. Charles, a high-stakes regular on the show, raised to $2,000 with 8♥7♥ on the button. Andy “Stacks,” a legend in the Los Angeles high-stakes community who was already down six-figures for the night, made the call from the big blind with A♦4♦.

Mariano then decided to four-bet it to $9,000, which didn’t convince either player to fold. Three-way to the flop they went, and it came out 9♦J♦Q♦.

“Oh no, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Hustler Casino Live announcer David Tuchman exclaimed.

With the hand being straight flush versus ace-high flush and both players having stacks of at least $300,000, there wasn’t any foreseeable way to avoid blood. All three players checked to see a meaningless 3♥ on the turn. Andy again checked to set the trap, but little did he know Mariano, who then bet $8,000, had him drawing dead.

Charles, of course, moved out of the way with his eight-high, and then when action returned to the preflop aggressor, he raised it up to $35,000. With a straight flush, Mariano called and then a fourth diamond — 6♦ — appeared on the river. Andy bet out $120,000 before his opponent jammed all in for $257,000.

Given the board wasn’t paired, Andy simply couldn’t find a fold with the A♦, so he made the call and then found out the bad news that he had just lost a $611,300 pot.

The brutal cooler was only half of Andy’s horrendous luck on Friday night. He was down $599,700 when the stream was cut about six hours into the game. How he finished the session will be revealed on May 25. Mariano was up $332,900 at the show’s conclusion.

The Legend of Brad

There was a mystery player named “Brad” who appeared late in the stream and became an instant legend for his gamble mentality. He made Alan Keating seem like Allen Kessler.

Brad bought in for $100,000 and immediately made his presence known when he called a four-bet jam for $85,000 total with just 4♦3♦ preflop against Andy’s K♥Q♥. As bad as Andy was running on this night, it was no surprise that Brad paired up on the turn and took down the pot.

Moments later, however, Brad would punt off the chips he won against Andy in a pot versus Charles. In that hand, with about $50,000 in the middle on a board of 10♣6♥2♣9♣, he put his opponent all in for $88,000 with A♦3♣. The bluff didn’t get through because Charles, who snap-called, had 2♠2♥ for a set. Brad was drawing dead and was back under his starting stack.

Within minutes, he was all in for $62,000 with 3♠2♠ preflop against the 7♦7♣ “Dentist Dave” held. The best hand would scoop the pot and it was time for another $100,000 rebuy from Brad.

On his second bullet, it took him little time to spin up a fortune. After taking down a decent pot, he called a three-bet to $8,000 from Mariano, who held A♥A♦, with 6♠5♠. “Bobo,” who has become a regular on Hustler Casino Live, made it $25,000 with A♣K♠ before Mariano then five-bet to $60,000.

Brad, in character, wasn’t going anywhere so he called, leaving about $72,000 behind and was covered by both players. Bobo then moved all in for about $180,000 more. Mariano and Brad both snap-called. All three players agreed to run it twice, and the first run out of J♠3♦4♥2♥K♥ gave Brad a winning straight, guaranteeing he’d at least scoop half of the main pot.

No way could six-high win both run outs, right? The second board went 3♥6♦6♥2♠7♦, trips for Brad, who took down the entire main pot and all of a sudden had over $400,000 in his stack. He was far from done. Shortly after, with the nut full house on the river, Andy attempted a six-figure bluff with five-high before being forced to fold when his opponent moved all in.

Following that hand, Brad was sitting on over $700,000 for a profit of more than $500,000. He’d give some of it back before the stream was cut, but he still finished with a $359,900 profit, slightly more than Mariano’s score. He did so while VPIP’ing at 85%, meaning he voluntarily put chips in the pot 85% of the hands he was dealt.

The Friday evening Hustler Casino Live stream had numerous six-figure pots and the game was so intense that even Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot, usually the most active and vocal player in the game, was almost an afterthought on this night. We’ll all find out how the session concluded and if Brad left Hustler Casino with money on May 25. For now, you can watch the first six hours of the show on HCL’s YouTube channel.

Top 5 Hustler Casino Live Hands of 2022

Last year, poker legend Phil Hellmuth battled against seasoned high-stakes pro Jason Koon in a match where the winner took home a staggering $1.6 million. This poker hand, which was played during PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel III, shows us The Poker Brat in all his glory as he faces an unlucky river that sends him on a classic Hellmuth tirade.

Hellmuth is never happy when he loses and this was no different as he lets it all rip. It was a quick demise after this poker hand which saw Jason Koon winning the $1.6 million match, all the while leaving Hellmuth furious at how bad he runs!

Read About the Heads-Up Match Between Hellmuth and Koon!

Let’s examine the hand in this PokerNews strategy column. The action kicked off with blinds of 3,000/6,000/6,000 and Hellmuth limping in on the button with K♥2♥ with a stack of 187,000 for around 30 big blinds. Jason Koon then raised to 24,000 in the big blind with 6♦4♦ and a stack of 1,400,000. Hellmuth called.

While some players may be surprised by Koon’s raise with the six-high, the GTO strategy in this scenario is for Koon to raise with both his best hands and junky suited-connector hands. Those are hands that will do very well against an opponent’s limp-calling range.

The flop landed J♦J♣J♥ and Koon continued for 30,000 as Hellmuth called with his king-high. Koon is going to have a lot of good pairs in his range, so I like his decision to continue here for around two-thirds pot. This is a scenario where Koon is going to have a big range and nut advantage.

Hullmuth’s call with king-high and a backdoor flush draw may look a little loose but I think it’s probably fine. However, Hellmuth could have a difficult time realizing his equity if he expects Koon to continue barreling on the turn or river.

Koon slowed down and checked on the Q♣ turn and Hellmuth checked back. The queen is an interesting card because I don’t think Koon is going to have very many queens in his range since he will mainly have ace-high, underpairs and junk. Hellmuth has an easy check-back with his king-high, since he is probably always beat if he bets and gets called.

The 4♠ river completed the board to give Koon a little full house and he elected to lead out for 36,000. Hellmuth paid him off and went on a signature tirade after losing the pot thanks to an unfortunate river card.

What would you do in Hellmuth’s situation?

I like Koon’s small bet size after making the full house since his hand is good but not great and he is looking to get called by a hand like ace-high. I thought Hellmuth played the hand well and got pretty unlucky on the river.

The very next hand, Koon raised with Q♣8♦ and Hellmuth three-bet with A♦K♣. Koon wasn’t buying it and four-bet to put Hellmuth all in. Hellmuth called before the board ran out 4♠10♣Q♠10♦3♠ to win Koon the match.

For more on this hand check out my breakdown in the following video:

Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $7,000,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. Sign up to learn poker from Jonathan for free at PokerCoaching.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.

888Poker Ontario has figured out a way to bring some of the excitement of a prop betting sheet into the realm of online poker with the launch of the Card Strike promotion.

The bingo style-game gives players a grid of 16 cards which the player fills up by checking their hold cards off as they appear. If you fill out the grid in time, you win a randomized cash prize.

As well as launching the Card Strike promotion, 888Poker Ontario has also undergone a major change in its tournament offerings, having dispensed with the classic sit’n’go format.

These changes have both been made as part of 888Poker Ontario‘s efforts to improve the user experience.

How Does 888Poker Ontario’s Card Strike Promotion Work?

The Card Strike promotion is a completely free bingo-style game that runs peripherally on all No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha cash game tables.

Every player is given a hand limit and sixteen cards on a two-by-eight grid. Every time your hole cards match one of the cards, that car is marked off on the grid.

If you fill the grid before the hand limit runs out, you get to spin a wheel to determine your prize. The biggest prize is $10,000 with the size of the potential prizes and the odds of each prize bracket adjusted by the table’s buy-in.

The higher the stakes, the better your chances of spinning up a big prize.

It’s a clever little extra feature that costs nothing to opt into. The 888Poker Ontario client even fills in your grid as you go, making this an easy and fun spin on a cashback promotion.

To play, the only effort you have to make you have to do is be in Ontario and load up the 888Poker Ontario client.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD 888POKER ONTARIO AND JOIN THE ACTION

Spin’n’Goes Killed The Sit’n’Go Star

The 888Poker Ontario client is also changing its on-demand tournament offerings. The poker site quietly killed the standard sit’n’go a couple of weeks ago. The goal of this change was to improve the liquidity of 888Poker Ontario’s more popular Blast tournaments—the Blast Tournament is 888Poker‘s spin’n’go product.

The change to the tournament platform was made without notice or fanfare on May 2.

Eliminating less popular formats is a good strategy in smaller jurisdictions like Ontario. With a smaller player base, poker operators have to work hard to ensure players can easily find a game. Too many options would risk players being spread too thin and result in long wait times while tables fill up.

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Adam Hendrix had about as hot a year in 2022 as any poker player could hope for. With 47 Hendon Mob cashes, three first-place finishes and over $1.6 million in earnings in 2022, the Alaska all-time money leader spent most of the year as the clear frontrunner in the GPI Player of the Year race.

If it weren’t for a last-minute surge from Stephen Song, a good friend of his, which included an eleventh-hour victory in the inaugural World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Championship, Hendrix would have clinched the POY award. Even still, Hendrix had a chance to re-take the top GPI spot with three days left in the year when he made a deep run at the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) DeepStack Extravaganza. A top 7 finish would have made him POY; as it turned out, Hendrix fell in 49th place and had to settle as the runner-up.

“A little bit of a heartbreaker there,” said Hendrix.

Four months into the new year and Hendrix is already off to another hot start. In January, he finished third in an event at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Hollywood, Florida for $70,500 and, more recently, finished third in a Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) High Roller inside the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas for $130,500.

Hendrix also signed on as a member of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Thrill Team, a group of high-profile ambassadors that includes Vanessa Selbst, Patrik Antonius and reigning Main Event champion Espen Jorstad.

Hendrix recently appeared on the PokerNews Podcast to discuss his rise up the poker ranks, PLO expertise and his plans for the rest of 2023. The full conversion with Hendrix can be heard here.

The “Rounders Experience”

The Alaska all-time money leader’s poker journey began in the small fishing town of Homer, where a young Hendrix would visit his grandmother during the summertime.

“When I wasn’t fishing or hanging out with the family I would turn on ESPN and watch the World Series of Poker,” he remembered. “I started loving the game just watching all these players that I’d never seen before; all the antics.”

In Homer, Hendrix and his uncles would play penny games like 5-Card Draw and the Stud variant Seven Card No Peek. It wasn’t until he enrolled at Virginia Tech in pursuit of a degree in economics that he started playing No-Limit Hold’em.

“We had a really small dormitory just off the beaten path of all the main dorms,” he said. “There (were) maybe less than a hundred people in that dorm and some of these guys invited me to a poker night in the common room and we played a $5 tournament, and I won the first one. Most people in poker, if they won the first one, they think they’re the best, or they actually have some talent for it. I probably thought I was way too good.”

From there, Hendrix started playing freeroll tournaments at local bars that awarded drink and food coupons. Not yet 21 and playing merely for the thrill of the game, Hendrix had no qualms with giving away his drink coupons or taking a cheesesteak sandwich as his prize. One time after busting, Hendrix and a friend were approached by a man who asked if they wanted to play a private cash game. They were interested.

After climbing through the cellar bulkhead door, the two were greeted by a “smoke-filled room with like 40 50-year-old guys” and Hendrix bought into the $1/$1 game for $62, “sort of like if you’re playing online and you have your last part of your bankroll and you put it on the table.”

“I remember I got dealt ace-ten and I flopped a full house and doubled up the very first hand,” said Hendrix. “And I end up winning like $160. My buddy … won a little bit. And I was hooked from there.”

Winning Every Euro in Barcelona

Hendrix continued to play these underground Virginia cash games and grinded online as he finished his degree and went to work in the Washington D.C. area. “I always played poker on the side,” he said. “I was streaming poker at nights, playing online, everything, just trying to grind a bankroll. And eventually switched to poker (full-time) a few years later.”

After a childhood that saw him living in Alaska, Texas, Scotland and Egypt, Hendrix, thanks to poker, once again had the opportunity to see the world. In 2019, he boarded a plane to Spain with a few friends, including Song, to play his first European Poker Tour (EPT) stop.

“And we were just trying to figure it out,” Hendrix remembered. “None of us had really ever done an EPT, we were wondering about money and everything. And I think we all brought in the maximum you could (bring), like less than $10,000 … And we were hoping that would work.”

It did work, but deep runs from both Hendrix and Song at EPT Barcelona left them with significantly more cash on hand. Hendrix finished second in the record-breaking €1,100 EPT National for $384,231 — still his biggest score to date — and Song took down the €2,200 No Limit Hold’em event for $205,341.

“So we had every euro and now we’re trying to offload all the money, figuring it all out,” said Hendrix. “A good problem to have.”

PLO Wizard

No-limit Hold’em wasn’t the only poker variant Hendrix learned back in Virginia. It was in those underground cash games that Hendrix was first introduced to PLO, a game that brought him a PGT High Roller title and $186,300 in 2021.

“A lot of the people back then wouldn’t want to play short-handed no-limit if they thought you were better than them or something,” he explained. “You see that at casinos where maybe the game dies and now it’s three-handed and everybody sits out. So at the time you would just play like mixed games or Omaha or something to start off the game. And that was my first actual experience with (PLO).”

Once after busting a tournament during a WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond stop, Hendrix walked by the poker room and noticed a $5/$10 PLO game running.

“I was pretty interested in playing that … So you don’t get burnt out playing no-limit Hold’em tournaments every day. Sort of like anything else. If you play the same game every day, and you sit at Bellagio and play cash every, every day, you’re just going to get burnt out and be pretty miserable. So I found PLO that way, I started studying it and playing these cash games, playing online tournaments and everything like that.”

And PLO isn’t the only Omaha game that Hendrix took a strong liking to. At the 2017 WSOP, he finished runner-up to mixed-game specialist Nathan Gamble in $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $137,992 and to be denied a maiden bracelet.

What makes Hendrix excel at Omaha? “I think the skill gap in PLO is still pretty big. There (are) a lot of people that don’t bother studying at all, compared to no-limit, now everybody sort of studies in some way. But PLO is still sort of the Wild West.”

Another Strong Year

After a busy 12 months of chasing GPI Player of the Year, Hendrix started the new year by “hitting the ground running” and playing every poker stop he could get to. In January alone, Hendrix played the Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Hollywood, the Borgata Return and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.

While the PCA trip “didn’t go so well,” he wasted no time returning home to Las Vegas and jumping into the PGT High Rollers. In March, he finished third in a $10,000 event during the PGT PLO Series for $130,000 and 11th place in a $10,000 NLH event at the US Poker Open for $31,500 as he searched for a second USPO title.

Hendrix admitted he was feeling “a lot of burnout” after the back-to-back PGT series and “now I’m taking a little bit of a break.” Even with a break in mind, Hendrix couldn’t help himself from making the trip to the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown with his friend Michael Rossito (who recently took down the Wynn Millions Main Event for $604,637) and is also playing in the currently underway Lodge Championship Series in Austin, Texas.

He’s also looking forward to playing on the WSOP app more now that he’s a member of the Thrill Team, a gig that he got through the recommendation of none other than Daniel Negreanu, one of poker’s biggest ambassadors.

“(I’m) super grateful, it’s such a cool experience,” he said. “Because before this I was just a poker player playing only for myself. But now I get to promote the game (and) teach people different things about being a professional poker player.”

And of course, Hendrix is excited for the upcoming WSOP, where he plans to play a full schedule of both Hold’em and Omaha events. If it all goes well, he may just find himself making another run at POY.

Poker House Dallas, one of the top card rooms in Texas, is facing a forced closure from the city over a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) issue.

The North Texas poker club, according to a statement provided to PokerNews, is currently at the mercy of the court system as it hopes to remain open permanently. But the laws of the land could say otherwise.

“Poker House Dallas is at the mercy of the court of appeals as to whether or not we will be able to continue after midnight, Tuesday May 23. We’re asking for the community’s support during this unsettling time for staff and players,” the statement read.

In hopes of bringing in some much needed business during a difficult time for the poker club, Poker House Dallas is offering discounts to players until judgement day.

“For the next ten days, our hourly seat rate will be changed from $13/hour to $8/hour to encourage players who still have time on their account,” the statement continued.

Texas Poker Laws are Tricky

Due to strict anti-gambling laws in the state many boast as a “free state,” poker rooms are forced to operate as membership clubs and cannot legally collect rake, a stark contrast to traditional card rooms across most of the US. And even the membership-based model isn’t good enough for some lawmakers who argue that poker, whether rake is taken out of pots or not, is illegal according to Texas Penal Code Chapter 47.

Doug Polk, who co-owns The Lodge Card Club near Austin, is among a group of Texas poker room operators who are attempting to reword the law so as to ensure there no longer is any confusion or dispute.

But Poker House Dallas is currently facing closure over a secondary issue — its Certificate of Occupancy. Or, better yet, the question of whether the club’s CO is or ever was valid. According to a District Court in Dallas, the business does not have a legal right to operate a poker room in the Dallas area. The business is currently going through the appeals process in hopes of reversing the ruling.

For now, Poker House Dallas is permitted to remain open, but they’ve been ordered to cease operations effective May 23. If the business is able to win in the appeals court, the card club will be able to continue spreading poker games.

Poker House Dallas is one of the largest poker rooms in the state with 30 tables. They offer cash games and daily tournaments, and it’s one of the most popular places to play in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. If the court isn’t willing to budge, hundreds of players will need to find somewhere else to play and dozens of workers will be out of a job.

This isn’t the first time a Texas poker room has faced closure due to Certificate of Occupancy issues. Texas Card House Dallas fought a legal battle in 2022 after the city went back on its word and revoked the room’s CO two years after approving the business model. The room was never shut down, however, and continued to operate during the legal process.

The latest World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) stop is underway at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina and already has awarded a player multiple Circuit rings. That player is Georgia’s Spencer Smith, who picked up his third and fourth rings for a payday of $153,000.

The WSOPC Cherokee stop started on May 4 and will run until May 15, which is when the currently underway $1,700 buy-in Main Event will reach a winner.

Smith, an attorney and poker pro from Atlanta with $409,088 in Hendon Mob earnings, started off his hot run by getting through a massive field of 2,232 runners in Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em to win his third Circuit ring and $104,177.

Smith defeated heads-up opponent Tony Peacock ($64,392) after the fall of Daniel Lowery (3rd – $47,818), who was looking for a record-tying 14th Circuit ring after winning his 13th ring at WSOPC Horseshoe Tunica in April.

Smith is a student of Faraz Jaka Coaching and the poker coach called his student’s back-to-back victories “epic.”

Other Winners at Cherokee

Another early highlight at WSOPC Cherokee was North Carolina’s Daniel Kusnerak picking up his second ring with a victory in Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Big 30K Stack for $26,954. Kusnerak earned his first ring in 2018 in the same venue when he took down a $365 No-Limit Hold’em event for $30,894.

Later in the series, Florida’s Simon Philip won his third ring and $48,050 with a victory in the $400 Seniors Event. Both of Philip’s previous ring victories were in Seniors events at Horseshoe Hammond in 2019 and 2020.

Other players to pick up Circuit rings include John Evans (Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold’em – $30,266) and John Petro, who won a second ring by taking down Event #5: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em for $57,137.

A full list of winners so far at WSOPC Cherokee is available in the table below.

Winners So Far at WSOPC Cherokee

	EVENT	ENTRANTS	PRIZE POOL	WINNER	HOMETOWN	PRIZE (IN USD)
	WSOPC Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Big 30K Stack	398	$131,340	Daniel Kusnerak	Newton, NC	$26,954
	WSOPC Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em	2,232	$736,560	Spencer Smith	Atlanta, GA	$104,177
	WSOPC Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em	602	$198,660	Christopher Storie	Asheboro, NC	$37,630
	WSOPC Event #4: $400 Seniors Event	837	$276,210	Simon Philip	Pensacola, FL	$48,050
	WSOPC Event #5: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em	255	$248,625	John Petro	Fredericksburg, VA	$57,137
	WSOPC Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed	668	$220,440	Spencer Smith	Atlanta, GA	$41,949
	WSOPC Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold’em	264	$135,960	John Evans	Vinncennes, IN	$30,266
	WSOPC Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
	WSOPC Event #9: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha	245	$126,175	Seth Weinberg	Key West, FL	$28,694

_{Lead photos courtesy WSOP}

Phil Hellmuth is in Houston for the grand opening of the new Champions Club Texas, a poker room he co-founded at its previous location a couple years ago.

Champions Club, formerly in a different area of town, is kicking off the opening of its new location in a big way with six days of high-stakes live-streamed poker that will feature some of the game’s biggest stars, including Hellmuth, Shaun Deeb, Justin Young, Johnnie “Vibes” Moreno, and Dan “Jungleman” Cates, according to the card room’s president, Isaac Trumbo.

Trumbo told PokerNews the room’s soft opening took place April 29 with the grand opening festivities beginning May 6. The building, previously a Hampton Inn hotel, has been renovated and is a one-of-a-kind property for Texas poker rooms.

In Texas, most poker clubs are located in strip malls or stand-alone buildings. There aren’t any attached to hotels, which isn’t always convenient for those traveling to play cards. Well, there weren’t any, but now there is one in Houston.

Details About the New Houston Poker Room — Champions Club Texas

Trumbo said the old location “was a nice club, but it was poorly situated and hard to get to.” He anticipates the new spot, located in the popular Asiatown district, will be easier for players from all over to access.

Champions Club will have some advantages over its competition, most notably the fact it has a full-scale hotel attached, something that is especially beneficial to players from outside the Houston area. Trumbo referred to the new Champions as a “warm and inviting” establishment.

The room has 20 tables and will offer both tournaments and cash games. In the future, Trumbo anticipates hosting a major poker series, but will soon have daily tournaments available. Players can also indulge in a juicy steak in the on-site restaurant and lounge, and we’re told the food is on point.

Phil Hellmuth to Promote Card Room on Live-Stream

Hellmuth, along with poker legend Dewey Tomko, is a partner, investor, and co-founder of Champions Club, and he’s going all-in to promote his card room starting Friday, May 12 at 3:00 p.m. CT when he appears on the room’s live-stream for some $100/$200 no-limit hold’em action.

Deeb, who won a $5,000 buy-in tournament at The Lodge in Austin on Thursday, will make the three-hour drive to Houston to compete on the stream for at least one session. Hellmuth will play each day for the next 6-7 days on the stream for five hours, potentially longer depending when the card room decides to end the show. Beyond the aforementioned poker pros scheduled to compete this coming week on the stream, there will be a number of Texas poker regulars in the various games, including Kim Stone (Saturday) and her fiancé Hayden Fortini (Tuesday).

On Saturday, the game will be $5/$10/$25 no-limit hold’em, followed by $25/$50/$100 on Sunday and Monday. PokerGO announcers Brent Hanks and Jeff Platt will handle the commentary duties all week long.

Growing Texas Poker

Trumbo’s goal with the card room’s new location is to “elevate poker in Texas overall.” What he means by that is to conduct business the right way and not to cut corners or operate illegally. In Texas, it’s illegal to collect rake, so the rooms that are abiding by the law charge membership and seat fees instead.

There are some influential people in the Longhorn State who take an anti-poker stance and would love for nothing more than to see every poker club shut down across the state. But Trumbo’s working with some competitors on a mutual push to reword Texas Penal Code Chapter 47 so that there is no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the legality of poker.

Trumbo referred to two of his biggest competitors — Doug Polk (The Lodge) and Ryan Crow (Texas Card House) — as “likeminded people,” and praised their commitment to assisting him with the Texans for Texas Hold’em group that lobbies against anti-poker legislation.

“Doug Polk is poker’s greatest influencer,” Trumbo said of the poker superstar who owns the largest card room in the state.

Champions Club originally attempted to open a card room in Dallas, but ran into some zoning issues that shuttered the poker aspect of the operations. Trumbo said they’re still working on eventually bringing a second poker club to the Dallas area. For now, Hellmuth’s poker business will focus on building its newest location into the premiere place to play poker in Houston.

Team PokerStars’ Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis came agonizingly close to capturing his first PokerStars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) title when he fell at the final hurdle in one of the many high-stakes events adorning the busy schedule.

Veldhuis was one of 150 entrants in the SCOOP 21-H: $3,150 NLHE 7-Max High Roller Single Re-Entry event, a tournament that saw some of the world’s best players fight it out for a slice of the $450,000 prize pool.

The top 17 finishers saw a return on their investments, so spare a thought for Jonathan “Proudflop” Proudfoot, who busted in 18th place and popped the money bubble.

Such luminaries as Tomi “elmerixx” Brouk, Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane, and Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro fell inside the money places, as did Yuri “theNERDguy” Dzivielevski, and final table bubble boy “13santoy13.”

Each of the finalists locked in at least $18,817 for their efforts, but nobody wanted to collect that sum because almost $95,000 awaited the eventual champion.

Ireland’s Gary “GaryT20” Thompson was the first of the players at the final table to be relieved of their chips, and they had to make do with the previously mentioned $18,817 score.

Sixth place and $24,623 went to Simon “simon1471” Higgins of the United Kingdom, before Joao “Naza114” Vieira, who resides in the UK, fell in fifth for $32,219.

They may not have taken down this high-stakes SCOOP event but fourth-place finisher “ContraSpemSper0” may win an award for one of the longest aliases on PokerStars. The Ukrainian’s demise resulted in $42,159 landing in their PokerStars account.

Heads-up was set when the dangerous Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet crashed out in third, a finish good for $55,166.

Van Fleet’s exit meant Veldhuis had come closer than ever to getting the proverbial SCOOP monkey off his back. The fateful final hand saw Veldhuis all-in and at risk holding king-queen against the ace-jack of hearts in the hand of “Ebaaa11.” A king on the flop looked to have rescued Veldhuis, but an ace on the river extended Veldhuis’ ait for a long overdue ‘COOP victory.

Veldhuis headed into the night with $72,185 reasons to be happy, while Ebaaa11 reeled in a $94,456 payout.

SCOOP 21-H: $3,150 NLHE 7-Max High Roller Final Table Results

Dzivielevski Claims $205,131 Super Tuesday Haul

There was a time when the PokerStars Super Tuesday was the online poker tournament every high-stakes grinder wanted to win. Although the tournament has lost some of its lustre in recent years, the SCOOP edition of the long-running event was nothing short of spectacular.

PokerStars increased the buy-in to $10,300, yet it did not prevent 52 unique players purchasing 24 re-entries, and creating a $760,000 prize pool.

Only the players who navigated their way to the nine-handed final table saw some of that prize money become theirs, and it was “hello_totti” that crashed and burned in tenth and became the last player to bust empty-handed.

Pascal “Pass_72” Lefrancois was the first finalist heading for the showers. He was joined by the likes of Daniil “NVoskob1986” Kiselev, Rodrigo “SELOUAN1991” Selouan, and Canada’s “Heidegger807” before Dzmitry “Colisea” Urbanovich bowed out to leave only four players in the hunt for the title and the massive first-place prize.

The final four became three when Pablo “pabritz” Brito Silva ran out of steam, then only two after Poland’s “PAX176” found themselves void of chips.

Dzivielevski, who finished ninth in the $3,150 high roller, found himself heads-up against the seasoned pro Sami “Lrzlsk” Kelopuro. The one-on-one battle went the way of the Brazilian, resigning Kelopuro to a $153,643 consolation prize, and locking up an incredible $205,131 for himself.

SCOOP 15-H: $10,300 NLHE Super Tuesday Final Table Results

Super Benny Glaser Bags Yet Another SCOOP Title

As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser seemingly wins a SCOOP event every year. Since 2018, Glaser has helped himself to a SCOOP title each series, and continued that ridiculous trend by triumphing in the $1,050 NLO8 6-Max PKO event.

Glaser not only got his hands on another $35,554 but his victory was his eighth in a SCOOP tournament; only Calvin “cal42688” Anderson (10) has more SCOOP victories.

If winning eight SCOOP titles was not impressive enough, Glaser has now won 16 ‘COOP events, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Is Glaser the greatest-ever British poker player? You will not find many people who would disagree with that statement.