The freerolls most online poker sites tend to have small prize pools of $50 to $200, and although and free cash is always welcome, those sums hardly set pulses racing. 888poker is bucking the trend of small freeroll prize pools by running not one but two $2,000 free-to-play poker tournaments on May 6.

888poker YouTube Channel $2,000 Freeroll

Your first chance to play in a $2,000 freeroll on May 6 is at 8:00 p.m. GMT, which is when the 888poker YouTube Channel $2,000 Freeroll shuffles up and deals. As the name suggests, the freeroll is to celebrate the awesome YouTube channel that 888poker’s streamers and ambassadors have helped grow.

Not only does subscribing the 888poker YouTube channel mean you will never miss any of the incredible content posted there (and there are some real gems uploaded), but you’ll also find the all-important password on the 888poker YouTube community tab, which you’ll need to have a chance of winning some of that free $2,000.

$2,000 King Charles Freeroll

The $2,000 King Charles Freeroll commences half an hour after the YouTube event at 8:30 p.m. GMT. This particular freeroll, designed to help celebrate the coronation of the United Kingdom’s King Charles, is open to every 888poker.com customer that has made at least one deposit into their account; there are no other entry requirements, just turn up, register, and try to bag yourself some free cash.

888poker LIVE Barcelona Runs May 10-22; Will There be a Spanish Main Event Champion?

What Else is Happening at 888poker?

It is not only the pair of $2,000 freerolls that should have 888poker players tingling with excitement because there is a whole lot more to the site than free-to-play tournaments. Although, PokerNews has some exclusive freerolls taking place at 888poker during the month of May.

For a start, 888poker is still the only online poker site that runs daily mystery bounty tournaments; you could say they are the masters of this popular, exciting format. Hot of the hugely successful Mystery Bounty Weekend, 888poker is running a $109 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty tournament at 7:00 p.m. on May 7. Satellites from mere pennies are available right now.

Then there are the satellites for the upcoming 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event, which your very own PokerNews live reporting team are covering in great detail live from the Casino Barcelona. Will you be joining the 888poker and PokerNews team in sunny Spain in a few days’ time?

Grab the Best 888poker Welcome Bonus

Download 888poker via PokerNews to lock-in the best 888poker bonus found anywhere online. The bonus releases into your playable account balance as you play real money cash games and tournaments. There are so many fantastic games to play, that you should have your 888poker bonus fully released in next to no time.

Bet365 Poker has launched a brand new promotion that could see walk away with weekly cash prizes of up to €500 just for playing your favourite games. The Queen of Cards Leaderboards run from May 1 through June 5, and see you pick up leaderboard points based on the number of queens that are in your winning hand.

The Queen of Cards Leaderboards revolve around cash games and Twister tournaments, the latter being bet365 Poker’s jackpot sit & go games. Hit these games between 10:00 a.m. GMT on Monday through to 9:59 a.m. GMT the following Monday, and you could see a cash prize worth up to €500 land in your bet365 Poker account balance.

Although this value-packed promotion is split into four leaderboards – they are based on stakes and buy-ins for fairness – you can accumulate points for all four leaderboards. Should you manage to top all four Queen of Cards Leaderboards, you’d walk away with a cool €1,400!

Perhaps the best feature of the Queen of Cards Leaderboards promotion is the fact it is not geared towards high-volume grinders like many other online poker promotions. Only your first 1,000 hands during the qualifying period earn you leaderboard points, again, ensuring everyone is competing on a level playing field.

It is possible to reset your hand counter at any time, but this also resets any points earned, so be warned!

How Do You Earn Queen of Cards Leaderboard Points?

Earning points for the Queen of Cards Leaderboards promotion is simple. Bet365 Poker gives you precious leaderboard points each time your best five-card poker hand contains a queen.

For example, if you are dealt pocket queens then you would automatically receive two points. Should that pocket pair improve to a set, then three points are all yours, but only if your hand is a winner.

Furthermore, Bet365 Poker applies a multiplier to your points based on the stakes you made the hand at. For blinds of €0.05/€0.10, €1/€2 and for Twister buy-ins of €10 and €100, your points are multiplied by 1.25x.

For blinds of €0.25/€0.50 and €2/€4, and Twister buy-ins of €20 and €200, those points receive a 1.5x multiplier.

Win Up To 250 Free Spins With the Bet365 Free Spins Burst Promotion

Premium Cash Leaderboard Prizes

To earn points and prizes in the cash game element of the Queen of Cards Leaderboards promotion, you need to hit the Premium Tables, which are cash game tables only available to Bet365 Poker customers.

For the purpose of the promotion, Low Stakes are considered €0.05/€0.10, €0.10/€0.20, and €0.25/€0.50, while High Stakes games have blinds of €0.50/€1, €1/€2, and €2/€4.

Twister Leaderboard Prizes

The Twister leaderboards are also split into low and high stakes games. Buy into €5, €10, or €20 Twisters to earn points for the Low Stakes leaderboard, and €50, €100, or €200 games for the High Stakes leaderboard.

Love Soccer? You’ll Love These Bet365 Offers

Start Your Bet365 Career With a €365 Welcome Bonus

You need a Bet365 Poker account to get involved in the Cheltenham Champions promotion. Those with an account can fire up the Bet365 Poker software, opt-in, and start meeting the entry requirements. Anyone reading this without an account can download Bet365 Poker via PokerNews and become eligible for a sizable welcome package.

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

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

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

The Hendon Mob Championship (THMC) series is heading to Liechtenstein for the first time ever on May 30. The series will run until June 5 at the Grand Casino Liechtenstein, where players can enjoy seven days of mid-stakes poker in the Alps.

“We look forward to taking The Hendon Mob Championship concept to Liechtenstein,” said Roland Boothby, Head of Partnerships for GPI/THMC. “The location will catch the eye of many flag hunters and provide us with a great casino partner with which to continue our plan to grow THMC as a must-have festival on the calendars of casinos around the world.”

The series, run and sponsored by the well-known poker tournament database, will feature a SFr 300 ($338) Main Event with a SFr200,000 ($225,653) guarantee. Players will be able to rebuy twice per flight and will have seven flights in which to shoot their shot.

THMC Liechteinstein Schedule Highlights

In addition to the Main Event and its attendant satellites, there will be six side events, each with a custom THMC trophy.

The side events have an interesting spread of tournament types. There is a progressive knock-out event, a win-the-button event, and a 5-card PLO event. These are paired with a few more standard formats like a deepstack turbo and a pair of standard NLH events.

As an extra incentive to take down one of those trophies, The Hendon Mob will also add a specialty flag added each champion’s THM database page. That’s on top of the rare opportunity to earn a Liechtenstein flag just by cashing!

Read more about the previous THCM Series

THMC Leichtenstein Full Schedule

The €3,000 Mystery Bounty, running as part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®️, has now wrapped up. After three days of action, a champion has been crowned.

Jeremie Zouari of France has emerged as the winner and locked up a top prize of €194,310 which, along with €8,000 in bounties, made for a total of €202,310.

Zouari outlasted a field of 678 entrants, eventually beating Anton Kraous of Belgium heads-up to earn himself the trophy and a career-best score.

The pair made a deal heads-up based on chip counts and left €15,000 to play for. After just minutes of heads-up play, Zouari made a flush against Kraous’ trips to win the battle.

Kraous earned €170,187 for finishing second, €184,187 including bounties. Antoine Labat came third for €100,050 and picked up €38,000 in bounties to make for a total of €138,050.

Final Table Payouts

Bounty Madness

Aside from those who made the final table, there were plenty of other players who locked up significant cashes due to the bounties in play.

Most notably, Aurelien Russo pulled the first €100,000 bounty on Day 2, which was worth nearly as much as their total recorded live earnings. Sam Greenwood was next to pull the big one, the second and final €100,000 bounty in play.

Others who had success when it came to bounties included Aliaksei Boika and Ehsan Amiri, both of whom pulled the second prize of €40,000, along with smaller, supplementary bounties to boost their totals.

Sixth place finisher Andrea Crobu pulled one of the €25,000 tickets along with two €1,000 prizes to add €27,000 to his overall total, meaning his prize money of €72,550 totalled more than what fifth place Jon Ander Vallinas earned.

By the time action reached the final table, there were only €1,000 tickets left in the box and so the tournament took a more standard format, with players aiming to increase their position for the maximum prize money rather than bust opponents.

Rapid Bustouts and Zouari’s Rise

The day started with 15 players returning to the felt. The bustouts came thick and fast, with Florian Montes, Soraya Estrada, Bruno Lopes, Nicolas Julien and Mario Navarro all busting within the first couple of hours.

Action then reached the final table. Fabio Peluso was first to go, followed by Igor Yaroshevskyy, who was eliminated by Zouari. Aliaksei Boika was next, and shortly after Zouari made the nut straight to eliminate the Day 2 chip leader Andrea Crobu and take the chip lead.

Kraous was also accumulating chips and regained the chip lead after busting Ignacio Sole Aparicio. However, in a game changing pot, Zouari hit a full house against Kraous. Shortly after, Kraous eliminated Labat and the tournament went heads-up.

The deal was made to leave just €15,000 to play for and the heads-up commenced. After a bit of back and forth, Kraous doubled up to make chip stacks pretty much even, until Zouari made a flush against Kraous’ trips to seal the deal and win the game.

That wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the €3,000 Mystery Bounty. Stay tuned as live reporters follow the Main Event down to its conclusion.

Baseball legends Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas were among the superstar athletes in attendance Sunday night at Circa Las Vegas’s Legacy Club for the Baller Dream Foundation Celebrity Poker Tournament, which raised over $175,000 — and counting — for a good cause. Former offensive lineman Evan Mathis, who spent 12 seasons in the NFL, won the tournament and received the top prize of $75,000.

For Clemens, who won six Cy Young awards and 354 games mostly in the 1980s and 1990s, it was his first experience playing poker. He told PokerNews at the event that he picked up some advice from his kids.

“My boys tried to give me a little Poker 101, but I don’t know if it’s going to be any good,” Clemens said in the interview you can view below.

Playing Poker for a Great Cause

What brought Clemens, and the other celebs, to Circa on Sunday wasn’t to gain some tournament experience in hopes of one day becoming the next Phil Ivey. They were there to support the Baller Dream Foundation, which provides assistance for children battling cancer.

“The Baller Dream, the event here is, it’s a beautiful place where we’re at, at Circa, and having Greg Maddux, everybody, all the wonderful people that I’ve met that are behind the scenes running this event. I just celebrated my 30th anniversary with the Roger Clemens Foundation. We deal with at-risk children, and I know that what goes on here and what this is for, it’s super important.”

During the 1990s, when you’d see Clemens and Thomas, aka the “Big Hurt,” in a venue together, it was usually with Clemens on the pitcher’s mound hurling a 100 mile-per-hour fastball towards Thomas, who was one of the all-time greatest hitters. But on Sunday, the baseball legends squared off on the felt against a number of other other athletes along with a few poker players including Shaun Colquhoun, a local pro who took fourth in the 2022 WSOP Casino Employees event.

None of the players in the field, however, could outlast Mathis, who took it down. Mathis is no slouch on the felt. In fact, according to Hendon Mob, he had nearly $280,000 in live poker tournament cashes. That includes a $192,000 score for sixth place in a 2019 high roller event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).

Former NFL’er Evan Mathis Takes on the 2019 PCA

Clemens, on the other hand, well, there was no beginner’s luck. But he served his purpose of helping support the Baller Dream Foundation, the main purpose of the evening for everyone in the tournament at the Legacy Club, a stunning luxurious rooftop lounge on the 60th floor at Circa Las Vegas.

Maddux, whose daughter Paige hosted the event and gave a heartfelt speech prior to the start, told PokerNews that he’s more experienced at poker than Clemens, but “by Vegas standards, no, I’m probably a 25 handicap,” when asked if he’s a skilled poker player. The long-time pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves said he would often play cards on the plane with teammates traveling to road games.

Like Clemens, Maddux is considered by most baseball experts to be one of the best pitchers of all-time. The Las Vegas local won four Cy Young awards and 355 games (one more than Clemens), struck out 3,371 batters, and won a World Series title with the Braves in 1995.

Maddux Makes a Generous Donation

Prior to the announcement of “shuffle up and deal” from tournament director Mike Palm, VP of Operations at the D in Las Vegas, Maddux informed the crowd he was donating $49,500 to the Baller Dream Foundation. As he mentioned, he was going to donate $50,000 but needed $500 for a rebuy in the tournament.

On top of the money raised from buy-ins and rebuys, the charity event hosted a silent auction, which featured a number of signed jerseys and baseballs from superstar athletes such as Maddux, Clemens, and Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels.

For more information about the Baller Dream Foundation and their purpose, visit BallerDream.org.

The 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte-Carlo festival is rapidly approaching a thrilling conclusion in Monaco, as is the Mini EPT Monte-Carlo series taking place online at PokerStars. The Mini EPT Monte-Carlo gives players the chance to compete in some incredibly well-structured events, mimicking the EPT proper, for a fraction of the cost.

Twelve of the planned 21 Mini EPT Monte-Carlo events have crowned their champions, and PokerStars has given away dozens upon dozens of Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) tickets to the players that have gone deep in those completed event.

The value keeps coming during the next nine tournaments, including the $5.50 buy-in $40,000 guaranteed Main Event, which has an EPT Barcelona package waiting for the eventual champion.

Greek Grinder Grabs a $20K Score From a $55 Buy-in

Greece’s “samosisland” is the biggest winner from all the completed Mini EPT Monte-Carlo events, courtesy of taking down the $55 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max Super High Roller. Some 2,888 players bought in and created a $144,400 prize pool, which was more than three times the size of the advertised $40,000 guarantee.

The prize pool was so large that nobody at the nine-handed final table took home less than $1,398 for their efforts, with the top three finishers turning their $55 investment into five-figure sums.

Belgium’s “dieforme007” was the final table’s first casualty. “Jackpot_7789” of Belarus and “boomlee” of the United Kingdom joined the Belgian on the rail. It is worth noting that PokerStars awarded eight of the finalists a $109 SCOOP ticket in addition to their prize, with the champion scooping, for want of a better word, a $1,050 SCOOP ticket.

What is the Best Way to Play in the 2023 PokerStars SCOOP Main Event?

The field continued thinning with the demises of “zidix,” “Al Magellan,” and “ste_mc_efc,” the latter walking away with the tournament’s last four-figure prize.

Germany’s “jutsche1990” fell in third and collected $10,655 before “samosisland” defeated “BBrew-fish” of Switzerland heads-up to claim the $20,973 top prize and a $1,050 SCOOP ticket. Second place came with $14,948 plus a $109 SCOOP ticket.

$55 NLHE 8-Max Super High Roller Final Table Results

Unlimited Re-Entry Event Ends in a Thai One-Two

PokerStars slapped a $30,000 guarantee on the prize pool of Event #5, the $25 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max Unlimited Re-Entries. Some 2,249 unique entrants purchased 1,012 re-entries between them, making for a total attendance of 3,261, and a guarantee-busting prize pool worth $74,122.

The final table’s first two casualties, “MarcasaurusMTG” and “Julesini” padded their bankroll with $711 and $998, respectively, with everyone else but the champion securing a four-figure payment; the champion won more than $10,000.

“Zilvinas25,” “reiiiif,” and “GL.PRO.DUDU” fell by the wayside, the latter turning $25 into $2,755.

Do You Know Which Poker Players Have Won the Most SCOOP Titles?

“lure_thebest,” who resides in the Isle of Man where PokerStars HQ is situated, busted in fourth for $3,865, with “2High4u” of Germany collecting the $5,423 third-place prize.

Heads-up pitted “ktosdes” against “ilcapointhai,” with both players calling Thailand home. Not only was there a difference in prize money of more than $3,000 but also the not-so-small matter of the champion receiving a $1,050 SCOOP ticket.

Eventually, ktosdes won the battle of the Thais, and saw a $1,050 SCOOP ticket plus $10,674 land in their PokerStars account. The runner-up banked $7,607 plus a $109 SCOOP ticket, with the other finalists also receiving a free $109 shot at SCOOP glory.

$25 NLHE 8-Max Unlimited Re-Entries Final Table Results

Mini EPT Monte-Carlo Results So Far

*includes bounty payments

Upcoming Mini EPT Monte-Carlo Events

There are some juicy events coming up before the curtain comes down on the Mini ET Monte-Carlo series, including the value-packed Main Event. It only costs $5.50 to enter, yet boasts a $40,000 guarantee.

PokerStars is adding thousands of dollars worth of SCOOP tickets to the prize pool, including $1,050 tickets for second place through ninth, and a €10,200 package to EPT Barcelona for the winner!

End the Mini EPT Monte Carlo Series on a High With a Welcome Bonus

New depositing PokerStars customers can claim a welcome bonus worth up to $400. Download PokerStars via PokerNews, create your free account and decide how much you want to deposit. Your deposit is matched 100% up to $400 as a bonus. In fact, your first three deposits in the first 60 days after making your first deposit are matched up to a combined total of $400.

The bonus releases into your playable balance in $10 increments each time you generate 180 redemption points, which in turn are earned at a rate of five per $1 contributed to the cash game rake or spent on tournament fees (6.5 points per £1, 5.5 points per €1, and four points per CAD$).

The home of British poker, Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, is once again hosting the WPT500 UK festival, which includes a £560 buy-in £500,000 guaranteed Main Event that is sure to lure in players from around the United Kingdom, Europe, and much further afield.

It will be the fourth time the World Poker Tour has partnered with Dusk Till Dawn for the WPT500 festival. The inaugural WPT500 UK Main Event occurred in November 2014, and saw law graduate Eleanor Gudger outlast 2,132 opponents on her way to collecting £140,000.

Wales’ Richard Harris came out on top in November 2015, besting a start-studded field of 1,616 entrants, and earning £150,000 in the process.

PokerNews Becomes the Official Media Partner of Dusk Till Dawn

October 2016 was the last time Dusk Till Dawn held the WPT500 UK Main Event in its incredible club. Benjamin Winsor helped himself to £182,700 after navigating his way through the pack of 1,835 players.

There has been one live WPT500 UK event since Winsor’s victory. it took place in April 2018 at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford, London, and saw Gary Miller collect £114,000 after overcoming 1,809 opponents.

2023 WPT500 UK Schedule

The 2023 WPT500 UK schedule is packed full of satellites and side events, but it is the £560 buy-in £500,000 guaranteed WPT500 UK Main Event that everyone has their eye on.

WPT500 UK Main Event features five starting flights, with players sitting down armed with a generous helping of 50,000 chips. Each Day 1 lasts for fourteen 30-minute levels where blinds start at 100/200 and a 200 big blind ante.

Day 2 sees another 11 levels played, with those levels extended to 40 minutes. Day 2 starts at Level 26, and blinds are 60 minutes long until the champion is crowned.

Two other side events have six-figure guaranteed prize pools, too. Check out the £2,200 Super High Roller and its £100,000 guarantee, and the £1,100 High Roller complete with £100,000 in its prize pool.

Play Online WPT500 Mexico City Flights From Your WPT Global Account!

PokerNews has an upcoming promotion that will see one of our lucky readers receive a free £560 ticket for the £500,000 guaranteed WPT500 UK Main Event. Stay tuned to our social media channels for all of the juicy details!

Race fans, start your engines! From May 5-7, Global Poker will host an epic Grand Prix Turbo Series leading right into the F1 race on Sunday in Miami.

Formula 1 racing and poker, what better combination? The action kicks off on the social poker site Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET with the first of 12 Gold Coins (GC) and 12 Sweeps Coins (SC) tournaments.

Each day — Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — the Grand Prix Turbo Series will feature eight events (four for GC and four for SC) running every half hour. On Saturday and Sunday, the tournament action begins at 3:30 p.m. ET. Every event on the schedule is hyper-turbo no-limit hold’em.

The first 11 Gold Coins events are GC 11,000 to enter, with GC 5,000,000 guaranteed. Over on the Sweeps Coins side, the first 11 tournaments are SC 11 to enter and have an SC 10,000 guarantee. And then the finale — deep hyper-turbo — it will be GC 11,000,000 to enter with 25,000,000 guaranteed or SC 11 to enter with SC 50,000 guaranteed.

How to Win a Ferrari Dream Package

All season long, Global Poker will host a Grand Prix series during each F1 stop. The overall season winner will receive an exclusive experience for two to the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy.

Following the upcoming Miami stop, the F1 season will head to Montreal June 16-18, then to Austin October 20-22, and wrap it up for the first time ever in Las Vegas November 16-18. A Global Poker series will coincide with each of the aforementioned F1 races.

Players will accumulate points throughout the season, and the overall winner of the Sweeps Coin side will receive a vacation of a lifetime, including a visit to the iconic Ferrari factory in Italy.

Those who compete and win in the Gold Coin tournaments are not eligible for the Ferrari factory grand prize. But there are still some cool prizes available for these players. That includes a slick Global Poker hoodie, T-shirt, and cap. Bragging rights are also worth playing for, of course.

After competing in the tournaments this weekend, tune in to ABC and ESPN+ to watch the race down in Miami starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Full Grand Prix Turbo Series Schedule

The entire Gold Coins schedule is as follows:

The entire Sweeps Coins schedule is as follows:

888poker takes its thrilling live poker tour to sunny Barcelona for the fifth time in 888poker LIVE history from May 10-22, and it brings an action-packed schedule of events with it. Among the busy schedule is a €1,100 buy-in Main Event, which PokerNews‘ live reporting team will bring you live and exclusive coverage from.

Barcelona is a hotbed of poker action, which is one of the reasons all of the major tours drop anchor there at some stage of their seasons. 888poker LIVE first jetted off to Barcelona in May 2017 and the stop would have been an ever-present had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic curtailing live poker for a couple of years.

Surprisingly, despite each field being overwhelmingly Spanish, no Spaniard has managed to triumph in the €1,100 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event. Italy’s Luigi Shehadeh won the inaugural event, Romanian Adrian Constantin took it down in 2018, while Italian Gabriele Rossi become the tournament’s champion in 2019.

More recently, in May 2022, another Italian in Sandro Silvano Hauser came out on top and clinched the title. Is 2023 when Spain finally wins an 888poker LIVE Main Event title on home soil?

Past 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event Champions

888poker LIVE Barcelona Schedule

The Casino Barcelona will be crammed to the brim with poker players from all over the world from May 10-22, such is the lure of the 888poker LIVE tour.

The eagerly anticipated €220 Opening Event starts on May 11 and crowns its champion on May 14. Last year, the Opening Event ended in a four-way chop between a trio of Spaniards and a Frenchman. France’s Jimmy Vert finished fourth for €11,665, Sergio Carrasco was third (€11,715), Manuel Blazquez second (€11,740), and Daniel Baila (€16,580) became the champion.

Those heading to Spain will also be able to get their teeth into a €2,200 High Roller and a €5,300 Super High Roller. Warren Aspey is the reigning champion of the €2,200 High Roller, while a certain Daniel “Jungleman” Cates holds the €5,300 Super High Roller trophy.

McConachie Wins 888poker Live London £1,100 Main Event; Ambassadors Simpson & Eastwood Also Find Success

Win Yourself a $2,300 888poker LIVE Barcelona Package

888poker is running satellites around the clock that ultimately result in a $2,300 888poker LIVE Barcelona 2023 package being awarded. Satellites from only $0.01 eventually feed into the $109 buy-in final where packages are dished out. Win a package and you’ll receive:

• €1,100 ($1,200) buy-in to the 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event
• $600 for hotel accommodation
• $500 travel money paid into your 888poker account

Win yourself a package and you could find yourself featured in the famous PokerNews live reporting updates, which would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?

Download 888poker via PokerNews if you do not already have an account, and you are guaranteed to be able to get your hands on a great welcome bonus, including free play when you make a deposit, and matched bonuses too. See you in Spain!

Ben Mintz, a poker player and regular co-host on the Cracking Aces poker podcast, was fired from Barstool Sports Wednesday after a video surfaced of him singing rap lyrics that included the n-word.

Barstool’s founder Dave Portnoy immediately hosted an “Emergency Press Conference” on Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with the decision. But after he sold full control of the company to Penn Entertainment earlier this year, he no longer has a say in the matter, which he explained in the six-minute video.

Mintz, aka “Mintzy,” was a popular figure both at Barstool and within the poker community. Portnoy has taken some heat from the Barstool community — the “Stoolies” — over the firing for, as the fans claim, “selling out” when he sold the company. But, as he explained in a separate video, his goal was always to build Barstool from the ground up and then sell it off for an absurd amount of money. He’s now worth nine figures, but he did stick up for the employee he hired away from ESPN Baton Rouge in 2020.

The issue, as Portnoy explained, was that Penn’s board demanded the firing of Mintz after the proud southerner was captured on camera during a live-stream singing a rap lyric that included the n-word. He immediately tweeted out an apology.

But, according to Portnoy, the damage was done in the minds of those in power at Penn Entertainment. No apology was going to change their minds, even with the plea to let him stay from Portnoy and Barstool CEO Erika Nardini.

Portnoy originally sold 36% of the company he founded to Penn, a major casino and gambling brand, in 2020 for $163 million. He then sold off the rest of Barstool in February. In doing so, he gave up control of the day-to-day operations and couldn’t influence Penn to give Mintzy another chance.

Ben Mintz the Poker Player

Mintz is best known as a lovable sports enthusiast with a southern charm. But he’s also a skilled poker player with some impressive results. According to Hendon Mob, he has over $620,000 in live tournament cashes, which includes a 327th place finish in the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $37,705. Last year, he spent some time on the PokerGO televised feature table seated next to Phil Ivey during the Main Event.

Thousands of Stoolies defended Mintz on social media, as did many of those who know him personally.

“I think anybody watching the clip was like there’s no way he meant to do that,” Portnoy said in his Twitter video on Mintzy’s misstep.

Portnoy isn’t the only one who shares that opinion. Mintz is a talented entertainer and will land on his feet again soon, but it won’t be at Barstool Sports.