On Saturday, Day 1b of the World Poker Tour (WPT) $3,500 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown drew 1,155 entries, which along with Day 1a’s 1,135 brought the total field up to 2,290 entrants (beating 2022’s field of 2,010 runners). It also became the second-largest WPT event at the $3,500 buy-in level, second only to the same event back in 2021 (2,482 entries).

For their part, the Seminole Hard Rock hosted 17 satellites for the tournament, which ended up sending 192 players into the WPT Main Event.

The $3 million guarantee was obliterated as a $7,328,000 prize pool was created. That will be distributed to the top 287 finishers with the eventual winner taking home a $1,128,250 top prize.

Final Table Payouts

Check out the WPT Hub on PokerNews here!

Seth Bags Big Stacks

After 10 levels of play, 387 players remained with Akash Seth and his stack of 730,500 leading the way, which was well ahead of Day 1a chip leader Anthony Spinella’s 473,000.

Seth got a nice boost in the last level of the night. With the blinds at 1,000/2,000/2,000, a preflop raising way saw two players all in for 80,000 and 160,000 respectively. One held ace-king, the other ace-jack, and both were at risk against Seth’s pocket kings. The board ran out clean and Seth vaulted over the 700K mark.

Others to punch their ticket to Day 2 were Nick Palma (456,000), AJ Kelsall (361,000), Conrad Simpson (346,500), Landon Tice (261,000), Nick Schulman (125,000), Cherish Andrews (83,000), Kathy Liebert (43,500), and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (36,000).

Likewise, Natasha Mercier advanced with 244,000. In Level 8 (600/1,200/1,200), Mercier raised to 2,500 under the gun and then called after a middle-position player three-bet to 7,500. When the flop fell J♥6♦4♦, Mercier check-called a bet of 12,000 and then checked again on the 7♠ turn.

Her opponent jammed for roughly 70,000 and Mercier tanked for a bit before calling with the 10♦10♣. It was best as her opponent was drawing with the 9♦8♠. The 6♥ river was safe for Mercier and she took down a nice pot.

Day 2 will begin on Sunday, April 30th at 12 p.m. EST and Day 3 will take place on Monday, May 1st at 12 p.m. EST with a plan to play down to 16 players. Day 4 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2nd at 12 p.m. EST and will reach the final table, which will then be played at the Hyper X ESports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 25th.

_{*Images courtesy of WPT and Seminole Hard Rock.}

Executive Editor U.S.

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

This month’s ONSCOOP was a landmark series for poker players in Ontario. For the first time, PokerStars Ontario was able to bring the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) format exclusively to the province’s still-nascent poker market.

The segregated player pool meant smaller fields than the usual SCOOP extravaganza. This in turn allowed individual players to shine, with a handful of stand-outs winning multiple events and appearing at multiple final tables. One of these notable players was Regan “VapersieO11” Standing, who PokerNews spoke to recently about his ONSCOOP success.

The ONSCOOP Hat Trick

During the 2023 ONSCOOP, Standing won three events—the $100 Brawl, the $50 PLO Hi-Lo Championship, and the $20 4-Handed Zoom event. He also managed a fourth place cash in the $500 Super High Roller (all dollar amounts in this article are Canadian)

In total, he cashed for just under $12k on an investment of around $3k.

He stated that he qualified for the SHR event via satellite “for just 30 bucks” and won around $3,200.

“ONSCOOP was great,” Standing said of the series. “I was on a downswing for the last hundred tournaments or so and came back playing for blood, crushing three wins and two trophies. I have been very fortunate running well in the marquee events, but you still got to take that big stack all the way to first place.”

Click here to join “VapersieO11” on PokerStars Ontario

Playing for first

Standing’s dayjob is operating the pre-heater tower at a cement plant, a job he describes as “pretty intense.” However, the long shifts come with a shorter work week.

“My usual poker schedule is play touneys and cash games three days a week,” Standing explains. “I work in twelve-hour shifts, so I have a lot of days off. That’s great for a poker wannabe.”

He also found that Ontario’s shift to a segregated player pool works much better for him, creating smaller fields and shorter tournaments.

“The duration of the tournaments on Pokerstars Ontario is around six hours. That’s great for me because I can play my best the entire time,” he said. “On global Pokerstars, the big tourneys were ten or twelve hours and I would always just end up getting tired and punting.

“Plus Pokerstars Ontario is way softer than global!”

From blind baseball to ONSCOOP champion

At a young age, Standing learned to play poker with his father, stepmother, and sister. “We played a variation of stud called blind baseball. When I was 19 the WPT came out and I started playing tournaments at the pool hall in my town back in 2003.

“We also played sit-n-gos on family holidays with my mom and sister. My mom’s nickname was ‘Queen-Two.’ Just a funny family thing, because she always thought queen two was a great hand!”

From those kitchen table beginnings, Standing has risen to be one of Ontario’s recognizable tournament grinders.

“My favorite win of all was back in October,” Standing said. “It was during ONCOOP. I won the $200 5-card PLO event for $3,600. It was my favorite event because it was mainly against all the best pros in Ontario. I had a three-hour three-handed battle with “WALMARTCNXN” [who was also a multiple ONSCOOP event winner this year].”

That competitive attitude has served Standing well, earning him a tidy profit this spring and setting him up for bigger and better things.

Players Win Big in PokerStars Ontario’s Inaugural ONSCOOP

What’s next for “VapersieO11”?

Standing’s future plans are those of a sensible online grinder. He still has dreams of one day going pro. “Hopefully one day I can get a bankroll big enough to play consistently for a big hourly rate.”

“I cashed out a bunch of the winnings, jeeping a healthy bankroll to play with,” he said. “My plan for poker going forward is continually studying and grinding the $50 limits and building my bankroll.”

Then he added, “But we’ll see—I just love poker. Oh, and please give a shout-out to my boy “Yawnkiss” battling in those PLO cash streets!”

We’ll no doubt be seeing plenty of “VapersieO11” out on those same Ontario streets.

For more on Standing, follow him on Twitter at @VapersieO11.

Eligible iGames conducted and managed by iGO are only available to those physically present in the Province of Ontario. PaokerStars Ontario operates pursuant to an agreement with iGaming Ontario.

For more information, visit the Ontario Players Homepage

The World Poker Tour (WPT) $3,500 Poker Showdown at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood attracted more than 1,100 entrants on Saturday’s Day 1b, and two of the competitors in the field were ClubWPT qualifiers Metti Saliu and Jon Batye.

The night before, the WPT took the two qualifiers on a catamaran ride complete with drinks, and on Saturday they were ready to compete in not only one of the biggest tournaments of the year but also the biggest in their lives!

Batye on a Freeroll

For the 40-year-old Batye, a concrete worker from St. Louis, he signed up for ClubWPT on a free trial and it was during that period he actually won his $5,500 package to the Seminole Hard Rock. Talk about a freeroll.

It was Batye’s first time traveling for a poker tournament, and he was understandably excited. Early on Day 1b, he was up about 10,000 on the first break of the day. That was thanks in large part to a big pot where he flopped an open-ended straight draw with jack-ten and ran a semi-bluff against a player holding ace-nine.

Batye failed to make his straight, but he did river a ten and went for value with a bet of 2,000. He extracted it too as his opponent made the call.

“Overall not too bad,” he said with a smile. Unfortunately for Batye, his luck crashed hard over the course of the next two levels and he busted shortly before the second break of the day.

ClubWPT ‘Stream Team’ Finally Gathers at Wynn in Las Vegas Post-COVID

From Milwaukee to Hollywood, Florida

As for the 46-year-old Saliu, who hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and works as an estimator, he has been playing on ClubWPT for years, especially after his local card room at Potawatomi Casino closed down during the pandemic. It was then that Saliu re-upped as a ClubWPT Diamond member.

He wound up taking down a winner-take-all satellite to win his way to Florida. It was redemption for Saliu as he had played the same tournament the year before only to finish in second place.

Saliu has been playing poker for approximately 11 years after picking it up from his father and brother, both of who learned to play during the Moneymaker “Boom” years.

“I was hooked,” Saliu admitted. He then shared something interesting – the night before the tournament he had a bad dream that he picked up pocket aces in the first hand and went bust.

As fate would have it, he actually looked down at pocket aces in the very first hand of the tournament! In an attempt to dispel the premonition, he opted to just limp from the small blind and didn’t go bust, instead winning a small pot. Even so, it was a little too close for comfort.

Eventually, Saliu became comfortable in the tournament and by the time Level 5 began he was sitting with 67,000 in chips. That is when PokerNews opted to spend an entire orbit watching him play. Here is what we observed.

In a Poker World Gone Mad, the World Poker Tour (WPT) is Proving Itself Righteous

An Orbit with Metti Saliu

Level 5 with the blinds at 300/600/600…

Hand #1 (Button): Action folded to Saliu and he just called. The player in the small blind did the same before the big blind checked their option to make it three-way action to the flop of 10♠2♣3♦.

The small blind checked, the big bet 800, and only Saliu called to see the 5♦ turn. The big blind checked and Saliu tossed out 1,300. That did the trick as his opponent folded.

“I owe you that one,” Saliu told his opponent before showing the 5♦5♣ for a turned set.

Hand #2 (Cutoff): Action folded to Saliu and he did the same.

Hand #3 (Hijack): Action folded to Saliu and he released.

Hand #4: (Middle Position): Action folded to Saliu and he let it go.

Hand #5 (Middle Position): A player in early position limped and Saliu folded.

Hand #6 (Early Position): Saliu folded.

Hand #7 (Under the Gun): Saliu limped and the player in the cutoff min-raised to 1,200. The button called, both blinds folded, and Saliu called to see a flop of 8♠K♦8♦. All three players checked and the 10♠ appeared on the turn.

Two more checks saw the player on the button bet 2,000 and only Saliu called. When the 7♠ completed the board on the river, Saliu checked, and the button bet 3,000. Saliu called and said, “I have a flush.”

He then tabled the K♠J♠ for two pair that turned into a runner-runner spade flush and his opponent mucked.

Hand #8 (Big Blind): A player in early position limped and the next player raised to 1,200. The small blind called and Saliu did the same from the big. The limper came along and it was four-way action to the flop of 6♠J♠J♦.

Everyone checked as they did on both the J♥ turn and 2♣ river. Saliu showed the A♥8♥ but he was pipped as another player won the pot with A♣9♦.

Hand #9 (Small Blind): Both the under-the-gun player and the cutoff limped before Saliu folded from the small blind.

In With Aces, Out With Aces

Saliu made the most of the orbit by increasing his stack to roughly 75,000. He’d use that to grind out a good portion of the day, but like his fellow ClubWPT qualifier, lady luck turned against Saliu and he bowed out shortly before the last break of the night.

Ironically, it happened when he was holding pocket aces. With a player already all in preflop, Saliu and another player were engaged in a side pot. The latter just jammed with a diamond flush draw on an ace-high flop, and Saliu called off with top set. The turn was safe but the river was not as another diamond appeared. For Saliu, his day was in with aces, out with aces.

While they failed to find a bag, the night wasn’t a total loss for the pair as both Batye and Saliu made their way to the WPT Poker Showdown Player Party that evening to rub elbows with some poker luminaries and tell a bad beat tale or two.

Learn More About the Subscription-Based ClubWPT here!

Did You Know the World Poker Tour is Online?

The launch of WPT Global means that poker players around the world now have the chance to win their way to WPT events, win prizes and enjoy exciting games such as Poker Flips. As one of the world’s largest cash game poker networks, WPT Global is available in over 50 countries and territories around the world.

WPT Global offers a large deposit match bonus: 100% on deposits up to $1,200 (using any payment method). New players depositing a minimum of $20 automatically receive this match bonus which is unlocked in $5 increments (credited straight to the cashier) for every $20 of rake contribution.

Both tournaments and cash games count towards bonus unlocking; new players have 90 days from the date of first deposit to unlock and claim their full bonus amount.

_{*Images courtesy of WPT/Drew Amato.}

Executive Editor U.S.

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

Controversy. Drama. Cheating. Grudge Matches. There’s no denying such stories get clicks, but at what point does it become detrimental and tiresome? For many, that point came earlier this week with the High Stakes Poker Live Stream, which prominently featured players like Doug Polk, Nik Airball, Matt Berkey, and Eric Persson, all players who are often knee-deep in the poker muck.

As the cackles echoed throughout the PokerGO Studio and into homes across the world for all those watching, I was down at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, which was playing host to the World Poker Tour (WPT) Poker Showdown.

That night there was a Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) event raising money for Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, while a week before WPT Ambassadors Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen hosted a meet-up game. It was there that Owen made a dream come true when he bought 20-year-old Cody Peacock into the game, a story reported by Jeff Walsh that you must read over at worldpokertour.com.

On Friday night, I also got invited on a special catamaran excursion with the WPT family, who were taking out a pair of ClubWPT qualifiers – Metti Saliu and Jon Batye. While heading out into the open seas, it suddenly struck me just how much good the WPT is doing for the poker community.

Check out the WPT Hub on PokerNews here!

Emphasis on Players

There were quite literally 10 members of the WPT team on the trip with the sole goal of making sure the qualifiers had an experience, which I can tell you they did. Both were throwing back drinks as the catamaran sailed through the harbor and out into the ocean. Batye was embracing the spotlight and calling himself “the talent,” which was a role for which he was made. Saliu was a bit more reserved but didn’t shy away from chatting with everyone.

I was witnessing firsthand the effort the WPT has long put into the player experience, not just on the tournament macro level, but on the micro levels as well by providing such experiences to those who are playing the WPT for the first and quite possibly only time. It was a smaller dose of what the poker world saw on full display last December at the WPT World Championship at the Wynn, which rightfully won “Event of the Year” at the Global Poker Awards.

A Family Affair

Those buzzwords I mentioned above – Controversy. Drama. Cheating. Grudge Matches – when was the last time you associated them with the WPT? Similarly, when was the last time any of the WPT talent was embroiled in a scandal? Neeme and Owen aren’t out picking fights or calling out players. Vince Van Patten and Tony Dunst follow in the footsteps of the late Mike Sexton, who set the bar high on being kind and professional in the poker world. And Lynn Gilmartin, who I had the pleasure of working with for several years at PokerNews, is quite literally one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

I can also tell you from experience that the people working behind the scenes are just as kind and professional. Lance Bradley, Jeff Walsh, and Tim Fiorvanti are magic on the content team, while Eric Lusch and Easton Oreman are a pleasure to work with on the media side of things. When on-site, Hilary St. Clair, Sam Carioti, and many others help cultivate a top-notch player experience, while the team reporters (shout out to Mickey Doft, BJ Nemeth, and Al Rash), photographers, and production staff make the wheels go around.

For his part, WPT tournaments are always run by experienced staff often led by Matt Savage, who in my opinion is overdue for the Poker Hall of Fame, and of course, it all stems from WPT President Adam Pliska, who has always put an emphasis on family.

Let’s face it, if those making headlines these days were a family, they’d be the Lohan’s, whereas those on the WPT are the Partridge Family. The former can be entertaining — who doesn’t like a good train wreck after all — but the latter should serve as an inspiration.

I’m sure this all came across as a fluff piece for the WPT, but even if it did, it’s well-deserved. All I can say is that I didn’t have to write this, but rather felt inspired to do so. Like many, I am discontent with a lot of what’s happening in the poker world, much of which I have to highlight and push given my role. While I’m guilty of perpetuating the negative narratives, I don’t want it to stop me from giving credit, love, and a spotlight to the good things in poker.

The WPT is most certainly one of them.

_{*Images courtesy of WPT and Seminole Hard Rock.}

Executive Editor U.S.

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

There was quite the scene at Horseshoe Las Vegas on Friday night as a “small” fire broke out at the home of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

According to local news reports, a fire broke out on the 19th floor of the Horseshoe Las Vegas hotel that caused part of the Las Vegas Strip to shut down as firefighters contained the blaze. In fact, it was reported that 20 fire vehicles and engines, as well as 76 fire personnel, responded to the scene.

“Sprinklers were activated which kept the fire contained to a small area, and crews extinguished the remainder of the burning material,” Clark County Fire Deputy Chief Billy Samuels stated in a news release.

Horseshoe Las Vegas Opens Newly Renovated Poker Room

While some people requested medical attention at the scene, no serious injuries were reported, and thankfully no one needed to go to the hospital.

“The cause of the fire is under investigation, and no dollar loss amount has been determined,” Samuels added.

It was a scary situation, however, as the property has experienced a major fire disaster in the past. Back in 1980, when the venue was MGM Grand, it was the site of the deadliest fire in Las Vegas history as 85 victims lost their lives.

Mattress Mack, Doyle Brunson, Jack Binion Speak at Horseshoe Las Vegas Grand Opening

_{*Images from KTNV.}

It Wasn’t Hellmuth

Back in 2021, 16-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was at a WSOP final table when he lost a big hand and had a patented meltdown when he controversially said, “I think I’m gonna burn this f***ing place down if I don’t win this f***ing tournament.”

So, is it possible the “Poker Brat” actually followed through?

The answer is unequivocally no as he was at Hustler Casino Live (HCL) in California losing two buy-ins, while the fire took place at Horseshoe Las Vegas, not the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino where Hellmuth previously made his “threat.”

Still, probably best not to say such things in the future.

Executive Editor U.S.

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

On Friday, the World Poker Tour (WPT) $3,500 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown kicked off in South Florida. The first of two starting flights proved to be a smashing success with 1,135 entrants, which means the prize pool is already at $3,632,000 (it actually surpassed the $3 million guarantee before the dinner break).

It marked the fourth-largest flight for the Showdown Championship behind only 2021’s 1,434 entries on Day 1b, 2016’s 1,222 entries, and 2017’s 1,207 entries.

After 10 levels of play, 378 players remained with Anthony Spinella and his stack of 473,000 leading the Day 1a field. Not far behind is poker phenom Ethan “Rampage” Yau, who bagged 451,000.

“If I’m not the chip leader I punted three straight hands with five hands left in the day,” Yau told WPT reporters. “I ran well today, this never happens to me, I’m glad that I have chips.”

Others to bag big stacks were James Anderson (412,500), Brandon Wilson (411,500), Jeff Madsen (406,500), and Debbie Lee (377,500), while defending champ Mark Davis made it through with 137,000.

Top 10 Day 1a Chip Counts

5 Stories You May’ve Missed from 2023 WPT Poker Showdown at Seminole Hard Rock

Others to make it through were Benny Glaser (321,000), Andrew Moreno (317,000), Raminder Singh (305,500), Steve Buckner (247,000), Jeremy Ausmus (226,500), David “ODB” Baker (206,500), Chance Kornuth (191,500), Alex Foxen (181,000), Mike Leah (166,500), Nate Silver (127,000), Shannon Shorr (92,500), and Katie Kopp (59,000).

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to thrive on Day 1a. Among those to fall throughout the day were Loni Hui, Alex Jim, Asher Conniff, Anthony Zinno, Chad Eveslage, Joe McKeehen, Matt Stout, Jeff Platt, Brad Owen, Will “The Thrill” Failla, Jonathan Jaffe, and Cherish Andrews.

Likewise, WPT Ambassador Andrew Neeme failed to find a bag and tweeted details regarding his bust out.

Check out the WPT Hub on PokerNews here!

Executive Editor U.S.

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

Friday night was rough for Phil Hellmuth, who bought in short and lost two bullets quickly on Hustler Casino Live (HCL) before watching his beloved Golden State Warriors get knocked out of the NBA Playoffs.

When the stream began at 5 p.m. PT, the “Poker Brat” bought into the $100/$200 no-limit hold’em cash game with $20,000. He was seated at a table with mostly amateurs — all HCL regulars — who were in for at least $100,000, except for Mike X’s $75,000 stack.

Hellmuth’s starting chip stack has been a topic of interest around the poker community the past year. During the historic “MrBeast Game” at Hustler last May, he entered with a small stack against a recreational table, to which many poker fans were critical. Last year, during a Live at the Bike episode, he again bought in for a fraction of his opponents, and again received some criticism.

Following that LATB game and the backlash that came with it, he vowed to enter future live-streams with at least $300,000. He’d stick to that plan for a bit before coming to the conclusion he’s tough to beat when he has a small stack. But on Friday, that statement didn’t hold true.

Hellmuth Loses Monster Pot and Quits During Robbi’s Live at the Bike Debut

Bad Timing Against Nik Airball’s Ladies

One day after competing in the first ever High Stakes Poker live-stream in Las Vegas, Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot returned to Los Angeles to play some poker at Hustler Casino. Within the first hour, he found himself in a great spot to stack the 16-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner.

Phil Hellmuth Loses Big on HCL, Spoils Outcome Early on Twitter

Hellmuth then left the game about two hours into the session instead of rebuying again. In his post-game interview, he admitted he didn’t play at the same level that helped him win 16 WSOP bracelets.

“I put in thirty-thousand with ace-nine of clubs against queens. Just a really bad play. So unlike me.”

“That’s about as bad as I can play poker,” an honest and humble Hellmuth said. “I put in thirty-thousand with ace-nine of clubs against queens. Just a really bad play. So unlike me.”

There was no patented Hellmuth meltdown on this day. He accepted the outcome and moved on to Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Sacramento Kings and Hellmuth’s favorite team, the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors played about as well as Hellmuth did and lost the game 118-99. With that, the defending world champs were eliminated from the playoffs about as quickly as the Poker Brat busted on Hustler Casino Live Friday night.

This Sunday, April 30, is going to be a special day for PokerStars players in the United States. That’s because it’s Million Dollar Sunday for players in the merged market of New Jersey and Michigan as 10 tournaments will offer a combined $1 million in guaranteed prize pools. As if that’s not enough, players in Pennsylvania will enjoy $500,000 in GTDs over nines tournaments.

In honor of Million Dollar Sunday, PokerStars US is offering players the chance at a 100% deposit match up to $500 by using bonus code “SUNDAY23”. A minimum deposit of $30 is required, and the bonus will be issued as a non-withdrawable play credit equal to 100% of your eligible deposit.

Since early April, PokerStars has been qualifying players for various Million Dollar Sunday events via Spin and Go’s, All-in Shootouts, Depositor Freerolles, and other PokerStars exclusive promotions.

Best Online Poker Sites for US Players

“We are thrilled to present these ground-breaking schedules to our valued players in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,” said Severin Rasset, Managing Director of PokerStars US. “We are guaranteeing a staggering $1 million in a single day to our shared liquidity players, a testament to the remarkable successes we have witnessed this year so far across the player pool.”

The headline event in both markets will be the two-day $200 buy-in Sunday Special, which is a $500K GTD tournament in NJ/MI and a $250K GTD event that will start at 5 p.m. EST.

Million Dollar Sunday Highlights

New Casino Game for Michigan Players

PokerStars Casino recently launched Mega Fire Blaze Roulette in Michigan adding to their existing suite of live dealer games.

On any spin, you can win up to 10,000 times your bet in the fiery bonus round.

Better yet, play alongside other players with a live game show host and dealer. If you love game shows, and you enjoy exciting casino games, stream in and check out Mega Fire Blaze Roulette at PokerStars Casino in Michigan.

This unique game offers the chance to win up to x10000 your original bet, which is a rare feature that few other casino games offer.

Also, within Michigan, they are one of the only providers of this game, another reason to play on PokerStars MI.

Executive Editor U.S.

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

For the first time in 11 matches, Phil Hellmuth won’t appear on PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel, a heads-up poker show. Instead, the fourth series of games will pit Daniel Negreanu against Eric Persson starting May 8.

Also for the first time, HSD will have an undercard with Mike “The Mouth” Matusow taking on a former rival, Shaun Deeb. Jason Koon, who defeated Hellmuth in a $1.6 million match on High Stakes Duel III in December, won’t return.

As is always the case when a new series of High Stakes Duel begins, each heads-up participant buys in for $50,000, creating a $100,000 Round 1 prize pool. Deeb and Matusow will play for $10,000 each in the undercard, however.

In the traditional series of games, the stakes are doubled each round, but only the losing player from the previous game is required to add to the pot. So, for example, if Negreanu were to lose in Round 1, he’d be on the hook for buying back in with $100,000 more in Round 2. That is, of course, assuming the losing player wishes to continue.

In this case, a Round 2 rematch has already been agreed upon and will take place May 9 on PokerGO. Both matches will begin at 5 p.m. PT from Las Vegas.

Negreanu Looks to End Losing Streak

This won’t be the first time Negreanu has competed on High Stakes Duel. He faced Hellmuth on HSD II and lost all three matches for a net loss of $350,000.

This time around, he won’t be facing Hellmuth, who went 8-2 overall on the show. Negreanu’s upcoming opponent is the wealthy Maverick Casinos owner Eric Persson, who has become a mainstay on televised poker shows the past year.

Persson has a contrasting style of play to Hellmuth. While the “Poker Brat” is often passive preflop, Negreanu’s new opponent won’t be. One thing poker viewers have learned from watching Persson play, on top of his trash talking personality, he isn’t afraid to fight for a pot. He’s lost a number of big pots because of failed bluffs, but also pulled off many, including one against Jean-Robert Bellande this week on the latest High Stakes Poker episode.

The format for the competition has changed a bit. In previous HSD games, a player couldn’t cash out until winning three consecutive matches unless a challenger wasn’t available. High Stakes Duel IV will crown a champion once a player wins at least two games in a row.

Slow-Roll Part II? The Undercard

On May 5, Deeb and Matusow will play in a one-and-done High Stakes Duel match with a $10,000 buy-in. The poker pros have combined for a total of nine World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets but they haven’t ever competed heads-up on a live-stream.

There’s a bit of backstory between this former rivalry. In 2015, during a Poker Night in America cash game, Deeb tanked with quads facing an all in bet from “The Mouth” before eventually calling and slowly turning over his hand.

It was, perhaps, the most memorable in a long line of slow-rolls for Deeb.

“You can do anything to me, you can call me any name under the sun, but if you slow-roll me, I will punch you in the f*****g mouth,” an angry Matusow told Deeb as the pot was being shipped.

Will Deeb pull off another slow-roll against Matusow on May 5? Or, will Matusow return the favor and slow-roll his opponent this time around? You can find out next week on PokerGO.

_{*Images courtesy of PokerGO.}

Matt Berkey, Doug Polk, and Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot put their differences aside to compete against each other in the first ever live-streamed High Stakes Poker Thursday evening.

PokerGO aired seven hours of a $200/$400 no-limit hold’em game — straddles on regularly — and thousands were tuned in hoping to see some fireworks between some bitter rivals. It didn’t take long before the fans got what they came to see. But there was also some criticism on social media over the banter at the table and the constant cackling between the players.

There was over $2.5 million on the table, with Polk and Airball each buying in for $500,000. Eric Persson showed up with $400,000 in front of him, and then Jennifer Tilly ($150,000) and Lynne Ji ($100,000) began with the smallest stacks. Rob Yong would later arrive with $600,000 in his stack and Jean-Robert Bellande entered the game late with $200,000.

Trash-Talking Eric Persson Flips JRB the Bird on HSP

Airball Stacks Rival Berkey

The High Stakes Poker live-stream, commentated by Brent Hanks and Nick Schulman, began at 3 p.m. PT Thursday afternoon. Before the clock reached 4:00, poker’s newest rivals were battling it out for stacks.

Early on in the seven-hour session, Airball and Berkey played some heads-up poker, which they’ve been doing quite a bit of recently.

Action folded around to Berkey in the small blind — no straddle on in this pot — and he opted to slow-play his A♠A♦ and just call. Airball went for a check with 8♦4♦ in the big blind. The flop came out J♦7♥2♦, creating a flush draw against the nut over pair. Sticking with his plan to be sneaky with aces, Berkey checked and then his opponent bet $1,000.

Berkey was done slow-playing, so he went for a check-raise to $3,500 and received a call. The turn was the K♣, which didn’t improve either hand and Berkey bet $10,000 and again earned a call.

With the pot size on the rise, the 5♦ on the river completed the flush, but Berkey, who started the hand with around $100,000, went for value — $15,000. Airball, who had him easily covered, put him all in for another $71,000. The Solve for Why founder was unable to find a fold and made the call before receiving the bad news that his aces were cracked.

“Life is good!” Airball shouted. “Give me all the chips.”

Berkey didn’t immediately hand over the chips, so Airball reached over and pushed them over to his stack. Although he lost his entire stack early, Berkey rebought for the same amount and quickly doubled right back to even, and then soon after was up a decent amount.

Poker is a Funny Game Sometimes

Pocket aces is the best preflop hand in no-limit Texas hold’em. But sometimes the poker gods want to punish anyone who picks up the pocket rockets. During Thursday’s big game, the preflop nuts appeared quite often and didn’t always hold up.

Airball was on the winning side of a pocket aces bad beat against his hated rival Berkey. But the tables were turned on him later on in the show in an even bigger pot against Bellande.

With a double straddle on, Airball went for a massive raise to $25,000 with A♦A♥, enough to get even some decent hands to fold, including the A♠J♥ Tilly was holding. Bellande, who was down six figures on the day at that point, didn’t fear the huge raise and moved all in for $148,000 with 6♠6♥.

Airball, who added on another $500,000 from his original buy-in and was up for the day, snap-called and the high rollers agreed to run it just once. The board would come out 9♦4♣6♦10♠8♠, giving Bellande a set and a suck-out win. He scooped the $299,000 pot, one of the last few hands of the night and went from the red to the black.

Polk Cracks Airball’s Aces This Time

Pocket aces were good and bad for Nik Airball on the High Stakes Poker live-stream. In one pot with that hand, he tangled with Polk, who entered the game beefing with half the table.

With $27,000 in the pot on a flop of 6♣5♣K♣, action checked to Airball, who bet $13,000 with A♥A♣, an over pair and the nut flush draw. That was a strong hand, but he was in deep trouble because Polk had flopped a flush with Q♣10♣ and made the call.

The turn was the 4♦ and again Polk checked before calling a $50,000 bet. When the 7♠ appeared on the river, Polk decided to check for a third time, hoping to set the trap. Airball wouldn’t oblige and the co-owner of The Lodge Card Club took down a pot of $153,000, but it could have been larger had he led out on the river.

Polk would spend more than half the session in the black, and was up over $100,000 for quite some time. But he ran into two coolers in big pots that caused him to lose about $120,000 for the day. In one hand, he couldn’t find a fold with the nut straight against Persson, who had a full house. In the other, he bet out $50,000 on the river with J♥10♥ on a board of 7♠10♣A♥J♠3♦ and then called a raise to $200,000 from Yong, who had the nuts with K♥Q♥.

Too Much Cackling?

There were over 12,000 viewers tuned in throughout much of the evening. But many on poker Twitter were critical of the table talk and “cackles.” Even Daniel Negreanu threw some shade at the players.