Nacho Barbero Signs Ambassadorship Deal with WPT Global Jose Ignacio “Nacho” Barbero has inked a deal to act as a brand ambassador for the fast-growing platform WPT Global.

Nacho Barbero The Argentine high-stakes reg will now be teaming up with Phil Ivey as he adorns his new patch and gets a fresh start that he probably didn’t expect. Fifteen years ago, Nacho was on the Pokerstars team roster with other Latin American stars who were helping to grow the game in that corner of the world. He then moved to ACR Poker, the leading US-facing platform, but came unstuck after a couple of bizarre incidents which left boss Phil Nagy with little choice but to send him on his way.

Who Are the Most Influential People in Poker History? Poker has been around for a long time now with its landscape shifting continuously. But who are the characters in the game who have been the most influential over the years?

Chris Moneymaker at the WSOP 2003This is what Upswing Poker founder Doug Polk has been asking his fans and followers on X, and to be honest, we’ve seen some pretty interesting answers. Of course when you ask subjective questions like this, you will get a wide range of answers; not everybody will agree. WSOP Laying the Foundations Doyle Brunson The first name which appears throughout most of the early posts will come as no surprise to any generation of poker player still in the game today — Doyle Brunson!

Matt Savage Lays Down the Law to Will Kassouf and Martin Kabrhel WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage has been spending time with perpetual poker bad boys Will Kassouf and Martin Kabrhel at the WPT Cyprus Championship.

Matt Savage and Martin Kabrhel Apparently, the poker community has it wrong and they’re both a lot different from what their public image would suggest. Today saw the start of the $3,500 buy-in, $2 million GTD WPT Cyprus Championship at the Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino. Plenty of well-known faces were present at the casino but none more so than the pair of characters who had the poker media scribbling for much of the WSOP 2025.

Jared Bleznick Smashing the $200000 PLO Tables on CoinPoker Jared Bleznick is single-handedly bringing back the nosebleed scene to online poker after smashing out a constant stream of six-figure pots on the $200000 tables on CoinPoker.

The last few days have looked indistinguishable from an era gone by when the likes of Phil Ivey, Patrick Antonius, and Tom “durrrr” Dwan battled on the high-stakestables on Full Tilt Poker. “Theblez,” as Bleznick is known as on CoinPoker, has been helping to turn back the clock for the nosebleed games, regularly playing stakes of $500/$1,000 PLO and even higher, happy to take on all comers. Jared Bleznick’s been battling in the 200KPLO heads-up games on CoinPoker 🤯

Doug Polk Takes to Mainstream Media to Defend Poker from Unfair Tax Doug Polk has appeared on mainstream media new outlet New Nation to stick up for poker in the midst of unpopular gambling law changes.

Right now, the American gambling community is in a state of bewilderment about the prospective effects of a new version of the country’s gambling laws. Put simply, if everything continues down the path the government intends, the number of professional poker players in the United States will reduce massively. Possibly to the point of making the game unprofitable for all but a few. The issue is really all about one point — from next year, gamblers will only be able to write off 90% of their losses.

Frankie C Challenges Martin Kabrhel to Heads-Up Match Frank Frankie C Cucchiara has brazenly challenged high-stakes poker star Martin Kabrhel to a heads-up match apparently agreeing to play for $1000000 if he can get the money.

The Czech player is one of those names who consistently finds his way into the poker media for various reasons, often being a bit of a nuisance, but there’s no denying he’s a great poker player. Having Martin Kabrhel’s scalp on his record would make Frankie C a player of note, without a doubt. Who Is Frankie C? The 26-year-old poker content creator is a relatively new face on the scene and known for being the partner of Kitty Kuo.

Stephen Chidwick Finally Joins the Social Media Fray Elite live tournament specialist Stephen Chidwick has made his first foray into the world of social media opening an account on X to engage with his fans.

Stephen Chidwick The British star is known as the quiet man of top-tier poker and, although he has more than his fair share of fans, we really don’t know an awful lot about him as a man. Now, though, he has invited us to take part in an AMA — Ask Me Anything — on an X thread. Hello X. Many of you will know me as a top poker player who doesn’t say very much, and for a long time, I guess I didn’t really think I had much of value to say.

Doug Polk Sells Upswing Poker to ClubWPT Gold Doug Polk has announced the sale of Upswing Poker to sweepstakes operator ClubWPT gold for an undisclosed fee.

Aftermore than nine years of operating the leading training site with his friend Ryan Fee, Polk will be handing over the keys of Upswing Poker to its new owner, while promising a bright future for the outfit. A Decade of Upswing Poker It was all the way back in 2016 that Doug Polk was encouraged to consider starting a poker training site by Ryan Fee. The training space has previously been dominated by classic sites Card Runners and Deucescracked, but their massive, over-sized libraries left novice players scrambling around, wondering where to start.

A Spotlight on Nuisance Players in Live Poker TV poker has always provided us with polarising characters but has some of the more recent nuisance behaviour gone too far? Are we risking harm to the game if nothing is done?

Will Kassouf Good, old fashioned live poker is supposed to be a blend of strategy and psychological warfare. It’s not supposed to be over-the-top trash TV. When the show becomes more about player behaviour than the actual poker, we should know that change is needed. What we witnessed during the WSOP 2025 exceeded anything we have seen before. Maybe the cameras amplify disruptive tactics, focusing the viewer’s attention on the negative, but the level of sheer annoyance indicated on social media was at a greater height than in previous years.

The 2025 World Series of Poker in Numbers This summer’s World Series of Poker saw players fork out a total of $529million in buy-ins but how much of that went in rake? The answer — a healthy $47million!

2025 WSOP Main Event (Courtesy of WSOP) Nearly one quarter of a million entries graced the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas this summer as GGPoker took over the running of the WSOP for the very first time. The result was a slew of records broken, including almost everything money related. There were 100 bracelet events this year, one up on last year’s 99 gold bracelets awarded, and that produced and extra 17,361 in total entries over last year’s figure.

The Taxman Takes $9million from Main Event Final Table Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi may well have won the $10million top prize but he will only get to keep $6million of it as the taxman takes his bite!

(Courtesy of WSOP/Rachel Kay Winter) “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” said Benjamin Franklin (allegedly!) and for Michael Mizrachi, the 100,000 $100 bills bearing Franklin’s image he won this week won’t all be his to keep. Every year, Russ Fox of Clayton Financial and Tax of Las Vegas, gives us the breakdown of just how much the winner and his fellow final tablists have to give up to the taxman.

Daniel Negreanu Accuses Ike Haxton of Main Event Angle Shoot “Scummy stalling” was how Daniel Negreanu described Ike Haxton’s play in the Main Event yesterday. Haxton tanked for 6 minutes on a payjump.

Ike Haxton (courtesy of WSOP/Alicia Skillman) Schumacher’s open was met by a 3-bet from Haxton, who left a single 5k chip behind. Not realising this ‘chip behind’ detail, Bogarin called in the big blind and when Schumacher re-shoved he went into the tank…as did Haxton! When Bogarin finally folded, out of turn, he still didn’t realise Haxton hadn’t committed his last 5k chip. After 6 minutes in the tank, another player at the table, Yuchen Chen, finally called the clock.

Standard of WSOP Dealers Called Out after Bizarre Hand One of the strangest hands of the summer has led to calls to improve the standard of dealers at the WSOP. A mucked card used to flop a set sparked the debate.

(Photo courtesy of WSOP/Spenser Sembrat) With tens of thousands of players all desperate to play the WSOP, it’s no easy job catering for them, and that of course includes attracting enough good dealers to service the 100-bracelet summer shindig. Nevertheless, some basic standards need to be met and it seems that we are quite far from achieving that, if recent evidence is anything to go by! Poker vlogger Lexy Gavin-Mather found herself in trouble when her pocket 7s were at risk against pocket 10s.

$1million Chip Dumping Allegations Mar WSOP Victory Jesse Yaginuma pulled back a 10-1 chip deficit to land WSOP gold and a $1milllion bonus but has sparked claims of a chip dumping deal.

Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll (courtesy of WSOP) The grand finale to Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker saw both heads-up players – Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll – lock up $1million payouts, with $250k and the bracelet still to play for. Yaginuma, however, was in line to pick up a ClubWPT Gold promotional bonus of another $1million, having qualified by bagging one of the sweepstakes-style online site’s Gold Rush tickets.

Chinese Pros Accused of Collusion in WSOP $50k PLO Cheating accusations have been levelled against two Chinese players at the final table of the WSOP $50k PLO SHR this week.

Ding Biao and Quan Zhou (courtesy of WSOP) As we reported earlier this week, Dylan Linde took down Event #57: $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller for $2,146,414 and a third WSOP gold bracelet. What wasn’t covered at the time were accusations that two of the final table players were perhaps being a little too friendly with each other. Danish pro Martin “Imbajimba” Dam claimed play between Ding Biao and Quan Zhou looked like “blatant collusion”.

JokerStars Scammer Banned from Club for RFID Cheating JokerStars Poker Room in Houston Texas has uncovered a brazen cheating scam involving RFID cards and a hidden card reader.

(pic courtesy of JokerStars Poker Room FB) No, not the slang name for online giants PokerStars, but rather a poker club in Houston, Texas – JokerStars Poker Room – which has uncovered a cheating scam involving RFID cards and a hidden card reader. The bare-faced attempt to cheat a highstakes poker knight at the social poker venue was revealed by PokerNews this week, when three players – former club employee Carlito, and two of his guests, Marcelo and Ivan – were caught on camera following a security review.

Chaos Erupts Near WSOP Venues as Gunman Opens Fire on Las Vegas Strip Two people have been shot dead after a gunman opened fire near the Bellagio fountains on the Las Vegas Strip last night.

Police officers were patrolling in the area on Las Vegas Boulevard at around 10:40 p.m. local time and rushed to the scene upon hearing gunfire. A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department statement said: “On June 8, 2025, at approximately 10.40pm, LVMPD officers were on routine patrol in the 3600 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard when they heard gunfire coming from the west side of the street. “The officers immediately ran toward the area where the gunfire was heard and located two individuals suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.

Phil Hellmuth Lets Fans Decide – Play or Boycott 2025 WSOP Main Event? Phil Hellmuth has put it to his fans to decide whether he plays the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event or goes ahead with his one-man boycott.

Phil Hellmuth has put it to his fans to decide whether he plays the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event or goes ahead with his one-man boycott. Phil Hellmuth – Photo Credit: Hayley Hochstetler The Poker Brat owns a record 17 WSOP gold bracelets and has played in every main event since, but he recently announced that the gruelling format was too much for him now and he would be giving this year’s edition a miss.

Daniel Negreanu Reveals Tough Schedule for 2025 WSOP GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu has revealed his most ambitious WSOP schedule yet for the 2025 series which kicks off in two months.

GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu has revealed his most ambitious WSOP schedule yet for the 2025 series which kicks off in two months. Daniel Negreanu – Photo Credit: Spenser SembratThe Canadian poker legend is now 50-years-old but still more determined than ever to win that eighth gold bracelet. My potential WSOP 2025 Schedule: 53 events with two days off potentially Main Event on July 4th possibly for the first time All the high stakes NLH, PLO, and Mixed

Alleged Angleshooter Alexander Shevliakov responds to Accusations The player accused of angle-shooting at last weeks EPT has responded claiming there were “no angles no tricks just an unfortunate sequence in a high-pressure spot.”

The player at the centre of the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event angle-shooting controversy has responded this week, claiming there were “no angles, no tricks, just an unfortunate sequence in a high-pressure spot.” Hi, my name is Alexander Shevliakov, and this is my message regarding the AKs hand against Jamil Wakil. I held off posting this immediately because I wanted to speak privately with Jamil first and give him the full version.

Tom Dwan Sectioned in London with Mental Health Issues Tom Dwan has the poker community worried after apparently being sectioned in a mental health hospital in London.

Tom Dwan has the poker community worried after apparently being sectioned in a mental health hospital in London. Dwan has tweeted multiple bizarre posts over the past few days. Dwan began to post about UK and US government yesterday, mentioning or tagging the likes of US president and vice-president Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, along with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Secretary of State for Home Department, Yvette Cooper.

Is Maurice Hawkins the WSOPC’s biggest winner AND biggest loser? Maurice Hawkins bagged a record-tying 19th WSOP Circuit ring last night in Tunica Mississippi but was immediately called out yet again for his unpaid debts.

Maurice Hawkins bagged a record-tying 19th WSOP Circuit ring last night in Tunica, Mississippi, but was immediately called out yet again for his unpaid debts. Maurice Hawkins (courtesy of WSOP) Hawkins’ scoop of the $400 NHL Monster Stack at Horseshoe Tunica casino tied him for most WSOPC wins ever — joining Ari Engel on 19 Circuit rings. However, the Fort Lauderdale-based pro was soon called out for a long-standing debt to a former backer.

$12million per year to play Super High Rollers Claims Daniel Negreanu It costs a whopping $12million to play the world’s biggest buy-in events says Daniel Negreanu. Only three players cleared that number in winnings last year.

It costs a whopping $12million to play a years’ worth of the poker world’s biggest buy-in events says Daniel Negreanu. According to Negreanu, only three players cleared that number in winnings last year. Daniel Negreanu (courtesy of PGT) The GGPoker ambassador outlined the changes over the years, stating: “You need to cash for $12 million+ to turn a profit if you play all the Triton, WSOP, and other high rollers.”

Will Trump’s Tariffs Hurt the 2025 World Series of Poker? Could Donald Trump’s tariffs send shockwaves through the 2025 World Series of Poker disrupting players and costs in a ripple effect?

There can’t be many people on this planet who haven’t been following the news about the U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the rest of the world. Jobs, savings, pensions, etc, have all been at the forefront of many people’s minds, understandably. But how will this affect our own industry? It’s a situation in flux, right now, but with the 2025 World Series of Poker on the horizon we could see some unexpected outcomes over the summer.