A new era for US and Ontario poker just began.

We called it. And now it’s official.

PokerStars is merging with FanDuel in the US and Ontario.

What does it actually mean for players, competition, promos, and the future of the industry?

Here’s the breakdown 🧵👇

Catching up with The Magician.

Antonio Esfandiari used to be everywhere – all the tournaments, high stakes poker games, you name it. Then, he seemingly disappeared for a little while, focusing on his family.

Now, The Magician is back, and he is just as entertaining to watch as we remember from his “glory days.” Poker.org caught up with Esfandiari to talk about his comeback, new and old opponents, and what comes next.

Mixed reactions coming in for the new CoinPoker software and fresh rake and rakeback structure.

Yesterday was a big day for CoinPoker, as the operator launched its new software and kicked off a promo promising 100% rakeback for the entire month.

This morning, reactions are pouring in from the players, and it’s a mixed bag. The new software looks better, but some regs don’t seem thrilled about the functionality, and there is also talk about potential security risks.

Rake has been increased as well at lower stakes, but the rewards program has been revamped, so the operator is presenting it as a net positive for the players, but not everyone agrees on that particular point.

New poker vlog from Brad Owen is here.

The Gold Million has crushed its guarantee.

Wow. The Gold Million on ClubWPT Gold (CWG) absolutely smashed expectations.

With a 218 buy-in and a guaranteed 1,000,000 Gold Chips (equivalent to $1M USD), it was already one of the biggest tournaments ever hosted on the platform. And despite running just a single flight, after weeks of qualifiers, the turnout was massive.

The final numbers? A staggering 11,392 entries, generating a total prize pool of 2,278,400 Gold Chips.

By all accounts, this looks to be the largest tournament ever held on CWG.

And of course, the operator couldn’t resist having a little fun on social, cheekily tweeting:

“Up next: Gold Billion.”

SCOOP kicks off on PokerStars with $3.6 million awarded on Day 1.

The prestigious Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) got underway last Sunday on PokerStars, generating more than $3.6 million in prize money across 18 SCOOP events right out of the gate.

A few tournaments saw overlays, including the iconic Sunday Million with its traditional $215 buy-in. The event drew 4,780 entries, resulting in an overlay of more than $40,000.

SCOOP action resumes today with Day 2 play as the series continues to build momentum.

WSOP Europe teases Golden Egg re-entry promo for €10M Main Event.

The World Series of Poker is already building buzz for this year’s WSOP Europe festival in Prague, teasing a new promotion tied to the Main Event.

WSOP isn’t letting this year’s WSOP Europe fly under the radar. Players who re-enter the Main Event will get a shot at redemption through a special “Golden Egg” promotion. Draw a Golden Egg and they instantly win your buy-in back, what WSOP is calling a “Golden Re-Entry.”

More details are expected to be announced soon.

The WSOP Europe Main Event runs April 3–10 at King’s Casino Prague and will feature a €10 million guarantee, the largest ever for a tournament held in Europe.

Mixed Game Festival XIII has been cancelled due to the ongoing Middle East crisis.

Oh no. The ongoing Middle East crisis is impacting the poker community as well.

Robbie Strazynski has announced that Mixed Game Festival XIII, which was scheduled to take place this month at Resorts World Las Vegas, has been cancelled.

It’s a hard and personal decision. Robbie lives in Israel, where flights have been cancelled, making it impossible for him to travel and properly host the event.

The good news? Mixed Game Festival XIV is still set to go ahead from May 31 to June 11 at Bellagio Las Vegas this summer.

Wishing Robbie and everyone affected safety during this challenging time.