pokerfuse online poker news

Hellmuth eyes million dollar cash game.

Phil Hellmuth, the self-proclaimed greatest tournament player ever, might finally step into the lion’s den of high-stakes cash games.

PokerNews reports that he is likely to play in the upcoming Million Dollar Game at Hustler Casino Live, an event where the buy-in alone is enough to make even seasoned pros sweat.

The game’s lineup is still a mystery, but regulars like Nik Airball and Alan Keating are expected.

Sponsorship package pulled before it even begins.

Thomas Clack, the 2025 National Poker League Player of the Year, has lost his Grosvenor Poker sponsorship after being suspended by the iPoker Network. His violation? Having a GTO solver open while playing an online tournament. According to Clack, he was just using it to check his play after hands, not to cheat.

“I wasn’t trying to use it to cheat. I was just studying with GTO out whilst I was playing. After a hand had been played, I looked it up to see if I played it well. I wasn’t using it to affect my play, but I had it open, which was silly.”

Grosvenor confirmed the decision, stating Clack no longer met the criteria for the £40,000 sponsored pro package. Any remaining prizes will be paid out in due course.

Alex Foxen is making 2026 look easy.

According to PokerNews, he picked up his second live win of the year at the MSPT Poker Bowl X, taking down a $1,600 event for $165,235.

With 740 players in the field and a $1 million guarantee, Foxen outlasted some notable names, including WSOP bracelet winner Nick Palma and 2024 WSOP Main Event final tablist Joe Serock.

Poker tips from Chris Moneymaker.

Thanks to PokerOrg, we have some insight and advice on poker tells from none other than everyone’s favorite everyman.

WSOP Online is rolling out two major tournament series this February, and players in New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are invited.

The WSOP Online Circuit Series runs February 11 to 22, featuring 12 events with $1.5 million in guarantees and a dozen gold rings. If that’s not enough, the WSOP Winter Online Championships kicks off on February 15, offering another $1.8 million in prize pools and a special championship belt for the Main Event winner.

The Poker Express, the latest promo from 888poker, aims to keep you logging in each day for a chance to win $300,000 in prizes.

The promo is running for three months and features a variety of freerolls, including daily $500 Chiptrack Freerolls, a $3,000 Skyline Transit Freeroll every Sunday, and a big $20,000 Majestic Freeroll each month.

Regulated poker in New Zealand is about a year away.

That’s according to the latest reports on Fuse and PRO. The current timeline has the first licenses being issued in December 2026, so the go-live will likely be a couple of months later.

What we expect from regulated online poker in NZ: international player pools, nothing too restrictive in terms of min/max bets, and taxes that are fairly reasonable. The big negative: a limited number of licenses. With only 12 up for grabs, we can expect maybe half a dozen total poker sites. Still, all major networks should hopefully get coverage: I’d expect licensing attempts from PokerStars, GG (or through a third party), one or two iPoker skins, probably 888, and maybe PartyPoker.

What’s the Future of Online Poker in Ireland?

Ireland’s push to regulate its online gambling market could have major implications for online poker and not necessarily good ones.

As we reported last year, the proposed framework includes a maximum €10 stake and a €3,000 win cap. Applied to online poker, those limits would effectively kill the game overnight.

The big question, though, is whether poker will even fall under those rules. There’s still a chance it could be classified separately, which would change everything.

We should start getting clarity soon. License applications open on Monday, February 9, and how operators respond could give the first real clues about poker’s future in Ireland.

Is WSOP About to Tweak the 2026 Main Event?

Something feels a little… weird with the 2026 WSOP. We still don’t have dates for the Main Event, which is unusual at this point in the calendar. On top of that, online satellites haven’t started yet either and by now, they usually would have. Put the two together and it raises an eyebrow.

So what’s going on?

Are we looking at more Day 1 flights, an earlier kickoff, or some kind of structural tweak to the Main Event? It wouldn’t be the first time WSOP tried to quietly adjust the format.

And then there’s Phil Hellmuth.

Last year, Phil made a very public “boycott” threat, saying he wouldn’t play the Main Event unless WSOP addressed what he called an unfair structure for older players, specifically the long days, late finishes, and physical grind. He wanted shorter days or better pacing.

Of course, Phil did end up playing anyway and WSOP didn’t make any change. But the point landed.

So now, with delayed announcements and no satellites in sight, you can’t help but wonder:
👉 Is WSOP cooking up a change?
👉 Is this just admin drag… or something more deliberate?

Either way, it’s unusually quiet and WSOP quiet rarely stays that way for long. We should find out soon enough.

WSOP is likely to reveal the full 2026 schedule next week, potentially as early as February 9 or February 10.

Feb promos over on GG are going to be massive.

GGPoker is promising over $18 million in prizes across a variety of promotions, including its returning HongBao rewards for the Chinese New Year, and a Valentine’s Day cash drop.
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