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PokerStars launched on 9/11 — one of the darkest days in modern history.
PokerStars opened its public beta on September 11, 2001, the same day the 9/11 attacks shook the US and the world.
The launch itself had been planned in advance. Terrence Chan wrote the announcement the night before, saved it, went to bed and sent it the following morning. Only after sending the message did he check the news and realize what was happening in New York.
Steve Badger, one of PokerStars’ earliest employees, later documented the story, which has remained one of the more unusual footnotes in the company’s history.
Twenty-five years later, we look back at how PokerStars ended up going live on that day.
What was supposed to be a routine public beta launch became an extraordinary footnote in poker history. Here’s how PokerStars came to open its doors to the public on September 11, 2001.
It’s High Stakes Friday on Hustler Casino Live.
Coming later tonight, High Stakes Friday on the HCL show. Patrik’s match with Ossi is stealing all the attention today, but that will likely be over by the time the HCL stream kicks off.
Here’s one simple tip on playing boards with a flush draw.
Bet sizing can tell you a lot about your opponents’ likely holdings on boards featuring flush draws. Be aware of this tell and act accordingly.
Patrik Antonius sharing his thoughts ahead of the huge heads-up match.
Cards are now in the air and there is $20,000,000 on the table, but here’s what Patrik had to say before the biggest match of his career.
Patrik Antonius and Ossi Ketola are playing a $50,000/$100,000 cash game heads-up match.
And you can watch it live! The two are going at it after buying into the game for $10,000,000 each. It really doesn’t get much crazier than this.
Octopi Poker changes coming Oct 1.
And they all sound like great ones!
It’s an end of an era for PokerStars over in the UK.
Players will now be able to access PokerStars from Betfair.
Not sure this was on anyones bingo card for 2026.
WPT Championship details coming soon!
Per Matt Savage! Let the
WPT x
WSOP Paradise x
EPT Prague games begin.
Patrick “Egption” Tardif releases vlog on his latest WSOP Super Circuit
🍿🍿🍿
TONIGHT . Check out the Triton streams.
Daniel Negreanu on Phil Hellmuth.
Will anyone ever surpass the amount of
WSOP bracelets that Phil Hellmuth has? Negreanu weighs in with his opinion.
Wow, the WSOP Circuit
Super cool!
WSOP - World Series of Poker
(@WSOP )
Why did this come onto my timeline?
No idea, but now it’s on yours. An old Phil Hellmuth house tour that we didn’t actually need.
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series that broadcast the final table of each tournament.
I remember this.
Not great for anyone involved.
If you were one of the lucky ones to win a
WSOP bracelet live or online this year, you could be up for extra perks via GG and the
WSOP .
WSOP - World Series of Poker
(@WSOP )
Ontario online poker : thousands being given away by PokerStars.PokerStars on FanDuel Ontario is closing out the summer by running a “centroll” series.
From September 4 through 13, players in Ontario can enter almost-free tournaments, with C$10,000 in prize money, just by putting up a single cent. The events range from turbo No-Limit Hold’em to Pot-Limit Omaha, and most of the prizes are tournament tickets, though some are cold, hard cash.
Exclusively for Ontario players, PokerStars on FanDuel is hosting its Summer Sendoff series with C$10,000 in prizes up for grabs for just 1 cent.
Poker Hall of Famer Linda Johnson and her partner Jan Fisher barely let the ink dry on their retirement before jumping ship and founding Poker Player Cruises.
After selling out their inaugural Alaska sailing, it seems old habits die hard.
And they sold out their inaugural voyage. After a brief
Yesterday
Deepstack is gearing up to launch later this year, promising a poker experience that its creators say will shake up the way people watch the game.
Elton Tsang, who is behind the show, told PokerNews, “We want to present poker in a different way from how people are used to.”
The format borrows inspiration from Squid Game and Netflix’s Drive to Survive, hoping to turn poker into must-watch episodic entertainment. This could be shaping up to the best the poker show of the year.
Managing Director Jelle Moene says the team is learning as they go, filming with a trial-and-error approach. The aim is to attract not just the biggest players, but the biggest audience as well.
“You have to think a little bit in the direction of Drive to Survive. It’s the biggest players. It’s the highest stakes. We make it more cinematic, and we’re learning as we’re going along which is exactly how I think it should be.”
The show is still in production, but Tsang and Moene are betting the poker world is ready for something radically different—at least according to PokerNews.
Elton Tsang and Jelle Moene preview Deepstack, a cinematic, high-stakes cash game show
The Main Event is underway! You can follow along for live updates over on PokerNews!
Help name Barry Carter and Dara O’Kearney’s new poker book.
It’s all about the 'execution gap’ 💀 good luck naming it!
PokerStars Ontario is celebrating the start of 🏈 season.
Check out Spin & Field Goal below!
Oooh, this is a fun way of going to WSOP Paradise.
The Bounty Wheel heads to the Playground Poker club in Canada this weekend!
WSOP - World Series of Poker
(@WSOP )
GGPoker’s Spin & Gold format has produced its 13th million-dollar jackpot in 2026.This time, Mattias Hansen of Denmark took home the top prize, with two Latvian players sharing the rest.
The game had a $200 buy-in, and the odds of hitting the jackpot are 30 in 10 million. GGPoker’s payout structure is flatter than PokerStars, with $500,000 for the winner, $300,000 for second, and $200,000 for third.
GGPoker awards another million-dollar Spin & Gold jackpot as both it and PokerStars see an unusual run of top prizes in recent weeks.
Jason Koon dishes on the real personalities behind some of poker’s most famous names, from Phil Ivey’s party antics to Phil Hellmuth’s signature bravado.
If you ever wanted to know what Daniel Negreanu is really like behind the table, Koon’s got the receipts. And yes, Neymar Jr apparently counts as a poker pro now.
Hendon Mob originals Joe Beevers and Barny Boatman sit down with Barry Carter to look back at the characters who built poker into what it is today.
The conversation is full of nostalgia, stories of icons, and a few tales that could only come from people who have seen the game evolve from backroom games to televised tournaments.
Players on PokerStars on FanDuel have been wondering what happened to the mixed games that were promised when the platform switched over earlier this year.
Despite the absence of games like 8-Game and H.O.R.S.E. from the September Dynasty Series schedule, these formats are still in the pipeline.
We understand that 8-Game will be the first to arrive, with others like H.O.R.S.E., Stud, and Razz also in the works.
The delay is likely due to regulatory hurdles and the complexities of launching new variants on a fresh platform.
Mixed games have been absent since the platform switch earlier this year, but PokerStars is now preparing to bring them back to its US offering.
Changes happening for EPT Prague
PokerStars are making changes to make buy-ins more accessible for the
PokerStars Open Main and High Roller events.
The Maryland State Poker Championship, sponsored by PokerStars on FanDuel, wrapped up with some impressive numbers.
The 16-event series pulled in 3,032 entries and generated nearly 1.5 million dollars in prize money, overshooting guarantees by almost 40 percent.
The Main Event dropped its buy-in from 2,200 to 1,700 dollars this year. That change did the trick, attracting 380 entries and building a 570,000 dollar prize pool, beating the guarantee by 14 percent.
PokerStars on FanDuel-sponsored Maryland State Poker Championship comes in nearly 40% above its combined guarantees with $1.5 million in prize money.
Running on empty takes on a whole new meaning when Ashton “Ashman” Griffin tries to cover 70 miles in 24 hours right after a night out.
Doug Polk recounts his lowest-net-worth moment and the most questionable prop bet he ever got involved with.
September 09
Pick up some free tickets on PokerStars on FanDuel.
A big online series is coming to
PokerStars on FanDuel and this is your opportunity to claim some free tournament tickets. Why not give it a try?
Join the action in the most popular tournaments on BetRivers Poker with extra value and guaranteed overlays!
Live cash game action streaming tonight on HCL .
Tune in and enjoy some live cash action tonight on Hustler Casino Live. Jellyfish, Big John, and a few other usual suspects.
Watch the action from the WSOP Super Circuit
The biggest tournament in Canada’s history is down to just three tables and you can tune in and watch the action unfold in real time.
Monarch is battling Wiktor Malinowski for millions.
Ossi 'Monarch’ Ketola is back taking on players heads up. Tune in and watch him play none other than Wiktor 'Limitless’ Malinowski with millions on the table!
Xuan Liu narrowly misses out on second Triton title, Dan Dvoress takes the win!
It is the 7th Triton title for Dvoress!
PokerStars has now transformed into the PokerStars Network.Betfair is the first brand to join the new network, ditching iPoker and rebranding as PokerStars on Betfair. Later this year, Paddy Power and Sky Poker are set to follow.
Rumors about PokerStars scrapping its own software and moving to iPoker have swirled for years, especially after Sky Bet and PokerStars’ North American operations shifted software.
As Anuj reports, those rumors can finally be “put to bed.” The iconic PokerStars software, along with signature tournaments like Sunday Million and WCOOP , isn’t going anywhere.
“The PokerStars software, which has been live since 2001, is staying. So too are the iconic PokerStars brands and products.”
The PokerStars Network (PSN) changes how PokerStars operates its dot-com network. Here are the key takeaways and what comes next.
BetRivers Poker is bringing some extra spice to its Cub3d jackpot sit and gos with the return of the Double Glitch promo.
Ivan reports that this promo runs until October 25 and doubles all Glitch Rewards you win in a day, up to $25. That means even if you finish second or third, there’s a shot at picking up some extra cash—or at least some sit and go tickets.
The operator is doubling up all Glitch Rewards won by the players in Cub3d games, up to the maximum of $25.
Phil Hellmuth Sr., according to PokerNews, passed away after a nine-month battle with cancer.
He was a fixture at the University of Wisconsin, with a resume that included a PhD, and an MBA . But his son, Phil Hellmuth Jr., took a slightly different path, opting for poker over academia.
In his autobiography, Poker Brat, Hellmuth Jr. recalled telling his parents about dropping out to play poker. “I was the son who had to go to college, who had to get good grades. I was the son he had tried desperately to mold and shape.”
Despite their differences, Hellmuth Sr. eventually supported his son’s career choice, even accompanying him to the 1989 WSOP . He didn’t watch his son play, but he was there every day, offering support in his own way. When Hellmuth Jr. won the WSOP Main Event
Phil Hellmuth Sr. was there when his son won the 1989 World Series of Poker Main Event.
According to PokerNews, Episode 33 of Hellmuth’s Home Game was a rough night for Daniel Cates and Shaun Deeb, with the ladies running the show at the Grand Sierra Resort.
Jennifer Tilly and Xuan Liu took center stage, with Tilly getting the better of Cates in a river three-bet hand after she flopped top pair and improved to two pair. Cates, thinking he was clever with top pair top kicker, quickly folded to Tilly’s aggression.
Cates tried again against Xuan Liu, who woke up with pocket aces and put Cates in some serious pain. Xuan applied pressure with multiple bets, eventually moving all in on the river and leaving Cates with tough decisions and a much lighter stack.
Jennifer Tilly also continued her winning ways on Hellmuth's Home Game.
Is the WSOP Super CircuitWSOP .
It is definitely scratching that itch, that’s for sure.
Top names still remain as the WSOP Super Circuit
Michael Mizrachi, Daniel Negreanu and Andy Stakes are all in the mix.
Daniel Negreanu vs Chance Kornuth at the WSOP Super Circuit
👀 👀 👀
WSOP - World Series of Poker
(@WSOP )
The last episode of the 888poker WSOP Main Event
We follow along as Aaron Barone makes it to Day 5 of the Main.
September 08
First it was Lady GaGa, then it was Beyonce. Now it’s Miley Cyrus.
Poker may not be in the lyrics but this video is definitely set in a card room.
ICM just got a little less mysterious, thanks to Alex Theologis and his not-so-secret weapon: a 30-hour course.Run It Once now hosts “Practical
ICM Mastery,” which promises to teach tournament players how to actually think, not just memorize charts.
With over 30 hours of content and 41 individual lessons, this course takes your understanding of ICM to a whole new level.
Scott Seiver opened up about missing out on the Poker Hall of Fame, and he did not mince words about how it fueled his motivation.
According to Seiver, “being undervalued” was the secret sauce behind his three-bracelet summer, a run he says was partly driven by that snub.
He also took some shots at the current state of poker theory, arguing that GTO play is draining the game of its original charm. Seiver contrasted poker’s increasingly mathematical approach with the collaborative chaos of the MIT Mystery Hunt, which he described as a marathon of puzzle-solving.
If you want a taste of high-stakes side stories, including a wild Lehman Brothers internship saga and hot takes on video game artistry, Seiver delivers. Just don’t expect him to campaign for the Hall of Fame anytime soon.
There’s more to Garrett’s book than just Jack-Four.
Garrett Adelstein’s memoir, Beneath the Cards, is now out and already topping Amazon’s new releases in Poker and Sports Biographies.
PokerNews notes that the book is selling well, especially among those interested in Adelstein’s side of the Jack-Four controversy, which gets about 10 percent of the book.
If you think Garrett was wronged, you’ll probably enjoy his new arguments and the appendices with additional evidence. If you side with Robbi Jade Lew, though, be prepared to disagree with a lot of what you read.
The memoir is more than just controversy, though. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at high-stakes poker, with Adelstein as your tour guide. As PokerNews puts it, this is a world closed to most, and the book opens the curtain for an intimate look few have seen.
How prominently does the infamous Jack-Four controversy feature in the book?
Spraggy with some solid WCOOP advice.
What do you think about mucking your favorite hand?
Wow, how is this the first female winner of a GUKPT Main Event?!
Huge congrats to Renee Xie!!
Big pots, bigger feelings.
Texas Mike lost a $4.26 million pot on High Stakes Poker and then accused Eric Wasserson of nit-rolling him before apologizing. Poker twitter had opinions.
Texas Mike expressed frustration after losing a $4.2 million pot.
Paddy Power ambassador and The Chip Race co-host Dara O’Kearney’s story is less about winning big and more about knowing when to walk away.
He went from being unable to run a block to championing 24-hour ultramarathons, only to swap one kind of suffering for another at the poker table.
According to O’Kearney, the real lessons are about reading people when you have no idea what they’re thinking, learning to tolerate disappointment, and figuring out when it’s time to cut your losses.
“You can do everything right and still lose,” he says.
But the real trick is sticking around just long enough to survive, while the so-called best burn out. In the end, it’s not about the last hand, it’s about being the one who’s still there—unless your body tells you otherwise. Then maybe it’s time to quit.
Tiffany Michelle, famous for her deep 2008 WSOP Main EventEPT Barcelona.
Things did not start smoothly: she was out of her first tournament in just four hands, then busted the next one after a “humbling and embarrassing” triple-barrel bluff.
She told PokerOrg, “I think that was the first time I ever was out of a tournament so quickly,” and described the European field as notably aggressive and tough.
Despite early setbacks, Michelle regrouped and found redemption in the main women’s event, winning both the title and a reminder of poker’s “healing power.” The cash was nice, but she says she left Barcelona “much richer than that.”
Tiffany Michelle, winner of the Women's High Roller at EPT Barcelona, reflects on her win and the many life lessons she's learned from poker.
Benjamin Rolle added another WSOP Online
According to PokerNews, Rolle is no stranger to these deep runs, having finished eighth in the WSOP Online Main Event
The final table saw 5,518 players whittled down to nine, with everyone guaranteed at least a six-figure payday except for ninth place. Rolle outlasted a tough group, including Marcel Kessler, Jeremie Zouari, and China’s Song Li.
The top prize also came with a $30,000 Super Pass to the next WSOP Paradise
Rolle outlasted 5,517 opponents on his way to capturing his second WSOP bracelet.
WPT Global is shaking up its schedule with the introduction of the WPT Asia Super High Roller Championship.The new tournament hits the felt every Sunday at 12:05 UTC , offering a buy-in of ¥5,300 and a hefty ¥1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. That’s about $790 to enter, with $150,000 up for grabs.
Players start with deep stacks—200 big blinds, to be precise—and face 15-minute blind intervals, making it a real test of skill and stamina. If you make it to the end, the first-place prize is ¥200,000 (around $30,000), and you’ll also bag a customized WPT trophy with your name or nickname.
A new high-stakes tournament has been added to the weekly WPT Global tournament schedule, targeting high rollers from across Asia and offering a ¥1 million guaranteed prize pool and a personalized trophy for the champion.
According to PokerNews, Rick Salomon’s legendary poker session at Bellagio’s Bobby’s Room is the stuff of both poker and rehab lore.
The game started out as a $50/$100 affair, but by day three, there was half a million on the table and Salomon was straddling to $10,000 a hand. Andrew Robl, who was there, described Salomon as wide awake and playing wild, thanks to a little chemical assistance.
By the end, Salomon had lost big and brought out a pillowcase full of cash in an attempt to recover. Robl recalls, 'If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably maybe still be on drugs.’ The session ended so badly for Salomon that, as he put it, 'I went to rehab after.’
Salomon said he might "still be on drugs" if it wasn't for this poker session.
Another episode from the excellent 888poker ambassador run at the WSOP is here.
Aaron and Lucia did so well!
New WSOP Super Circuit stops coming your way.
Stops at Kings Casino in Rozvadov and in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic are now on the cards.
WSOP - World Series of Poker
(@WSOP )
Hellmuth’s Home Game season finale is here.
Agai, what a great line up: including RHOBH star Jennifer Tilly.
This WSOP Super Circuit Main Event line up is 💥.
Just look at that call sheet!
WSOP - World Series of Poker
(@WSOP )
September 07
Day 3 of the WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event is streaming live.
Tune in and enjoy the action as the field continues to dwindle down and players continue their journey to the final table.
The Pure Grind Series is coming to Borgata.
There is just one tournament on the docket, but with multiple starting days and at least $200,000 up for grabs.
There is another banger in the making at Hustler Casino Live.
On September 14 and 15, Hustler Casino Live will be hosting its 2026 All-Star Game, featuring many of the fans’ favorites, including Mr. keating, Nik Airball, Mariano, Rampage, and more.
The official numbers are in for the
WSOP Super Circuit Montreal Main Event, and the original $10M guarantee was blown out of the water thanks to 2,844 entries. The final prize pool got just over $13M.
Jonathan Little joins some low-stakes cash game action in Montreal.
Little was in the mix for the WSOP Montreal Meet-Up game, battling against qualifiers and some of the game’s legends.
Joey Ingram is back, doing what he does best.
In case you’ve missed it, Joey is back in the mix, and he’s recently done an in-depth interview with Garrett Adelstein. Garrett has been making rounds, promoting his new book, but he has enough interesting stories to last him a while.
Han Feng can play poker without a costume, too.
Many of us remember Han Feng for his distinctive choice of clothing at this year’s WSOP Main Event. He was back in action in Montreal, but this time around wearing a proper grinder’s attire and fully zoned in.
WSOP - World Series of Poker
(@WSOP )
Jen Shahade picks up a trophy in Maryland.
After a heads-up chop, Jen was lucky enough to win a flip and also claim a trophy in Event #14 at the Maryland State Poker Championship. Nice one!
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