This Week

Well, PokerStars has a point here.

After a two-year break, EPT Paris is set to make its return from February 18 to March 1. And PokerStars has rightly pointed out why it’s the most eagerly awaited event. The record-breaking debut and even bigger turnout expected in 2024, the stunning and iconic Palais des Congrès—previously home to events like the Eurovision Song Contest and UEFA Euro 2016 and the Spin & Go Championship making a return, and of course, the fact that it’s taking place in one of the most iconic cities in the world.

Give it a read and see why EPT Paris is the tournament everyone’s talking about.

888poker is rolling out its Sale Week again.

Changes to California blackjack rules could impact the live poker scene.

New rules kicking in on April 1 will see all blackjack-like games banned from California cardrooms, and this change could have a big negative impact on the live poker scene in the state.

While the two are seemingly unrelated, it’s no secret that many cardrooms see poker as a way to get players through the door, but it’s other games that are real money-makers. With one of the most popular table games out of the picture, cardrooms could see a big hit to their bottom lines, potentially leading to downsizing and even closures.

It doesn’t seem like cardrooms have any wiggle room or possibility to appeal the decision, either. We’ll see how things will develop, but it’s not good news for poker players in California.

Turns out maths is the real MVP.

Spraggy breaks down multiple tournament runs, focusing on the real backbone of success: mathematical probability and game theory.

There is a lot of talk about adjusting strategy on the fly, with every decision dissected for its logic and potential payoff.

“Our focus is on the game theory, mathematical probability, and the strategic adjustments needed to compete at a professional level.”

We don’t often post things ACR related, cos you know, unregulated site and all.

You can still catch this webinar on YouTube.

Barry Carter and Dara O’Kearney are giving out great free advice on how to win your way to the Irish Open.

It is a must watch for anyone looking to strategize.

Nik Airball is stirring the pot again, this time targeting tournament legends Alex and Kristen Foxen.

According to PokerNews, Airball posted on X, “Tourney players all suck, this is free money if I ever seen it!”

He’ll get to back up that claim on Hustler Casino Live, facing Alex in a $25/$50/$100 cash game Thursday, and Kristen at $100/$200 on Friday.

The Foxens aren’t just any tournament pros. Alex has over $54 million in live cashes and two WSOP bracelets. Kristen boasts five GPI Female Player of the Year awards and four bracelets. Their combined résumé reads like a Poker Hall of Fame ballot, but their livestreamed cash game experience is limited.

Poker fans can even put money on the line via Polymarket, betting on who will win more between Airball and Kristen.

California calls time on cardroom blackjack.

California has decided that cardrooms’ blackjack-style games are done for, tightening rules to shut down any game that looks, sounds, or feels like blackjack. The new regulations go into effect April 1, and operators say it could mean curtains for many cardrooms and plenty of lost jobs.

'Any game of blackjack shall not be approved for play.’

For cardrooms, it’s a big blow. For tribal casinos, it’s another win in a long-running rivalry. PokerOrg reports that the fallout could be far-reaching, with thousands of jobs and millions in revenue at risk.

Love this from Jeremy Ausmus.

WSOP Europe is heading to Prague and they have decided it is time for the Ladies Championship to cross the Atlantic

The €1,000 event is scheduled for April 4, right in the thick of the festival and is the first time in WSOP E history that the event has run.

The Ladies Championship is always one of the most spirited and competitive environments of the summer in Las Vegas, and we are thrilled to bring that same energy and prestige to the heart of Europe.

Daniel Negreanu is all set for the $100k Super High Roller Bowl Mixed Games.

Better late than never!

A new poker documentary has landed! And it has nothing to do with the WSOP.

I’ll be honest. I haven’t heard of the No Filter Poker tour before, and I’m sure that says more about me than about the reach of Mounir Tajiou, whom the documentary is focused on. He and the Mizrachis, that is.

I haven’t watched the entire doc yet, but it’s definitely next up on my list.

Brazil. That’s the only correct answer.

I’m not even checking the options. Just look at the results from WSOP Online bracelet series on GGPoker, or SCOOP and WCOOP on PokerStars. The consistency, the volume, the depth of runs, Brazil is always at the top.

If we’re talking about the general poker population, the everyday grinders, the online regulars, no country comes close to Brazil right now. The numbers, the results all back it up.

Sure, if the debate is strictly live poker, the USA probably has the edge and will take the gold medal, probably Canada second.

But if we include just online results, Brazil has to be at the top along with the USA (too bad, USA is segregated from the rest of the world).

Ahh, I see the options now. I’m going with Team Canada 🇨🇦 😅

Loads of top tier guests heading the Chip Race Podcast this week.

Guests include high stakes poker pro Alexandros Theologis, along with Irish Open host Phil ‘The Tower’ Heald.

Irish Open ambassador Chris Dowling breaks down a bluff from last year’s Mediterranean Poker Party and Turlough McHugh stops by to discuss his contributions to Dara and Barry’s new book, Simplify Poker.

This episode is guest sponsored by the Irish Poker Open which takes place in March over in Dublin.

Has Phil Hellmuth seen the WSOP 2026 schedule already?

WSOP Toronto should be coming this fall.

Living the life, Nacho-style.

Bankroll management is always a relevant topic in poker.

WSOP 2026 full schedule release hits a delay.

Uh oh… seems like there’s a delay in the WSOP 2026 full schedule release. We were hoping for it this week, but Kevin Mathers, the go-to source for all things WSOP, doesn’t think it will be released this week. Our own sources confirm there’s a delay.

Fingers crossed for a release next week!

Is poker waiting for its Queen’s Gambit?

Kim Lund, Founder & CEO of Aftermath Interactive, shared an interesting take on LinkedIn:

Poker deserves its Queen’s Gambit moment.
An argument can be made that what Queen’s Gambit did for chess, Rounders did for poker. But that movie is 20+ years old. Since then, the world of poker has yielded a vein of narrative gold just waiting to be mined.
How should do? How should it be done? Is it too late?

Our colleague Ivan asked a very similar question in his op‑ed last year — Makings of the Ultimate Poker Movie: Can Poker Have Its Queen’s Gambit? — exploring whether poker could find a modern breakout narrative the way Queen’s Gambit did for chess.

Read Ivan’s piece on Pokerati.

So many trophies.

This might be an old post, but damn… Patrick “padspoker” Leonard’s trophy collection is unreal. SCOOP, WCOOP, bracelets, the man just stacks hardware.

And speaking of trophies, we’ve already talked about the BetRivers Poker Spring Championship Series, but it’s worth another look. All 88 events come with an exclusive BetRivers trophy for the winner, plus one more for the Player of the Series leaderboard champ.

Check the details below

Money stolen from rooms during WSOP Paradise.

And according to Weisman, the money stolen has still not been recovered.

I have never been to Atlantis, but it seems from the comments that this might be a more common problem there than we think.

How much has Seth Davies, Sam Greenwood and Jeremy Ausmus lost to which hands?

High-stakes rerun: Triton Poker Series cash game invitational goes big.

The Triton Poker Series rerun showcases the kind of cash game where the smallest blind is a thousand dollars and the buy-in is half a million.

Players are seated with $500K in front of them, playing No-Limit Hold 'Em with $1K, $2K, and $5K blinds, all under the watchful commentary of Ali Nejad and Randy “Nanonoko” Lew.

Big names make it to Goldstein’s “Secret Poker Ledger”.

Tom Goldstein’s poker game has shifted from the felt to the courtroom, with his “secret poker ledger” now at the center of a federal trial. This ledger, which lists some of the biggest names in poker and business, was introduced as evidence by prosecutors who allege Goldstein committed tax fraud and lied to mortgage lenders.

Some notable entries include Dan “Jungleman” Cates, billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya, real estate mogul Bob Safai, and WSOP bracelet winner Tony Gregg. According to PokerNews, the ledger was never shared with Goldstein’s accountant, which became a key point in the trial.

The trial continues in Maryland, with more high-profile names and details emerging as the case unfolds.

BetRivers Poker is rolling out its second Championship-branded series this February.

Apparently Hellmuth has made $20 million from PrizePicks investments.

In his latest brag-post, Phil Hellmuth takes PrizePicks founder Adam Wexler out for a $50K shopping spree and admits to making $20M in a recent investment with the company.

Is it just me, or do all these posts about Hellmuth’s investments, portfolio, and money leave you feeling grossed out as well?

Loving this breakdown of profit from Robin Poker.

Lukas outlines all of his profit since he started playing poker professionally in 2020.

I found it super refreshing to see his profit broken out like this. It somehow makes the streams feel more real. Or is that just me?

An interesting take on solvers, AI, and future of the game.

Benjamin 'bencb’ Rolle shares his views on the role of AI and solvers in poker, and, unlike many, he’s not worried about the future of the game.

While all the tools make it easier to play well, they’re not a magic wand. Players need to put in the work to actually unlock their full potential, and it’s not as easy as clicking a few buttons.

'Bencb’ believes that many people (wrongly) see solvers and AI as shortcuts, and that approach creates more “suckers” than good players, and there is definitely some truth to his arguments.

Rampage Poker in tournament action.

The latest vlog from Rampage features his exploits during the last year’s WPT World Championship at the Wynn. It’s a nice change of pace from the usual cash game action, but whatever the format, one thing you can be certain of even before watching is that chips were flying all over the place.

It is Rampage, after all!

A record overlay.

And yep… the record’s broken. 🤯

GGMasters Anniversary Edition ($10M GTD) posts a $1.79M overlay — the largest ever seen online.

10,041 in the final flight.
59,480 entries total.

Of course Phil Hellmuth was at the Super Bowl.

Is GGPoker about to shatter the biggest overlay record ever?

Well, well, well… 👀 GGPoker’s GGMasters Anniversary is currently sitting on a $2.6M overlay at the time of writing and it has a real shot at becoming the largest overlay in online poker history.

For context, the current record belongs to India’s PokerBaazi GOAT, which overlaid by $1.4M, while PokerStars’ The Big Blowout comes in second after missing its $5M guarantee by $1.23M.

With roughly 2 hours of late registration still open, GGMasters needs about $1.2M more in buy-ins, roughly 8,700 entries, just to avoid rewriting the record books, which feels like a very tall task.

This is the 7th and final flight of the $150 buy-in event carrying a massive $10M guarantee. It required 72,464 total entries to break even and has drawn just over 53,000 so far.

In a couple of hours, we’ll know exactly how historic this one turns out to be. 🍿

Latest vlog from Brad Owen has landed.

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.

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

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.