February 18, 2026

Chad’s poker thrift store finds continue.

This time, he stumbled upon an old-school WSOP chip set.

My favorite was the retro WPT plug-and-play gaming console he found!

I can’t wait to see what else he unearths—it’s like a poker time capsule.

Chad Holloway (@ChadAHolloway)

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Oooh this is fun. Who’s ever seen a WPT plug-and-play game before?

I am not sure they made it as far as the UK, but it looks like an awesome bit of retro kit.

February 21

Daniel Negreanu clears the air: November Nine is not coming back!

Recently revealed WSOP 2026 schedule left room for some speculation, especially as it pertains to the Main Event final table dates. Since these were not announced, rumors started spreading that the November Nine format could be making a comeback.

Those rumors have now been dispelled by Daniel Negreanu, who, in a recent interview for Poker.org, stated “It’s not what you think… It’s not the November Nine. That’s not happening.”

While the exact details about when the final table will play out still remain a secret, at least we know that it won’t be delayed by several months.

Charlie Carrel breaks down Corey Eyring’s gam.

Charlie is back with another video where he rates a popular player, and this time, it’s Corey. Whether you think Carrel has the credentials to rate other players or not, it’s a fun watch, especially as it turns into a Senor Tilt rant about halfway through the video.

New variance calculator by Phil Galfond is out.

Phil Galfond is sharing with the world his very own poker variance calculator, a tool that he says contains a number of features not available in other similar calculators. It can even help you figure out how the EV gets split in backing deals!

Brad Owen speaks out about the current state of poker.

A long X post from Brad Owen talks about the current state of the poker industry, with a specific focus on vlogging, content creation, and how things have changed over the years to where even some of the best players in the game are starting to create content – something they used to laugh at – because that’s what it takes to land ambassador roles with major sites these days.

He also talks about his own struggles at the felt and major swings, largely caused by his desire to win a big title – one thing he feels still missing on his poker resume.

February 20

Corey Eyring is back in the mix & the $20k freeroll is up for grabs still.

A new vlog from Corey Eyring as he tries to win $100,000 in a single week. Things are off to a rocky start with the first giveaway winner getting felted, but there is still time to get involved and have a shot at getting staked $20,000 to play some high stakes poker.

Doug Polk issues a challenge to the poker world!

Do you think you have what it takes to beat one of the best heads-up players? This is your chance to prove it – and make a hefty sum in the process.

Doug Polk has issued an open challenge to all US & Canada players who play on ClubWPT Gold. Play a match of 5,000 hands at 100/200+, and if you win, you get a $25,000 bounty. With each match Polk wins, the bounty will increase by $25k up to the maximum of $100k for the fourth and final match.

Polk says he will pick opponents based on who thinks will provide the most compelling match for the viewers, but everyone’s free to throw their hat into the ring!

BetRivers Poker is rolling out the Run It Twice cash game leaderboards, offering $12,000 in weekly prizes.

The promo is split into two periods each week: Monday to Thursday and Friday to Sunday. Each period has three tiers, so players at low, medium, and high stakes all have a shot.

PartyPoker live tour schedule out in full.

h/t to Barry Carter for the full list of stops.

This is a fun one.

PokerOrg has teamed up with PokerStars to launch a competition with a $5,000 Irish Open package up for grabs.

All you need to do is join PokerOrg, which is free, and then pick a team of three players from their list of online tournament regulars. The competition coincides with the 2026 SCOOP and every in-the-money finish by your team will earn you points.

Behind the scenes look at the Irish Open and everything that goes into creating it.

Everybody loves the Irish Open and there’s good reason! It’s an excellent live stop, with tons of off felt activities and a great mix of poker to suit all kinds of players.

Barry Carter absolutely nailed it with this one.

You now can’t unsee it.

WSOP Europe seats now available.

WSOP Europe 2026 is set for Prague, and organizers are dangling three distinct online routes for hopefuls to win their way into the action.

WSOP Online will launch weekly $215 satellites every Sunday starting in March, where winners get a $10,000 package that covers the Main Event seat and a hotel room at the Hilton. For all other ways to qualify, check out the article from the WSOP.

Jen Tilly’s take on the WSOP main event final table delay.

We’ve had a lot of internal debate over at The Rail HQ, discussing the merits, or not, of delaying the WSOP Main Event final table. I think it’s a bad idea to delay, as it kills momentum—and it seems Jennifer Tilly agrees.

“I don’t think I like the WSOP Main Event playing to a final table and then halting. I think it’s unfair to the player who is riding a wave of momentum. I always thought with the November Nine—when the final table was delayed until November—that you would definitely get a different winner than if you just played all the way through.”

February 19

Do poker streams have future on prediction markets?

The ability to place bets on players during live poker streams could certainly make the watching experience even more entertaining, but could it open a whole new can of worms?

Rampage returns to HCL to kick things off in 2026.

Rampage is back in the mix at Hustler Casino Live, playing $25/$50 against the usual suspects. The session gets off to a rocky start, but Rampage has his mind set on winning!

Will his determination be enough to book him a winning session, though?

The Grinder is heading to Europe as WSOPE 2026 raises the stakes.

With all the buzz around the WSOP 2026 Las Vegas schedule, revealed earlier this week to overwhelmingly positive reactions from the poker community, it’s easy to forget that the action isn’t stopping in Nevada.

The spotlight is also shifting across the Atlantic, as World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) returns in grand fashion at a brand-new venue: King’s Casino, hosted in partnership with Hilton Prague at the end of March.

And the headlines keep coming.

Poker legend Michael Mizrachi, better known as “The Grinder,” has confirmed he’ll be taking part in WSOPE. The Hall of Famer and reigning WSOP 2026 Main Event and Poker Players Championship winner brings even more star power to an already stacked European festival.

Virginia’s online poker dreams are still alive.

Virginia’s move toward regulated online poker and casino gaming just survived the legislative equivalent of a coin flip. As Anuj reports for pokerfuse, the state’s House and Senate both barely passed bills legalizing online casino games, with the House needing a second vote to push it through.

Both bills would put the Virginia Lottery Board in charge of licensing and oversight, allowing each of the state’s five land-based casinos to link up with three online brands.

What makes us think FanDuel Poker from PokerStars is coming soon?

Well, we know that FanDuel are testing a poker client in New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania under combined PokerStars-FanDuel branding.

Plus we have spotted job posts for poker roles at FanDuel.

Oh and three, a long-time product manager at PokerStars made a move to FanDuel.

The WPT Asia Series is now running on WPT Global until March 15, offering a whopping ¥100,000,000 in guaranteed prizes and nine exclusive WPT rings.

Entry fees start at just ¥33, making it accessible for just about everyone who likes a little gamble. The festival features more than 100 daily events and a leaderboard with ¥3,000,000 up for grabs.

PokerStars’ APPT is set to return to Korea after a seven-year hiatus.

Thanks to a tip from Maureen Bloechlinger, a huge advocate for women in poker and Founder of Globetrotting Poker & GP Women, it looks like PokerStars’ APPT is set to return to Korea after a seven-year hiatus.

A new landing page for APPT Korea has quietly appeared on the PokerStars Live website. While key details such as festival dates and tournament schedules haven’t yet been released, the venue has been confirmed: the series will take place at Paradise City, Incheon, South Korea.

The last time PokerStars hosted APPT Korea was in April 2019, at the very same Paradise City venue. Stay tuned for more details as they emerge.

The FanDuel x PokerStars merger rumor mill churns on, and we are partly to blame.

Nick’s latest piece on pokerfuse suggests we might actually see FanDuel and PokerStars join forces in the US. For nine months, there has been little more than speculation about merging the two under parent company Flutter, but now some concrete signs are emerging that is actually might be happening.

What’s the maddest story you’ve heard at the poker table?

Honestly not much beats this!

Tony Dunst challenges Phil Hellmuth to put is money where his mouth is.

Hellmuth thinks we are in the middle of a poker boom. I am not so sure and neither is WPT host Dunst, who is calling for Phil to lay $10k on the line.

Do you think the WSOP main will break 10k entries this year?

WSOP quietly fixed a Main Event error after sharp eyes caught it.

Well, this is interesting 👀

For a brief moment, the WSOP+ app listed the $10,000 Main Event buy-in breakdown as $9,270 + $730.

That immediately raised eyebrows because every other $10K event on the schedule is structured as $9,300 + $700.

Turns out? The app was wrong.

Credit to Kevin Mathers, Blaise Bourgeois, and Ian Simpson for spotting the discrepancy and asking the right questions on X. After it was flagged, Jeff Platt, who now works with WSOP, confirmed the correct structure is $9,300 + $700 and shortly after, the app was updated.

In the end, it got sorted.

But this is the Main Event. The biggest tournament in poker. The details have to be right.

Should the WSOP Main Event coverage be mainstream? We think so.

Where else are there skill-based competitions where $10 million is on the line?

Buuuuut I think organizers will have their work cut out for them, as recent attempts—_looking at you, WSOP Paradise docu-series_—have failed to capture the imagination of people outside of the poker world.

This WSOP story passed us by in 2019.

But I’m not sure how! 😱

When you sit down at a million-dollar final table, you expect fireworks, not fumbles.

But at the LAPC Commerce Classic, an experienced player managed to fold a guaranteed chop, handing his opponent a massive pot.

Cue the fireworks.

Learn all about all the changes to the Chip Race podcast.

Episodes are still free, but if you want the juicy behind the scenes content, that is only available on Patreon and you need to subscribe.

Well worth the money imo and since losing their sponsor it’s a great way to keep supporting the show.

Battle of Malta 2026 is aiming for its biggest summer ever.

The BOM festival, set for late May to early June at Casino Malta, is doubling its guaranteed prize pool to one million euros, a big leap from previous years.

Online qualifiers are also expected on a a wide variety of sites. Go to the article for more info.

February 18

The first EPT of 2026 is underway!

PokerStars has kicked off the new season of the European Poker Tour with the Paris festival. This is third time EPT is visiting Paris, and the action is set to last until the end of the month.

Taking place just before the Main Event, the Spin & Go Championship Live is guaranteed to create some buzz, and the action will be streamed live on YouTube!

Here is the Jen Shahade interview with Chris Evans in full!

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. It is so cool to see someone we know on the UK mainstream media circuit.

As a Brit, I grew up watching TFI Friday (if you know, you know), so this is a super big deal!

Check out the entire interview below.

So cool to see and hear Jen Shahade on main stream British radio.

Let’s gooooooooooo!

More in-depth WSOP 2026 info from Kevmath.

Apparently credit card fees into tournaments might be waived. But we need to wait until registration opens to be sure.

SCOOP 2026 lands with $45M GTD and $600K in promos.

Well, well, well… The official press release is still pending, but PokerStars has already rolled out the SCOOP 2026 schedule on its client.

This year’s Spring Championship of Online Poker runs from March 1–26 and comes with $45 million+ in guaranteed prize pools. That’s a noticeable dip compared to previous editions, but don’t let that fool you; the volume is massive.

🔹 $45M+ in guarantees
🔹 400 tournaments across 136 events
🔹 Buy-ins from $5.50 to $15,000
🔹 A SCOOP trophy for every event winner (except in certain countries due to regional regulations)

On top of that, the series is backed by two promotions worth over $600,000:

🎁 SCOOP Lucky Dip – $525,000 in prizes
🏆 $100,000 SCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard

Loads of new poker guides published over on our main site yesterday.

If you want to get to grips with online poker offerings in:

We’ve got you covered.

BetRivers Poker eyes Maine: The smallest pond with the biggest ambitions.

Maine is now on the online poker map, and BetRivers Poker seems eager to set up shop in a state with more moose than major poker rooms. According to Anuj, with just 1.4 million residents, Maine is a small pond but BetRivers is eyeing it like a big fish.

Players don’t have to verify their identities again for the 2026 WSOP.

Just in case you’ve been wondering, if you verified your identity before, you won’t have to do it again for the 2026 World Series of Poker, unless your personal information has changed since, or you’re using a new payment method to register for events using the WSOP+ app.

Sweepstakes poker under fire in Illinois.

Over 60 operators have been sent the cease and desist letters which includes big names like Global Poker and Chumab Casino.

Matt Savage, Executive Tour Director, shares his thoughts on visiting Cambodia for the WPT.

It marks the 57th country he and his wife have visited, mostly thanks to poker. As someone who also tries to count the amount of countries I have visited, I felt 57 was a v impressive number.

More player reactions to the WSOP 2026 schedule.

The eagle eyed will notice that our very own Anuj makes it into the round up of player reactions 🫶

New vlog landed from Señor Tilt.

Señor Tilt is living the dream, or at least live-streaming it. He kicks things off with his 2026 investment thesis, then heads to PokerGO Studios for some high-stakes games against the usual suspects like Andrew Robl and Alan Keating.

The highlight is a private poker event in Miami, described as 'the most insane’ of its kind.

Get the popcorn out! 🍿

David and Dara lift the lid on what led up to their departure from WPT Global — taking us right back to the start of the partnership and how the sponsorship came to be!

I’ve already listened to it, and yeah, you’re going to want to tune in to this one.

February 17

Brad Owen is back with the first session of 2026.

Brad Owen kicks the new year with a session at legendary Bobby’s Room, playing some $25/$50 in an action-packed game. Tune in for some fun hands, big pots, interesting side games, and creative bluffs.

WSOP 2026 schedule — An inside analysis by Poker Industry PRO.

The 2026 WSOP schedule has been out for nearly 24 hours now, and as expected, the poker world has plenty to say.

Timelines are filled with hot takes. Some love it. Some hate it. Some are still trying to figure out how they’re going to survive seven weeks in Vegas.

Meanwhile, our brother Poker Industry PRO has done what they do every year — a full, detailed breakdown of the entire schedule. (PRO is available exclusively to subscribers.)

But we’re going to share a few interesting numbers with everyone.

Out of 100 bracelet events at the 2026 World Series of Poker:

• 25 are freezeouts
• 75 allow re-entries

Breaking that down further:

• 36 events allow a single re-entry
• 21 events allow up to two re-entries
• 2 events offer unlimited re-entries

There are also 16 flighted tournaments on the schedule. Some allow one re-entry per flight, others allow two, and a few limit re-entry to players eliminated from a specific starting flight.

Irish Open online qualifiers gaining momentum.

Enough of the WSOP stories for a minute… While all eyes have been on Las Vegas, the Irish Open is quietly building momentum ahead of its return at the end of March.

According to PokerStars, more than 200 players have already secured their Irish Open Main Event seats through online qualifiers — with satellites starting from just €1.10.

And it’s not just PokerStars. Online qualifiers are also running on Paddy Power and across other iPoker skins, giving players plenty of affordable routes into one of Europe’s most iconic events.

What you need to know about WSOP verification process.

h/t to Sherry… you only need to verify at the WSOP if you haven’t done so previously or if your banking/ personal details have changed.

Remember the WSOP+ App will help with all poker based admin when you are in Vegas.

Naps or not let’s all brace ourselves for one of those PH entrances.

Maybe, just maybe, he could play the Main but take a year off with the theatrics on arrival?

Ticket to the WSOP Ladies Championship already up for grabs.

The fundraiser is supporting the Women’s Poker Association, but a WSOP Ladies Championship ticket worth $1000 is also up for grabs.

SCOOP bootcamp running on Run it Once Training.

This is a two-week course of laser-focused MTT prep… If you plan to play a lot of MTTs in SCOOP or beyond, this training course may be the one for you.

Who doesn’t love an origin story?

Time to tune in and find out all about the birth of the Chip Race.

Finally we can all get planning for the summer.

The organizers do love to keep us waiting, but now we can all dig into the WSOP 2026 schedule to find the events we want to play and the ones we want to skip.

A break in WSOP coverage.

This is a great video from Monika, and if you didn’t know, she had an incredible 2025, ranking 8th on the Hendon Mob female 2025 money list for almost $1 million in earnings.

So it probably pays to listen to her advice!

ICYMI last night, here is our take on the revamped WSOP 2026 schedule.

There’s expanded flights, a new summer circuit series and brand new events.

Also, there will now be free WSOP streams on YouTube — which let me tell you is a big.deal.

Women in Poker summer events now all in one place.

A thousand thank yous to Maureen who once again is doing the grunt work to make these ladies-only event schedules accessible!

Here is some top player reaction to WSOP 2026 schedule.

What did you make of the 2026 schedule?

February 16

Here’s what Daniel Negreanu’s WSOP will look like.

With the 2026 WSOP schedule dropping earlier today, Daniel Negreanu is staying true to form, announcing his plans for the summer. Kid Poker has his eyes set on 40 events in total, looking to increase his bracelet count.

In addition to the usual suspects, such as the Main, a variety of mixed game tournaments, and a few big buy-ins, Negreanu will be jumping into Day 1C of $300 Gladiators of Poker event on July 10, in case you want a shot at rubbing elbows with the legend!

Uh oh… did WSOP make a scheduling blunder?

Ladies’ Event is on Day 2 of the Tag Team Event, a tournament many female players compete in as well.

Alex O’Brien, book author and poker pro, seems to think so.

Well… he got a point 😉.

What do you think, should WSOP start the series with a Summer Saver event? 😉

Where are the WSOP online bracelets?

Ok, the full schedule for the 57th World Series of Poker is out—100 live bracelets.

But where are the online bracelets?

Looks like WSOP is holding off announcing them this year, probably because their software deal with 888poker runs until early 2026. They’re likely waiting to see how that plays out before making it official.

Last year, they announced online bracelets in March, and in 2024, even later—but that was for different reasons, mainly the shared liquidity stuff.

The WSOP Main Event change is certainly the most interesting, and likely controversial, detail in this press release.

Here’s what the official press release says:

As always, the centerpiece of the summer is the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship, better known as the ‘Main Event’, which begins on Thursday, July 2. Play will proceed until the final table is reached on July 13, with specifics on the Main Event final table play dates and broadcast coverage to be announced at a later date.

Does this mean the return of the ill-fated November 9? We’ll have to wait and see. Here’s PokerNews’ take, speculating that the delay might be to avoid overlap with the World Cup:

Similarly, another global event, the FIFA World Cup hosted across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, will also take significant billing this summer, with the opening semi-final match scheduled for July 14, a day after the final table is set.
Whether a juggernaut event such as a World Cup factored into the decision to delay the Main Event final table is speculation, but there is no doubt that even a pause of a few weeks, rather than months, will have a meaningful impact on the series and the way fans experience poker’s biggest tournament.
It would allow fans and media alike to get to know the contenders better, as well as for the finalists to potentially benefit from final table patch or sponsorship deals that the quickfire nature of recent years hasn’t allowed for.

Nods thoughtfully.

With GGPoker now into its second year of ownership, there are fewer changes than many had anticipated. The big one – the free streams – was well telegraphed (the big surprise was that this wasn’t available last year).

The WSOP events that got left behind.

These are the events that didn’t make it this year.

• $1,000 Battle of the Ages
• $777 Lucky 7’s
• $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame
• $1,500 Shootout
• $3,000 Limit Hold’em
• $1,500 PLO

Which one hits you the most?

This looks like a bang-on summary from Terrance on changes to the events.

The $550 Mini Mystery def the most interesting new addition. It’s going to be yet another low-buyin, massive turnout event kicking off the festival.

No WSOP news without Kevmath’s take.

We jotted down all the key changes from the latest 2026 WSOP schedule announcement and you can read the full breakdown in our article. But if you’re looking for the quick-hit version, the go-to guy Kevin Mathers summed it up perfectly.

Looks like the prediction markets like this schedule drop?

Might just be the increased attention in a low-volume market, but Kalshi now has the odds of over 10,000 entries at the Main Event at 53%, up from 48% before the schedule release.

Anuj Arora (@anuj2212)

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Will the 2026 WSOP main event have over 10,000 entries? Odds & Predictions

Track what Kalshi's markets predict for "Will the 2026 WSOP main event have over 10,000 entries?", or trade it yourself.

Initial reactions to the WSOP 2026 schedule and yes, it’s worth a bookmark.

Early reactions to the 2026 World Series of Poker schedule are starting to roll in.

Jeff Platt is asking for everyone’s thoughts on the WSOP 2026 Vegas schedule — what stands out, what feels different, and what could shape the summer.

Drop your take below.

And go ahead, give his thread a bookmark.

This year’s WSOP might look very different on your screen.

Big changes are coming to this year’s WSOP Main Event broadcast.

Recently appointed Jeff Platt (now officially part of the World Series of Poker as their employee) sounds genuinely pumped about what’s ahead.

Details are still mostly under wraps, but today’s press release mentioned a brand-new, upgraded TV set at Paris Las Vegas, plus daily WSOP live streams that will be free to watch.

No surprise Platt is this excited:

“GUYS THE STAGE IS GOING TO BE AWESOME”

Looks like this year’s WSOP production is getting a serious glow-up.

We didn’t expect socks to steal the spotlight… but here we are.

The BetRivers Poker socks showed up… and people actually seem pretty into them 🧦

Didn’t expect this level of reaction, but some players are putting them right up there with trophies or rings.

“Idk accessories for both feet seem greater than a ring for just one hand.”

Fair point.

They were part of the Christmas promos from BetRivers Poker. If you missed them, there may be another chance later in the year.

WSOP 2026: This year’s new bracelet events.

These are the new bracelet events debuting at 2026 WSOP.

• $550 Mini Mystery Millions — May 26
• $10,000 GGMillion$ High Roller — May 31
• $1,700 U.S. Circuit Championship — June 2
• $1,500 Five Card PLO — June 18
• $1,500 Pick Your PLO — July 9
• $500 Summer Saver — July 12

The 2026 WSOP schedule is here!

Go read our breaking news story below, then check out the main WSOP 2026 page for the full schedule. Lots more analysis to come.

As I’m sure you know (as we have already covered it) you can now subscribe to the Chip Race podcast on Patreon.

But what you might not know is that new episodes are dropping this week, and word on the street is that there will be some juicy details on the behind-the-scenes machinations over at WPT Global.

We’ll definitely be tuning in, so make sure to sign up to get the gossip!

Another poker scandal in the making?

Dan 'Jungleman’ Cates has had it with private online poker clubs, and it seems he’s about to blow the lid on a massive cheating operation that, according to him, is worth millions. Stay tuned for what comes next…

When your best bluff is hoping the router holds.

Lex Veldhuis discovers that “all in” can refer to your internet connection too. In his latest video, the poker pro breaks down a tournament session where the only thing worse than a bad beat is a sudden disconnect from the internet.

Pretty much all covered by the rail posts over the past week.

But Doug always does a great job of wrapping up the news, and this one is no different.

It’s almost time: WSOP 2026 full schedule reveal

Monday has arrived and we’re just a few hours away from the full WSOP 2026 schedule dropping at 9 AM PST. What do you think it’s going to look like? Will there be any changes to the Main Event, maybe the number of flights or its timing? And will it go beyond 100 bracelets this year? We’re about to find out. Stay tuned!

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a poker player in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a prop bet.

And this one does not disappoint from WSOP Main Event winner Michael 'The Grinder’ Mizrachi.

Billionaire is teaching 1 million women and girls how to play Texas Hold’em.

This article may be from 2023 but I went down a rabbit hole courtesy of PokerNews and Phil Hellmuth and before you know it, your on a Time magazine article from 3 years ago.

And now I am acquainting myself with Jenny Just and her Poker Power mission to get more Women in Poker.

Wow, $2 million in 7 days. My past week has been far less productive.

Some people are hugely talented and driven, resulting in $2 million pay days.

Whereas the rest of us are just pleased to have made it through another week of the February dirge.

Irish Open satellites finally live on PokerStars.

If you plan on going to the IPO this year in Dublin, PokerStars are offering cheap ways to get there.

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