Patrick Leonard offers an interesting take on WSOP streams.

We know by now that it’s impossible to make everyone happy, but there is certainly some truth in terms of over-exposure. There are so many (Hold’em) poker streams basically every day, and high stakes have almost become an expectation rather than a rare treat.

Does an average poker fan enjoy watching a final table of a $500 or a $1k WSOP event more than a $50k+ high roller? It’s hard to say, as it depends on who’s in the lineup, what the background stories are like, and how it all comes together.

It is true that some of the high stakes players, despite their great poker abilities, have somewhat lost that excitement that you can see in small stakes events. Or maybe they are better at hiding it. But a big part of the allure of watching poker is seeing that raw emotion in big spots and witnessing life-changing moments, when someone turns their $500 buy-in into high six figures.

Do you think Martin Kahbrel gets too much air time?

Did David Lappin manifest this?

Naoya Kihara has joined the ranks of poker legends by winning two WSOP bracelets in just four days, but he insists it is all just for fun.

As PokerOrg reports, Kihara has stepped away from professional poker and now works as a stock market trader in Tokyo. He was even thinking of making this his last full WSOP trip because of his day job commitments.

Still, back-to-back wins in the $10K NL 2-7 Lowball Championship and the $10K 7-Card Stud Championship have convinced him otherwise.

“But now I’ve won two bracelets this week, I think I have to come back for at least the next five years. To win a fourth!”

Brent Gregory takes down Event 28 for a $200K+ payday.

Mike Holtz won his second WSOP bracelet at the $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty event, outlasting over 2,100 players for a $238,097 payday.

This victory, at the 2026 WSOP in Las Vegas, marks his first live bracelet after previously winning online.

Holtz admitted the live win came with extra satisfaction.

“I feel very vindicated. I feel like I won something on the big stage,” he told PokerNews. “It’s just crazy. I’m so happy.”

Mike Holtz wins his second WSOP bracelet.

The highs and lows of the WSOP broadcast.

PokerOrg digs into community thoughts on the WSOP coverage.

On the one hand, I love the mothership 🛸, the Countdown shows, and how responsive the team is being on socials.

However, specific coverage is SO hard to find, there is no schedule we can follow, and it feels very haphazard at times.

It would be nice if there were a go-to place for all upcoming streams, even if it was subject to change, so we can all find what we are looking for.

Also, the timing of the livestreams for us in Europe is awful! The two-hour delay is killing us, and we now have to watch all coverage the next day, by which time the action is over and there are spoilers on X.

Nick Jones on that Solana x WSOP upcoming announcement.

PokerOrg nailing it with the Ask Jeff Platt meme.

Maurice Hawkins narrowly misses out on his first WSOP bracelet. This picture says it all.

Barry Carter nailing the Maurice Hawkins analysis.

Calling for the WSOP livestreams to have a schedule we can all follow.

Welcome to The Cold Deck Cases.

“I feel like I am going to throw up and kill someone”.... lmao.

Exhibit C is gold.

What a fantastic idea from Levy!

Let’s hear it for Norman Chad!

Martin Jacobson is sharing some more thoughts on tournament structures.

Britney was removed mid-game from the WSOP’s first live cash game stream after losing almost $100K, with little explanation from the WSOP.

She later explained on Instagram that her funds came from legal blackjack winnings and that she followed every instruction given to her before sitting down at the table.

She wrote,

“If there was genuinely a compliance concern, it should have been addressed before I was allowed to buy in and participate – not after the game had already begun and substantial amounts of money had already changed hands.”

Britney criticized the way the situation was handled, calling it “both confusing and unfair.” According to her, players deserve clear and consistent rules, not surprises after they’ve put serious money on the line.

Apparently, playing your fourth live poker tournament is all it takes to win six figures and a WSOP bracelet.

“If you want to pursue it, there’s nothing stopping you…”

Another stellar shot from the WSOP.

Should the Poker Tournament Directors summit talk about the re-entry debate?

Kevmath called it.

10 poker stories so wild they sound like Hollywood scripts (but actually happened).

Kristen Foxen for the Poker Hall of Fame!

Erm, what is Solana?

BELIEVE.

Naoya Kihara won two WSOP bracelets in the same week.

Some great Kristen Foxen stats from Tim Duckworth.

Kristen’s WSOP Bracelets:

🏆 2013 $1k Ladies Championship
🏆 2016 $1,500 NLH Bounty
🏆 2020 $2,500 NLH 6-Handed (Online)
🏆 2023 $888 NLH Crazy 8’s (Online)
🏆 2024 $1k NLH 6-Max (Online)
🏆 2026 $25k NLH High Roller

Banning face coverings, hats and sunglasses good or bad for poker?

$50K high roller, Negreanu vs Moron.

Allen Kessler calling out the start of day two $10K dealers choice.

Caesars has agreed to be taken private by Fertitta Entertainment, owned by billionaire Tilman Fertitta, in a $17.6 billion all-cash deal.

The offer is $31 per share, which is almost 50 percent more than the stock price before rumors started flying. Fertitta will take on nearly $12 billion of Caesars’ existing debt, financed with a little help from ten different banks.

The combined company would run 60 casinos and gaming spots, at least until regulators step in. According to Legal Sports Report, past mergers have forced companies like Caesars to shed properties to avoid cornering local markets. For example, both Caesars and Fertitta already operate casinos in places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

Unpopular WSOP opinions.

Such a cool winner’s photo of Kristen Foxen at the WSOP.

Michael Mizrachi is making the impossible look routine at this year’s WSOP, at least according to PokerNews.

After registering late and losing most of his stack on his very first hand, Mizrachi was left with less than a big blind. Most players would already be halfway to the parking lot, but not 'The Grinder.’

Instead, he turned his 3,000 chips into a stack of 1,429,000, charging up the leaderboard with the same relentless style that made him a world champion. PokerNews calls it “vintage Mizrachi“—fearless, pedal-to-the-floor, and apparently allergic to elimination.

As the final day approaches, the field is left to wonder: Is it really a comeback if he does this every year?

Four days after completing a miracle comeback from one chip, Naoya Kihara has won another WSOP bracelet.

We have the first double bracelet winner of the year, and it’s Naoya Kihara. Just days after winning the $10,000 2-7 NL Lowball Single Draw Championship following an unbelievable comeback from a single chip, the Japanese poker pro has captured another title, this time in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.

What makes the story even crazier is the timeline. It took Kihara nearly 14 years to win his second WSOP bracelet, but only four days to win his third. After one of the most remarkable comebacks you’ll ever see, he followed it up by topping a 130-entry field in Seven Card Stud and taking home more than $300,000.

An incredible run and one of the stories of the summer so far.

Martin Kabrhel didn’t hang around long in the WSOP $25k High Roller.

According to PokerNews, he bought in on Day 2 but was out after a single hand when his pocket sixes met Nick Petrangelo’s ace-king.

Kabrhel joked about wanting a free afternoon, but the dealer had the final say as the ace hit the board. As he left, he quipped, “Okay, that’s it for today. One hand and one hand only. See you later, alligator. I really enjoyed this.”

It has not been an especially memorable WSOP for Kabrhel so far, with his best score a 28th place finish worth $15,879. The High Roller event itself drew 242 entries and a prize pool approaching $5.7 million, but Kabrhel will have to look elsewhere for his next deep run.

Kristen Foxen finally gets the WSOP bracelet she can brag about.

Kristen Foxen has finally ticked the last remaining box in her poker career according to her own standards. After years of winning bracelets in what she considered lesser events, she took down the WSOP $25K High Roller for $1.7 million and her sixth bracelet, outlasting a field that PokerNews described as “all the best pros in the world.”

“It feels like where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m just so blessed that I found poker, that I’m able to do this,” Foxen told PokerNews after her win.

Galen Hall made things interesting by coming into the final day with a monster chip lead, but ultimately Foxen was the last one standing. This marks her fourth seven-figure cash in the last year and the fourth-highest live tournament payout for a female player ever.

This is the first time hearing this story. So cool! WSOP Main Event runner-up Perry Green tells all to PokerOrg.

The three-time bracelet winner famously lost to Stu Ungar heads-up for the Main Event title in 1981. Now, aged 90, he’s still competing at the WSOP.

Teething problems still plague the World Series of Poker.

Jennifer Tilly manifesting winning the WSOP Main Event.

Criticisms of the WSOP’s YouTube coverage roll in.

Krissy Foxen just did what?!

Is the WSOP parking situation escalating?

Will this trend catch on?

Britney gets removed from HCL’s WSOP live stream.

She was there one moment and gone the next. Apparently, the decision came from casino compliance, due to additional checks on her background and where the money came from.

This year, the WSOP has introduced much stricter rules for players wanting to use cash, with some players having difficulties buying into tournaments using good old cash. This latest decision is in line with this new policy, which has generally not been received well by the players.

Apparently, Allen Kessler was right…

Aleen had a bet with Kevmath that the tournament wouldn’t play down to 10%, claiming that he just didn’t see how it was possible. Kevin decided to take him up, putting up $100 and an apology video on the line.

Most people were backing Kevmath to win this bet – after all, he is the go-to guy for all things WSOP. But somehow, Allen got this one right. Apology vid from Mathers incoming.

Naoya Kihara just pulled off the greatest comeback of the 2026 WSOP.

How often have you heard the famous poker phrase, “All you need is a chip and a chair”? This is exactly why that saying has stood the test of time. As long as you have a single chip left in your stack and a seat at the table, you still have a chance to win. And that’s precisely what happened in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Single Draw Championship.

What makes this tournament particularly interesting to me is the game itself. No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw is often considered one of the purest forms of poker, with a heavy emphasis on reading opponents, betting decisions, and hand selection. It’s also my favorite poker variant and was the game I spent most of my time playing when PokerStars was available in my country. I’ve put in a lot of volume over the years and crossed paths with many of the format’s best players.

The tournament was eventually won by Naoya Kihara, a former Team PokerStars Pro from Japan and a highly respected player in this format. He’s someone I’ve played against online over the years, and from my experience, he’s always been a very tough opponent in 2-7 Single Draw.

According to PokerNews, Kihara outlasted a field of 198 entries to capture the bracelet and $428,923 in prize money. The victory ended a 14-year WSOP bracelet drought dating back to his win in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Handed event in 2012, when he became Japan’s first-ever WSOP bracelet winner.

What’s remarkable is that Kihara nearly didn’t make it to the final table. On Day 1, a bluff gone wrong against Benny Glaser left him with just a small blind after Glaser made the call. Most players would have been headed for the rail shortly after.

Instead, Kihara fought back through a series of double-ups and triple-ups, completed one of the most incredible comebacks of the summer, and went on to win the tournament. Along the way, he also eliminated Phil Hellmuth, who finished in ninth place.

A chip and a chair. Sometimes that’s all you need. Well done Kihara!

Remembering the good old days…

I just want to show the world I am still great at poker.

Of course, it’s a Phil Hellmuth quote.

But to be fair to him, he takes a lot of heat from a lot of people a lot of the time. And two final tables in four events is quite something.