News about poker pros
Have you ever wanted to punch poker pro Antonio Esfandiari right in the face? Well then it is too bad you aren’t comedian and actor Kevin Hart, because he was afforded that opportunity on Saturday when he and Esfandiari squared off in a three-round boxing match. There was no animosity – this was a prop… Read more »
The poker world is mourning the loss of Gavin Smith today, who passed away unexpectedly in his sleep last night at the age of 50. Smith, a native of Guelph, Ontario, was one of the most formidable poker pros during the poker boom and was by far one of most loved, most popular players among… Read more »
As the holidays approach, the philanthropic nature of the poker community is coming out. Over the next couple of weeks in Las Vegas, there are two prominent charity poker events on the calendar, raising money for very worthy causes at a very critical time. South Point Casino Hosts Charity Event for Boys & Girls Club… Read more »
Gordon Vayo will have to wait a bit longer to see if his legal action against PokerStars can proceed. In May, the poker pro and 2016 WSOP Main Event runner-up filed suit against PokerStars, or more specifically, Rational Entertainment Enterprises Limited (REEL), in the U.S. District Court Central District of California Western Division after the… Read more »
This is slightly old news, but with the 2018 World Series of Poker having occupied our thoughts for a while, forgive us if we missed this. Aussie poker pro James Obst announced this month that he plans to ditch that “pro” designation, effectively retiring from full-time poker. Most young poker pros – Obst is just… Read more »
My colleague Earl Burton did an admirable job live-blogging the final table of the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event, even if he was a pansy and couldn’t stay up past 3:00am ET Sunday morning to see it through to the end.* During his blog, he noted that it was announced that Mori Eskandani… Read more »
The Main Event isn’t the only news coming out of the 2018 World Series of Poker this week as the Poker Hall of Fame has announced the list of ten finalists for this year’s induction class. The finalists were determined by a public nominations process followed by a review by the Poker Hall of Fame… Read more »
A two-year old staking dispute between poker pro and World Series of Poker Circuit event destroyer Maurice Hawkins and attorney Hal Lewis that became a legal battle has ended amicably, according to recently filed court documents. The issue goes back to early 2016 when the two men met in Jacksonville. After they got to know… Read more »
Brian Rast won the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw event at the 2018 World Series of Poker this week topping a small but intimidating field of 95 players. It was the fourth bracelet of his career – two of which were in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship – and he now has over $21 million… Read more »
The public nomination process for the 2018 Poker Hall of Fame is now open. Those of you who have participated in the process in prior years will be familiar with this year’s setup, as nothing has changed. We Can All Contribute Our Two Cents The journey to naming the newest Hall of Famers starts online… Read more »
Lupe Soto and Maria Ho were announced today as this year’s inductees into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame (WiPHoF), capping a two month-long nomination and voting process. The two women will be honored in an induction ceremony on June 26th at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas. Tickets to the event cost $55… Read more »
The Women in Poker Hall of Fame (WiPHoF) has announced the list of candidates for induction into the Hall’s Class of 2018. The candidacies of the eleven women will now be put to a panel of media members and WiPHoF members. Cutting right to the chase, the finalists are as follows, in alphabetical order: Hermance… Read more »
Hey, it’s a day of the week and partypoker has added yet another player to its list of sponsored pros. This time it is German poker player Philipp Gruissem, also known as “philbort” online. Gruissem only started playing poker nine years ago, got hooked when he won a tournament for $200, and is now a… Read more »
Another American poker pro has left Team PokerStars, as Jason Mercier has announced his departure from his role as a site ambassador. As with fellow pro Vanessa Selbst, Mercier’s stint with PokerStars was effective at the end of 2017. In a blog post on PokerStars’ website, Mercier explained that the reason for his decision –… Read more »
Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu has always been an outspoken member of the poker community and tends to be open and honest about how things are going at any given time in his career. Case in point: as 2017 came to a close, he posted his annual live tournament results on his blog, revealing… Read more »
After writing a story about how a casino is possibly trying to pull one over on its customers, how about a nice poker-related story for the holiday season? Professional poker player Bernard Lee, who hosts the Bernard Lee Poker Show on Rounders Radio and is the former co-host of ESPN’s poker news show Inside Deal,… Read more »
The public nomination stage for the 2017 class of the Poker Hall of Fame is now open, as is evident by the availability of the online ballot on the Poker Hall of Fame website. As always, poker fans (and non-fans, for that matter, though I don’t know why someone who didn’t like poker would participate)… Read more »
Daniel Negreanu has never been one to keep his feelings about poker matters to himself. Now that Todd Brunson and Carlos Mortensen have been elected to the Poker Hall of Fame, he has something to say about the Hall’s election process. To be sure, Negreanu has no problem with the men who were elected –… Read more »
Online poker room partypoker announced on Friday that is has signed Australian Jackie Glazier as its newest sponsored pro. Glazier wore her team colors for the first time this weekend at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Melbourne stop at the Crown Casino. In the notice posted on partypoker’s blog, Glazier said I am proud to… Read more »
We have seen plenty of examples over the last several years how the many of the stars of the poker boom of the mid-to-late “aughts” have had trouble dealing with the collapse of online and televised poker in the United States and, in turn, their stardom. Add to that list one Ted Forrest, who, according… Read more »
According to a report from PokerFuse.com, professional poker player Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi has once again been banned from PokerStars, this time for playing on the site from the United States on other player’s account. The story of Mizzi’s rules violation dates back to February 2016, when a poster went on Two Plus Two and alleged… Read more »
Professional poker player Doug “WCGRider” Polk embarked on a bankroll challenge this week. These types of challenges are nothing new – plenty of players have tried them – but they are still a lot of fun. Polk began his Sunday, attempting to grow an online poker bankroll from $100 to $10,000 in the appropriately named… Read more »
Since early on in the 2016 World Series of Poker, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Jason Mercier was going to claim the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) title and while he did, it was not until yesterday, that he could say the award was officially his. With Paul Volpe’s ouster from the… Read more »
After Howard Lederer issued an apology for his role in the Full Tilt Poker “Black Friday” scandal last month, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would make an appearance at the World Series of Poker. While we would all like to believe that the apology was completely heartfelt (and I’m not saying it… Read more »
“Barry Greenstein spotted at the play money tables. Is he busto?” This is something that would not be all that weird to think is someone saw him playing online lately, but don’t worry about Mr. Greenstein. He is doing just fine. In a recent interview with PokerListings.com, Greenstein talked about how and why he has… Read more »
