In an unexpected move, six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu announced on Twitter that he stepped down as an ambassador with PokerStars. Kid Poker, who is second on the all-time money list with $39.8 million, ended his 12-year relationship with PokerStars as a pitchman and consultant. This abrupt news comes one week before the start of the 2019 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

The poker industry got a little love in the mainstream media with a 22-minute video piece by CNBC titled "Who Makes Money from Professional Poker?" The piece goes deeper into the business side of being a professional including staking and included interview bites with Ryan LaPlante, Derek Wolters, and Jeff Gross.

The 2019 WPT Choctaw in Oklahoma attracted 577 runners this year for the $3,700 Main Event. Only six are remaining and they will slug it out in Las Vegas on May 31 for another delayed final table to be hosted at the HyperX eSports Arena at the Luxor. Will Berry is the big stack with 7.5 million. Also, still alive are country singer Stacey Jones, Nick Pupillo, Craig Varnell, Austin Lewis, and Trung Pham. First place pays out approximately $380,000 plus a free seat into the season-ending Tournament of Champions at the Aria.

The 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro concluded with Jungleman taking down a title in mixed NL/Short Deck for a cool million. Also, Mikita Badziakouski added another Triton SHR title to his resume with a victory in Event #10 HKD $750,000 Short Deck. American pro Ben Lamb won almost $1 million during a marathon heads up battle against Romain Arnaud in Event #9 HKD $500,000 Short Deck Ante Only.

The 2019 Tritron Super High Roller Series in Montenegro continues with events won by John Juanda, Rui Cao, and Quek Sechariah Sheng. Juanda won Event #6 HKD $250,000 buy-in Short Deck for a score worth HKD $4.72 million (or over $612K USD). Juanda passed the exclusive $25 million career earnings mark. Rui Cao won Event #11 HKD $1 million Short Deck Main Event for nearly $3.3 million USD.

The 2019 World Series of Poker will include 89 bracelet events including nine online events. Online players will have a chance to win a bracelet during Sundays this summer with seven Sunday events. Event #68 ONLINE NL Championship has a $1,000 buy-in and there will also be a $3,200 ONLINE High Roller. The affordable online events have buy-ins as low as $400.

partypoker LIVE Millions will make its American debut with a $5 million guaranteed MILLIONS Vegas 'Special Edition' that will take place at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. The $10K buy-in event begins June 28 and the final table will conclude on July 2.

American pro Bryn Kenney won the 2019 Triton Montenegro Main Event, hosted at the Maestral Resort in Montenegro. The HKD $1 million buy-in event attracted 75 runners. Kenney took down HKD $21.3 million or approximately $2.7 million USD and outlasted a tough stacked table that included Erik Seidel, Jason Koon, Mikita Badziakouski, Sam Greenwood, and Paul Phua. Kenney won over $4.1 million this week at the Triton SHRS Montenegro to moved into fourth place on the all-time money list with $34.8 million in tournament winnings.

American pro Bryn Kenney took down the 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro Event #2 HKD $500,000 NL 6-Max for HKD $11,230,000 or approximately $1.4 million USD. Meanwhile, in Event #3 HKD $100,000 Short Deck, Winfred Yu defeated Ike Haxton heads-up for the title and HKD $2,040,000 in cash. Haxton now has two runner-up finishes in three events.

Maurice Hawkins set a record with his 13^th WSOP Circuit ring victory in Tunica, Mississippi. The Florida pro won the 2019 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Tunica $400 NL Monster Stack event for a $31K score. Hawkins tied the record last month with his 12^th ring at Harrah's Cherokee in North Carolina. Hawkins now has over $3.7 million in career winnings, with over $1.7 million in WSOP Circuit events.

Another day, another high roller victory for Steve O'Dwyer. The American pro took down the opening event at the 2019 Triton Poker High Roller Series in Montenegro. Event #1 HKD $250,000 NL Turbo 8-Handed. O'Dwyer and Ike Haxton agreed to a heads-up chop and played out for a little extra cash and the trophy. Haxton ended up busting in second place and O'Dwyer won another high roller title. The American pro won HKD $3,708,784 or approximately $472,420 USD for first place.

The 2019 World Series of Poker includes 89 bracelet events spread out over seven weeks of nonstop poker action. The 50^th anniversary of the WSOP kicks off at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas on Wednesday, May 29 and the final event begins on Monday, July 15^th. The $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event commences on July 3, 2019 and they will play down to a champion on July 16, 2019. Other noteworthy events include the $100K High Roller, the $50K Players Championship, and nine online events at WSOP.com.

The 2019 EPT Monte Carlo at the Monte Carlo Casino played down to a champion. The final three players chopped with China's Wei Huang sitting on the big stack at the time. Hungary's Viktor Katzenberger busted in third place, and German pro Maning Loeser picked off Huang heads-up to win the title. Huang banked €552,056 for second place, while Loeser took home €603,777 for first place.

Italy's Nicola Grieco is the chipleader heading into the final table of the 2019 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event. The €5,300 buy-in affair attracted 922 runners and only six players remain left in the hunt for the EPT title and €827,700 in cash. Meanwhile, pros Manig Loeser and Ryan Riess are still lurking at the final table. Also still alive are Viktor Katzenberger, Wei Huang, and Luis Medina.

In another bold move, partypoker expanded their Team Online to include Kevin Martin. The former contestant on Big Brother Canada made a name for himself as streamer and he built a following with 80,00 devoted subscribers. Martin has been a pro since 2014 and streaming his sessions since 2015. He joins the recently expanded stable of partypoker Team Online that also include Jaime Staples and Jeff Gross.

PokerStars recently expanded their pro squad with four new brand ambassadors and eight streamers. A couple of well-known players are involved including French pro Julien Brecard. In addition, Arlie Shaban from Big Brother Canada will be among the four new PokerStars Ambassadors along with James Mackenzie, Nick Walsh, and Eva Reberc from OP-Poker.

The 2019 EPT Monte Carlo is underway. This year's series features a multitude of events. French pro Sylvain Loosli shipped Event #2 €10,300 NL for a score worth €198,610. Sergio Aido won the €100,000 Super High Roller for €1.6 million, and Tim Adams took down the €25,000 Single-Day High Roller for €548,030. Italy's Stefano Schiano won the French National Championship for €209K.

James Holzhauer took the Jeopardy! world by storm by passing $1 million in winnings in only 14 episodes. Holzhauer, a pro sportsbettor from Las Vegas, won 15 matches in a row and counting. Ken Jennings won 74 matches back in 2004, but no one has come close to Jennings' mastery until Holzhauer's arrival three weeks ago. The Vegas sportsbettor has been destroying the competition and averaging twice as much as Jennings did during his record-setting run.

The 2019 World Series of Poker Europe schedule is officially official. The King's Casino in Rozvodov, Czech Republic will host the WSOPE once again starting October 13 and running through November 4. The next installment features ten bracelet events with €14 million in guaranteed prize pools. The €10K Main Event and €100K High Roller will have €5 million guarantees.

The Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey hosted their annual Spring Poker Open. The $2,700 buy-in BSPO Championship Main Event was a re-entry tournament that attracted 505 total entries. David Jackson picked off Shannon Shorr heads-up to win the title and $304,929 in cash.

Gavin Smith passed away earlier in the year, which stunned the poker community. To help raise money for his children, the WSOP will be hosting a special charity tournament at the Rio Casino on May 28, on the eve of the start of the 2019 World Series of Poker.