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.
After four days of action in Hollywood, Florida, the $3,500 buy-in WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown played down from 1,360 to a final table. James Carroll leads the final six and Maria Ho is not far behind as second overall in chips. The WPT SHRPO final table will be delayed for six-plus weeks and played out on May 30 at the HyperX eSports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas. First place pays out $715K.
The Rio Casino in Las Vegas has been on the block for a while now. The latest rumor coming out of Sin City suggests that Virgin Trains bought the Rio and will turn the site into a train station for the express train running Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The previous rumor suggested that the Rio would be leveled to build a baseball stadium for a future expansion team. If either of these rumors are true, then the 50th anniversary of the WSOP might be the last to be played out at the Rio Casino.
James Holzhauer set the single-game record on Jeopardy! this week with a score worth $110,914. Holzhauer, a professional sportsbettor from Las Vegas, plays an unorthodox style. He bounced around the board to effectively hunt Daily Doubles and went all-in to double up whenever he had the opportunity. Purists might loathe his aggressive hunting methods, but he's made quite the name for himself in a short time. Holzhauer banked over $244,000 in only four matches and he rocketed into the Top 10 in all-time Jeopardy! winnings.
Phil Hellmuth, who won more WSOP bracelets than anyone else in history, will be taking on Dusk till Dawn owner Rob Yong in a heads-up challenge. The two will be playing five heads-up battles with $100,000 on the line in each match. Yong is also a high-stakes player who thinks that the 15-time bracelet winner has no chance against him.
Several former NBA players, including Chris Bosh, helped raise $500,000 for the After-School All-Stars South Florida during special poker tournament over the weekend in Miami. The fifth annual event, All-In for All-Stars, included ex-Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning and UFC champ Suga Evans were among the attendees. Loni Harwood won the tournament.
Patrik Antonius, the greatest to player to hail from Finland, took down the PAPC €10,000 Championship Event, which happened to be named the Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge (PAPC). The Olympic Park Casino in Tallin, Estonia hosted the event, which attracted 20 runners. Antonius outlasted them all to win €78,100 or approximately $88K USD. Antonus picked off Joni Jouhkimainen heads up for the title.
Jaime Staples, the newest partypoker Team Online member, released two videos with German pro BENCB who helped him review his $5,000 Big Game. Staples was hoping to raise his edge with BENCB, and he has been helping him take his training to the next level.
Asher Conniff outlasted a field of 607 runners at the $1,700 buy-in WSOP Circuit Main Event at Bally's Casino in Las Vegas. Conniff's came into the final table with the chip lead and he fended off all challengers. The final table also included Justin Young, Joshua Suyat, Stan Webb, William Wolf, James Fricker, Simon Deadman, and Dan Park. Conniff knocked out Hawaii's Josh Suyat for the title and circuit ring. Conniff banked $193,147 for the victory.
Martin Kabhrel won the 2019 WSOP International Circuit Rozvadov Main Event at the King's Casino in RozVegas. Kabhrel faded a field of 650 runners to win his fifth overall WSOP Circuit ring. He banked €190,000 for first place. Kabhrel loves playing at the King's Casino. He also won bracelets at the last two WSOP Europe events in RozVegas.
