Brian Green from Texas outlasted 204 runners in Event #2 $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty to win $345,669 and his first career bracelet. Green had final tabled events before at the WSOP, but never made his way into the winner's circle until now. Green also denied Daniel Negreanu his seventh bracelet. Negreanu made the final table but busted in sixth place.
James Carroll took down the 2019 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown with the final table played out at the HyperX eSports arena in Las Vegas. Carroll outlasted a final six that also included Eric Afriat, Maria Ho, Jerry Wong, Ami Alibay, and Chad Eveslage. Maria Ho finished in third place. Carroll won $715,175 for first place and a freeroll into the Tournament of Champions at the Aria.
The World Series of Poker is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year in Las Vegas. The Rio Casino will host the WSOP once again for its expanded schedule featuring 89 events. The special BIG 50 begins today with the $50K High Roller on the slate for this weekend.
Gianluca 'Tankanza' Speranza, an Italian pro residing in Austria shipped the 2019 SCOOP Main Event on PokerStars in back-to-back years. The 2018 SCOOP Main Event champ successfully defended his title in the $10,300 Main Event against a field of 662 runners. Speranza banked $1,028,203 after a heads-up deal with OMGitshunt.
Francois Billard took down the 2019 partypoker MILLIONS Live North America at the Playground Casino in Montreal, Canada over the weekend. Billard banked $961,400 in Canadian dollars for his victory, or approximately $715K USD. The final six also included Kevin Rabichow, Joni Jouhkimainen, Alexandros Kolonias, Paul Fontan, and Danick Landriault. partypoker pro Joni Jouhkimainen finished in third place.
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 13th 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 12th 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 50th 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 15th. 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.
