Midwest Poker Tournaments
Prior to WSOP 2026, he had not recorded a win in any Omaha tournament with a prize higher than $8K. Best cash of $490,617 and his first two WSOP bracelets, Zachary Gruneberg won in Hold’em events. In the end, it was the record-breaking Nine Game Mix event that delivered the American his third WSOP bracelet and the largest payout of his career. Joey Couden spent many years as a professional No-Limit Hold’em player, while mixed games remained more of a hobby for him. In the final hand of the tournament, Anton made a straight on the turn against pocket tens and secured his first WSOP bracelet. Anton entered the Event #51 final table as the chip leader in the top 9, although his advantage over Josh Reichard was only 1 big blind.
Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
In heads-up play, Dzivielevski defeated the Netherlands’ top player, Teun Mulder. His opponents at the final table included Martin Kabrhel, Alex Foxen, and Alex Kulev. In the heads-up match of Event #35, Zipfel faced Hokyiu Lee, who was already a WSOP bracelet winner. Jason Zipfel cashed in a PLO tournament for the first time and immediately went all the way to victory. Justin Smith has played poker very little over the past few years, and his biggest cashes in his career came between 2009 and 2011. In the final hand of the tournament, Zazay’s A♦ 2♥ prevailed over Bellande’s J♠ T♦ in a preflop all-in confrontation.
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At the end of Day 2, Stephen eliminated David “ODB” Baker, a four-time bracelet winner, and took over the chip lead. He rarely played tournaments, and his biggest result prior to this victory was a $208,919 payout for a runner-up finish in the Poker Hall of Fame Bounty event at WSOP 2024. At the final table of the event, the largest stack was only 22 big blinds, so it took just around four hours to determine the winner. In the final heads-up match, Danchev’s opponent was a young player from Russia, Nikita Kuznetsov, who qualified for the event through a $2,750 satellite.
At the final table of Event #98, Jason Wheeler controlled the action for most of the day, while Sharma spent much of the time trying to survive. It took eight hours to determine the winner, and Kostritsyn remained near the top of the chip counts for almost the entire time. According to the player himself, this was only his fourth tournament of the year. Since the beginning of July, he had already made two cashes before finally winning his first bracelet. Joshua Wang recorded his first live tournament cash four years ago and had never won more than $32K in a single event. The German player battled Dwire for more than an hour and even took the chip lead at one point.
To close out the heads-up match in his favor, Liu needed just one showdown after nearly an hour of play against Justin Shiao. He told reporters that his first purchase with the winnings would be a new car for his wife. At three-handed play, everything was going in Pete Chen’s latest online poker news favor. Young grinder from New York, Myles Mullaly, surpassed $2M in career winnings thanks to his victory in the Super Turbo Bounty.
If you’re playing at a higher level, or if you just want to stop by and watch those who are, the PokerGO Tour will be back on the beat with its fall schedule. Both rooms will also offer regular mixed games. No matter where you might toss the dart on the calendar, you’ll find something to play, so we did a deep dive on the schedule to map out the rest of 2026.
In 2026, Michael’s perseverance was finally rewarded in the Badugi event. The live tournament victory also moved Dimitar up to 2nd place on Bulgaria’s All Time Money List. A well-known high roller from Bulgaria outlasted 127 opponents in one of the most prestigious WSOP 2026 events. Wang entered heads-up play against Jesse Lonis with a 5-to-1 chip lead and quickly closed out the match.
Throughout heads-up play against Glaser, the Chinese player controlled the action. Both at the start of play and later during four-handed action, he found himself at the bottom of the chip counts. China’s Dong Cheng took that lesson to heart during this year’s series, deciding to learn Limit Hold’em and ultimately capturing a bracelet in the discipline. In heads-up play against Clayton Mozdzen, Nick quickly built his advantage to a 5-to-1 chip lead.
Millions of new players all around the world wanted to become the next Moneymaker or the next WPT champion. In some cases, the winner takes home over $1 million, especially in the $10,000 buy-in events such as the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, a season-ending annual event in December. PokerNews is getting ready to report on the following events and festivals.
However, as often happens in the decisive stages of such tournaments, the situation at the table shifted dramatically more than once. Josh won his first bracelet in a $2,500 NLH event, and that victory pushed his career earnings past $6 million. Although Lionel Barracano eliminated Donald Briggs in 3rd place, he entered heads-up against the Korean player with a smaller stack. Later, Barracano did not play a single significant pot until the final five, and his stack dropped to 12 big blinds. It’s the pinnacle of achievements in mixed games, and this event is something really special to me.”
There was even a Lord at the final table — what a cast of names! Adrien Delmas entered heads-up play with 40 big blinds (nearly even with chip leader Andjelko Andrejevic) but it all ended in a single hand. Wells claimed victory this year, following in the footsteps of his close friend Yuri Dzivielevski, who won the same tournament last year. Less than a week ago, he was at the final table of the $1,500 Monster Stack, where he was eliminated in 7th place after a massive cooler — KK vs AA.
The inaugural WSOPE consisted of three events held in London from September 6–17, 2007. Various events led up to the Main Event, which was held from July 28 until August 10. The Rio also hosted the 2006 World Series of Poker, which began on June 25 with satellite events and formally began the day after with the annual Casino Employee event, won in 2006 by Chris Gros. The WSOP added a made-for-television $2 million “freeroll” invitational Tournament of Champions (TOC) event first won by Annie Duke as a “winner-take-all” event. The winner in 1970, Johnny Moss, was elected by his peers as the first “World Champion of Poker” and received a silver cup as a prize.
In the 2005 Main Event, US$52,818,610 in prize money was distributed among 560 players, with US$7.5 million as the first prize. Other events played in the past include Chinese poker, Five card stud, and many others. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP; later on, the winners of events before 1976 were retroactively given bracelets. The winner of each event receives a World Series of Poker bracelet and a monetary prize based on the number of entrants and buy-in amounts. The first edition of the event was held at Crown’s Melbourne Casino from April 4–15, 2013 and featured five bracelet events in the series. In September 2007, the first WSOP championship events outside of Las Vegas, complete with bracelets, were held.
I’ve always felt that in no-limit hold’em post-flop, my hand reading skills are much better than preflop. My types of mistakes in PLO are not reraising, four-betting, and all that stuff – it’s just playing too many hands, which is fine. Josh Arieh is really the one who fine-tuned my PLO game over the last couple of years. Who has had the biggest influence on your PLO game? There was only one tournament, the $25K, where I had to re-enter. Local crusher Raminder Singh added four wins, bringing his Seminole total to a record 20, while Jean Laurent and Mehmet Signic also joined the list.
Ever wonder who is the best poker player in the world? We offer daily poker and casino news, poker professionals’ blogs and tweets, exclusive gambling videos, thousands of free gambling articles, as well as coverage from all major poker tournaments in the world. Canterbury Park offers the most poker tournaments in the Midwest. MyPokerSeries handles no money and doesn’t verify reported results — payments are settled directly between players. Trade an agreed % with another player in the same tournament. Real-time view of the poker series we’re tracking.
The tournament had a $250,000 prize pool, which was easily surpassed thanks to the 356 entrants. Another day of poker action, another day of guaranteed prize pools being smashed. Players will start with 30,000 chips and play 30-minute levels. Today (July 12), the Wynn Summer Classic has two events on the schedule, starting with the $600 No-Limit Hold’em at noon.
Couden eliminated every opponent from 7-max play onward in less than an hour. This time, the field saw 3,937 registrations, and everything fell perfectly into place for Joey. The field was stacked with stars, but the tournament ended with an unexpected victory by Veerachai Vongxaiburana.
Seven card stud was the game for the event’s first two decades, but it was replaced by Texas hold ’em in 2001. By 2007, the popularity of the Ladies Event had grown to the point that it became the first ladies-only event to have a prize pool greater than $1,000,000. Foxen also owns the honor of the largest prize won by a woman at a WSOP event in Las Vegas, with a $1.77 million first prize in the $25,000 High Roller No-Limit event at the 2026 WSOP. However, the all-time leader is currently poker professional Daniel Negreanu, who has not won a Main Event, although he won the inaugural WSOP Asia Pacific Main Event in 2013. He is also the only player to have won the Main Events of both the WSOP and WSOP Europe. Since 2009, all open events, including the Main Event, count towards Player of the Year.
Our tournament calendar is updated frequently. Let our friendly and experienced staff help you find a game that matches your style. The data provided here only includes amounts won or lost on livestream. An easy way to keep up with all things televised cash games. Less than $1.70/month • Cancel anytime via your account settings Also available in € — full access, unlimited everything
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the World Series of Poker for the first time in its history. In 2024, the festival saw 229,559 entrants from more than 100 countries with a record-breaking $437.4 million total prize pool. The biggest buy-in event in WSOP history is the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, held in 2012, 2014 and 2018. In 2026, the lowest buy-in event was $300 (The Gladiators of Poker) and the biggest buy-in event was $250,000 (Super High Roller). There was also still time for another legend to write himself into the record books.
For the latest reports and chip counts from PokerStars Live events visit the PokerStars Blog. The 2026 WSOP drew 251,899 total entries across 100 bracelet events, making it the largest WSOP in history. The Main Event final table airs live on ESPN from August 3-5, 2026. Several sites also run WSOP-branded events where you can compete for your own bracelet from home.
- He famously lost $1.5 million in the Million Dollar Game and is remembered for his wild J-high gutshot call on the turn for an over $100K pot in one of the recent livestreams.
- Michael Wilklow has been grinding live tournaments under $500 since the end of 2022, racking up over 100 small cashes in just two and a half years.
- The World Poker Tour has an extensive history within the poker community, and the tour’s inception was an important part of poker history.
- I had a glimpse of what tournaments looked like because the WSOP Circuit had come through Caesars Southern Indiana.
- The Main Event final table returns to Paris Las Vegas on August 3-5 for the ESPN broadcast.
- With this win, Koon passed Justin Bonomo to move into third place on the all-time money list.
Will came heartbreakingly close to winning a bracelet especially in 2-7 finishing second once, third twice, and fourth once. Huck Seed came really close to winning his first bracelet since 2003 (!) but ultimately lost heads-up to Blaz Zerjav, who is half his age. In the final hand, he hit a runner-runner flush on the river, while his opponent made a straight and committed all of his chips to the pot. Just last Tuesday, Pelz finished 3rd in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em, but now he has proven himself as a No-Limit Hold’em player as well. There were 24,629 entries, and the winner earned the equivalent of about 1,400 buy-ins in a single event.
Our team is made up of a group of dedicated players, including our own Player Advisory Board and well-known journalists. Regardless of the WPT’s game plan, Las Vegas will be here, and we will be playing poker either way. Most other poker rooms around town will have a regular offering of daily tournaments, and they can be convenient if you are staying nearby. For some reason, neither was inducted in the first year in a long time when there was an opportunity to induct more than one player.
The contrast between seasoned pros and first-time final tablists is part of what makes the Main Event the most compelling event in all of poker. Several of the remaining players are known quantities with deep tournament resumes, while others are relative unknowns playing for life-changing money. The nine remaining players will return to the Paris Las Vegas ballroom on Sunday, August 3 to play down to a champion over three nights of live coverage. It’s the only platform in the US where you can win a poker tournament for official WSOP gold bracelets without leaving home! Most people know the summer series in Las Vegas, where the $10,000 Main Event turns ordinary players into legends.
Why should American players come to play APTs? How is the competition different from American players? What I like most about APT is their big lion trophies, especially the golden-colored lion trophy for their main event, which is the trophy I want to win the most right now. We experimented with short-form videos, guest blogs from players, including how many blinds a player had, and even just invented a recap show no one at WPT ever asked for called Jess & BJ.
Wilklow took down the tournament for a staggering $1,000,000 payday. Bonuses, promotions, availability, legal status, payment methods, and operator terms may change at any time. Wong then made a hero call to catch his opponent bluffing and win a huge pot. Wong scored his first double-up by eliminating Nick Yunis in seventh place with 9♦9♣ against A♠Q♣. Along with his first WSOP bracelet, he also earned the biggest cash of his career. However, Rabinowitz hit a flush on the river in a three-way all-in against Nicholas Palma and Nick Pupillo, immediately taking over the chip lead.
He became the dominant chip leader at the end of Day 2 after his aces beat Shaun Winter’s pocket kings. Koon got two massive coolers in his favor late in the tournament. His previous WSOP win came in the $25K Heads-Up Championship back in 2021. Stroeber defeated Daniel Cosner heads-up to claim the biggest prize of his life.
Dzivielevski has become a regular presence at high roller final tables over the past several years, and this score puts him among the top all-time earners from Latin America. Mizrachi’s versatility across hold’em and Omaha formats has made him one of the most decorated players in WSOP history. Combined, the couple earned over $2.3 million in bracelet event first prizes — a family haul that is almost certainly unprecedented in WSOP history. No-Limit 2-7 Lowball and Seven Card Stud are about as different as two poker variants can be — one is a drawing game where the worst conventional hand wins, the other is a classic stud game requiring entirely different skills. Combined first-place prizes across the twelve high roller events topped $20.8 million.
In one of the key pots in Stud, he won a big hand and eventually left Deeb with no chips He entered heads-up play against Julien Sitbon with a six-to-one chip lead. Johnson began heads-up play against Rheem with a 4-to-1 chip lead. Thanks to his victory in Event #49, the American scored a career-best payday, pushing his lifetime tournament earnings past the $6 million mark. However, he gradually lost his advantage and began heads-up play against Levon Khachatryan at a chip deficit. The final hand of the tournament saw A♦ 6♦ all in against K♦ 7♣.
