WSOP 2026 Updates: Daily Live Blog
“He was giving me some guidelines because I don’t have that much heads-up experience. He gave me some tips on how to play properly and not completely torch it.” “Saliba has just been a really close friend and poker mentor for me,” Yau said. Close friend and high-stakes pro Justin Saliba was on the rail and offered advice before the final duel got underway.
And with the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) looming on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to start honing your strategy – check out the schedule highlights below. The PokerStars MicroMillions series provides the perfect lead-in to the upcoming World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). $2M+ GTD for PokerStars MicroMillions series as WCOOP approaches Sometimes you have to get it in preflop. Defending champion Junjie He won’t be defending his crown after starting the day with 88,500 and hitting the rail before night’s end. Two of the biggest names in the field to start Wednesday saw their days end surprisingly quickly.
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Our table had the top five stacks, and the other table had the six shortest stacks. I imagine you were keeping a close eye on what was happening at the other table. Well, the last couple of days I had Lucas Jumalon on my left with mountains of chips.
When we got down to heads-up, he had become handcuffed and in really bad shape because he had completely run out of time banks. I’ve won every tournament I’ve ever played heads-up in PLO. You don’t get punished for that as you would in no-limit, because the crux of the game is played post-flop. 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.
For a player who built his audience filming $1/$3 cash games and sharing every step of his poker journey, defeating Mateos for a bracelet is another chapter few could have imagined six years ago. The conversation then turned to the present day, with Yau fresh off a $1.3 million cash-game heater and having just become the first player to beat Mateos heads-up for a WSOP bracelet. It marks another deep run in an extraordinary summer for Mateos, who won the $250,000 Super High Roller earlier in the series and has racked up more than $10 million in live tournament earnings since May. Alongside Mateos, the final table featured Nick Schulman, Shannon Shorr, Pedro Neves, and Dejan Kaladjurdjevic. The hope is that by combining the PokerStars brand familiar to North American customers with FanDuel’s sports and casino audience, the new platform will lead to larger fields and bigger prize pools for its tournaments and cash games.
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The huge pot was a fitting exclamation mark to a wild stretch of play. Just four hands later, it was Molenaar’s turn to score another knockout. Play was notably snug after the bubble burst, with the APT commentary team invoking Teddy KGB from Rounders as the entire table was ‘hanging around, hanging around’ for that first $6K pay jump. After whiffing the jd,7h,2h flop, Denvitaya called off the rest and couldn’t find an ace, ending his day unceremoniously. The duo battled for well over two hours, trading the lead several times after they began their heads-up match virtually even. This was the run Jeremy Je Min Chan was on, and it started at APT Incheon in this very event a year ago.
Poker Mind Traps: 5 Thinking Errors That Cost You Money (and How to Fix Them)
Since 1854, when the California Grand Casino opened in Pacheco, poker has been established in the state. That is about all we know for the time being – complete schedule and details will be published in the coming weeks – but it enough for now for… Read more » Quarter-century of poker Online poker giant PokerStars has announced that the 25th running of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) will be September 6-30. That will be rectified this week as the crème of the European poker world goes to one of its favorite locations, the Casino Barcelona in Spain. Since 1970, the WSOP has been the place where that dream lives. The WSOP bracelet is the ultimate symbol of poker history and greatness.
Williams’ biggest poker moment came earlier this year when she took down the Borgata Winter Poker Open $1,000 Hybrid Championship for $52,540. In 2022, she won a $40,000 guaranteed No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack event for $6,604. “I started playing in middle school watching Moneymaker or whatever,” she said. And when asked why she played in the Ladies Championship, her answer was simple. But Williams was unfazed, telling PokerNews on break that she doesn’t monitor social media and that no one that she’s played with has had an issue with her. And while her table mates greeted her with friendly smiles and open arms, her deep run created a stir in some anti-transgender social media circles.
After giving up the previous hand, Josh Arieh was all-in for 1,225,000 total on third street and his jacks in the hole were ahead against sevens in the hole. It was the ninth WSOP gold bracelet for the British mixed game specialist and he takes home the top prize of $1,343,764. But there would be no Knicks style come-back for the New Yorker as Glaser received another crowning moment on poker’s biggest stage. Arieh & Glaser were essentially even going into heads-up play, but momentum was firmly on the Brit’s side. Glaser began the day as chip leader, while Maxx Coleman, Poker Hall of Fame snub Josh Arieh, Kristopher Tong, and Phil Ivey all returned with more than five million chips. Despite another historic victory, Glaser was hesitant to declare himself the game’s best.
On the flip side, I think poker tours consolidating media in house or to official contractors has really killed the rest of poker content. Interviewing them, I got to see a bit of personality that didn’t necessarily come out at the tables, but I don’t know if ‘concealed’ is the word I would use. Seth Palansky in particular, got a lot of unwarranted hate back in the day. Working directly for the WSOP did give me a great appreciation for the importance of logistics which were often lost on the larger poker community. When you later worked on the official WSOP side, how did your understanding of the event change? I would listen to Gavin Smith, Joe Sebok, and what started as Scott Huff on the CardPlayer podcast and then Joe Stapleton on PokerWire radio every day during the summer and when they were on the road with the WPT.
“People told me that they observed his kindness and compassion towards other players as they exited. The difference between players who win and the very biggest winners. They will get you closer to the right answer in the real games you are actually playing. Then I decided to get into a very thin call-down spot against the one other player at the table who could actually play ball. I had this happen deep in an online tournament the other night. Against those players, you need a river plan before you call the turn.
The World Series of Poker first appeared on ESPN in 1987, with coverage initially limited to documentary-style highlights that aired months after the event. With our new ownership’s commitment to growth, this is the perfect time to bring the ‘World Championship’ back to the biggest stage in sports.” The announcement puts an end to weeks of speculation following the release of the 2026 WSOP schedule, which hinted at a major shake-up to the tournament structure. For the first time since 2020, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is returning to ESPN.
“The success of the spring championship Poker News Daily reaffirmed what makes The Venetian Resort a premier destination for tournament poker,” said Tommy LaRosa, director of poker operations at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. The rest of the festival promises several bounty events, the regular seniors’ event, and lots of satellites into the championship. This version will feature a $2M championship event from Nov. 5-10, a big piece of almost $4M in total guarantees across the series. The biggest buy-in of the series, the $25K Superstar Challenge still lies ahead on Friday, providing another chance for Lin to add a third lion to his young pride of APT trophies.
This approach represents a theoretically perfect strategy that cannot be exploited. If you’re diving into poker strategy, you’ve likely come across the term GTO, which stands for Game Theory Optimal. Whether you’re a beginner seeking fundamental knowledge or an experienced player aiming to refine your skills, we’ve got you covered with expert guidance and analysis.
The WSOP Main Event has a rich history, starting in 1970 and evolving into the world’s most prestigious poker tournament, where legends are made GGPoker offers players the chance to satellite into the WSOP Main Event through its WSOP Express promotion. There are live satellites on offer that provide similar opportunities, including those taking place at the WSOP in the days leading up to the Main Event. As confirmed by the WSOP, poker fans can look forward to watching the 2026 WSOP Main Event on ESPN, after the pair signed a multi-year deal to cover the event.
Be sure to check out the schedules for upcoming events, and come back again soon for the latest updates and information! PokerNews is getting ready to report on the following events and festivals. We are the official live coverage partner of several major poker festivals including the World Series of Poker.
The 2026 WSOP Main Event kicks off with the first of four starting flights on Thursday, July 2. Each year, the tournament’s prestige grows, and 2026 is no exception. During the seven-hour interview, Lederer discussed the collapse of Full Tilt Poker, the board, the investors, Ray Bitar, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Black Friday, and more. On September 8, 2013, PokerNews’ Head of Content Matthew Parvis conducted an exclusive interview with Howard Lederer that was released as a seven-part series titled, “Lederer Files”. PokerNews also employs contributors from various countries.
- It was when my dad used to run home games with his friends.
- Many players would check-raise sets and two pair there to get more money in with their hand and to protect their hand.
- The day before we started the final table, we all saw the final table setup together and went through the practical stuff.
You can watch daily livestreams of the 2026 WSOP on the WSOP’s YouTube, X, Facebook, and Twitch channels. Yes, the entire 2026 WSOP will be available for free livestreaming. No, PokerGO is no longer livestreaming the World Series of Poker, although they are still involved with the production of the livestreams.
While the bracelet victory capped one of the best stretches of Yau’s poker career, he admitted there were no extravagant celebrations planned or any more poker to play. “I used to have a lot of imposter syndrome when it came to playing poker,” he said. “Looking back, it’s a core memory because it was the first time I’d ever been interviewed in the poker space.” “I was just some random guy that wanted to make videos about poker playing one-three,” Yau said.
The $10,000 Main Event starts on July 2 and plays down to the final table on July 13. He has spent the last few years traveling the country playing poker tournaments and chasing the dream. The PokerNews Podcast is a weekly live podcast that delves into the world of poker, featuring interviews with top players and industry experts. Williams is a longtime online poker pro with $369,125 in live Hendon Mob earnings.
A new trend in tournament poker is sparking discussion, to the point that it could come up at the 2026 meeting of… Read more » The online poker site – or “sweepstakes” site as they would call it… Read more » In just over an hour on Wednesday night, poker history was made. With all the activity in the tournament poker world, you would be remiss if you forgot that the 2026 European Poker Tour season is underway. PokerScout is your go-to source for poker news, poker odds calculators, and poker traffic stats.
“As far as the competitive nature of hockey and the discipline required, those are the similarities with poker,” says Mueller. Greg Mueller’s poker journey began on long bus rides during his professional hockey career. How the WSOP Main Event reignited Greg Mueller’s love for poker I hope these tips benefit you and your game
Before next year’s series, when you play a tournament, tell yourself before you buy in, ‘Okay, I have to be willing to fire four entries in this event.’ A lot of players put themselves behind the eight ball because they enter re-entry tournaments in Las Vegas while telling themselves they will only buy in for one bullet. Best-selling author and professional poker player Alex Fitzgerald shares how to reassess your game to be prepared for next year’s WSOP summer series.
He’s not only the chip leader but has more than a third of the chips in play. Mike’s been in the game for probably close to two decades, so he has a lot of experience. Greg Mueller is the player I’m closest to, and I know how strong a player he is. I would share how to enjoy the entire experience, focus on his game that got him there, and see the situation clearly from experience. If he asked me for advice, I would share the best ways to block out the noise and prepare not just for poker, but physically, mentally, and spiritually. The A-T all in preflop hand versus Givens’ A-Q should have sealed his fate.
At the top end, there are 18 $10,000 buy-in events, six $25,000 high rollers, four $50,000 events, two $100,000 buy-ins, and the $250,000 Super High Roller standing alone at the summit. This 2026 WSOP guide covers everything you need to know including the full schedule, Main Event details, the hottest new events to watch for in 2026, and much more. But a lot of players just spew chips when they are tilted, then later tell themselves, ‘Well, it was still a good bluff. But you will never find the ceiling if you keep using the same comfortable sizing every time. I do not know the players in your area. This is one of the most undervalued situations in the game today.
Then there are other players who are really about that life. But they completely neglect the fact that poker is a multi-street game. A lot of people call the turn because they think they have the best hand enough of the time.
You and Lucas Jumalon first connected back on Day 5, and you were already joking about eventually playing heads-up. Poker’s boom years played a vital role in making the game safer and more inviting to all. I’ve been sitting at public poker tables since the mid-1980s. Sexual innuendo and harassment of female players and dealers was the norm, not the exception. The poker environment, the atmosphere in which we all played 25 or 35 years ago, was toxic. But the bottom 60% of players in 2026 would basically break even against the bottom 60% of players in 2005.