Finnish online poker player €urop€an knows how to make a deal.

The unidentified online pro took down WCOOP-35 $1,575 Super Tuesday Special for $297,450.

The original first-place payout? $292,450.

€urop€an achieved the feat by cutting a very smart deal three-handed. The three remaining players left an extra $36,450 for the winner and €urop€an went ahead and won that too.

€urop€an already has a Sunday Million victory and a SCOOP win so all that he’s missing for the so-called PokerStars Grand Slam is a TCOOP title.

Timex Falls Just Short of Final Table

As you might expect there were a number of celebrated online pros at the final table. Here’s a complete breakdown of the final table payout (*reflects three-way deal):

Near miss for Timex.

1. €urop€an -- $297,450.00*
2. XingsMaster -- $189,885.05*
3. reno8 -- $176,000.00*
4. ThEcLaiMEer -- $115,069.18
5. sandman20 -- $84,345.48
6. jonaj10 -- $61,824.84
7. probirs -- $45,317.37
8. mrAndreeew -- $33,217.61
9. dudd1 -- $24,348.41

In addition there were a number of big-name online pros who finished just short of the final table included Mike “Timex” McDonald (14th) and Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro (18th).

Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky, NigDawG and Mike “munchenHB” Telker also made the money.

There’s still plenty of time to get in on the 2016 WCOOP as the series runs until Sept. 26, culminating with a $10m-GTD $5,000 buy-in Main Event on Sept. 25.

You can always start a PokerStars account by grabbing one of the bonus deals on our review page.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a tiny plaque, a bronzed chip protector and a 2x3 window to peak through into the afternoon poker news HoF.

Have something you'd like to see in a future 3-Bet? Drop a line in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find David Williams eyeing another reality turn, old timers go off on Hall of Fame snubs and the World Poker Tour lands in Cambodia.

1) MC #2 >> Lone Survivor?

If you watched the pulse-pounding 2-hour finale of MasterChef USA 7 last night you know poker pro David Williams fell just short of the MC trophy, cookbook deal and $250k payday.

Reality TV gold.

While Las Vegas DJ Shaun O'Neale's entrée may have pushed him over the top there's no question who the breakout "star" of the season was.

Every reality show needs a good villain and Williams played the role to perfection with his play-to-win strategy, hot-headed temper and epic walk-out in the penultimate episode.

He also showed some dazzling creativity, plenty of charm and clearly earned the respect of Chef Gordon Ramsay, which made him as equally loved as hated among viewers. 

Importantly he made for some great TV, which usually bodes well when casting directors go looking for sure-win draws for other reality shows.

Can poker pal and Survivor legend Boston Rob now pull a few strings to get him on the greatest reality show of all-time? We hope so ...

Thanks Rob! Now tell your boy @JeffProbst I’m ready for @survivorcbs! https://t.co/f2tlDaNvPn

2) Negreanu: Hall of Fame "isn't a Popularity Contest"

Remember those 10 Poker Hall of Fame finalists we mentioned the other day?  Turns out quite a few people in poker weren't so sure they were the 10 "best" candidates for the Hall this year. 

Not picking Moneymaker, it seems.

For a comparatively small (the HoF has just 50 members) and not-exactly tourist-friendly institution, the annual HoF nominations surprisingly stir up a ton of controversy.

In 2009 Tom Dwan made the final cut from public voting causing the HoF to introduce a age 40+ rule. Last year it was the absence of Europeans in the HoF altogether.

This year the conversation seems to be around "great player according to HoF criteria" vs. "ambassador" and "player" vs. "contributor."

HoF member Daniel Negreanu chimed in with a long blog on how he feels and how he'll vote along with a list of 8 players he thinks should also be on the list.

Dozens of famous poker names have also chimed in on Twitter with David Chiu, David Oppenheim, Isai Scheinberg and Huck Seed leading the list of snubs. Check some of the banter below:

I say this every year as a reminder: PHOF criteria for players says NOTHING about being an ambassador nor should it. Rate them on RESULTS.

HOF list has more to do w marketing than w accomplishment. David Chiu, Huck, David Oppenheim & John Hennigan should all be top of the ballot

One more name that I haven't seen brought up but deserves to be in HOF, Mori Eskandani https://t.co/M0vC4xLFvd

Why isn't S. Lipscomb (WPT Founder) on list? Except for Binions NO ONE has grown poker like him #changedpokerforever https://t.co/gZMb6wJ5Zs

Hmm lets see me- 9 million wn 4 wsop bracelets 2 main event ft toc champion poker ss champion 2013 nbc hu champion https://t.co/3aGvzw3gZP

I agree w @RealKidPoker. My Hall of Fame votes go to: Carlos (too strong to ignore), Devilfish (he's done it all), Chris Bjorin @ToddBrunson

3) WPT Announces Back-to-Back Events in Cambodia

If you played poker in the 90s or 2000s and/or have ever visited Cambodia, the idea that it might one day host not one but two World Poker Tour events in the span of three weeks one day would seem, well, absurd.

Queenco Hotel & Casino.

The global poker boom has miraculously reached that far now as the WPT has announced that very scenario coming this winter.

First up is WPT National Thailand, from Dec. 22-29, which will actually be held in the border town of Poipet, Cambodia, as poker is illegal in Thailand.

That will be immediately followed up by WPT National Cambodia, held in the oceanside hamlet of Sihanoukville from Jan. 2-13, 2017.

Main event buy-ins for each will be $1,100 and $1,485, respectively. Both will also have re-entry formats with two entries allowed per starting day for a total of six entries. 

Which ... wow. That's some big money in those parts. Check the full details from the WPT here.

Poker players in New Jersey aren’t going to have to wait long for their next big online series as PartyPoker.nj has something special planned for October.

The Fifth Annual Garden State Super Series will return to PartyPoker.nj (and Borgata Poker) on Oct. 9 and run all the way through Oct. 23.

The series will feature $1 million in guaranteed prize pools spread across 75 featured events including Hold’em, PLO and Stud tournaments.

Qualifiers for the series are already running on PartyPoker.nj.

Biggest Main Event in GSSS History

As usual the GSSS will culminate in a $215 buy-in re-entry Main Event but this time around the event will offer a $175-GTD prize pool, which is the biggest in the series’ history.

Mike Sexton rocking NJ colors.

"This is our fifth edition of the Garden State Super Series featuring our largest guaranteed prizepool for the New Jersey players of over $1,000,000,” said Group Head of PartyPoker Tom Waters.

“The GSSS continues to grow offering all types of players a fun poker experience in whichever event they play. The GSSS offers buy ins from $20-$1,060 so is accessible to everyone.”

GSSS V will kick off on Oct. 9 with $75k-GTD re-entry event, which should get things rolling.

For more information about PartyPoker.nj you can always check out our complete review.

It’s going to be a very busy month for NJ poker players as PokerStars is set to run a rival NJCOOP and live tournament series in October as well.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a snappy bowler, baize-clipped spatz and the foppish-iest afternoon poker news dandy you've ever laid eyes on.

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop us a note about it in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a ringing endorsement for #1 in the world, FC Barcelona loves its poker and Chris Straghalis drops the mic on poker fashion.

1) He's #1

The poker world tends to go around in circles when it comes to naming "the best poker player in the world," and rightly so.

Undisputed king of MTTs.

There are clearly dozens of variables involved from game specialties and stakes to variance, bias and sample size that make declaring the game's #1 a muddy proposition.

When it comes to No-Limit Hold'em tournaments, though, the answer to that question right now is easy. It's Fedor Holz ainec.

He's been #1 on the Global Poker Index Top 300 for 14 weeks. He's #1 in the GPI 2016 POY rankings. And he's won more money in the past 18 months than, like, all of poker combined.

Yep, he's run good. Great, even. But as recent WCOOP $102k heads-up choppee bencb789 told PokerStrategy, none of that even matters:

"He is definitely one of the best tournament players in the world. No sorry, he is the number one. And not just because of his recent success. I would have said the same if he had not won any tournaments this summer.

"His abilities are just insane and he deserves all the success. He was working very very hard for it. Nevertheless he is running very hot, which you obviously need to take down so many tournaments in such a short period of time."

We'll buy that.

2) Piqué on Camp Nou: "Everyone Loves Poker"

With two card-carrying, certified poker die-hards in Gerard Piqué and Neymar Jr. among its leaders, it's no surprise the odd poker game breaks out at FC Barcelona's storied football pitch, Camp Nou.

It is a bit surprising, though, as Piqué revealed in a new interview with the PokerStars blog, that everyone else on the team gets into it, too - even if they don't step up and play €50,000 Super High Rollers:

He's into it, for real.

"They really like it. Our teammates know we come here, and they always ask how it goes and if we enjoyed ourselves. The problem is they don't know how to play poker and if they did, they would probably come too!

"We do sometimes play in the dressing room; obviously not for money, but just for fun. It's fun because everyone loves poker, and not just to play. The players who don't know how to play like to watch."

That enthusiasm for the game carries over to the elite Spanish National Team as well, who Piqué says frequently spend their downtime at major championships grinding away:

"There are more very good poker players in the [Spanish] national team like David De Gea and David Silva. I'm trying to think of the best ones because we play with 15 players, and it's always the same ones that win!

\"For example, in the last Euros [the UEFA European Championship] we had a lot of free time in the hotel, and playing poker is a great way to have fun when we have spare time."

Read the full piece about Piqué's love for the game and future plans here.

3) King of Poker Style

There are few things we love more than poker-inspired fashion and if you've ever sat in a poker tournament with Chris Straghalis you've likely got to experience it first hand.

Straghalis is famed for his electrifying poker attire, perhaps topped by this truly spectacular Ace of a green suit.

He's cracked out another gem at WPT National Ireland today, where he's off to a decent start chip-wise and unleashed a King of Hearts baseball jersey that will turn some heads.

Check the pic below (photo: WPT); follow his progress at WPTN Ireland right here.

The play down of the WSOP Main Event on ESPN is upon us.

It’s not just the most important poker tournament in the world -- it’s also the one with the most extensive coverage on television worldwide.

While the road winds down to the November Nine over the next two months we’ve picked out an early hand that has a whole range of interesting elements.

Even so, it turned out to be an incomplete tease in the end.

Flop to River

It’s Day 4 of the World Series of Poker Main Event, which is great for everyone still around as they’re all in the money.

However the pay jumps are still pretty small, so many players take bigger risks to build a stack now and try to go all the way.

Here we're at blinds of 10k/20k/3k and American Tom Thomas (stack: 677,000) raises it up 45k with    

It’s folded to chipleader James Obst. The Australian has 3.5 million chips and calls in the big blind. The pot is now 127k chips and the flop falls      

Obst checks to the raiser who c-bets 60k. Obst calls and there's 247k in the pot. On to the turn   Obst takes over the lead with a bet of 60k, but Thomas raises to 200k.

Obst calls and now we have 627k in the pot. As Thomas only has 372k behind, that is the effective stack. The river is the  

Both players check the river and Obst shows    

The chipleader takes in another pot while Thomas is left with 372k, just 18.5 bb. Watch the hand play out in the video below (hand begins at minute 55).

Analysis

Tom Thomas is an experienced amateur but here he gets involved with one of Australia’s best players who shows him how the pros do it.

Thomas opens the hand with a rather loose raise. K-Qo from UTG+1 is a rather weak hand that will often be dominated if called.

On the other hand, Thomas has 34 big blinds. He wants action to accumulate chips so his move makes some sense.

He almost gets his raise through but the chipleader holds tens, which he’ll never fold in this spot.

Take into account that Obst’s range is very wide. He gets 4-1 pot odds so there are many hands he can call with.

Thomas’ range on the other hand is a lot smaller. It has mostly high pairs and Broadway cards in it.

A Dry Flop

The flop is 9♣ 6♠ 3♠. It’s pretty dry, although there are a few possible draws.

But it misses most of Thomas’s range except for hands like A♠ K♠ and A♠ Q♠. Also, he could have an overpair.

For Obst things are entirely different. His range is wider so it’s much more likely he has hit something.

Yet, Thomas is correct to c-bet the flop. His story is one about an overpair and he continues to tell it. The overpair from early position wants to win a couple of extra chips.

But Obst has an overpair himself and he doesn’t want to give it up. His call is the perfect move as a raise would make all weaker hands except A-Ks and A-Qs fold and would only keep higher pairs than his in.

Smart Move on Turn

The 6♦ on the turn doesn’t look like it could have helped either player and Obst takes the lead with a small donk bet.

Clever move on turn.

He bets 75k into a pot of 247k, thus denying any hand with over-cards a free card and giving his opponents the wrong pot odds for a call.

Thomas might get 4.3-1 pot odds but his odds to win the hand are 6.6 to 1. But the experienced amateur has a couple of tricks up his sleeve, too.

He raises it to 200k, sticking to his story that he has a big pair and his remaining chips are going into the middle on the river.

But now it’s almost impossible for Obst to fold. With a call he can beat all the bluffs but he knows he might face an all-in on the river because that’s what his opponent is preparing.

No Go on River

By the time we get to the river Obst’s range is pretty clear. He can have a spade draw, some monster hands with a 6 in them, or he has a 9 with some form of connector, sevens, eights, or tens.

Almost turned it into Nov. 9.

If he had pocket nines he would probably not have led the turn. All in all, this is a strong range and with a jack on the river, that would only help Thomas if he had A-J.

The amateur now has to ask himself if there’s a realistic chance he can make Obst fold. There's 647k in the pot and Thomas has 372k behind.

If he pushes all-in Obst has to pay 372k to win 1.19 million, which corresponds to 3.2-1 pot odds.

These are good pot odds. Another factor to consider is that should Obst make a wrong call and lose he still sits behind a stack of 2.8 million, so he’s more likely to call than a smaller stack.

At the end of the day Thomas should have stuck to his betting story and pushed all-in. His overpair story is credible. The jack on the river might even have hit him and is more of a scare card for Obst.

The main reason for Thomas to make the final move was the tournament situation, however. After he lost that hand he was left with 18bb and eventually finished in 250th-place for about $36k.

If he had bluffed successfully he would have grown his stack by 50% and would have been a serious contender.

Conclusion

Tom Thomas tells a good story but flinches right before the end and doesn’t manage to pull the trigger.

Although, of course, we don’t know if the bluff would have worked.

Obst, on the other hand, took Thomas's chips all the way to 13th place and a near-miss of the November Nine that paid him $427,930.

It promised to be the biggest Super XL series ever held on 888poker and after the first weekend all signs suggest it will be.

Over the weekend the first nine events took over the tables at 888 and each reached its guarantee.

Well over 10,000 players hit the felt combined with Michael "AcesJoker88" Acevedo scooping the biggest early prize - nearly $60,000 for his outright win in the $160 Opening Event.

Crazy Eights Tops 1k

The 2nd Super XL Series of 2016 began  on Saturday with the $100k guaranteed Crazy Eights event, a tournament that followed the same structure as the WSOP 2016 event of the same name.

Open the suitcase!

A total of 991 players generated a $133,440 prize pool and it was tispengoff from Russia who took the main prize of almost $25,000.

No deal was agreed on at the final table so tispengoff got the full first-prize payout.

Top 3 Split $130,000

The biggest tournament yet as far as prize money was Event #5, the $160 Opening Event.

$300,000 was guaranteed and it attracted 1,603 players who shared a prize pool of over $350,000.

The top three players cashed $130,000 between them and it was Michael “AcesJoker88” Acevedo from Costa Rica who won his largest online cash yet with almost $60,000.

Behind him on the podium were Eijseijs from Sweden and BYLIA from Canada. Eijseijs has over $2 million in online winnings and is ranked number 28 in the global ranking list of pocketfives.com.

BYLIA is Alex Bylicki from Vancouver, Canada, who already had one cash over $30k. He’s one of the top 50 players in the whole Great White North.

Final-Table Payouts

1

Michael AcesJoker88 Acevedo

Costa Rica

$59,283

2

eijseijs

Sweden

$42,190

3

Alexander BYLIA Bylicki

Canada

$32,292

4

Caz_91

Brazil

$22,815

5

IRLsucks

Sweden

$16,672

6

Regu_1_Lator

GB

$13,338

7

Sura23

Australia

$10,003

8

6514834

NL

$6669

9

preyondaline

GB

$3790

Mini-Opener Booms with 4,428

The largest player field so far was in the event that directly followed the Opening Event - the Mini Opening Event.

With a $50,000 guarantee, 4,428 players registered to balloon the prize pool up over $62,000. Just as in the main opening event, the first prize went to Latin America.

Watch for this gent in High Roller.

Nathan “boxcarhobo” Singer is an American player now based in Panama. He has $1.5 million to his name and just added another $8k.

The last two players agreed on a deal which ensured both of them a payout of at least $7,600. Sweet_Dr34ms, who came second, only days ago won “The Octopus” on 888poker for another $10k.

Overall the fields for this edition of the Super XL Series have been larger than expected. Even the high buy-in $600 “The Whale” attracted 535 players.

The series continues today with Omaha and Snap events while Tuesday will see the $2,100 high roller tournament where 888 pros Dominik Nitsche, Chris Moorman and Sofia Lövgren will be in the field.

Satellites are running 24/7 and the Super XL series carries on for another week. If you don’t have an account yet at 888poker, click through to our review page and start your own with up to $888 in extra cash.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a Klondike beard, an affinity for magic and the afternoon poker news feature table eating out of your hand.

Have a tip for a future edition of the 3-Bet? Drop us a comment in the, err, comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a couple of ESPN villains loved by the cameras, Viktor Blom reminds us he can play and poker's premier rap artist back in the game.

1) Will, Alex Make it Awkward

Last week we finally got to see the ESPN footage from the 2016 WSOP Main Event for the first time and, as always, it delivered the goods.

Just keeps talking.

Among many first-day (aka Day 4) highlights, UK solicitor and "speech play" advocate William Kassouf - aka WSOP Villain #1 - made his on-screen debut to both rave reviews and hisses & boos.

This week the intensity turned up another notch as the field got smaller, Kassouf's famed taunting penalty hit the air and the WSOP found an equally polarizing counterpart to Kassouf - Austin's Alex Keating - to play villain #2.

To rip a page from NYC's finest club reviewer Stefon, this double episode of WSOP goodness had everything.

Sets-over-sets, awkward clock calls, close-up magic, brutal rivers, magic Dragons, embarrassing mis-clicks and a delightful does of Sweden's Per Linde.

For serious. We love Per Linde. Watch it all below (quickly, before it disappears!):

2) Viktor Blom Can Still Make a Run

If you saw the headline "Isildur1 Spin-Up" five years ago you'd immediately click on it and expect to read a tale of an epic 72-hour session at $500/$1,000 where he ran 200k up to $4m, lost $6m and then ran it back to a $1.5m profit.

How we picture every Isildur1 run.

Or similar, anyway.

These days, things are a little different for the hands-down Top 5 online poker player of all-time.

His swings have mostly been in the downward direction, although in much more modest proportions to his heyday as he's only down around 3/4 of a million for the year.

Make no mistake, though, Blom is still a threat to run up a roll or bink a tournament at any time. He proved it again last night with a 3rd-place finish (and $72k) payday in WCOOP Event #55, $530 NL Hold'em.

It might not be a glory score of yore but it was certainly enough to remind poker fans he's still got game. Also, showing old habits die hard, it was enough to get him right back into the $400/$800 8-Game games this morning.

Read the full write up of his nice WCOOP run right here.

3) Pragress & Aida Have Hazy Eyez

We can't watch the WSOP Main Event on ESPN without "Poker is Fun, For Everyone" bouncing around in our heads so it's fitting as the ME begins its march to the Nov. 9 poker rap's progenitor has a new record out to accompany it.

Well, not exactly "accompany" it per se. It's (sadly) not about poker.

But you can tell Prahlad Freidman - aka Spirit Rock, one of the preeminent online poker players in history -  clearly takes his craft (and his weed) quite seriously:

The new album is called Rider and you can buy it (and individual tracks) on iTunes here.

If you haven't locked up your 2016 Battle of Malta seat yet, now's the time to do it.

Live satellites at the BOM venue, the Casino Portomaso, have been running for four weeks now and they just keep on coming.

Over 20 main event seats are still sitting out there for the taking and three more special satellites are running over the next few weeks.

This week will see a special bounty event where five BOM representatives take part and each bounty you win gives you a raffle ticket with the BOM main event on the line.

Play the BOM for a Fraction of the Price

All the satellites take place in the Casino Portomaso and start at 8 PM. They run every Tuesday and, starting in October, also on Saturdays. The buy-in for any satellite is €55+5.

Tomorrow's (Tuesday, September 20) satellite will start at 8 PM with the above-mentioned bounties up for grabs and an extra 2k chips added to your starting stack for registering via Facebook.

One week later there’ll be another satellite and this one will have two tickets for the Siege of Malta Second Chance Tourney added.

On October 1 things turn up a notch. The winner won't get a ticket for the main but for the Grandmaster High Roller event.

This satellite is followed by 4 tournaments at the Portomaso Casino which will all guarantee 5 tickets to the main event.

Don't Wait for Day 1A!

There will be 14 satellites overall so there’s plenty of opportunity to your way into the massive value Main Event.

And if you can, don’t wait for the last satellites held on Day 1A of the Main. Last year there were 389 players in it and it almost busted the capacity of our secondary poker floor.

Those who’re lucky enough to live in Malta can also win their ticket through the leaderboard.

We have 10 tickets for pretty much all the events there’ll be, from the high roller to the PLO Knight’s Crusade, amounting to around €4,000!

Time is running fast and if you don’t have your Battle of Malta main event ticket yet, win it for a fraction on location.

BOM Live Satellite Schedule

Date          

Special feature

Bonus

Sept 20

5 bounties to be won

2k chips extra for FB reg

Sept 27

2 tickets to the “Siege”

2k chips extra for FB reg

Oct 1

Winner play the HR event

2k chips extra for FB reg

Oct 4

5 ME tickets guaranteed

2k chips for punctuality

Oct 8

5 ME tickets guaranteed

2k chips for punctuality

Oct 11

5 ME tickets guaranteed

2k chips for punctuality

Oct 15

5 ME tickets guaranteed

2k chips for punctuality

You can find the complete schedule including level times and starting stacks on our BOM satellite schedule page.

After an up-and-down first half of the season that saw a long haul of online play, the launch of the signature Cube and the debut of Aaron Paul, among other things, the Global Poker League picks up again today after a six-week summer break.

Games are back online with a slate of 6-max action that includes Liv Boeree, Kitty Kuo, Jason Mercier, Byron Kaverman, Xuan Liu, Maria Ho, Dominik Nitsche and Alex Luneau.

Two rounds of 6-max SnGs will run in each Conference today followed by three heads-up matches each on Wednesday and Thursday.

You can follow the action as usual on the Global Poker League Twitch channel but now you can stream the games on the GPL's new iOS and Android app as well.

You can also now sport the colors of your favorite team as the GPL's online merchandise shop is online and taking orders.

Boothby and Little In

As you might already know, several changes have been made by GPL CEO Alex Dreyfus and his team heading into the last stretch of the inaugural season.

Ready to put the cans on.

Animated commentators from the first half of the season, Sam Grafton and Griffin Benger, won’t be back in the booth for the online games this time around.

Benger is obviously preoccupied with his spot in the 2016 WSOP November Nine but Grafton might come back at some point.

“Hopefully I will work with GPL again in the future," Grafton told PokerListings, "but no firm plans at the moment.”

A rotating series of commentators is in for the second part of the GPL season with Jonathan Little, experienced pro, author of several books and host of countless poker seminars, stepping in with his acclaimed commentary.

Little will guest for two weeks beside Roland Boothby, who will host alongside studio hosts Eric Danis and Laura Cornelius.

Hats and Apps

Two significant additions are also now live for GPL Season 1.

Brand new and eagerly awaited by many, if you go by the surveys done by the GPL during the WSOP, is the GPL fan shop.

You can now buy caps, hoodies and official team jerseys for all 12 GPL teams. Caps are $25, jerseys $40 and hoodies $90. You can get the hoodies and jerseys in five different sizes.

Check for the fan shop button on the homepage of the Global Poker League to have a closer look.

The second step the GPL has taken to attract and bind is the development of an app for iPhones, iPads and Android.

The app is now available for free and, on top of being able to follow the games from anywhere, you can also become a member to unlock free strategy and video content.

Six More Weeks Online, Vegas Playoffs

The online games will run as before from Tuesdays to Thursdays and will go until the end of October.

After a one month hiatus the play-offs and finals will take place in The Cube at the GPL studio in Las Vegas from November 29 to December 1.

The Top 4 teams in each conference will make the playoffs and the final 2 will square off in the Cube to decide the first-ever GPL Champion.

The Montreal Nationals and Moscow Wolverines currently lead the Americas and EurAsia Conferences, respectively.

The winning team will share $100,000 in prize money. You can tune in to watch the GPL on twitch.tv/gpl.

The record for biggest poker score ever streamed live on Twitch just keeps on growing - and it's mostly Doug "WCG|Rider" Polk to credit for it.

Polk did it again last night as he live streamed his deep run in the WCOOP NLHE 8-Max High Roller, finally making a deal three-handed before finishing as the runner-up for $455,000.

Polk also held the Twitch record at $162k before briefly ceding the crown to PokerStars player "SolidPenis," who won €250,000 in a €25 Spin 'N Go in July. 

UK pro Phil "Grindation" McAllister continued his huge rise up the ranks this year by collecting the extra $71,200, the official WCOOP title and $584,415.23.

McAllister hit a royal flush in a huge hand and finished third in the PCA Main Event in January for $356,020.

€urop€an on a Roll

Finnish online pro €urop€an also continued his nice run of the past couple weeks with a third-place finish last night.

Superb year for McAllister continues.

He made waves last week when he brokered a three-handed deal in the $1,575 Super Tuesday Special for $297,450. That deal gave him more than the original first-place money of $292,450.

Given his good fortune in that deal he was more generous in this one, conceding an extra percent to Polk to make the deal happen.

This time around he collected $459,529.71, making for a particularly impressive week. Subscribe to Polk's Twitch channel and you can watch the full replay of the final-table playdown.

Complete results and payouts for WCOOP-53:

WCOOP-53 ($10,300 NL Hold'em 8-Max, High-Roller) results

Total entries: 356 (278 entries, 78 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,560,000.00
Places paid: 39

1. Phillip "Grindation" McAllister (Mexico) $584,415.23*
2. Doug "WCG|Rider" Polk (Australia) $455,000.00*
3. €urop€an (Finland) $459,529.71*
4. Alexandros "mexican222" Kolonias (United Kingdom) $263,731.20
5. LLinusLLove (Switzerland) $194,561.47
6. ShefanHilaly (United Kingdom) $143,532.79
7. Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen (Costa Rica) $105,887.92
8. Keven "Stammdogg" Stammen (Canada) $78,116.36

*denotes a three-way deal

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is an in-house sushi chef, a NASA-worthy grind room and all the basic afternoon poker news math needed to stack some major donks.

Have something you'd like to see in a future 3-Bet? Drop us a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find the online poker TV show we've always wanted, a mini-WCOOP run from the gods and a gaggle of GPL stars back in action.

1) 'Let's Go Stack Some Donks'

Is this the TV show about online poker we've all been waiting for? With the Silicon Valley vibe and incredible look of the trailer ... it just might be.

"An Original Series About Hitting It Big," Luckboxes is Bet Raise Fold director Ryan Firpo's new scripted comedy series about two brothers trying to save their childhood home from foreclosure via online poker circa 2009.

Executive Producers include no less than Jason Somerville. Here's the backstory:

"In 2013, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Ryan Firpo directed BET RAISE FOLD, a feature-length documentary about the rise and fall of the online poker industry.

"He was exposed to an eccentric subculture of former athletes and computer nerds who won and lost millions of dollars on a weekly basis playing online poker - all before their 21st birthdays.

"Upon completion, he began developing a scripted comedy series inspired by the bizarre characters and wild stories he experienced along the way. LUCKBOXES is a fictitious re-telling of the 'online poker story' filled with fortune, fame, humor and heart.

"LUCKBOXES is being developed as a 30-minute comedy series for streaming/cable. The pilot was completed in September, 2016 (total run-time: 28 min)."

We really, really hope this becomes a thing. Props for the great online poker nods in the character names too including Ariel (aka FoxwoodsFiend), durp and Cates. Click below to watch the trailer; watch a few more clips here:

2) Ethanolol Outruns 30,000, Goes Back-to-Back in Mini-WCOOP

Ever outrun almost 19,000 players in an online tournament of any sort, in any era? How about 12,000, even? 

How about doing both in events you registered within 90 minutes of each other?

That's the almost incomprehensible reality for PokerStars player ethanolol, aka Iwan Robert, a 34-year-old nurse from France, who did exactly that last week.

Robert bought into mini-WCOOP Events #27 and #28 and, unbelievably, won both to collect $15,000 on $13 in buy-ins. 

He won Event #27, a $2 buy-in (!) over 18,856 players for $3,500+ and Event #28, an $11 buy-in with just under 12k players for over $11k after a deal.

Kaboom! Here's PokerStars pro Jason Somerville's reaction:

Here's how Robert described it to the PokerStars blog:

"I ran like Jesus. I was in the zone. Nothing could reach me. A very strange feeling."

Sounds about right. Except that Jesus probably doesn't even run that good. Read Iwan's full story here.

3) Maria + Kitty + Xuan + Jason + Byron + Scott

The Global Poker League resumed its inaugural season this morning with some new tweaks and a solid pair of 6-Max matches won by Berlin Bear Dominik Nitsche and Hong Kong Star Guo Dong, respectively.

The second set of matches, this time in the Americas Conference, is about to fire up and will feature a gaggle of stars that include two Battle of Malta favs in Maria Ho and Kitty Kuo along with the legend Jason Mercier, high-roller and WPT crusher Byron Kaverman and Easy Gamer Xuan Liu.

Also: There will be Scott Ball! Watch the action on the newly designed GPL table by clicking the pic below:

This November, the 2016 Battle of Malta will deliver big-field, low buy-in action along with side tournaments and a full schedule of player parties.

Reserve your seat now with one of three different BOM packages.

The Battle of Malta plays out at the Portomaso Casino, backdropped by the beautiful Mediterranean, and there's nowhere better for a poker holiday in November.

Say goodbye to whatever you'd usually be doing and take a trip to Malta for warm weather, good times and a shot at a massive €500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Click here to reserve your package now and watch the new promo video to see for yourself what makes Battle of Malta Europe's hottest low buy-in poker event.

Three Levels of BOM Packages

PokerListings.com is offering three levels of BOM packages to suit every bankroll.

VIP Package - €1,459

Economy Package - €900

Friends Package – 2 Players: €2,259, 3 Players: €2,859

Go to the Battle of Malta page for more information and to reserve your seat.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a zip of the lips, a mimed air-fold and 25 mins to think things over in the afternoon poker news sin bin.

Have something you'd like to see featured in a 3-Bet? Let us know in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find an Aaron Paul injection for the GPL, internet justice for William Kassouf and a new door into the staking game.

1) Aaron Paul Meets 6-Max

The Global Poker League returned to action yesterday with some new tweaks, some stellar 6-Max action and a new commentary team in Jonathan Little and Roland Boothby.

Can summer magic return?

Despite the presence of superstars Jason Mercier and Maria Ho, who each won matches, along with Kitty Kuo, Xuan Liu, Byron Kaverman and Liv Boeree, viewership was fairly modest -- although the potential is clearly there for a surge as the season carries forward.

Heads-up matches are underway today with Timothy Adams already sweeping Wayne Zhang, Anatoly Filatov and George Danzer about to square off and Justin Bonomo and Dominik Nitsche battling in the nightcap.

Next week's 6-Max action, though, will be a good litmus test for the GPL's potential as its prize celeb - LA Sunset member Aaron Paul - will be back for his first go at 6-Max.

If the buzz around his Cube appearance this summer can be regenerated, next week's stream numbers might be a GPL high-water mark.

Watch all the action today, tomorrow and in the near future right here.

2) DNegs on Penalty: "Horrified by Unjust Ruling"

Effel out of line?

While ESPN is doing its best to paint UK speech play aficionado Will Kassouf as this year's Main Event bad guy, there are more than a few people who feel like he's been unjustly vilified.

At the very least, anyway, they feel his one-round penalty for taunting Stacy Matuson was unwarranted.

Chief among them?

Fellow speech play practitioner Daniel Negreanu, who tweeted his dismay and will follow up with a podcast about it tomorrow:

Just saw the penalty against Will Kassouf. Absolutely horrified by the unjust ruling of a one round penalty. So many things wrong with it.

Even worse at the end of the hand shaming the guy who had every right to call the clock. Floorman comment was totally out of line.

I thought Stacy Maduson's post hand behavior towards the clock caller was infinitely worse than the behavior of Kassouf.

 More than a few people agreed with Daniel:

@WilliamKassouf rightly being judged as in the right on this issue by most people #freekassouf https://t.co/g079Uj557C

@WilliamKassouf Since when we're not allowed to even move at the poker table...#JackEffelouttaLine

@Kevmath @SportsTVRatings The @WilliamKassouf Effect..... And the really bad 1 round penalty debate.. #SoWrong

 Watch the replay of the controversial hand at the beginning of Episode 4 here. What's your take?

3) Connect, Stake, Learn and Earn

Ever watch one of your favorite poker players on TV and think "Man, I wish I had a share of that guy."?

Now you can!

Stake Kings is "the most exclusive global poker community and staking platform in the world" and gives you - humble, mild, on-the-couch poker fan, you - a chance to have a piece of (and profit from) some of the best poker pros in the world.

There are 3 ways to get in the action: fixed-bid listings, auction listings and multi-way auction listings. Need it all explained? Check the intro video below:

Among the amazing list of pros you can buy a share of include new Stake Kings poster child Antonio Esfandiari, 2x $50k Players Championship winner Brian Rast, Jeff Gross, Jonathan Little, Chris Hunichen, Rupert Elder and Xuan Liu.

That's a very good list. Find out more here.

A £1 million payout on just a £550 buy-in?

That's the dream one lucky (and good) partypoker player will live with the return of the partypoker Millions, announced today.

Originally launched in 2001 the partypoker Millions was a staple of the poker economy back in the day and now it will return in all its glory this October.

The total guaranteed prize pool is £5,000,000 with an exact £1,000,000 guaranteed to the winner next April, making it truly a life-changing tournament for a low-stakes player.

Multi-Venue, Multi-National

Dusk Till Dawn will host.

The partypoker Millions is a mixed online and live event with one universal buy-in of £500+£50.

Online Day 1s will begin at partypoker on Tuesday, October 4, 2016. Your £550 buy-in will get you a 100,000-chip starting stack.

Live Day 1s will also play out at the famed Dusk Till Dawn card room in England, other card rooms across the UK and even a few various spots around the globe.

Once all the Day 1s are completed Days 2a, 2b, and 2c will run both online at partypoker and live at Dusk Till Dawn.

Players can carry their chips through from any Day 1 they've finished with chips or can buy-in directly for Day 2 at the increased cost of £5,300 for 1,000,000 chips.

If either of those buy-ins are too big for your bankroll, satellites for Day 1 buy-ins are already underway at partypoker starting as low as $0.01.

£550 Bonus for 100 Early Birds

Knows good poker value when he sees it.

To celebrate the re-launch of the partypoker MILLIONS a couple of special promotions are on offer for any early adopters.

The first 100 players to progress to Day 2 will get a straight-up cash bonus of £550 which can be used for travel and expenses.

Players at the upcoming Caribbean Poker Party in Punta Cana in November can also get in to the Millions action directly onsite with two Day 1s and a Day 2 scheduled to play.

Any players that get to Day 3 will rake in a $1,500 cash bonus.

“I am absolutely thrilled to host and bring back the partypoker MILLIONS in its original format," says legendary partypoker spokeman Mike Sexton, "with £1,000,000 guaranteed to the winner.

"This multi-venue, live and online event gives players the chance to qualify all over the world and win a share of the huge £5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.

"This will be THE event of 2017 which I will not be missing and means a lot to me as this is how my partypoker journey started.”

If you've yet to create an account at partypoker, check our review for more info and download the software to access our exclusive up to $500 bonus.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a sack of rice, a bit of soy sauce and a surprisingly good recipe for bagged afternoon poker news smoked trout.

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop us a line in the comments about it.

Today in the 3-Bet we the king of heads-up poker returns, Daniel Negreanu and Will Kassouf get into it and David Williams reveals the secret to poker life.

1) Busquet Battles FDawg

If you followed the heads-up matches so far in GPL Season 1 you know LA Sunset member Olivier Busquet was the go-to HU stud for his team.

He knows you know.

Watching Busquet play heads-up is a like watching the gold-medal Canadian Hockey team at the Sochi Olympics - just wave-after-wave of relentless, high-end play that perpetually puts opponents on their heels.

With 39 points over 7 matches he was a principal reason (along with Fedor Holz, ofc) the Sunset rolled into the second half of the season 2nd in the Americas Conference.

The HU king is back in action looking to jump LA over the Conference-leading Montreal Nationals today as he faces MTL Manager Marc-Andre Ladouceur - a HU boss in his own right.

Action is live right now; check it out here. Stick around for two more great HU battles - Tom Marchese vs. Byron Kaverman and Jake Cody v. Jonathan Jaffe - afterwards.

If you want a window into just how Olivier does it, check his 4-hour webinar on HU strategy with Jonathan Little right here.

2) Kassouf: Told Speech Play "Too Advanced for WSOP Rules"

If you watched the 2016 WSOP Main Event coverage on ESPN this past weekend you know the hand heard 'round the world was William Kassouf v. Stacy Matuson.

Let them speak.

Long story short, Kassouf put Matuson to the test for her tournament life and teetered very close to crossing the line/breaking the rules with his "speech play."

The end result was Kassouf getting a 1-orbit penalty from WSOP TD Jack Effel, Matuson folding and busting shortly after when her Aces got outrun by KJ.

It was a memorable hand by all estimations regardless of which side of the love-or-hate Kassouf coin you land on.

We mentioned Daniel Negreanu coming out in support of Kassouf on Twitter yesterday and today he goes one better by actually having Kassouf on his podcast and discussing it in detail. 

Among the more interesting new bits of information, at least according to Kassouf, is he was later threatened with a 3-orbit penalty and also told by Effel his "speech play was too advanced for the WSOP rules." Listen to the podcast below starting at 27:40; stick around for the awesome stories of Mori Eskandari and Daniel's take on the HoF nominations too!

3) Williams: "All You Gotta Do is Just Bag"

Want to know the secret to making the final of MasterChef (and, incidentally, figuring out optimal poker tournament strategy?)

All you gotta do is bag, man. Check our Williams' inside take on how the MasterChef finale went down, his legacy in poker and more in this epic 3-hour(!) chat with Joe Ingram. (Note: Salty language involved)

Two years ago, just before the 2014 World Series of Poker, we interviewed Dominik Nitsche at EPT San Remo.

We talked about his rise up the ranks in the game, his relentless travel schedule, his new home in Edinburgh and his views on the current and future state of the game of poker.

It included this assessment of where his and poker's future lay:

"What can I say? Everybody still sucks at poker. That includes me, I’m just a little less bad than most of the others.

"The reason for this situation is that people have the wrong approach to poker. They consider it a game of egos, where they have to start a levelling war every single hand."

"Things are not going to change until people change their mind sets and find a more mathematical approach ... The future belongs to players like me, who work mainly on mathematical factors like position, stack size and bet size."

Fast forward to now and Nitsche has clearly fulfilled his own prophecy. He won two more WSOP bracelets that summer to make him the youngest 3-time WSOP bracelet winner ever.

In the Summer of 2015 he signed a deal as a sponsored pro for 888poker and since has racked up six-figure score after six-figure score.

He's the go-to stud for the Global Poker League's Berlin Bears, plays in the biggest High Roller events around the world and streams a lot of his online action live on Twitch to a score of rabid fans.

Recently he turned the camera on himself and had his fans ask him anything in a lengthy video Q+A; we've collected some of the best below.

Q: What’s your average buy-in?

DN: The lowest tournaments on 888 that I play are the $109 tournaments. I guess the average is about $200. Live it may be around ten times that.

Q: Will you be streaming on Twitch?

DN: Yes, pretty soon. I’ll do sessions every now and again, like in big tournaments or if I spin a jackpot at BLAST.

Q: Please recount how you played a hand really badly?

DN: I’ve played hands badly, although I might not have thought so at the time. Every poker player makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.

Q: Is online poker a fix?

DN: No. Play on a reputable website, and you don’t need to worry.

Q: What’s your limit and how long have you been playing for?

DN: I’ve been playing for about 10 years. Online I play $5/$10 up to $500/$1000, where there sometimes are crazy games.

In live tournaments I play from about $1,000 up to $100,000 but these don’t run on a regular basis.

Q: Is recreational drug use common amongst online poker players?

DN: Yes. There is a lot of weed around, and some other drugs, too. People like the Burning Man crowd are often all about enlightenment.

When I started with online poker many players were smoking weed. I don’t see how they do it, though. How can you play your best when you’re high?

It certainly wouldn’t work for me so I don’t use any drugs, but when other people do it I don’t mind.

Q: Is poker a game of luck?

DN: If it was, why don’t you just go out and get a bracelet? Of course in a single tournament, in a single hand, there’s always luck involved, but when you’re talking about the game of poker, it isn’t.

Q: What’s your favourite poker hand?

DN: Strictly speaking it has to be aces, because I like to win and this is the best hand. Actually, if your favourite hand is something else you should probably check the games and maybe play 2-7 or something.

Q: Can you make $100k a year playing 50c/$1?

DN: I haven’t played on that level for a long time but I don’t think that’s possible. Maybe on $1/$2 or $2/$4.

Q: What’s your advice for making money in poker in 2016?

DN: Pick up a good book on Pot-Limit Omaha, learn the game and aim to move up to $2/$4 or $3/$6. PLO is currently the best game online.

The action is better than in Hold’em, the players are worse. Let’s say your goal is $100k. I can’t see that happening for you in Hold’em, but in PLO it’s definitely possible.

Plus you can always play your No Limit games on the side. I recommend to move away from the multi-table grind and move up to the more skilled level of play. It’s better for your development.

Q: Sofia Lövgren often posts pictures of herself with large cash game chip stacks.

DN: Yes - I don’t know how she does it either. Every time she plays she has piles of chips. Sofia is a sick player, and cash games are her best game.

I assume she sits down at a $5/$10 table with enough to cover the fish and then tries to bust him. After that, she takes it from there.

Q: Do you cheat?

DN: I don’t. I don’t run good enough to cheat. If I was cheating, I’d be a pretty bad cheater.

Q: Do you swap?

DN: I do, but only with players who I think are on my level or very close. But swapping is a business decision. You should never swap with someone because they’re your friend.

If you think you’re better than them, then why would you accept a swap when you could just buy their action for less money?

Q: How do you prepare for big tournaments like the XL series?

DN: I don’t do much preparation but it’s important to adjust your sleeping rhythm. If your tournament starts at 8 PM, you don’t want to be tired at two in the morning because the big decisions are still two or three hours ahead.

Being well-rested is important to me to play good poker.

Q: What event are you looking forward to at the 888 festival in London?

DN: The £2,000 high roller, because I like the higher buy-ins. But the main event will also be a lot of fun as there will be an $888 bounty on my head and I intend to keep it along with the money for first prize.

Q: What’s been your longest online session?

DN: Not as long as for many others. I remember playing 15 hours in a crazy online game with a recreational guy, I think some Russian millionaire, who had infinite money.

He lost a lot that night, and I won, so that was great.

Q: What was your worst beat?

DN: There are too many to tell. I remember a funny one from the €50k in Barcelona. I got it all-in with Q-J on a board J-5-3-7 and someone called with A-Q.

I don’t know why he did that, because he’s a really good player. Anyway, the dealer slams an ace on the river and I was out of a 50k event.

Q: A poker website you’d recommend?

DN: Runitonce.com.

Q: What poker website do you dislike?

DN: Tracking sites like Pokertableratings. I think they’re terrible for the game and I’m glad that 888 got rid of it.

Let’s say someone makes a bad play and gets lucky. Seconds later they get shouted at by someone who’s read how much they lost.

Q: Your advice for beginners?

DN: Don’t be afraid to start very low and work your way up. Study hard and realize it’s mostly hard work.

If you’re talented and catch a break here and there, you’ll make it. And never blame anything on your luck. Nothing good will ever come out of it.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a contentious election, a quick Twitter trigger and a growing chasm splitting the afternoon poker news continents apart.

Got a tip for a future edition of the 3-Bet? Tell us where to find it in the comments below.

Today in the 3-Bet we find an electrifying challenge for Phil Hellmuth, heated tweets from Doyle Brunson and Vanessa Selbst and a must-watch WPT Borgata live stream.

1) $100k, Taser & a Raw Egg?

So, this could be interesting.

ALL I want in my life is the following... Heads up match w @phil_hellmuth for a 100k AND the winner gets to shoot the loser w a taser gun.

Come on @phil_hellmuth wouldn't you LOVE To shoot me w a taser gun?!?! Offer on the table until the day I die.

Yo @MagicAntonio, I'm close to accepting! Wait till the folks see our new show "Final Table" where you crack a raw egg on my forehead!!

 This, maybe not quite as much ... 

I am one of the guys judging Monday's Presidential Debate for @TheStreet. Who won, what tactics were used, and why? #PresidentialPolitics

2) The Revolution Will Be Twitterized

It's not surprising the ongoing US election has dramatically illustrated how different poker players can feel politically (see. Daniel Negreanu v. Mike Matusow, for example).

It's also made it pretty clearly poker's best and brightest won't humor old school, political grandstanding - no matter where it comes from:

@TexDolly You're just like the rest of the ignorant masses. Recycling talking points, making assertions, avoiding actual facts and logic.

@TexDolly I haven't followed you for a long time. And yeah, paying 100k = welching. I doubt u want to start a debate about ethics in poker.

Goodbye and good luck. You are going to need it.@blockison https://t.co/88p3ywSse4

@TexDolly @Erik_Seidel if you want to compare volume of lies, then you need to be consistent over the time period you make comparison

I didn't shit on what's her name. What are you talking about? She brought up ethics. Said I wouldn't like it...Geeeeeez https://t.co/0jrouTevLK

@Liv_Boeree @Erik_Seidel And the 320k I'm going to win doesn't influence me at all:-))). Talk about ethics....haha

@TexDolly @Erik_Seidel yup, thats fucking despicable. how hypocritical of you to shit on Vanessa about ethics.

@TexDolly @Erik_Seidel she works her butt off for charity & trying to make a fairer justice system. Take a long hard look in the mirror.

3) Jattin, Sylvia Stream for $821k at WPT Borgata

They're just about ready to split up $2 million at the WPT Borgata final table in Atlantic City with Colombia's Farid Jattin in the chip lead and former WSOP November Niner Jesse Sylvia chasing.

Even better, it'll all be live streamed on a 30-minute delay on WPT.com and Twitch.tv starting at 4:30 pm ET.  Hole cards will be shown and commentary will be provided from Kane Kalas, Jamie Kerstetter, Michael Gagliano and Nick Binger.

Watch it below:

In poker, if you can narrow down your opponent's range while keeping your own range wide, you can do almost anything.

In our feature hand this week French Winamax pro Gaëlle Baumann has a pretty good hand deep in the Main Event and knows her opponent is often bluffing in this spot.

Still, there’s nothing she can do about it.

Flop to River

It’s Day 5 of the 2016 WSOP Main Event with 221 players left racing for a spot at the final table and the main prize of $8 million.

Baumann, who made headlines when she finished 10th in the main event in 2012, is in early position and finds    

She’s just won a nice pot and stacked up to 2.4 million chips (100 bb). The blinds are 12k/24k/4k and she raises to 55k.

On the button, Jason Strasser (1.1 million chips; 46 bb) calls as does Jason McConnon (2.3 million; 96 bb) in the big blind. McConnon has 6-1 pot odds. There's 213,000 in the pot and the flop falls      

McConnon checks; so do Baumann and Strasser. Pot size is still 213,000 as they go to the turn  

McConnon bets 128,000. Baumann calls and Strasser folds J♣ J♥. Pot size is now 469,000 and both players have more than two million chips behind. The river is the   

McConnon bets 775,000, which is more than 1.5 times the pot. Baumann thinks it over and then folds her hand with a little smirk. She actually had the best hand as McConnon held    

Watch the hand play out in the video below. It starts at 28m.

Break Down

By investing 31,000 and making a smart move, McConnon was able to extend his stack by more than 300,000 -- even though Baumann had the better hand.

Let’s take a closer look at how he did it.

Pre-flop, Baumann makes a rather loose raise from early position. She has a suited ace but the kicker is not very good and she could easily be dominated.

Strasser calls on the button with jacks. We know he had jacks, but for Baumann his range has a lot more pairs, suited connectors, Broadway hands and A-X hands in it.

McConnon’s range is even wider. He gets 6-1 pot odds in the big blind so he can call with almost any hand.

Way Ahead or Way Behind

After the A♠ 8♠ 8♦ flop Baumann finds herself in a common situation. She’s either way ahead against pairs or Broadway hands or she’s way behind versus a better ace or an eight.

There's a flush draw on the board but flushes are rare and there aren’t many two-spade hands in either player’s ranges.

When McConnon checks the flop Baumann does the right thing and checks behind. There’s no reason for her to bet as there are very few hands worse than hers that could call.

Strasser on the button doesn’t like the flop at all as he can beat neither an ace nor an eight.

Consequently, he also checks, hoping the hand gets checked through all the way.

McConnon Takes a Stab

McConnon doesn’t find anything on the board but when it’s checked around on the flop he goes for plan B. He bets 128,000 into the pot of 213,000, signalling that he has at least an ace.

If no one else has an ace, he might win the pot right there. Bauman can’t just fold, of course. Her check on the flop was partly hoping to induce a bluff and maybe win some extra chips.

She calls, and that’s hand over for Strasser. With a bet and a call he realizes that his jacks can’t be the best hand anymore. There's now 469,000 in the pot. It’s quite a sizeable pot.

A Final Twist on the River

Baumann’s call tells McConnon that she's hit the board. The most likely hands in her range are an ace with a strong kicker like A-K, A-Q or A-J.

Apart from these hands, plus the two unlikely monster hands pocket aces and A-8, McConnon can rule out almost any other hand as Baumann called the turn with Strasser sitting behind her.

Baumann’s range isn’t ultimately clear but 90% of it is top pair, mediocre kicker.

How do you win the pot against a hand like this if you have nothing? With a brutal overbet!

McConnon has the range of his opponent figured out and he knows what to do. He bets 775,000 into a pot of 469,000.

Baumann can’t really call here as the big blind may well have an eight or even a full house.

Baumann realizes there's a high chance McConnon's bluffing but she just can’t do anything against it as he would play a monster the same way.

At the end of the day McConnon makes a nice bluff that benefitted from the stack sizes, too. He didn’t have to risk his tournament life and was still able to go after a sizeable pot.

Conclusion

Jason McConnon makes a spot-on analysis of his opponent’s range and exploits it to win the hand with nothing.

Gaëlle Baumann’s hands are tied. Her opponent’s range is polarized but has too many eights in it, so the odds just don't justify a call.

When you've won $5.2m and finished runner-up in the WSOP Main Event before, it's hard to imagine ever being able to top it.

Winning a WPT title over a massive field of 1,179 entries and pocketing another $821,811 might be a close second.

2012 WSOP Main Event runner-up Jesse Sylvia claimed his first career tournament title earlier this weekend at the WPT Borgata Poker Open with an impressive final-table performance.

Not only did he beat talented pro Zach Gruneberg heads-up, he overcame the enormous chip lead of Farid Jattin who headed into the final six with almost 50% of the chips in play.

Nothing went Jattin's way, however, and Sylvia capitalized, earning his second-biggest career score and putting his name back up on the poker marquee four years after his turn in the November Nine.

Jattin Fizzles Fast

Narrowly missing becoming poker's world champion in 2012 when he finished runner-up to Greg Merson, Sylvia made no mistake in this one.

Been there before.

He started the final table by tripling up in a big, three-way all-in before doubling again through Jattin shortly after to grab the chip lead. 

Check this cool 360 degree video from the WPT of the big three-way all-in with Sylvia's 44 holding against two AKs.

Just 46 hands into the final table he found himself heads-up with Gruneberg and about even in chips.

It took him another 80 or so hands to put him away, losing momentum once around hand 91 before finally seizing control and wearing Gruneberg down until his J4 could outrun A2.

With no deal in place Sylvia collected the whole enchilada for first-place which included the $821k, an entry into the $15k WPT Tournament of Champions, a WPT Champions Trophy, a Hublot watch and gold Monster 24K headphones.

Gruneberg still took home an impressive $490,617 for second. Taha Maruf eanred $300,031 for third. Check the full results and payouts for the final table below:

WPT Borgata Poker Open Final Table Results

Check the WPT Live Updates for a full rundown of the action.

Season XV of the World Poker Tour continues unabated with a quick turnaround this week and WPT Maryland Live! at Maryland Live! Casino in Hanover, MD. from Oct. 1-5.

The prize pool is $1.5 million guaranteed and the main event buy-in is $3,500.

Remember that time when Dominik Nitsche struggled to go deep in poker tournaments?

We can't either.

Nitsche stormed onto the poker scene as an 18-year-old when he won LAPT Uruguay for $381k and since, well, he's pretty much done nothing but win.

He's the youngest ever to win 3 WSOP bracelets and with over $10m in combined live and online winnings he's one of the most successful players in poker.

Last night Nitsche wrote another chapter in his story when he chopped the 888poker Super XL Series Main Event for a $206,400 payday.

$1.7m Prize Pool, Three-Handed Deal

After 40 buzz-filled events - none with an overlay - 888poker can claim another online poker triumph with the Super XL Series IV.

Dom train keeps chugging.

As a fitting finale last night, the $1,050k main event wrapped things up with 1,291 players (including 400+ rebuys) generating a prize pool of $1.7 million and an official first-prize of $295,800.

The event lasted a little over 13 hours and finished at 9 AM CET this morning with a three-handed deal and a happy winner in GetLuckyAK from Canada. 

Incredibly, after winning the mini-Main Event in the last XL series, 888 team pro Nitsche made the final table of this one and came into the final table second in chips.

He wasted no time starting a Twitch live stream so his fans could rail him and he delivered with an impressive performance.

You can watch the full replay of his stream below:

The final three players ultimately made a deal that secured over $200k for each of them. Nitsche only had to give in to the two final players Sami "d144n1" Kelopuro and the eventual winner GetLuckyAK.

Third-place was originally scheduled to pay slightly over $165k so Nitsche secured a nice bonus for his eventual 3rd-place finish.

Kelopuro is a high-stakes legend from Finland and plays everything from $1 BLAST SnGs to $1k/$2k NLHE cash games. A few days before the main, he reached the final table of the $2,100 High Roller event and finished eighth.

The winner, GetLuckyAK from Canada, is not unfamiliar with the feeling of being the last player standing, either. The Canadian won both the $200k “Whale” and the $50k “Turbo Mega Deep” on 888poker last year.

Just a few days ago Nitsche explained in a Q+A session why poker is a game of skill, and last night all three proved that again.

Super XL Series Main Event - Final-Table Payout

1

GetLuckyAK

$261,215

2

d144n1

$210,810

3

888Dominik

$206,400

4

hummar

$118,320

5

konrad115

$86,130

6

flopzilla_VD

$68,730

7

nonoty

$51,330

8

sammygrinder

$33,930

9

1Ja_Cks1

$18,792

Germany Dominates High Roller

While Nitsche played a major role in the main event, two of the three players on the podium of the High Roller event hail from the same country.

ICrushu556 and Palmero92 came 1st and 3rd in Event #15, the $2,100 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed Super XL High Roller.

Those two and RyanOttoLOL from Australia shared almost $300k between them, the largest shares of the $664,000 prize pool.

It took almost 10.5 hours until the 332 players had all busted but one. All three top players celebrated their largest online cashes yet and all of them took part in a range of Super XL events.

$2,100 Super XL High Roller - Final Table Payouts

1

ICrushu556

$128,484

2

RyanOttoLOL

$96,280

3

Palmero92

$73,040

4

LOST_FAN

$54,780

5

hateVAMOS

$37,843

6

acastro11

$29,216

7

RichardGere

$22,576

8

d144n1

$15,936

9

s.janowski

$11,620

Almost 34,000 players took part in the Super XL series which easily surpassed the $4 million originally guaranteed.

With the series now ended there’s already another poker festival on the horizon except this time, it’s live.

The biggest-ever 888poker Live festival in London takes place in October and all the details can be found in that link.

If you don’t have an account at 888poker yet, go to the PokerListings review page where you’ll find the download link and our $888 sign-up bonus.