The 2016 WCOOP is hurtling to a big finish on PokerStars and it was only fitting the final weekend was dominated by some of the biggest names poker has to offer.

The biggest name among a sea of big names?

The face of PokerStars himself, Daniel Negreanu, who played exactly one WCOOP event this year - Event #71, the $2,100 HORSE Championship - and won it outright.

Not only did he win, he beat out one of the truest legends of online poker, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, heads-up to do it.

Watson, Geilich Get Paid

Negreanu v. Isildur was just one of the spectacular highlights from the weekend as big names littered the final tables across a slew of events.

Fellow Canadian Mike "SirWatts" Watson won the $10,000 8-Game event over Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky heads-up and a final table that included Matt "MUSTAFABET" Ashton, Cal "cal42688" Anderson and Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopruro.

Big score for Ludo.

Kelopuro was also busy finishing second in the 888poker Super XL Series Main Event over the weekend.

Scottish superstar Ludo Geilich took home the biggest prize of the weekend, beating an elite field in the $21,000 WCOOP PLO 6-Max High Roller.

Geilich collected a substantial $462,182.17 for winning while runner-up Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez took $355,730.97 and pretty much locked up the #1 on the overall WCOOP 2016 Leaderboard.

Check the PokerStars blog for full write-ups on each of the events; check the final-table results for the more notable ones below.

The WCOOP Main Event is currently playing down on Day 2 with about 300 players remaining. It'll wrap late tomorrow more than likely.

WCOOP-65, $700 No-Limit Hold'em (Ultra-Deep) results

Entries: 1,605 (1,061 entries, 544 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,067,325
Places paid: 206

1. Patrick "pads1161" Leonard (Hungary) $162,054.98
2. Thomas "sandman201" Tyler (Canada) $117,602.77
3. lll_HWDP_lll (Poland) $85,344.26
4. Ken "kenny05" Smaron (Costa Rica) $61,934.30
5. C.Regando (Czech Republic) $44,945.69
6. chess87 (Germany) $32,617.02
7. dirty.brasil (Canada) $23,670.17
8. zaki74 (Hungary) $17,177.42
9. RigasDinamo (Latvia) $12,465.60

WCOOP 2016: Event #70, $21,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Max, High-Roller) results

Entries: 93 (64 entries, 29 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,906,500
Places paid: 9

1. Ludovic "ludovi333" Geilich (United Kingdom) $462,182.17
2. Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez (Uruguay) $355,730.97
3. Jens "Jeans89" Kyllonen (Finland) $273,797.80
4. Dani "supernova9" Stern (Canada) $210,735.93
5. Connor "blanconegro" Drinan (Mexico) $162,198.53
6. MITS 304 (Cyprus) $124,840.47

WCOOP-71: $2,100 HORSE Championship results

Entries: 147 (34 re-entries)
Prize Pool: $294,000
Places Paid: 15

1. Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu (Canada) $61,865.47
2. Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (United Kingdom) $48,112.18
3. WTFOMFGOAO (Russia) $37,416.40
4. L1TE-BR1TE (Canada) $29,098.41
5. Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (Canada) $22,629.59
6. Kashmir_uzi (United Kingdom) $17,598.81
7. Connor "blanconegro" Drinan (Mexico) $13,686.46
8. Childers (United Kingdom) $10,643.82

WCOOP-74 ($10,300 Eight-Game Championship) results

Entries: 120 
Prize pool: $1,200,000.00 
Places paid: 11

1. Mike "SirWatts" Watson (Canada) $280,238.52
2. Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky (Canada) $212,729.16
3. Matthew "MUSTAFABET" Ashton (United Kingdom) $161,482.80
4. Calvin "cal42688" Anderson (Mexico) $122,581.68
5. Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro (Finland) $93,051.84
6. Iteopepe88 (Hungary) $70,635.72

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is an underrated fancy stats darling that’s ready to tear up the mid-afternoon poker news league with Corsi numbers that would make a math geek blush.

You can always make your own contributions to the Daily 3-Bet in the comments section below.

In today’s Daily 3-Bet we’ll take a look at Daniel Negreanu giving some political debate strategy tips, poker player/baller Paul Pierce retiring from the NBA and a racing dog named after Fedor Holz.

1) U.S. Election Debate = Heads-Up Poker

The marathon, gargantuan gong-show that is the US election is finally coming to a head with Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton set for an all-important debate tonight.

Play the player, not the cards.

Interestingly there are more than a couple similarities between a one-on-one debate and heads-up poker so Wired Magazine rang up politics-junkie Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu for some strategy talk.

Here are a few of the poker-themed tips Negreanu provided:

Meanwhile Phil Hellmuth gave TheStreet.com some tips for both candidates if you want the Poker Brat perspective.

2) Paul Pierce to Retire After Upcoming Season

Paul Pierce is set to hang them up after one last season with the LA Clippers according to a statement he released this week.

The player they call “The Truth” accumulated over 20,000 points in his career, picked up a championship with the Celtics in 2008 and was named to the All-Star team 10 times.

Of course we know Pierce as a damn good card player as well. Pierce is one of the few NBA players who has actually played WSOP events and has played both the $10,000 buy-in NLHE Main Event and even the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Championship with deep runs in both.

Might we perchance see a little more of The Truth once he’s officially done with his NBA career? Here’s hoping. 2017 WSOP get ready.

Here’s a video of Pierce by the Players’ Tribune describing why he decided to retire after the upcoming season.

3) CrownUpDog Hee Haws Fedor

The legend of Fedor Holz knows no bounds.

Now Holz is apparently getting weird spam that seems to reference the legendary Holz run-good.

Admit it, you’d put everything you own on a racing dog named Hee Haws Fedor.

Probably my favorite spam message of all time. #fedor pic.twitter.com/wDcgWydrQI

The much-anticipated return of Aaron Paul to Global Poker League action will have to wait as he's been "called in to shoot" on his new movie.

Scheduled to appear in today's 6-Max action in the Americas Conference - his online GPL debut after appearing in the Cube in Las Vegas this summer - Paul had to bow out due to demands from his new movie.

In his stead the LA Sunset will plug in a couple of their own superstars in Olivier Busquet and Chance Kornuth.

Meanwhile over in the EurAsia Conference Sam Trickett will return to action as will 2016 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Max Pescatori and 2-time $50k Poker Players Championship winner Brian Rast.

Aces on Standby

While the fans champing at the bit to see Paul step into the 6-Max arena might be disappointed, when you have 71 of the game's best players on standby the talent doesn't suffer when you need a stand-in.

In the case of Busquet he's been one of the early season MVPs of the league and will more than likely pick up more key points for the Sunset.

In the EurAsia Conference, Paris Aviators Manager Fabrice Soulier will step in for Davidi Kitai with Match 1 set to begin in about an hour.

Check the current lineups below and tune in to the Global Poker League's Twitch channel to watch all the action.

EurAsia Conference Match 1:

Live in 90 minutes from now on https://t.co/FTU5rifdIh @Samtrickett1 @maxpescatori @tsarrast @_Fabsoul_ @true_vedevas @BryanHuang_ pic.twitter.com/9SbNeILJCq

EurAsia Conference Match 2:

Match 2: pic.twitter.com/nbMAIhgWYX

Americas Conference Match 1:

In the Americas Conference: @KevinMacphee @olivierbusquet @Anton_Wigg @JonathanDuhamel @xxl23 @TheDecano pic.twitter.com/GT7PSVNaUU

Americas Conference Match 2:

Join us on https://t.co/9iVyrefoGS or download our GPL TV app. Last match of today: pic.twitter.com/Y7mgrj4f1K

In a new short poker documentary, PokerListings.com tells the story of the greatest card player who ever lived, and the greatest comeback in poker history.

Stu Ungar is the only person to have won three poker world championships. He did it in consecutive years in 1980 and '81 and a third time in 1997.

What Ungar went through in the 16 intervening years is what makes his '97 comeback so amazing.

This summer PokerListings.com interviewed the people who knew Stu Ungar best and dug deeper into one of the great legends of poker history.

Featuring Mike Sexton, Billy Baxter, Phil Hellmuth, Nolan Dalla, TJ Cloutier, Andy Black and Scotty Nguyen, Last Chance Gone Wrong is a look at a brilliant yet tragically-flawed character who got one last chance at redemption.

Watch Stu Ungar's Last Chance Gone Wrong

Greatest Poker Comeback Ever

His friends say that Ungar's career was marked by a repeating pattern.

Ungar would win vast amounts of money playing cards and then lose it betting sports and horses.

During the 1980s Ungar was the biggest action gambler in Las Vegas but as the decade came to an end, Ungar's life began unraveling.

Mike Sexton was one of Ungar's closest friends.

He had gotten married following his back-to-back Main Event wins and became close with his new stepson Richie.

In 1989 Richie committed suicide and Ungar's friends point to that tragedy as the moment Ungar lost control completely.

In 1990 Ungar was backed in the WSOP Main Event by Billy Baxter. Ungar made it to the final day but was found unconscious on the floor of his hotel room from a drug overdose when the final table began.

He was blinded out in ninth place.

From there Ungar's health and lifestyle steadily deteriorated which made it all the more amazing when he was backed once again by Baxter in the '97 Main Event which he went on to win.

Ungar and Baxter split the $1 million prize 50/50 and Ungar's friends and family hoped it might five him one last chance to turn things around.

This short documentary looks more closely at Stu Ungar's incredible story to try to understand one of the most complicated and compelling characters in poker history.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is part of a complete breakfast, along with juice and toast, that is guaranteed to give you the power to make it through the mid-afternoon poker news slog.

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In today’s Daily 3-Bet we’ll take a look at Davidi Kitai as the source for a new study, Dan Shak doing some selling and William Kassouf dominating yet another WSOP broadcast.

1) Research Doc Centers on Kitai

If you had the opportunity to dig into the mind of one poker player, Davidi Kitai wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Mind of a poker pro.

That’s the premise behind French journalist Quentin Domart’s upcoming 52-minute documentary Poker Mind.

Domart tapped CU Boulder researcher McKell Carter to try and understand what makes gives Kitai his superior decision-making abilities.

Carter is an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience and, as part of the study, had Kitai go into an MRI and play a poker game so that researchers could analyze how the brain works in such a situation.

Sadly there isn’t likely to be any decisive statements from the research about poker as there are simply too many factors at play but researchers are hoping to better understand cognitive ability.

It’s a fascinating concept and there’s more on the University of Colorado Boulder website.

Poker Mind is set to debut in 2017.

2) Dan Shak Sells Action for One Drop

It’s not often you get a chance to buy a piece of wealthy businessman/poker player Dan Shak but a €1m buy-in tournament will do funny things to the poker economy.

Shak Tweeted his intention to play the businessman-only €1m buy-in One Drop in Monte Carlo next month and even said he would be putting some of his action up for grabs.

Playing this amazing event in MC for @onedrop no pros for a good cause .Have never sold action but selling up to 50% https://t.co/srDByiTGbN

Here’s the thing though: It might be a very solid investment.

Shak has over $8.6m in lifetime live tournament earnings and is a proven shark when it comes to super high rollers with massive scores in the Aussie Millions, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and Aria Super High Roller Bowl.

Couple that with the fact Shak will be competing against businessmen only in this year’s Big One for One Drop and he might, in fact, be one of the favorites.

By the way they are officially up to 35 players in the One Drop Extravaganza.

3) William Kassouf: Relentless with a Capital R

The man they call Mr. Coconuts took center stage once again in the fresh WSOP episodes that aired on EPSN over the weekend.

Everyone knew that talkative Brit William Kassouf would play a major part in the WSOP Main Event broadcast but maybe we were underestimating just how much attention he would grab.

For the second-straight week Kassouf held the lion’s share of coverage and it’s clear he’s the runaway star of the 2016 Main Event.

Of course not everyone is a fan and Kassouf was starting to get on the nerves of some players in episodes 5 and 6 of the show. At a certain point several players started threatening to call the clock on the always vocal London native.

Check it out below:

In 2014, plucky German upstart Fedor Holz put his permanent stamp on the online poker world by winning the WCOOP Main Event for $1.3m.

Two years later, fellow German grinder Jonas "llJaYJaYll" Lauck has taken his turn at the top of the online podium.

Lauck put the icing on three long days of online play late tonight by finally topping all 1,772 entries to claim the 2016 WCOOP Main Event title and $1,517,541.

With no deal agreed upon (despite a couple of attempts), Lauck collected the entire first-place prize - although he alluded to sharing the proceeds with his backer Doug "WCGRider" Polk in the chat.

After a lengthy stretch of heads-up play, runner-up 0409479 eventually had a slight lead but 5-bet shoved with AQ and got caught by llJaYJaYll's AK. It was all over on the next hand and 0409479 settled for $1,101,279 and second place.

$5m+ Shared by Final Table

The $1.5m score is Lauck's career best and actually exceeds his total career live earnings by $200k.

Whatever percentage he'll get to keep, he'll also sleep well with a very supportive tweet from one of the best players in the world in Polk:

Congratulations @jownzpownz on his win in the $5,000 #WCOOP. Amazing poker player and couldn't think of a more deserving guy. pic.twitter.com/QITfqshfMQ

Lauck isn't the only happy online grinder tonight either as most if not all of the final table likely came away with career-best scores.

Third-place R_Scientist from the UK hauled in just under $800k while fourth-place Gambler4444 from Austria scooped $580k. Complete final-table results and payouts below:

WCOOP-78 ($5,000 NL Hold'em Main Event) results
Total entries: 2,091 (1,772 entries, 319 re-entries)
Prize pool: $10,052,879.79
Places paid: 224

1. llJaYJaYll (Germany) $1,517,541.25
2. 0409479 (United Kingdom) $1,101,278.90
3. R_Scientist (United Kingdom) $799,196.90
4. Gambler4444 (Austria) $579,976.77
5. axtipitos_86 (Austria) $420,888.94
6. Olorionek (Poland) $305,439.66
7. uknowProsky* (Netherlands) $221,656.95
8. gorodski (Malta) $160,856.12
9. deadfizh (Finland) $116,733.03

The entire final table was live streamed on the PokerStars Twitch channel with commentary from PokerStars Team Pro Celina Lin and Kevin Martin. Watch the full replay below!

At virtually every poker festival around the world, the culmination of the whole week (or two) is the main event freezeout that brings everything to a close.

Not at the Cash Game Festival.

At the increasingly popular Cash Game Fest the cash game is the Main Event. All day everyday, around the clock, at all kinds of games and stakes.

If you're tired of the tournament grind, the CGF stops around Europe offer non-stop cash game poker with great side events, blowout parties and a unique, friendly vibe.

It's basically the Battle of Malta in cash-game form - and it's coming back to the Aspers Casino in London starting today, Sept. 28

Bigger, Better, More Interactive

If you missed the first go-round at Aspers in March this is a second chance to try out one of the most popular new poker series going.

Starting in Tallinn, Estonia a few years back the CGF has now expanded to Malta, Bulgaria and London and is back at Aspers Sept. 28-Oct. 2.

“After the massive success of the previous event," says Aspers poker manager John Scanlon, "it was a no-brainer to do it all again.

"In fact our players were even asking during the last event, 'when we would do it again' ... now everyone knows the Cash Game Festival is coming back to London and everyone at Aspers is ready to make it bigger, better, more interactive and definitely more fun than ever before.”

Expected are at least 30 cash-game tables running simultaneously in a variety of poker variants. Last time around those included NLHE, Dealer’s Choice Omaha, Six-Plus Hold’em, OFC, party favorite Sviten Special and plenty of mixed games. 

Even better, players can register in advance online for the games and stakes they'd like to play. Players also get a chance to be on a feature table streamed on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.

You can register right now on the Cash Game Festival website to secure your seat or package. Check the highlights from the first visit to London below:

After London the CGF will host its first-ever online edition followed by a return trip to its home turf in Tallinn in November. Stops planned for 2017 include visits to South America, Africa and Asia.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is an old-school mid-afternoon poker news diner with 25 cent coffee and amazing homemade pie.

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In today’s 3-Bet we’ll take a look at PartyPoker getting anonymous tables, the uber-popular Moscow Wolverines and virtual reality poker.

1) PartyPoker Goes Anonymous

As of October 5th you’ll be able to play on PartyPoker completely anonymously, which should be good news for recreational players on the site.

You never know who you might be playing.

Last year PartyPoker announced a new focus on recreational players and announced a number of features including limited table selection.

Now the site is introducing anonymous cash game tables. The slick system will display players anonymously until you sit down at a table.

That means hand-tracking software has essentially been nullified on the site.

You’ll still be able to view your own hand histories but thanks to the anonymous tables opponents won’t be able to collect data on your play.

In addition players will be allowed to make a one-off screen name change to coincide with the new changes.

2) Moscow Wolverines = Manchester United

Alex Dreyfus posted a poll of the GPL’s favorite teams today, which was drawn from the mobile app, and one team has distanced itself from the rest of the pack.

The Moscow Wolverines were far and away the most popular squad with 24% of the vote.

That means the Wolverines are more popular than a team that includes Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and poker phenom Fedor Holz on its roster.

Pretty impressive. It might have something to do with the fact the Wolverines have pretty much owned the Eurasia division. Or maybe it’s that charming Anatoly Filatov. Love that guy.

Perhaps the GPL has a huge Russian audience that we don’t know about.

.@GPL Mobile App - Favorite Teams. Where is @saopaulomets ?? :-) pic.twitter.com/a2W1Ap2qcP

3) Virtual Reality Poker with TonkaaaaP

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: poker would make a fantastic proof of concept for VR because it’s relatively easy to display with numerous static elements.

It appears that dream has become a reality with Bolt Casino virtual reality poker on Oculus.

Poker streamer extraordinaire Parker “Tonkaaaap” Talbot took the game for a test drive on Twitch.tv yesterday and it’s pretty darn cool.

Check it out below:

The 2016 Global Gaming Awards took place in the ballroom of the Venetian Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas this week and 888 Holdings came out a big winner.

Driven by gaming publication Gambling Insider in partnership with the American Gaming Association, Reed Exhibitions and G2E Vegas, the GGAs were created to "recognize and reward innovation and achievement across both the digital and land-based gaming sectors."

In the digital realm, 888 took home the prestigious "Operator of the Year" award against some very strong competition.

New Campaigns a Big Reason

It was the first time 888 has won the Operator of the Year award and the competition was pretty stiff, including two heavy hitters from the DFS industry and one of the fastest-growing poker sites online.

The nominated operators were:

The judges specifically appreciated how 888poker invested in new campaigns and programs to challenge the dominance of the market leader, PokerStars.

In his presentation, Gambling Insider editor Alex Hammond said:

"Congratulations to 888, a first Global Gaming Award win for the operator who has made great strides in challenging the dominance of PokerStars in both the US and Europe in the past 12 months, and in the process given the online poker industry a jolt that many believe the industry needs to return to its former glory."

Itai Frieberger

Itai Frieberger, recently appointed CEO at 888poker, commented:

"We are delighted to have received such an esteemed recognition, which is testament to our ongoing commitment to providing our players with an exceptional online poker platform and world class user experience.

"In a highly competitive market, we constantly strive to improve 888poker’s offering with a cutting edge product, unique promotions and exciting partnerships, all of which have resulted in our increasingly dominant online presence."

Global Gaming Awards

The Global Gaming Awards are an annual event nominated and voted for by the industry itself. The judges’ panel consists of 60 CEOs and high-profile executives.

There are awards in 12 different categories and below are the winners of 2016. Special recognition went to MGM Resorts, who won awards in two categories.

Land-Based Operator

MGM Resorts International

Digital Operator

888 Holdings for 888poker

Casino Product

IGT Play-Spot

Digital Product

Microgaming – Quickfire

Digital Acquisition Program

Unibet

Customer Loyalty Program

MGM Resorts International

Land-Based Industry Supplier

SG Interactive – SG Universe

Responsible Business

Geo Comply

North America Executive

Maureen Sweeney

For a complete overview over the nomination and judges panel click through to globalgamingawards.com.

To play on 888poker head to our review page to create your own account and access our $888 sign-up bonus.

You wouldn't mind playing a bit of Sunday afternoon poker for a share of $1 million, would you?

The next free-for-all in PokerStars' ongoing $1 Million Freeroll series is set to roll on October 9 and you can get your seat for, well, virtually nothing.

Impossibly easy online qualifiers started yesterday (Sept. 28) and if you have a real-money poker account on PokerStars, there's a seat in the gigantic $1m freebie there for the taking.

Thousands (and Thousands) of Seats Available

Here's how you get a seat:

Qualifiers for days.

Every day from Sept. 29 - Oct. 7 there's a daily All-In Shootout Qualifier. All you have to do to earn a free seat in that one is open up your Challenges window in the PokerStars client and opt in for a single daily challenge.

Complete that challenge and you'll automatically be registered into the next daily All-in Shootout Qualifier at 07:04 ET. That qualifier doesn't even require you to play as everyone will be all in every hand.

The top 8,192 players (!) from each will advance to the $1 Million Freeroll on Sunday October 9, 2016, with $10,000 guaranteed to the winner.

If you somehow can't find a seat via the daily All-In Shootout, you still have another shot to get in. A special challenge on October 7 will be offered that, if completed, gets you a seat in the Last Chance Skill Qualifier on Saturday, October 8 

Unlike the All-in Shootout, though, you'll need to actually register and play in that one to win a ticket into the $1m freeroll. The $1 Million Skill Qualifier will be capped at 45,000 players with seats on a first come, first served basis. 

Once You're In, You're In

All players who qualify via either the Daily All-In Shootouts or the Last Chance Skill Qualfiier will automatically be registered for the $1 Million Freeroll on October 9 at 12:04 ET.

If you've already advanced to the $1m Freeroll you don't need to opt-in for any more Challenges. If you complete more Challenges after qualifying, you'll be unregistered from any upcoming All-In Shootouts/Last Chance Skill Qualifier. 

To open a new PokerStars account and get started, download the software via our review page to be eligible for our exclusive monthly offers.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is the only place that lets you swap your King and Rook with no penalty in the mid-afternoon poker news chess game.

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In today’s Daily 3-Bet we’ll take a look at a new twist on the famous weight-loss prop bet, a “poker mansion” up for auction and a look back at the 10 best Twitch.tv poker moments.

1) The $1m No-Wine Bet

Tom “hongkongtom” Hall is the latest poker player to take a shot at a weight loss bet.

No new wine for you.

His bet is structured a little differently than most, however.

Hall has to drop from 115kg (253 lbs) to 103kg (227 lbs) but while he’s trying to lose that weight he will be unable to buy any bottles of wine, cars, art, watches, luxury items of any kind or electronics over $100. First world problems much?

A noted wine connoisseur, Hall may actually have some trouble completing the bet, which is why he’s getting 10-1 on $100,000.

Interestingly there’s no time limit set for the bet but Hall will be unable to purchase any of the above mentioned items while he’s trying to lose weight.

Easy? We’ll see. Ted Forrest was famously able to drop 48lbs going from 188 to 138 over six months in a bet with Mike Matusow.

Here's the details of the Hall bet:

Bet has been struck. we have fixed the typo and Date in Clause 3. Start Tuesday!! pic.twitter.com/YhsnLKTo2Y

2) Schulman’s “Poker Mansion” Up for Auction

There is perhaps no better testament to the booming early days of online poker than the series of mansions that are being sold by poker players in Las Vegas.

Barry and Allyn Schulman’s 5,467-sq.-ft. behemoth is the latest to hit the real estate pages. It’s an impressive property to say the least with a Versailles-themed look with plenty of gold and baroque accents.

The mansion will go to auction on Oct. 18 with no reserve set. The previous asking price was $4.88 million. Maybe you can get a deal? Here are a few photos of the house:

3) Top 10 Poker Twitch Moments

Twitch Con kicks off tomorrow in San Diego and poker is expected to have a large presence with community manager Scott Ball and much of the GPL gang all on location.

Here's a quick look at a "10 Best Twitch Poker Moments" list that includes Doug Polk setting a Twitch cash record, a massive Spin & Go win and Daniel Negreanu's literal “stream."

Good stuff all around:

One of the biggest brands in poker has thrown its weight behind the Global Poker League.

The GPL announced today that PokerStars has signed on to become a lead and exclusive online poker sponsor of the league.

Which exactly will the sponsorship entail?

That seems still to be to determined, with "a number of promotional initiatives" planned to "connect both existing and prospective poker fans to the GPL."

Support of PokerStars a "Crucial Step"

PokerStars is already a sponsor of the European and American Poker Awards, two other initiatives of the GPL's parent company, Mediarex.

PokerStars pros Jason Mercier, Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, Celina Lin and Randy Lew are also already players in the League.

“The Global Poker League brings an innovative team-based twist to poker," said Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars’ Director of Corporate Communications in a release, "and we are happy to support Mediarex in their quest to bring poker to new audiences."

“We are optimistic about this partnership," says GPL CEO Alex Dreyfus, "having the support of PokerStars is a crucial step forward on the road to fully establishing the GPL as a real blueprint for poker entertainment in the future.

"PokerStars offers us a multitude of opportunities to grow our platform and continue developing our two-fold strategy of connecting the League to the poker community and genuinely connecting poker to the mainstream entertainment sector on a large scale.”

The iconic PokerStars spade will now appear on the GPL signature playing arena, the Cube, and GPL matches will also now be live streamed on PokerStars.tv.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a special trick kite that dances around the blustery mid-afternoon poker news sky.

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In today’s Daily 3-Bet we’ll take a look at the WSOPC heading Down Under, Phil Hellmuth getting his Ryder Cup on and an informative Sauce123 interview.

1) WSOPC Heads to Sydney

The World Series of Poker is heading to… Sydney?

Sydney's Matt “mjw006” Wakeman

That’s right, the WSOP is heading Down Under yet again this November but this time around it’s for a Circuit stop not a major WSOP Asia-Pacific or anything of that magnitude.

Running from Nov. 22 to Dec. 12, WSOPC Sydney will offer 11 tournaments with a $2,000 Main Event.

As usual the Main Event winner and overall casino champion will receive a seat into the 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship.

Late November is not a bad time to take advantage of sunny Sydney if any poker pros are looking for a vacation (or just a place to play some online poker).

Crown Casino in Melbourne is an extraordinary place to play poker but it’s nice to see Sydney getting a bit of action as well.

2) Phil Hellmuth is Team Europe at Ryder Cup?

So Phil Hellmuth is entrenched at the Ryder Cup to play some poker and take in some world-class golf.

He posted this photo yesterday, which at first glance made it appear he’s pulling for Europe in the seminal tournament.

Follow his finger though and you’ll see he’s firmly behind USA. Cue the Stella Artois bath in 3… 2… 1…

PIC: some European @RyderCup--and poker--fans and me. They're colorfully draped, and I'm pointing at something... pic.twitter.com/qMPJq0Xblj

3) Sauce123 Talks WCOOP, Poker Mindset

Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky just might be the most consist (not to mention underrated) high-stakes online poker pro in history.

Year after year, Sulsky just wins.

He’s clearly a very intelligent dude, which is why his appearances on Joey Ingram’s Poker Life Podcast are pretty much a must-watch.

Ingram got Sulsky on the line yesterday and Sauce definitely dropped a couple knowledge bombs.

Check out the two-hour interview below:

There’s nothing in poker quite like the atmosphere in the Penn & Teller theater when the final nine players of the WSOP Main Event walk in and take their seats.

It’s the signature moment in the poker world every year – for both the players themselves and millions of fans of the game worldwide.

This year that moment will happen on October 30 and 888poker is giving four of its players the chance to be in the heart of the action for free.

All you need to do is answer a few questions and play one online poker tournament.

8 Questions, 1 Tournament, 4 Winners

Every poker player wants to be one of the November Nine but, realistically, the chances of actually sitting at the table are very slim.

Being there as a fan, though, is easier than you think. In 888poker's new trivia challenge you can win plane tickets and accommodation for you and two of your poker friends.

You'll stay on-site in Las Vegas at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and can celebrate the newest champion of the poker world with an extra $300 to spend on whatever you want.

Here's all you need to do:

Go to the 888poker Facebook page and answer eight questions correctly. If you manage to do that, you’ll soon find an email in your inbox.

This email has a ticket to the 888poker November Nine special in it. It runs on October 11 at 11.35 CET.

Be one of the final four players and 888poker will send you and two friends to Sin City.

Important note: The trivia quiz on the 888poker Facebook page will only be open from October 2-7.

What to Expect

If you've never experienced the November Nine before we can tell you first-hand it's the most electric atmospheres you'll find in poker.

Get ready for a show.

Friends and family line the theater and cheer voraciously after almost every pot, usually dressed in coordinated outfits and waving the flags of their respective nations.

The line-up at the table itself this year is equally remarkable. Chip leader Cliff Josephy, along with being one of the most universally liked people in poker, is a long-time poker backer who had a share of Joe Cada's WSOP title in 2009.

Former Counter-Strike legend Griffin Benger, once the best online poker player in the world, is also there as are esteemed online pros Gordon Vayo, Vojtech Ruzicka and Jerry Wong.

Dark horse Fernando Pons from Spain qualified for the event on 888poker for just €30.

If you don’t have an account at 888poker yet, go to our review page, download the software and get in the game.

In a big poker tournament, despite the level of skill you'll find at virtually every table, a lot can come down to luck.

In this week's Hand of the Week it looks like the losing player just got really unlucky.

A closer look reveals that there was also some careless play involved.

Flop to River

It’s Day 5 of the 2016 WSOP Main Event and we’re at the feature table where both amateurs and professionals are tangling with each other.

We’ll follow the hand from the point of view of Mitch Garshofsky, a regular participant at the WSOP.

The blinds are 30k/60k/10k so there's 180,000 chips up for grabs in every hand. From middle position Valentin Vornicu (6.2 million chips/103 bb), winner of eight WSOP circuit rings, raises to 135,000.

Garshofsky (2 million, 33 bb) is on the button and finds     The blinds fold and we have 450,000 chips in the pot.

The flop falls       Vornicu checks and Garshofsky bets 200,000. Vornicu calls and now there's 850,000 chips in the pot. The remaining effective stacks are about 1.65 million.

The turn is the   Vornicu check-calls Garshofsky’s second barrel of 325,000. The pot grows to 1.5 million and the effective stacks are down to 1.3 million. 

The river is the   Vornicu leads out with 660,000. Garshofsky thinks it through and eventually calls. Vornicu shows     for a rivered wheel and a pot of 2.82 million.

Garshofsky is left with just 600,000 and busts later in 82nd place. Watch the hand below starting at about 19:00.

Analysis

When Mitch Garshofsky sees the damage he’s right to bemoan his bad luck. But he didn’t play his hand perfectly, as we’ll see in a minute.

Big stack experiment.

Valentin Vornicu has a mediocre hand for a raise in third position. A-2o is a hand that’s very often dominated and also you almost never have position post-flop.

But Vornicu is one of the big stacks at the table so he can afford to experiment. Garshofsky knows this, of course, and ATo on the button is a hand that plays well against the raiser’s range.

To keep the pot small, a call in position is the correct move for Garshofsky.

No Draws

Both players hit top pair on the flop, but more important is that there are almost no draws.

This is what you call a dry flop and on a dry flop the player ahead is usually still ahead on the river. On a board with a lot of draws it’s much more likely that the winner changes across the streets.

Vornicu deals nicely with the situation. There’s no reason to lead out as his opponent can hardly call with a worse hand than his. And even if he does he’s not going to pay three streets.

Vornicu is trying to get to showdown cheap while simultaneously inducing a bluff. 

When Vornicu checks, Garshofsky assumes he has the best hand. He bets out to either build the pot or simply take it down.

He could also have checked in this spot because what applies to Vornicu above also applies to Garshofsky.

Missed Check on the Turn

The turn looks like a total blank. Vornicu checks and Garshofsky quickly follows up with another bet. 

He probably should have resisted it as it’s not very convincing for several reasons.

1) Garshofsky’s hand isn’t very big. The rule here is small hand, small pot.

2) Which hand can Vornicu possibly call another two bets with? He’ll fold all his kings and other pairs and there aren’t many weaker aces that can call.

3) Weak hands that might fold the turn possibly call another small bet on the river.

Had he not turned a draw Vornicu might even have folded here because it’s highly unlikely that his opponent is bluffing. But now he decides to take a look at the river.

Fatal River

Indeed the river is Vornicu’s dream three and as Garshofsky has shown a lot of strength with two bets he thinks he can lead out and get called.

Garshofsky gets good pot odds of 3.3-1 and he doesn’t have to risk his tournament life with a call, but he still should fold there.

A bluff from Vornicu seems very unlikely and, although there are only a few hands that have improved significantly on the river, Garshofsky can’t really beat anything anymore.

It’s possible for Vornicu to slow-play A-K, A-Q or A-J and thus have a better kicker. Maybe he thinks that Garshofsky doesn’t have anything anyway and was just bluffing.

The problem for Garshofsky is that it’s very difficult to put Vornicu on a hand as his monster is well hidden. Hence, his mistake in calling is not as big as the one on the turn.

It becomes clear now why it was a mistake to blow up the pot on the turn. It’s not because Garshofsky got unlucky; it’s because losing the hand now also means losing a lot of chips.

Due to his straightforward play Garshofsky loses more than two-thirds of his stack and is left with 10 bb. 

Had he checked the turn his losses would have been about 10 to 12 big blinds or 600,000-700,000 chips.

A lot less, anyway – which would have left him with a decent stack.

Conclusion

Mitch Garshofsky wants too much with his mediocre hand and gets unlucky and punished on the river.

Valentin Vornicu doesn’t only get lucky on the river, he benefits because Garshofsky couldn't resist inflating the pot up on the turn.

The richest online poker series held in New Jersey will feature 43 events with buy-ins ranging from $15 all the way up to $1,000.

NJCOOP will run from Oct. 15-31, 2016, with $1.2 million in prize money guaranteed over the course of the series. That narrowly passes the $1.1m that’s guaranteed in the PartyPoker/Borgata Garden State Super Series that runs from Oct. 9-23.

No matter how you slice it there’s a ton of great tournament action for online poker players in New Jersey during the month of October.

NJCOOP Qualifiers Live

Satellites for NJCOOP start at just $1 and can already be found in the PokerStars.nj client.

Jason Somerville streaming

The series will feature a variety of tournaments with a $1,000 NLHE High Roller event on Oct. 10 and a two-day $500 buy-in Main Event at the end of the series on Oct. 30-31.

PokerStars will also be running a series of NJCOOP Spin & Go’s, which start at $2.50, and award seats into various NJCOOP events.

Twitch sensation Jason Somerville will be on hand to stream the entire NJCOOP as he’ll be looking to make a few big scores of his own.

Of course PokerStars is also hosting a live festival in NJ that runs from Oct. 29-Nov. 6 with 50 gaming events including guest appearances by the aforementioned Somerville, as well as Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker, Jason Mercier, Fatima De Melo and Survivor alum Boston Rob and Tyson Apostol.

You can check out the complete schedule here.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a long-sleeved shirt, a laminated cheat sheet and still zero clue what to do with AQ and 20 afternoon poker news BBs.

Have a tip for a future edition of the 3-Bet? Let us know about it in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a seaside WPT brouhaha in Maryland, the evolution of Survivor strategy and a WSOP Main Event cheat sheet. 

1) Steve, Sylvia Claw to Top

For East Coast grinders in the US, there are few better spots than the Maryland Live! poker room between Baltimore and Washington, DC.

Maryland loc Darvin Moon unfortunately busto.

The room is beautiful, the action is steady and, when the WPT rolls into town, it goes up a notch altogether.

They're on to Day 2 at WPT Maryland Live! today with around 175 players left from a field of 554. Total prize pool is $1.7m which 63 players will share; first-place will pay $356,536.

Among the notables still in the hunt include duelling WSOP runner-ups in Steve Dannenman and Jesse Sylvia, both in the Top 10. Sylvia also has a ton of momentum from his huge WPT win just last week.

Unfortunately Maryland local and fan fav Darvin Moon couldn't make it a WSOP RU trio as he's already busto.

Ryan Riess, Darren Elias, Cate Hall and 2016 WSOP November 9er Jerry Wong are still in, though; follow their exploits on the WPT Live Updates right here.

For those who bust? There's always the delicious crab cakes:

Tadaaaaaa Good job Team @CaitlynHowe - @jonathanroy70 and @_danielleruiz - @THE_ALEX_ROCHA #crabcakes #cookoff pic.twitter.com/iVp2YCRd5S

2) Fourth Bet is Always a Double Immunity Idol

Boston Rob and Josh Arieh

Sixteen years and 32 Seasons later it's almost impossible to remember just how little real "strategy" the first-ever castaways employed on Survivor: Borneo.

Richard Hatch dropped trou, Sue Hawk dropped some 'snakes and rats' science at the final tribal and that was pretty much it.

If you've watched the first couple episodes of Survivor: Gen X vs. Millenials this fall, like Josh Arieh has, you know the show is virtually unrecognizable from those days:

Just watched episode 2 of the new @survivorcbs . This show has evolved to an amazing level. Equivalent to poker and @Ufc

I used to tell my wife and @Bostonrob that I would guarantee victory if I got on @survivorcbs , I'm not so sure anyone could do that now

Poker pros have a somewhat suspect strategical track record on the show (save for Fatima Moreira de Melo's rip through Dutch Survivor) but at least we can relate to how much the game has changed - much like our own - in a relatively short time.

Next up: Survivor GTO strategy webinars hosted by Boston Rob, Arieh and Anna Khait? We'll keep an eye out.

3) No Cheat Sheets in a Hand, Please

Speaking of how much the game has changed ...

We won't spoil exactly who opens up this week's episodes of the WSOP Main Event on ESPN by pulling a literal Texas Holdem cheat sheet shove chart out during a hand.

Safe to say, though, we can't imagine that happening at a poker table 16 5 years ago - let alone when down to 80 players in the Main Event.

Ah. mazing. Watch the full episodes - which of course include another heavy dose of Will Kassouf #9highinglikeaboss - below:

France will finally open up its online poker market to the rest of the world.

The French senate finalized a bill this week that will allow the country to share its online poker liquidity with other European countries.

Previously the market had been restricted to just French players, which led to a precipitous decline in poker activity in the country.

That subsequently led to a massive exodus of players to unregulated sites in the French market.

Bill Set to Become Law in 15 Days

Under the new bill online poker operators will be able to seek reciprocal liquidity agreements with other EU members in order to share traffic.

Italy and Spain are among the countries that would be most likely be willing to share online poker traffic.

The French bill itself is a broad one that encompasses a variety of digital avenues including eSports, more transparent data, better protection for users and upgraded access to the internet.

French president François Hollande is expected to sign the bill into law within the next 15 days.

One of the major concerns about online poker in France was the potential for gambling addiction but the new bill addresses that with new measures to combat addiction.

Currently winamax.fr, PokerStars.fr, PartyPoker.fr and iPoker.fr operate in France but with considerably less traffic than the rest of the world.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a white lab coat, a bubbling-over beaker and just the right covalent bonds for weird afternoon poker news science.

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

Today in the 3-Bet we find yet another parallel poker universe, the Global Poker League ticks up and Dinesh Alt thumps the field in Hamburg.

1) Liv B the Science G

Poker and golf.

It's science, yo.

Poker and chess.

Poker and football.

Poker and MMA.

Poker and business.

Poker and investing.

Poker and video gaming.

Poker and Twister.

There's no end to the parallel fields where poker's optimal skill set crosses over well.

Naturally, it's a topic that's been delved into many, many times in poker media over the years. Many, many times.

Poker and science, though? That's a (relatively) new one. And who better to compare the two than astrophysics grad Liv Boeree? Click the fuzzy pic below to watch her explain.

2) Power of PokerStars Already Helping GPL?

Maybe it's the new deal with PokerStars as its signature sponsor. Maybe it's a successful weekend showcasing the GPL at TwitchCon in San Diego.

Maybe it's just the draw of Davidi Kitai in a bathrobe. Whatever the reason, concurrent Global Poker League viewers on the live Twitch stream have tripled since last week.

It's a beastly 6-Max lineup they're watching ply their trade today with Chris Moorman, Timothy Adams, Brian Rast, Kitai, Vladimir Troyanovskiy and Raiden Kan battling right now.

The Americas Conferences matches later this aft are equally burly with Tyler Kenney, Maria Ho, Faraz Jaka, Martin Jacobson, Joao Bauer and Anthony Zinno in action. Watch it all below:

3) Dinesh Alt, George Danzer Lock in Hamburg Wins

When Switzerland's Dinesh 'NastyMinder' Alt 'came out of nowhere' to win ANZPT Season 5 Sydney in 2013 for $226,320, it was enough of a highlight to earn him one of our nominee slots for the 2014 Rising Star Award. 

When he won the TCOOP Main Event this February for almost $400k, it reminded us just how good at poker he is.

Adding to his quietly growing, eclectic and impressive resume, Alt knocked off another nice win over the weekend at Eureka Hamburg.

Drawing a surprisingly tough field that included the likes of Charlie Carrel and George Danzer, Alt topped 367 entries in the €1,100 Main Event to secure the €69,120 first-place prize.

Not to be outdone, Danzer won the €2,000 High Roller event earlier in the festival. Check the full report from Hamburg on the PokerStars blog here.

For the first time in over five years, PokerStars’ celebrated live tournaments will once again set down on American soil.

The first-ever PokerStars Festival in New Jersey will run from Oct. 29 to Nov. 6 at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City.

Over 50 different gaming events will be on tap, ranging from tournaments to meet & greets with Team PokerStars Pro.

New Jersey will mark the debut of the new PokerStars Festival series, which is focused more on recreational players than the high-end PokerStars Championship.

Somerville, Negreanu Confirmed to Play

PokerStars is plugging the New Jersey Festival as “The Ultimate Gaming Experience” with numerous tournaments, daily jackpot prizes, special activities for VIP players and more.

A massive contingent of Team PokerStars Pro will be on hand for the debut festival including heavy hitters Daniel Negreanu, Jason Somerville, Chris Moneymaker, Jason Mercier, Vanessa Selbst and Fatima Moreira De Melo.

Professional poker players won’t be the only celebs on hand as Survivor alums Boston Rob and Tyson Apostol will also join in.

The crown jewel of the tournament series will be $1,100 buy-in Main Event that runs from Nov. 1-5.

“We are thrilled to bring the first-ever PokerStars Festival to New Jersey,” said PokerStars director of live events Edgar Stuchly.

“This will be the first live event we have sponsored in the United States since PokerStarsNJ.com launched in 2016 and we look forward to seeing everyone at PokerStars Festival New Jersey for an action-packed poker vacation.”

There will be plenty of activities besides poker and there will be a designated StarsFun area with miniature golf, arcade basketball and pinball competitions.

Qualifiers Now Running on PokerStars.nj

PokerStars.nj is already running a number of qualifiers for PokerStars Festival NJ tournaments. To celebrate, PokerStars.nj is also giving players a chance to win a ticket into the $1,100 Main Event.

To qualify you have to play in at least five special NJCOOP tournaments. You’ll then receive a ticket to the All-in Shootout.

Each of the five All-In Shootouts will award four $1,100 Main Event seats.

For more information or to sign up for an account be sure to check out our PokerStars.nj review.