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Today in the 3-Bet we find a legend returning for this summer's WSOP, a rare chance to buy a piece of Mike Matusow and Faraz Jaka finds poker family in Brazil.

1) Doyle Back for WSOP?

According to his Hendon Mob page, Doyle Brunson's last WSOP cash came in the Main Event in 2013 (409th for $28k, btw).

One more bracelet isn't too much to ask, is it?

Prior to that he cashed three times in the 2009 WSOP.

The last of his 10 bracelets?

2005, in $5k Short-handed No-Limit Hold'em.

Still, it's hard to think of a single player more synonymous with the WSOP than the Godfather.

He may have been passed by Phil Hellmuth for overall bracelets but his presence still looms the largest in the halls of the Rio.

Citing a (very reasonable) disinterest in long tournament hours and the pull of juicy cash games Brunson has rarely dabbled in the bracelet chase in past years.

But, by the sounds of his Twitter feed, that may change this year:

I actually am thinking about playing all the 10k events. Depends on my wife's health issues. https://t.co/7XybolsXOT

Besides the obvious wish for good health for his wife, it'd be a thrill for us (and thousands of poker fans) to see Doyle back in the hunt again. We'll be sure to get a word with him this summer either way.

2) Want a Piece of the Mouth?

Can Matusow win again, too?

Speaking of iconic poker figures having a go at this year's World Series of Poker ... how about a nice deep run from Mike "The Mouth" Matusow to really make things feels like 2005 all over again?

You can even buy your very own piece of his action via Tasty Stakes!

Get it while it's hot as half of his $10k action is already sold.

Fields where he's less of a favorite - the $11k One Drop and $50k Players Championship - are going slower. Get your share here.

3) Faraz Gets the Brazilian Home Game Treatment

Remember that "Crash Your Brazilian Home Game" challenge Faraz Jaka posted on Twitter a few weeks ago?

By the looks of it it's going smashingly well - and Jaka is getting a healthy dose of the famed Brazilian hospitality so evident on any poker rail.

Holy shit this homegame Im crashing in São Paulo is absolutely insane..they made all this stuff for me & prepared feijoada & a samba school! pic.twitter.com/ohRubW7A4m

1st of my Brazil Homegame Crash Tour was insane last night in a village outside SP: Iputeva. Got my Portuguese table talk in form VIDEO: pic.twitter.com/tG5Jd9Az0c

Badass #poker setup!... playing at a bar inside 1 of the main #soccerstadiums in São Paulo @ PUB… https://t.co/OldVdno83A

Such a brilliant idea. And yet another way poker can open doors to experiences you never imagined. Follow Jaka's trip on Instagram and Twitter.

Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov and Ravenswood13 have been locked in a battle for online supremacy all year and the Russian just pulled ahead.

Trueteller posted a massive week with over $160,000 in profit according to highstakesDB.

Prior to last night, Trueteller was still smarting from a massive $383k downswing, mostly from battling Ravenswood13.

Trueteller finally got some measure of revenge at the $100/$200 PLO tables on PokerStars last night. The Russian pro spanked Ravenswood to the tune of $125k.

It’s a rarity when these games run so Trueteller made sure to make the most of a willing opponent.

Trueteller on Another Level

For the last month Kuznetsov has simply been on another level when it comes to high-stakes online poker and now sits with a total profit of $1.03 million in 2017.

Carlo van Ravenswoud

Kuznetsov has nearly doubled the profit of the next most profitable player this year, which happens to be BERRI SWEET with $540,325.

Ravenswood13, the previous biggest winner, now sits in a distant third place with $436k.

It’s been an interesting year for extremely high-stakes online poker as a number of new names have been making their way onto the top earner’s list.

The top 10 includes names like prot0 (+$335k), donthnrmepls (+$313k) and ActionFreak (+$290k).

Of course the list is always fluid and there’s a good chance we’ll see some heavy movement before the end of the year.

One place you won’t see Kuznetsov is the upcoming $300k buy-in Super High Roller Bowl, unless he becomes a late addition.

Kuznetsov finished fourth in the 2015 edition for his biggest ever live cash of $2.1m but he’s not currently listed on the list of confirmed players for the 2017 SHRB.

Dani “supernova9” Stern Plummets Down Rankings

It hasn’t been a great year for Dani “supernova9” Stern on PokerStars.

Dani Stern

The former 2m2mm star is down $804,381, which is far and away the worst record recorded by highstakesDB this year so far.

On the bright side Stern has $3.6m in lifetime live tournament earnings so he should be just fine.

In other news Dan “jungleman12” Cates has started to emerge from an extended downswing.

Cates bottomed out at nearly -$500k late April but over the last two weeks has managed to improve that number to -$378k.

There’s still a chance Cates will finish 2017 in the black.

What of high-stakes icon Viktor “Isildur1” Blom? He’s essentially even.

Blom usually makes headlines for massive wins (he was the biggest winner last year) and big losses but this year he’s simply holding steady with a minor $27k profit.

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Today in the 3-Bet we find a new formula for WSOP Player of the Year, partypoker continues its big push and a hot commodity opens up for one lucky high roller.

1) GPI Out, King's In

Jason Mercier. Mike Gorodinsky. George Danzer. Daniel Negreanu. Greg Merson. Ben Lamb.

Last year's POY by any index.

What's the common thread among them? All have secured a World Series of Poker Player of the Year title since the turn of the decade.

All worthy winners, for sure. But, much like anything in poker, if you dig into the details you'll see the WSOP POY hasn't been without its (minor) controversies.

Using slightly different formulas over the years there's always debate about which, exactly, is the fairest to determine the "true" POY.

Should it give more value to high buy-in, small field events or big field, low buy-ins? Wins vs. total cashes? Final tables? Include WSOPE and WSOP-APAC?

After a short-lived experiment with a Global Poker Index formula last year (won by Mercier, btw) the WSOP announced this week it has decided to adopt a new, proprietary formula for this year.

How it'll work is still tbd but we do know it's now presented by King’s Casino and will award the 2017 WSOP POY a seat in the 2018 WSOP Main Event. The player with the most points in Vegas this summer also gets a seat into the 2017 WSOPE Main Event at King’s in Rozvadov.

Also among the changes for this year's WSOP, headlined by the end of the Nov. 9, is a new Kings Cash Game Lounge with 15 tables reserved for high-stakes cash games. Read about some more logistical changes for the 2017 WSOP here.

2) Brazilian actor Bruno Gagliasso joins partypoker Team

First question: Just how many people in Brazil are named Bruno? And do they all play poker?

party gets its own Brazilian Bruno.

Continuing its mission to rule the poker world once again the expanding partypoker pro team has added its own poker-playing Brazilian Bruno to its roster as a brand ambassador.

This Bruno is Bruno Gagliasso - a renowned actor and poker aficionado.

By the looks of his Wikipedia profile he's had some pretty interesting roles, too, from "seductive bastard Ivan" to "Italian bigamist Berillo Rondelli" to the "wicked Colonel Timóteo."

Gagliasso joins fellow Brazilian Joao Simao on the ultra hot Team partypoker roster alongside Sam Trickett, Dzmitry Urbanovich, Johnny Lodden and Natalia Breviglieri.

Gagliasso will play in live poker events across Latin America and online at partypoker, where you'll find him every Sunday in the $300,000 guaranteed Title Fight. More about the deal here.

3) Who Gets $300,000 SHRB Seat?

After last week's surprise announcement that Kevin Hart would take the last available seat in the $300,000 Aria Super High Roller Bowl, it seemed as though the 56-player field for this summer's hottest poker event was now set.

Owl is out; who's in?

Not so fast. Poker Central announced today that Bobby Baldwin, one of the confirmed participants, now has to withdraw due to "out-of-state business obligations."

So there's a seat open. But who gets it?

As we saw during the original registration period demand was so high 19 players who paid the $30k deposit still got left out in the lottery for the first 35 seats. They expanded the field to 56, named 20 invited players and still likely could have sold out 30-40 more seats.

Baldwin was one of the special invites so now it's in Aria's hands to determine who will get the most sought-after ticket around.

According to the release he'll be replaced by a player from ARIA’s Alternate List which, for 'privacy reasons and short notice for potential replacement players ... will not be made public.'

Here's the original list of players shut out minus those who got in via invite:

Who do you think should get the seat? We know who we'd like to see. Vote below!

It just might be the single biggest weekend in the history of online poker.

SCOOP, XL Inferno and Powerfest all conclude this weekend with a staggering 11 different tournaments offering $1m-GTD or more prize pools.

The past week was no slouch either with millions awarded on 888poker, partypoker and PokerStars. Noted pros Sam Grafton, Adrian Mateos, Chance Kornuth and Jonas Mackoff all up titles.

The attention now turns to the weekend where all three series will be concluding with Main Events that each guarantee $1m or more.

There will be a little something for everyone with buy-ins ranging from $11 to $10,000. You can check out a comprehensive schedule of SCOOP, XL Inferno and Powerfest right here.

Meanwhile here’s a look at the past week of online poker and a preview of the biggest upcoming tournaments this weekend:

spud_gun888 Cashes in for $186k in XL Inferno

The biggest tournament on 888poker this week, at least in terms of prize pool, was easily the $5,200 buy-in Super High Roller Chip In.

Fabrizio Gonzalez

In the end the U.K.’s spud_gun888 outlasted all 121 players to take down a massive $186,300 first-place prize.

Noted Uruguayan pro Fabricio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez also factored into the action, finishing in third place for $98,415.

Here’s a complete look at the 888poker SHR final-table results:

Here’s a look at the upcoming big XL Inferno tournaments:

Saturday, May 20

Sunday, May 21

Grafton, Sulsky Snag PokerStars SCOOP Titles

It was a busy week on PokerStars with a gaggle of well-known pros winning titles including Sam Grafton, Ben Sulsky, Jonas Mackoff, Chance Kornuth and Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert.

Ben Sulsky

Arguably the showcase tournament of the week, however, was SCOOP-30-H a $2,100 NLHE 6-Max event, which featured Adrian Mateos and online crusher Anthony “wwwBTHEREcom” Gregg at the final table.

Mateos has accumulated over $8.1 million in live tournament earnings since 2012 including WSOPE, WSOP and PokerStars Championship High Rollers and added $234k to his bankroll by winning SCOOP-30-H.

Meanwhile SCOOP concludes this weekend with three different Main Events totaling nearly $10m in guaranteed prize pools.

Here’s a look at the all-star line-up and payouts for SCOOP-30-H:

Here's a look at the upcoming big SCOOP tournaments:

Saturday, May 20

Sunday, May 21

Massive $25k Powerfest SHR Smashes $2m Guarantee

The talk of the week over on partypoker was the gigantic $25,000 buy-in Super High Roller charity tournament and it did not disappoint.

The event attracted 129 entries and easily smashed the $2m-GTD prize pool to $3.2 million.

partypoker ambassadors Sam Trickett and Joao Simao both made the final table before falling in eighth and fifth place respectively.

Trickett picked up $96k for the deep run while Simao earned $193k.

juanpardo99 went to win the tournament for a staggering $660k but thanks to a heads-up deal Chelsea72 won almost as much ($613k).

Roberto Romenello (25th) and Dmitry Urbanovich (30th) also made the money in the contest.

Here’s a complete look at the final-table results for the $25k SHR:

Here's a look at the upcoming big Powerfest tournaments:

Saturday, May 20

Sunday, May 21

partypoker is launching a new rewards program that should be welcome news to anyone that ever enjoyed rakeback on the site.

On May 22 partypoker will launch the new program with a simplified rewards structure. Players will earn one point for every $1 they contribute in cash game rake or tournament fees.

Once have accumulated a minimum of 25 points they will start to receive cash back into their account on a weekly basis.

The more points a player generates the more cash they will receive in their account every Monday. The rakeback bonus starts at 20% but scales all the way up to 40%.

A Straightforward Solution

Part of the reason partypoker decided to revive rakeback was to simplify rewards for players.

Patrick Leonard

partypoker Managing Director Tom Waters acknowledged the old rewards scheme was needlessly complicated.

“The new scheme was designed in consultation with a large group of players and I hope that we have delivered a rakeback program that will suitably reward our loyal players,” he said.

One player that’s into the change is partypoker ambassador Patrick Leonard.

“This is a huge improvement for partypoker which I have been championing for a long time,” he said.

“I made sure that all the feedback I received from the poker playing community was passed on to partypoker to ensure we were given a simple and fair reward system that gives players exactly what we are looking for.”

Loyalty Store Closing, Huge Powerfest Weekend

If you liked the old loyalty store on partypoker you have one last weekend to take advantage of a 10% sale in the store.

The loyalty store will close at midnight on May 21 so players would be wise to spend all their remaining points while they still can. On May 22 the store will no longer be available.

Players still have a chance to purchase discounted tournaments tickets to popular events like the Jab, Contender or Uppercut.

It’s shaping up to be a very busy weekend for players on partypoker as the massive online series Powerfest is set to conclude with three different Main Events.

Each Powerfest Main Event carries a $1m-guaranteed prize pool so there will be some enormous prizes up for grabs. You can check out the complete Powerfest schedule here.

It’s been a busy week for online poker with competitors also running massive online series but partypoker has arguably offered the most value with some large overlays in Powerfest.

For more information or to get an account be sure to swing by our partypoker review.

Over the course of just under six years of live poker tournaments, Ema Zajmovic has “just” nine cashes.

Six of them are final-table appearances.

This past February Zajmovic won the partypoker WPT Playground main event to much fanfare as she became the first female player to win an open WPT Title.

That was just three months after making the final table at WPT Montreal where Mike Sexton won his first WPT title after 10 years of trying. After her win Sexton proclaimed himself Ema's 'biggest fan' and that we'd 'be hearing a lot more from her in the future.'

Three months after that big win we caught up with Zajmovic during a break on Day 1 of the 888Live main event in Barcelona.

Despite her recent success she doesn't play poker full-time. With a degree in PR and political communication she still works for a PR company but is lucky enough to “have a boss who understands and lets me work from home or places like a terrace in Monaco Bay."

On the grind in two professions. (Photo: WPT)

Ema Zajmovic: “I work 20 hours a week but I’m not very reasonable with poker. I don’t think I can say I only play 20 hours of poker.

“If you play tournaments they control your schedule. They tell you when to play and when you have a break and I feel guilty if I can’t get my other work done, so the only thing I can cut is sleep.

“I sleep four hours then I wake up and have to go to the gym. I have to read, I have to do this and that, and it just goes on and on. It’s physically and mentally exhausting but you have to be in a balanced state to play tournaments.

“I used to play only cash games. But after I won one I got the rush and I started playing tournament after tournament.”

PL: So what’s going to be your main profession in the future?

EZ: “Poker will always be important for me as I really love the game. When I started playing I was really bad. I don’t want to say I’m amazing now but I evolved.

“A lot of friends of mine didn’t have the same passion but I always will. But do I want to be a professional player? No.

“I need to do other things as well and I can’t go on playing as much as I do now. Just playing poker is also very selfish and I have difficulties with that.

“You create nothing as a player and you only think about yourself. It’s not what I want to become as a woman, it’s not what I want to do with my life. I don’t feel fulfilled just playing poker, that’s for sure.”

PL: You don’t have a huge number of cashes but they are from all over the world.

"I run good or I don't" (Photo: WPT)

EZ: “I have enjoyed travelling but I’m getting a little tired of it now. Maybe it’s because I don’t really feel at home in Montreal and I’m lying to myself that I want to keep travelling.

“It’s only a question of time until I settle down more again. I’m jetlagged and tired all the time; I don’t even know where I’m going to be next week. I don’t plan ahead very much.

“Sometimes I don’t know where I’m going to be tomorrow. I’m a total mess now! (laughs)"

PL: Do you sometimes wonder where you are when you wake up?

EZ: “Sometimes, honestly, with the jetlag, I wake up and think ‘ok, that’s not my room, that’s a hotel, where am I?'”

PL: The trick is to check what language the room service is speaking. But now for something else. Almost all your finishes are very deep. Do you have a special talent?

EZ: “No. I run good or I don’t. If I run good, I badly run good. That’s the secret.”

PL: After your WPT win you said there was a lot of ‘competition between the girls.' What does that mean?

"it’s intimidating to be in that world where the guys see girls as service people."

EZ: "It means that there weren’t many girls but the ones who started playing didn’t expect to be as good as the guys, so you want to compete with someone like you.

"Of course I was really young but I remember that at the time when I started it was a lot about sponsorships as there was much sponsorship around.”

"So we weren’t looking at what girl is good at playing but what girl got a sponsorship. It was in everybody’s head that girls just weren’t good at poker.

“It was really bad for the poker evolution for women, too, because I think guys support each other more. We lacked that support between girls.

"But now that’s changing. Now we know we can compete and we have more respect for each other.”

PL: When did you realize you can compete notwithstanding playing against guys or girls?

EZ: “At first, you’re just clicking. You don’t know where you are in a hand; you don’t know what you’re doing.

"Then at some point you realize that you get a feeling for what’s going on. The next step is you understand that you don’t understand anything, and then you learn the game.

"It’s a process that doesn’t end. You learn all the time. And you can’t just compete with the girls, because there are no girls.

"Why? Because it’s an old game and it takes time to change. Also, in poker, the girls are waitresses, the girls are massage girls. That’s just how it is.

“Thus it’s intimidating to be in that world where the guys see girls as service people. That’s the mentality and it poses an extra challenge.”

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a 4k-piece McNugget, a lb of added cheese and a box-of-Oreo McFlurry to wash down the craziest afternoon poker news meal ever.

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Today in the 3-Bet we find another poker pro crushing the Reality TV game, Chance Kornuth gets SCOOPed and Mike Noori embarks on a noble eating challenge.

1) Martin Wins Big Brother

As followers of the 3-Bet will know poker pros have proven over the years to be:

Winner! (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Global TV)

Poker pros who have done well in Reality TV formats? Fatima Moreira de Melo, the de Meulder brothers, Annie Duke, David Williams and Vanessa Rousso.

Pros who haven't fared quite as well? Jean-Robert Bellande, Garrett Adelstein, Jim Rice and Anna Khait.

Add Canadian PokerStars Team Online pro Kevin Martin to the former group. The two-time invitee just won the latest edition of Big Brother Canada (Season 5) last night in a 9-0 sweep. As you might guess, the 24-year-old from Calgary, Alberta is pretty stoked about it:

Kevin's message from ig story pic.twitter.com/q3iYqLOp6v

Chalk another one up for poker as perfect prep for navigating the cutthroat Reality TV world. Negreanu has to be next, right?

2) Kornuth Demolishes SCOOP Bounty, Gets Some Reminders

High-stakes regular Chance Kornuth dismantled the field yesterday in SCOOP - 39 - H, the $1,050 NLHE Progressive Knockout event, to win his first SCOOP title this year.

Not only did he win $163k, he earned more in bounties ($81k) than virtually every other casher COMBINED.

Shipped the first SCOOP I regged since being in for 163k. Now on to the 5k w 250k up top pic.twitter.com/lQvn1cUf3M

That's a sick payout chart. Of course, as this is poker, it always comes with a catch:

Never realize how many people you owe a few hundred dollars too until you win a scoop

Check the rest of the latest SCOOP results over on the PokerStars blog; check here to see the impressive lineup of tournaments waiting to close out SCOOP this weekend.

3) McDonald's Bet Underway, Charitable Drive Gains Speed

For those who remember the terrifying Eat $1,000 Worth of McDonald's in 36 hours prop bet we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, poker pro Mike Noori has begun the challenge today.

A quick reminder of the conditions:

2) Eat $1k worth of McDs;$200 max/salads, at least $300/hot foods (fries, burgs, chikn). At least $50 of burgs. Drinks dont count for $1k.

3) Cannot remove items from order. Can add to existing order (bacon on burgers). Must eat everything that comes with order.

4) No blender, must eat it as it comes. Puke ok, forced puke or repeated puke DQ.No inflated pricing McDs (airports)

He also has to do the whole challenge in a Hamburglar costume. Those who'd liked to follow along can check the Twitter account above for videos and updates.

Also of note: Alongside the bet a charitable drive has been initiated to "raise money and awareness for hunger problems around the world." From the GoFundMe Page:

"My friend Phong "Turbo" Nguyen, also a poker player, travels to Vietnam every Christmas to buy supplies, food and clothes to give back to the needy there. Turbo came from Vietnam with nothing, it's his way of giving back.

"Every dollar contributed to this campaign will be matched by Turbo, dollar for dollar, up to $20,000. Every dollar collected will go to increasing the amount of supplies, food and clothing that is given out this year."

At press time over $12,500 had already been raised; donate here.

Will there soon be a poker room with Patrik Antonius’ name on it?

Will there ever be another 'big' poker show on TV? And what's with the different patches he’s wearing?

When it comes to high-stakes poker legend Patrik Antonius, enquiring poker minds want to know.

Two weeks after his appearance in Monaco for the PokerStars Championship Antonius is back at the tables at 888Live Barcelona so we took it upon ourselves to ask him those questions.

And, importantly, find out if he’s really going to open a poker room in his chosen hometown of Monte Carlo.

Making it happen in Monaco. (Photo: Fabian Grubler)

PokerListings: How much is there to the idea of opening a poker room in Monaco?

Patrik Antonius: What I can say is we’re working on getting a poker room in Monaco and I think it’s going to happen sooner or later.

Hopefully I can help to make it real but there are a lot of things to do. You need to get a licence, for example, and we’re negotiating with the Monaco government. We’ll take it from there when I know more.

PL: Why a poker room in Monaco?

PA: Everybody loves to play in Monaco. There’s so much demand for poker there. It would be great to have a place to play.

Right now there is no poker room there; it doesn’t exist. There are a couple of casinos that could be options, like the Grand Casino, but there hasn’t been a place to play poker for years.

PL: Do they need all the space for James Bond movies?

PA: They’re not using the space efficiently, that much I know. The Fairmont used to be the place back in the days so that might be an option.

Poker at the Fairmont again?

Personally, I think it would be good for the image of Monte Carlo because there are so many people who want to play.

PL: With all the big TV poker shows gone, with the nosebleed games online gone, what does Patrik Antonius do these days?

PA: I still play a lot of live cash games. I go to Vegas quite a bit and I’ve been to other places, too.

I also invested and got involved in a couple of businesses, and I’ve just been enjoying life with my family a lot.

I’ve been taking things easy. But I do miss poker, and online poker as well. But I don’t find what I’m looking for anymore.

It’s very hard to compete and you have to face the facts: the games are not what they used to be. On the other hand, live games are booming and they’re as good as ever - especially when it comes to high-stakes games.

But sometimes I don’t play for months and obviously that’s not a good thing for a player like me.

Big-time poker TV will be back.

PL: Live games are on a comeback. Can there also be a big TV poker show again?

PA: I definitely think this will happen again. Someone’s going to show up with a good concept and then it will happen.

PL: There’s a photo of you with Viktor Blom and Phil Ivey on a tennis court. Is there any decent tennis player among the poker community?

PA: There are a couple. Of the high-stakes poker players Gus Hansen can play. David Benyamine used to be a good player. And there is Ronny Kaiser. He’s quite a decent tennis player.

Brandon Adams would give me a nice challenge, but I’ve been playing rather poorly myself.

PL: You were connected with IveyPoker, wearing a King’s Casino patch, and now you’re in Barcelona with 888poker. What’s your deal?

Enjoying his invite to Barcelona c/o 888. (Photo: Fabian Grubler)

PA: I have a good relationship with Leon Tsoukernik, and I went to play in the cash games there, but I never made any money or anything for wearing the patch.

The King’s is the number one poker room in Europe right now. Leon knows very well how to get the players there.

He’s good at marketing and he’s a smart person. He’s making poker good. But now I’ve come here as an invited guest and it’s great to be in Barcelona.

PL: What do you think of the decision to get rid of the November Nine?

PA: I think it’s a very good decision. If I was in this tournament I wouldn’t want to go away and come back much later.

Also, I don’t think it has fulfilled the expectations to get the main event final hyped up and get more attention.

It’s good to change, and it’s time for a change. There are so many tournaments everywhere; you need to finish it off. Maybe they could take a few days off so you can fly your friends over, that would be an idea.

Considering a WSOP return?

Some players may have benefitted from the long break but there might also be something happening in your personal life and things can be totally different after three months.

I didn’t see the point.

PL: Are you playing this year?

PA: I’m not sure yet. Playing WSOP tournaments means you sometimes invest several days and miss good cash games.

I’ve mostly been playing cash games at the Bellagio and the Aria, that’s where they usually are. I’ve now heard a rumor that there’ll be big games at the Rio.

We’ll see if that’s true, and I might show up at the Rio.

The problem with playing big pairs in poker is they almost never improve on the board.

Their relative value also usually deteriorates with every street - especially when playing very deep-stacked.

This occasionally leads to really tough spots as Chance Kornuth found out in a dramatic hand against Matt Berkey on an episode of Poker Night in America.

Flop to River

There's a top-class line-up at the table – Jason Mercier, Chance Kornuth and Mustapha Kanit are battling it out with highly skilled (and affluent) amateurs Bill Perkins and Joey DiPascale.

Blinds are $100/$200 and DiPascale straddles to $400. From the cut-off Perkins (stack: $74,000) raises to $2,000 and Berkey ($270,000) calls in the small blind.

Kornuth ($95,000), our hero in this hand, finds     in the big blind and reraises to $10,000.

Perklins lets his hand go but Berkey calls. There's $22,500 in the pot and the effective stacks are $85,000.

The flop is       Berkey checks and Kornuth bets $12,000. Now Berkey raises to $35,000 and Kornuth calls.

There's now $92,575 in the pot with the effective stacks at $50,000. The turn is the  

Berkey checks and Kornuth leads out again, now for $20,000. Berkey calls. The pot is now $132,575 and effective stacks are just $30,000.

The river is the #  Now Berkey pushes Kornuth all-in and Kornuth goes into the tank. Eventually he calls it off and loses to Berkey’s    

Berkey takes down the pot of $192,575. Watch the hand again at 1h 55 min below.

Analysis

This is a dramatic hand with several noteworthy situations, so let's take a closer look.

Deep stacks make things interesting.

Before we turn towards the action, look at the stacks. At $100/$200 these are very large.

Perkins, for example, has $75,000 in front of him, corresponding to 375 big blinds. The stacks of the other two players are way bigger than his.

When the game is so deep, speculative hands like low pairs, suited connectors and even hands like A-2s become much more interesting – and valuable.

In this environment Kornuth wakes up with the second-best starting hand in Texas Hold’em. 

If he was sitting in a different position he might have gone for a tricky call, but as he’s sitting in the big blind his 3-bet is certainly the correct move to make.

If he wins the $5,000 already in the pot he’d be just fine with it.

A Near-Perfect Flop

Kornuth rearises to $10,000 which gets Perkins out of the way. But Berkey calls.

The range of such a tricky and stubborn player like Berkey is still rather wide at this point and it definitely has middle pairs and Broadway hands in it.

The flop is 8-4-4 with two suits and it doesn’t get much drier than that – which means that the hand leading pre-flop is almost always still ahead and will win most of the time.

For pocket kings, this is a near perfect flop! Berkey checks his flush draw and Kornuth follows up with a c-bet. He can now get money from hands like 9-9, T-T or A-Q.

His bet of $12,000 is a little more than half the pot because he doesn’t want to chase away weaker holdings.

But the flop looks pretty good to Berkey, too. He has two overcards and the nut flush draw, which will be the nuts most of the time (despite the paired board) because of Kornuth’s range.

It’s the perfect time for a semi-bluff. If Kornuth is playing A-K or A-Q he would probably have to fold them at this point.

Strong Check on the Turn

With the hand Kornuth has a fold is obviously not even an option. Amateurs would often push all-in now but professionals look at things differently. 

Can he still fold?

By just calling Kornuth keeps all the bluffs in Berkey’s hand and might be able to extract even more money.

When a jack hits the turn Berkey plays it very strongly. If he hadn’t hit anything he might just have pushed Kornuth to the test but now his range is very strong and includes J-J to A-A.

But it also has weaker hands in it that might fold to another bet. In easier terms, Berkey would only make hands fold that are weaker than his, which means he would turn his hand into a bluff and professionals just don’t do that with good hands.

But the action isn’t over. Kornuth now makes a peculiarly small bet. Just $20,000 into a pot of $92,575 to make hands like tens and flush draws pay.

Surely, Berkey thought about a push here. But again only weaker hands than his would fold.

Can You Still Fold?

On the river there's $132,000 in the pot and effective stacks are just $30,000. The river brings a third diamond on the board.

Berkey doesn’t take long to go all-in and he’s representing nothing but a flush or a full house.

Kornuth now only has to pay $30,000 to win $162,000. The odds are incredible, but what can he possibly beat?

Yes, hands like A-J, K-J and even Q-Q are possible. But it’s doubtful whether Berkey wouldn’t rather go for a check-call line with these.

Also, with retrospect to the action, Berkey doesn’t have any busted draws in his hand. Basically, he doesn’t have any draws anymore.

High-level clash ends in a muck.

Kornuth did ponder a fold here despite the gigantic odds but then opted for the call anyway.

Had he found a fold it would have been the cherry on the cake of this great hand. But imagine Kornuth’s anger if Berkey really had had A-J or Q-Q.

Conclusion

Chance Kornuth and Matt Berkey meet here on eye level and that level is very high.

Berkey gets lucky to find the flush and wins. Period.

With just a few late registrations before the start of Day 2, the Barcelona leg of the 888poker “Make It Big” series has lived up to its name.

Over the three starting days more than 600 players entered the €1,100 Main Event with notable pros Alec Torelli, Will Kassouf and Cate Hall among the big stacks heading into Day 2.

About a third of the total starters made it to the second day and eight players used the very late registration option at the start of the day to buy-in for just under 13 big blinds.

The plan is to play down to the final nine today but with around 200 players to start, we’ll see just how far we get.

International Stars Out in Force

Among the elite players in the mix in Barcelona were the 888poker ambassador squad with Kara Scott, Sofia Lövgren, Dominik Nitsche, Natalie Hof and Brazilian players Bruno Politano, Bruno Kawauti, Nicolau Villa-Lobos and former football superstar Denilson.

Full house at Casino Barcelona. (Photo: Fabian Grubler)

But 888poker events attract a lot of international big names now, too.

Patrik Antonius, Michael Mizrachi, the “Rozvadov grudge match” parties Stacy Matuson and Will Kassouf, Ema Zajmovic, Fernando Pons, Cate Hall and Alec Torelli all took a seat as well.

Torelli, Kassouf, and Matuson all went through to the second day with large stacks. Both November Niners in the field – Pons and Politano – also made it to Day 2.

The winner of the main event will take home €110,000 while a min cash (72nd place) will get €2,100 – €2,100 more than the unlucky bubble boy in 73rd.

Watch the feature table live from Day 2 in Barcelona below:

Pop Goes the World

Romanian player Catalin Pop made headlines in February when he took down the main event of the 888poker festival in the King’s Casino in Rozvadov.

Dominik Nitsche: Always cashing.

At the very next 888poker event here in Barcelona, Pop wasted no time carrying on with his run of success and took down the €2,200 High Roller tournament.

A total of 70 players registered for the 2-day event and Dominik Nitsche was the last 888poker ambassador to fly the flag of the organizer.

Nitsche only entered on Day 2 with about 20 bb to start but managed to double up twice in close succession to get right into the middle of the field.

Unfortunately after they had reached the final table he lost a flip early on that reduced him to just one big blind and one ante. He was soon eliminated in ninth place.

Pop, however, wasn’t going to lose anything. Once again he collected all the chips of every player in the event and remained seated longer than anyone else.

For his second 888poker title Pop received €40,000 which gave him more than enough shots at the main event in the Gran Casino. He only needed two attempts to build a stack and go on to Day 2. How far will he go this time?

888poker Barcelona High Roller Final Table Payouts

Place

Name

Country

Prize

1

Catalin Pop

Romania

€40,000

2

Fraser MacIntyre

UK

€28,000

3

Sergi Escote

Spain

€18,000

4

Peter Jaksland

Denmark

€14,000

5

Francois Evard

Switzerland

€10,000

6

Gordon Huntly

UK

€8000

7

Oleg Egorov

Russian Federation

€6750

8

Hampus Persson

Sweden

€5500

9

Dominik Nitsche

Germany

€4150

The 888Live Make It Big festival in Barcelona, as mentioned earlier today, has delivered on its promise.

With 609 entries in the Main Event and a €584,640 prize pool, Big is a fair assessment of the playing field and the atmosphere in Barcelona.

Lending to that atmosphere has been plenty of international pros who have gathered at the buzzing Gran Casino.

One of those big names is former November Niner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, who is at his third 888poker event after appearing at the inaugural Make It Big festival in London last October and in Rozvadov this winter.

We caught up with him for a quick chat about his extensive history of sponsorships and his thoughts on the big new changes to the WSOP Main Event.

One is sunny; one's not.

PokerListings: As an American, please compare London and Barcelona for us.

Michael Mizrachi: One’s sunny, one’s not.

PL: Mm-hmm.

MM: One has a beach and one doesn’t.

PL: …

MM: OK, London has better poker. There are more games and more places to play in London. If you want to make money playing poker London is better; if you want to enjoy life, Barcelona is better.

But here the Gran Casino is maybe the only place you can play. In London you can also play online so you can play against the whole world. Here you can only play with players within the country.

PL: Mizrachi is a household name in poker. Are you the most successful poker family in the world?

MM: We’ve had good success, especially Rob and me. My brother Eric plays, too, but mostly organizes parties in Vegas, and Donny is more of a DJ and a magician.

The great year was 2010 when all four of us cashed in the Main Event. We’ve had a few good years and a lot of years ahead of us.

PL: Where does this proneness to poker come from?

MM: We grew up with slot machines and roulette tables in the house. My brother used to have a slot machine during high school and sometimes my father would wake him up in the middle of the night and say ‘Rob, I need some quarters for the slot machine, like $10.'

We were a family of gamblers. My mom would play Gin Rummy and all those games. Robert pretty much brought me on board as a kid and when I was 16 I was playing professionally.

Good nickname, good looks. (Photo: Fabian Grubler)

PL: Nobody has a longer list of different sponsors than you. What is it that makes you so attractive for them?

MM: (whispers) It’s the good looks.

PL: Ha ha!

MM: No, honestly, I have a great nickname – “The Grinder.” I’ve had a lot of success over the years, and I’ve been in the game so long, and that simply attracts a lot of sponsors.

PL: The latest one seems to be 888. Is there a contract coming up or what’s the idea?

MM: I’m more of a guest here and we have a great relationship. I love being with 888poker and I do a lot of the live festivals and I come to Europe -- although otherwise I spend a lot of time at home in Florida now.

That’s where my children are so it’s hard for me to leave a lot of the time. My youngest son is nine, the girl is 11, and Paul is 12.

PL: Then how do you adjust your WSOP schedule this year?

MM: We’ll figure something out. They’ll spend some time with me and some time with their mom; it’s easy.

PL: Are you going to have a busy schedule?

MM: I decide by the day. I usually play around 30 events.

Didn't watch anything.

PL: They’re getting rid of the November Nine. What do you think of that?

MM: I support that. It’s good because no one can train for three or four months, the pressure’s on right there.

Also, I think that for more players it’s like if you’re hot, you want to go with the ride instead of wait for several months and get ice cold.

And some people have to travel across the world to get back to Vegas and it’s a long way. You’re there anyway. Maybe you want to take two days off, but you should play right away.

PL: You can probably make points for and against the November Nine.

MM: The only thing against getting rid of it is sponsorships but don’t worry ... you’ll get a lot of phone calls in those two days.

PL: What did you do when you made the November Nine?

MM: I didn’t even look at anybody. I didn’t watch what they did, I didn’t watch anything, I just played my game.

For me that’s the best way but it’s different for everyone. I think it’s difficult to train me, because of my style, but for others it might be great.

I personally adjust to the players at the table.

PL: Did you feel that any of the other players at the final table had changed significantly when you all came back?

MM: I don’t think so but then you didn’t get to play that many hands with them before the final table so I wouldn’t be completely sure.

A field of 609 players has been whittled down to 25 and they'll find a winner at 888Live Barcelona today.

GPI Female Player of the Year Cate Hall leads the pack as they head in to the final day. 

Last year’s WSOP sensation Will Kassouf is also in contention with a Top 10 stack.

The 888poker “Make It Big” festival is on its last leg and we’re looking forward to the “Battle of the Solicitors."

25 Instead of Nine

The plan was to play down to a final table yesterday but with three tables still running at 2 AM the organizers decided to call it a night and give the players a 12-hour break.

Cate Hall (Photo: Fabian Grubler)

This could mean we’re up for a long final day but then there are quite a few shortstacks in the field. Day 2 saw most of the big names fall yesterday, with Stacy Matuson holding her own the longest.

The American who will now be forever connected to “that nine-high-like-a-boss hand at the WSOP," went on the wildest ride of her poker career, swinging back and forth between 10 and 100 blinds, before it finally ended in 55th place.

Will Kassouf Take It Down?

When most of the players just longed for play to end after a gruelling day it was Hall who took the reins and started surging through the field.

Putting smaller stacks to the test and relentlessly exerting pressure she eventually managed to build the largest stack of all and is now the player to beat.

On the next table Matuson’s nemesis Will Kassouf was on a similar rollercoaster as his American counterpart but never lost all his chips. Instead, he ended the day on a high and finished within the Top 10 of the chip counts.

Kassouf and Hall have been drawn to sit at different tables today but with just three tables still active it’s only a question of time until the “Royal Clash” will happen.

Check back to the PokerListings news section to find out who prevailed. Watch the feature table live stream featuring Kassouf below:

888poker “Make it Big” Main Event 2017 Top 10

1

Cate Hall

US

2,467,000

2

Marco Regonaschi

Italy

2,150,000

3

Do Chung Tran

Germany

1,237,000

4

Jaakko Wilska

Finland

1,069,000

5

Alessio Sardone

Italy

975,000

6

Luigi Shehadeh

Italy

964,000

7

Stefan Eriksson

Sweden

958,000

8

Jonas Kannosto

Finland

925,000

9

William Kassouf

UK

902,000

10

Carlos Garcia Rodriguez

Spain

810,000

To say it was a busy weekend on partypoker would be an understatement.

There were a total of four different tournaments offering prize pools of $1m or more and Youtube sensation Doug Polk took down one of them for $271,272.

Polk, who plays on partypoker as gab-tilt99, bought in directly to the final phase of Powerfest 294 for $5,200.

Powerfest 294 had a unique format that allowed players to qualify in earlier stages for far less but still get a crack at the $1m+ prize pool.

In the end Polk outlasted all 274 entries in the final stage to win $271k. It's one of the biggest scores ever streamed and you can check it out below. Here’s a look at the final-table payouts for the tournament.

1. Doug “gab_tilt99” Polk - $271,272
2. PokerG1rl69 - $192,240
3. DeanMlankeo - $145,960
4. SturgillSimpson - $113,920
5. DuduPa1986 - $93,984
6. nipa3p3 - $76,896
7. barrm111 - $61,232
8. petdet3ctive - $46,992
9. eet_smakelijk - $32,752

Here’s the VOD of Polk’s massive score:

Four Main Events Pay Off Big in Final Powerfest Weekend

Powerfest 294 was just one of many $1m-GTD events on Sunday.

partypoker offered three different Main Events at the buy-in levels of $11, $55, $215 and $1,050.

Online player starsman1960 outlasted 5,132 to win the $11 Main Event for $6,731 after a two-chop. Not a bad return on an $11 investment.

Meanwhile long-time online grinder joaofera beat 3,309 to take down the $50 buy-in Main Event for $25,795.

The $215 Main Event actually fell slightly short of the guaranteed prize pool of $1m, which meant a slight overlay for players.

partypoker has provided several overlays over the span of Powerfest, making it a fantastic choice for players looking for a little extra value.

In the end online pro sordykrd took advantage of the overlay by outlasting all 4,872 entries to win $153k

Finally Casio “Cassiopak18” Kiles closed out the Powerfest Main Events by beating a 1,590-entry field to win the $1,050 buy-in Main Event for $268,710.

Here’s a complete look at the final-table payouts for all four Main Events:

Powerfest 299: $11 Buy-in Main Event

1. starsman1960 — $6,731
2. lakisha199 — $6,719
3. goodluck558 — $6,487
4. The_Deep_King — $2,412
5. GIZZARninja — $1,377
6. Kuingle — $866
7. shaffrey — $425
8. Plotsch2 — $235

Powerfest 292: $55 Buy-in Main Event

1. joaofera — $25,795
2. iboz29 — $18,116
3. Manipuhnilo — $11,680
4. COUNTERSTRIKE99 — $7,676
5. Tiltao — $5,310
6. masik_top1 — $3,639
7. CCPOKER85 — $2,506
8. evkaz — $1,613

Powerfest 293: $215 Buy-in Main Event

1. sordykrd — $153,000
2. o4r71ml — $106,800
3. C3H5-NO3-3 — $68,500
4. Alcheminis — $44,600
5. nU3DOC — $30,630
6. doctor_km — $20,780
7. Loewe80 — $14,610
8. zrmlit — $9,400

Powerfest 295: $1,050 Buy-in Main Event

1. Cassiopak18 — $268,710
2. RAINBOWTROUT420 — $190,800
3. MrWhippy124 — $124,020
4. que_te_crio — $82,839
5. Wall2Wall3bet — $58,830
6. CONCRETE_1990 — $41,340
7. rodrigovalente — $28,620
8. FireMonkey2016 — $18,921

It was the last big poker festival in Europe before the World Series and it ended with an Italian win.

Luigi Shehadeh is on an absolute heater in his still-young poker career.

Just one month ago he beat a field of almost 2,500 players at the Campione Casino and now he’s taken the title at 888poker’s first Make It Big festival at the Gran Casino de Barcelona.

It was the third festival in the new 888Live Series and, although it was not the largest, it certainly was remarkable.

The Long Goodbye

With the level times going up from 45 min on Day 1 to 60 min on Day 2 the tournament proved too big to play down to a final table yesterday as planned With 25 players remaining at three tables organizers finally called it a day and stopped the action for 12 hours.

Another impressive showing for Hall.

When play resumed today it was expected that the small stacks would fall quickly and we’d soon find ourselves at just one table.

Instead, most of the smaller stacks doubled up and the chipstacks grew closer. Consequently the bustouts came slowly and by the time we were down to 15 players, the average chip stack had gone down to about 22 bb.

In this situation the table dynamic changes. As the pay jumps become more and more important the shortstacks have to fold almost everything to stay in the tournament instead of pushing light to try to double up.

Also, there were players in the tournament so tight it was difficult for anyone to win or lose any chips. At the final table, though, time caught up with the players again and we went from 9 to 4 in less than 45 min.

Cate Hall – who recently solved that quarrel with Mike Dentale handily – finally ended her tournament in 4th place when her A-6 couldn’t hold up against Shehadeh’s K-T.

From then on Shehadeh was the clear favorite to win because his chipstack was several times as big as the other two players' – Carlos Rodriguez and José Gonzalez.

Shortly after Gonzalez was eliminated the final two decided to take a 45-min dinner break – at 11.15 PM – which was the last unusual occurrence of this event.

The heads-up then lasted half an hour. Shehadeh’s chip advantage proved too big to overcome for Rodriguez and the Italian claimed the first 888poker title in Barcelona.

888poker Make it Big Main Event Final Table Payouts

Place

Name

Country

Prize Money

1

Luigi Shehadeh

Italy

€110,000

2

Carlos Garcia Rodriguez

Spain

€75,000

3

José Alberto Lopez Gonzalez

Spain

€50,000

4

Cate Hall

US

€35,000

5

Stefan Eriksson

Sweden

€27,000

6

Hamza Miri

Germany

€22,000

7

Jaime Ruedo Sampedro

Spain

€18,000

8

Marco Regonaschi

Italy

€15,000

9

Javier de Vicente Miquel

Spain

€11,240

Pros and Celebrities

The 888Live festivals are getting more and more attention lately, both from the media and from the big names in the industry.

Outside of Europe-based 888poker ambassadors Kara Scott, Sofia Lövgren and Dominik Nitsche there was also the whole Brazilian squad with Bruno Politano, Bruno Kawauti, Nicolau Villa-Lobos and football superstar Denilson.

Kassouf a favorite to win soon.

Patrik Antonius, Michael Mizrachi, Will Kassouf, Stacy Matuson, Cate Hall, Alec Torelli, Ema Zajmovic, Fernando Pons and Paul Testud all heard and followed the call of 888poker.

Matuson and Kassouf both had deep runs in the event and again it was Kassouf who lasted longer than his American nemesis. Matuson finished her rollercoaster ride in 55th place while Kassouf made it to the final day.

He had his own roller coaster day as he went from dominating chipleader to exactly one big blind to back to the middle of the pack to bust within two levels. He finished just two spots off the final table this time. Some more numbers from 888Live Barcelona:

Day

Entries

Survivors

1A

104

38

1B

172

67

1C

325

96

Start day 2

601

196

Finalized at

609

201

Barcelona Goodbye, Hello WSOP

With 888poker’s Make it Big festival Barcelona coming to an end the poker community is now facing the biggest of all events – the World Series of Poker.

888poker is once again the main sponsor for this event and you still have the chance to be part of it. Get your account at 888poker and register for the direct qualifiers or any of the sub-satellites to claim your seat.

You can win prize packages both for the main event and for 888poker’s branded Crazy Eights event. 888poker has also recently started a new promotion called The 8-Team where you can become part of an amazing team headed by one of the 888poker ambassadors.

In 888poker’s latest promotion, five teams are being built to conquer poker’s main stage in Las Vegas this summer.

Each team will have a captain, a wing man and an online qualifier.

That qualifier could be you.

And if you make the cut you can rely on getting the best assistance possible for your journey through the most important poker tournament in the world.

Help on Your $10m Quest

As the exclusive online qualifier for the WSOP main event, if you plan on winning your way to the game's marquee event you need to do so on 888poker.

Dom Nitsche: Man with good WSOP advice.

888poker also recently promised to top up this year’s WSOP main event champion's check to $10m if he or she qualified online on 888.

If that’s not enough incentive for you, now 888 is enlisting some big-name help to assist you in its new "8-Team" promotion.

Teams will represent five countries – Brazil, Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The captains heading the teams are, correspondingly, former November Niner Bruno Politano for Brazil, 888’s Twitch star Parker Talbot for Canada, triple bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche for Germany, longtime 888 pro Sofia Lövgren for Sweden and online poker’s all-time beast Chris Moorman for the United Kingdom.

Kassouf First Wingman

The wingmen will be the right hands of the team captains and one name already announced is Will “9-high like a boss” Kassouf, who will provide some extra advice on how to rob your opponents of both their chips and their cool.

The other four wingmen will be announced in the coming days or weeks and not all of them will be professional players.

Kassouf: Knows how to get deep in the Main.

To snatch a spot on one of the teams you have to qualify online for a main event package. Online qualifiers who get a spot on the team of their home country will be revealed on June 28.

The one who does best in this year's Main Event will also get a ticket, hotel and travel costs for the next year's Main Event courtesy of 888poker.

Qualify Now!

Every Sunday and Thursday on 888poker there’s a direct qualifier for the WSOP main event package.

These are $1,050 buy-in satellites but you can play in them for a lot less than that. For a seat in the $1,050 satellite you can navigate through up to six stages of satellites. Join at any buy-in level that feels comfortable for you.

The levels are 1c/10c/$1/$5/$30/$160. The higher you start, the fewer levels you have to survive. You’ll find the satellites under the All games > Tournaments > Live Events tab.

If you haven’t started playing on 888poker yet, click through to our review page and create your own account in just a few minutes. You'll also be eligible for an exclusive $888 sign-up bonus.

With a prize pool of $1,755,000, the $1,050 main event of the XL Inferno series was the most valuable tournament ever to take place on 888poker.

1,319 players and 436 re-entries made sure that the original $1.5m guarantee was easily crushed and Alien_Army secured the lion’s share of it.

After a heads-up deal between him and stevachenko7, the Austria-based player went on to signature title of the Inferno series and just shy of $300k.

Big Names Bow Out

It took 13.5 hours until the winner was found and there were a lot of big name casualties along the way.

Near-miss for Polk.

Streaming phenomenon Doug Polk made the money and reached the final three tables before his luck ran out and he lost a chunk of his stack with A-K vs A-J.

He lost the rest of his stack by means of a coin flip and finished in 27th place. Steven van Zadelhoff came 42nd and Rob Tinnion finished 87th

In the last hand of the tournament Alien_Army managed to outrun stevachenko7’s K-K with Q-4, hitting a four on the flop and the turn.

888poker XL Inferno $1,050 Main Event Final Table Payouts

Place

Name

Country

Prize

1

Alien_Army

Austria

$291,007.27*

2

stevachenko7

n/a

$226,717.73*

3

sngguru

Slovakia

$166,549.50

4

sweet_dr34ms

Russia

$119,340

5

PacoMonon

UK

$86,872.50

6

Fukuruku

Ukraine

$69,322.50

7

Ibeturaise2x

Lithuania

$51,772.50

8

p000cket000

Canada

$34,222.50

9

beebsterizer

Canada

$18,954

*denotes a 2-way deal

Inferno Extinguished, Eclipse Ahead

After an astounding 197 events in the books seven players managed to win even two events:

Eclipse incoming.

The 197 tournaments attracted a total of 118,665 entries and total prize money of $11,352,277.

All the XL Inferno champions are now waiting for their special Champion of Champions event in which only title holders take part. 

In this invitational the top three players will all win tickets to WSOP events with the eventual winner taking a complete WSOP main event package home.

The tournament is scheduled for coming Wednesday at 7 PM CET.

If you aren't a member of the winner's club you’ll only have to wait four months for another shot. 

In September 888poker is hosting its next massive online series called the XL Eclipse.

Create a new 888poker account via our review page to get ready and claim an up to $888 sign-up bonus.

888poker XL Inferno Series: All Winners, All Events

1

$30,000

Sunday Lightning

470

$71,800

“SteveyBG”

Mexico

$13,893.30

2

$45,000

Sunday Breeze

1,223

$61,150

“zumo444”

Argentina

$10,554.49

3

$30,000

Sunday Deepstack Swordfish

1,597

$43,917.50

“Ciprian_Rau”

UK

$7,417.66

4

$150,000

Mega Deep

902

$180,400

“Binkasaurus”

UK

$32,472

5

$40,000

Mini Mega Deep

1,852

$50,420

“hooy2all”

Lithuania

$7,966.36

6

$20,000

Sunday Swordfish

1,029

$28,297.50

“DiMag1a”

Brazil

$5,093.55

7

$300,000

Opening

1,447

$311,850

“Xandee1991”

Brazil

$53,014.50

8

$50,000

Mini Opening

4,311

$64,331.80

“TOP1LTU”

Lithuania

$9,006.45

9

$45,000

Sunday Monsoon

1,035

$51,750

“thompson199”

Romania

$9,315

10

$200,000

Whale

334

$200,000

“anteen”

Sweden

$38,700

11

$100,000

Sunday Challenge

892

$103,834

“omgsicklife”

Romania

$18,690.12

12

$30,000

Sunday Tornado

264

$32,700

Guntis “luffEEE” Aleskins

Latvia

$6,687.15

13

$50,000

Turbo Mega Deep

241

$50,000

“T54_IS_A_FAG”

Canada  

$10,225

14

$20,000

Mini Turbo Mega Deep

1,018

$26,840

“badlucktou”

Russia

$4,831.20

15

$30,000

Turbo Opening

456

$30,000

“sajtgul”

Sweden

$5,700

16

$10,000

Super Turbo Opening

172

$14,892

“oyvindbe”

Norway

$3,201.78

17

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

138

$20,300

“UHYC9_888”

Andorra

$5,278

18

$15,000

Breeze

467

$23,350

“Jab0c0”

Poland

$4,436.50

19

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

952

$26,180

“COMINGTHRU”

Belgium

$4,712.40

20

$20,000

Crocodile

309

$46,350

“V.BlomFan60”

Romania

$8,968.72

21

$15,000

Swordfish

900

$24,750

 “bazzzarov”

Russia

$4,455

22

$20,000

Monsoon

728

$36,400

 “Gutschel”

Switzerland

$6,679.40

23

$15,000

Omaha

132

$21,200

“KevinBANGos”

Germany

$5,088

24

$5,000

Mini Omaha

378

$6,638.10

“me_demon”

Belarus

$1,394

25

$10,000

Monday Royal

837

$16,740

“309865”

Netherlands

$3,029.94

26

$10,000

Monday Fish

809

$16,180

“Habilidade0”

Brazil

$2,928.58

27

$15,000

Tornado

250

$35,200

“OPH1UCHUS”

UK

$7,198.40

28

$15,000

Snap

219

$16,650

“FouEnculePL”

Poland

$3,404.92

29

$5,000

Mini Snap

887

$6,934.20

“Le0_Maga”

Brazil

$1,248.15

30

$10,000 Lightning

6-Max

169

$26,500

“AsaNisse4”

Sweden

$6,360

31

$15,000

Breeze

555

$27,750

“Magnf1cious”

Lithuania

$5,244.75

32

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

1,007

$27,692.50

“Rick78R”

Brazil

$4,984.65

33

$25,000

Crocodile

392

$58,800

Pedro “gusma” Madeira

Brazil

$11,283.72

34

$15,000

Swordfish

923

$25,382.50

“Ti0373”

Russia

$4,568.85

35

$20,000

Monsoon

873

$43,650

Conor “GodfryJONES” O’Driscoll

Italy

$7,857

36

$500,000

High Roller

222

$572,000

“anteen”

Sweden

$116,974

37

$150,000

Mini High Roller

845

$244,600

“Profided48”

Russia

$44,272.60

38

$40,000

Tuesday Challenge

741

$74,100

“starkinver”

$13,597.35

39

$15,000

Tornado

174

$23,100

“psihodelik3”

Russia

$4,966.50

40

$50,000

Turbo High Roller

338

$68,400

Kurt “GiNgErSpEw” Fitzgerald

Costa Rica

41

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

133

$21,200

“Achileys34”

Czech Republic

$5,512

42

$15,000

Breeze

482

$24,100

“FellipeD92”

Brazil

$4,579

43

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

889

$24,447.50

“Kraukliz”

Austria

$4,400.55

44

$20,000

Crocodile

298

$44,700

“MttRaven”

$8,649.45

45

$15,000

Swordfish

822

$22,605

“Pepepepepe”

Argentina

$4,091.50

46

$20,000

Monsoon

780

$39,000

“TheHueyLewis”

Brazil

$7,156.50

47

$50,000

8-Max

840

$84,000

“mne_d0edet1”

Russia

$15,540

48

$10,000

Mini 8-Max

1,409

$15,358.10

“888poker172”

Ukraine

$2,687.66

49

$35,000

Wednesday Challenge

1,108

$49,440

Joao Mathias “joao_mathias” Baumgarten

Brazil

$8,642.11

50

$15,000

Tornado

179

$23,900

“grownupguy83”

Netherlands

$5,138.50

51

$10,000

Turbo 8-Max

561

$15,427.50

“creutz93”

Sweden

$2,915.79

52

$20,000

Americas

132

$30,000

“joga_pra_cor”

$6,900

53

$5,000

Turbo Americas

82

$5,250

“aftajvilla”

Russia

$1,443.75

54

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

133

$20,500

“backdown8”

Sweden

$5,330

55

$15,000

Breeze

508

$25,400

“RKOoutofNWHR”

Germany

$4,800.60

56

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

899

$24,722.50

“yrkkk”

Lithuania

$4,450.05

57

$20,000

Crocodile

298

$44,700

“uR4iseM3Up”

Austria

$8,649.45

58

$15,000

Swordfish

108

$22,110

Fabio “F1oba” Pereira

Brazil

$4,001.91

59

$60,000

R&A

692

$84,550

“doyleb102”

Canada

$15,853.12

60

$10,000

Mini R&A

1,248

$14,760.20

“SupertrampBR”

Brazil

61

$20,000

Monsoon

737

$36,850

“GotMyStr8”

Russia

$6,761.97

62

$100,000

Quarterback

599

$149,500

“bananove”

Sweden

$28,240.55

63

$30,000

Mini Quarterback

933

$43,680

“MalakiasCF”

UK

$7,862.40

64

$25,000

Thursday Challenge

1,128

$36,111.70

“In33dm0ney99”

Lithuania

$6,312.32

65

$15,000

Tornado

177

$24,400

“GSwarrior30”

Ukraine

$5,246

66

$30,000

Turbo Quarterback

261

$30,000

“OTwenty”

Netherlands

$6,135

67

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

82

$11,800

“LeoJoseCarne”

Brazil

$3,215.50

68

$15,000

Breeze

291

$15,000

Anton “Smithstudent” Vinokurov

Russia

$2,902.50

69

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

640

$17,600

“toshapiter86”

Russia

$3,324.64

70

$20,000

Crocodile

164

$24,600

“PuntSonPunt”

NA

$5,289

71

$15,000

Swordfish

608

$16,720

“LeoJoseCarne”

Brazil

$3,158.40

72

$20,000

Monsoon

462

$23,100

Rafael “konnhand” Garcia

Brazil

$4,389

73

$30,000

Knockout

306

$30,600

“ButiJauli”

Vietnam

$5,921.10

74

$15,000

Mini Knockout

750

$18,750

“CzarBushov”

Canada

$3,440.62

75

$25,000

Friday Challenge

845

$27,040

“beny76xx”

Argentina

$4,894.24

76

$15,000

Tornado

130

$17,200

“B4NKR0LL3R”

Vietnam

$3,956

77

$10,000

Turbo Knockout

203

$10,150

“KestasLOST”

Lithuania

$2,182.25

78

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

185

$28,700

“Kepalas89”

Lithuania

$6,888

79

$15,000

Breeze

421

$21,050

“nlfreddie”

UK

$4,039.49

80

$40,000

Octopus

262

$84,200

“Gandalf_MRS”

UK

$16,419

81

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

698

$19,195

“ZCSLions83”

Canada

$3,599.06

82

$20,000

Crocodile

200

$30,000

“oreichegounu”

Poland

$6,450

83

$25,000

Saturday R&A

295

$34,400

Yordan “YordanPetrov” Petrov

Bulgaria

$6,656.40

84

$15,000

Swordfish

593

$16,307.50

“jaggalo1231”

NA

$3,080.48

85

$20,000

Monsoon

465

$23,250

“pvss10”

Brazil

$4,417.50

86

$88,000

Crazy 8

722

$90,480

“JDias99”

Russia

$16,919.76

87

$20,000

Mini Crazy 8

1,699

$22,664

“VXR2012”

UK

$3,966.20

88

$30,000

Saturday Challenge

537

$30,000

“xXGlamBabeXx”

Italy

$5,670

89

$15,000

Tornado

139

$18,600

“Toliet_Po8L”

NA

$4,278

90

$15,000

Turbo Crazy 8

249

$15,700

Alexandru “alexos888” Baron

Canada

$3,179.25

91

$30,000

Sunday Lightning

386

$58,200

“zinkAA”

Ukraine

$11,640

92

$45,000

Sunday Breeze

1,124

$56,200

“Jefffryyy”

NA

$9,823.76

93

$30,000

Sunday Deepstack Swordfish

1,381

$37,977.50

“Markus103er”

Germany

$6,456.17

94

$150,000

Mega Deep

967

$193,400

“TheSecretVMS”

Brazil

$34,812

95

$40,000

Mini Mega Deep

1,749

$8,637.54

“tbo1985”

Brazil

$8,637.54

96

$20,000

Sunday Swordfish

931

$25,602.50

“proJJkeke”

Ukraine

$4,608.45

97

$200,000

Tune Up

1,171

$260,700

“PokerMogo”

Romania

$44,996.82

98

$25,000

Mini Tune Up

2,183

$35,119.80

“AronZspot”

Canada

$5,548.92

99

$45,000

Sunday Monsoon

995

$49,750

“otchootcho8”

Switzerland

$8,955

100

$200,000

Whale

328

$263,290

“B4NKR0LL3R”

Vietnam

$50,946.61

101

$100,000

Sunday Challenge

941

$112,892

“N0tori0us_B”

Lithuania

$20,320.56

102

$30,000

Sunday Tornado

272

$34,600

Jake “JakeBalsiger” Balsiger

Canada

$7,075.70

103

$50,000

Turbo Mega Deep

261

$52,200

“mikedonks”

NA

$10,674.90

104

$20,000

Mini Turbo Mega Deep

878

$23,680

“nitmz”

Brazil

$4,262.40

105

$30,000

Turbo Tune Up

456

$30,000

“engineon”

Germany

$5,700

106

$10,000

Super Turbo Tune Up

148

$13,943

“GOLDandVODKA”

Latvia

$2,997.74

107

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

103

$16,800

“unclesala”

Switzerland

$4,578

108

$15,000

Breeze

330

$16,500

“jota_ocho”

Canada

$3,192.75

109

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

629

$17,297.50

“Coffee_pot”

UK

$3,267.49

110

$20,000

Crocodile

199

$29,850

Robin “Inho” Ylitalo

Sweden

$6,417.75

111

$15,000

Swordfish

598

$16,445

“DreamIsOver”

Canada

$3,106.46

112

$20,000

Monsoon

547

$27,350

“siittimest”

Finland

$5,169.15

113

$10,000

Omaha Hi-Lo

80

$11,800 

“BetPotAllin” Poland

$3,215.50

114

$5,000

Mini Omaha Hi-Lo

298

$5,188.40 

“mikazika986”

Serbia

$1,141.44

115

$10,000

Monday Royal

804

$12,080 

“Acestain”

Lithuania

$2,281.91

116

$10,000

Monday Flush

585

$11,700 

“antomar”

Russia

$2,210.13

117

$15,000

Tornado

152

$22,000 

“botteonpoker” Brazil

$4,730

118

$10,000

ShowMe!

248

$12,400 

“rrradiovolna”

Russia

$2,535.80

119

$5,000 Mini

ShowMe!

932

$5,000 

“HarryLepps”

UK

$900

120

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

155

$22,800 

“ihavenoboss”

Costa Rica

$5,928

121

$15,000

Breeze

465

$23,250 

Alessandro “WadoIchimonj” Sarro

Netherlands

$4,417.50

122

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

816

$22,440 

“ALTUSDOMUS”

Brazil

$4,061.61

123

$25,000

Crocodile

316

$47,400 

“BigNich09”

NA

$9,171.90

124

$15,000

Swordfish

767

$21,092.50 

“sosickPL”

Poland

$3,870.47

125

$20,000

Monsoon

743

$37,150 

“MWFTBG”

Sweden

$6,817.02

126

$400,000

Super HR Chip-In

121

$810,000 

“spud_gun888”

UK

$186,300

128

$50,000

Tuesday Challenge

730

$73,000 

“Toobo16” Sweden

$13,395.50

129

$20,000

Tornado

211

$29,500 

“Yujin_EX” Russia

$6,342.50

130

$10,000

Turbo Chip-In

367

$22,700 

“WowAceDude”

Sweden

$4,356.13

131

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

137

$22,100 

Doug “PulledPorker” Lang

Canada

$5,746

132

$15,000

Breeze

449

$22,450 

“ItsMyReality”

Russia

$4,265.50

133

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

785

$21,587.50 

“interlt”

Lithuania

$3,961.30

134

$20,000

Crocodile

258

$38,700 

“Dmilito22”

Argentina

$7,914.15

135

$15,000

Swordfish

745

$20,487.50 

“GunnersYa91”

Austria

$3,759.45

136

$20,000

Monsoon

697

$34,850 

“ImASpaceman”

Brazil

$6,534.37

137

$50,000

8-Max

697

$69,700 

“RagingStoic”

Germany

$13,033.90

138

$10,000

Mini 8-Max

1,366

$14,889.40 

“forvardok”

Ukraine

$2,680.09

139

$35,000

Wednesday Challenge

1

,027 $45,376 

“jxangai”

Brazil

$8,167.68

140

$15,000

Tornado

180

$24,500 

“GoFighTer”

Belarus

$5,267.50

141

$10,000

Turbo 8-Max

492

$13,530 

Matthias “blueskyyM” Tikerpe

Estonia

$2,570.70

142

$20,000

Americas

113

$22,800 

“santerivali”

Finland

$5,700.

143

$5,000

Turbo Americas

97

$6,150 

Steven “Kale333” van Zadelhoff

Malta

$1,537.50

144

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

139

$20,600 

“edtastylez92”

Austria

$5,356

145

$15,000

Breeze

487

$24,350 

“youler”

UK

$4,626.50

146

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

806

$22,165 

“PudimSedutor”

Brazil

$4,011.86

147

$20,000

Crocodile

292

$43,800 

“SleepinAwake”

Canada

$8,475.30

149

$60,000

R&A

618

$76,050 

“edyvpakistan”

Russia

$14,365.84

150

$10,000

Mini R&A

1,082

$12,649 

“Speil13”

Russia

$2,211.04

151

$20,000

Monsoon

669

$33,450 

“AllanSheik”

Brazil

$6,271.87

152

$100,000

Quarterback

587

$138,650 

Thomas “WushuTM” Muhlocker

Austria

$26,190.98

153

$30,000

Mini Quarterback

856

$39,250 

“Lucky_Frutti”

Russia

$7,104.25

154

$25,000

Thursday Challenge R&A

922

$29,789.70 

“Duraircwb”

UK

$5,362.14

155

$15,000

Tornado

173

$23,700 

”Fukuruku”

Ukraine

$5,095.50

156

$30,000

Turbo Quarterback

275

$31,075 

“dontis10”

Greece

$6,354.83

157

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

91

$13,300 

“mnintoiu”

Romania

$3,624.25

158

$15,000

Breeze

339

$16,950 

“Sevone14”

Ukraine

$3,279.82

159

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

592

$16,280 

“salamerancio”

Argentina

$3,075.29

160

$20,000

Crocodile

175

$26,250 

“PuntSonPunt”

n/a

$5,643.75

161

$15,000

Swordfish

535

$15,000 

“imnvm”

Austria

$2,835

162

$20,000

Monsoon

447

$22,350 

“Dmilito22”

Argentina

$4,246.50

163

$30,000

Knockout

297

$30,000 

“|||||.”

UK

$5,805

164

$15,000

Mini Knockout

672

$16,800 

“huongnguyen1”

UK

$3,150

165

$25,000

Friday Challenge

808

$25,856 

“_RIPCHEESE_”

Germany

$4,679.93

166

$15,000

Tornado

142

$18,000 

“telmrock”

UK

$4,140

167

$10,000

Turbo Knockout

192

$10,000 

“StavTrue”

Russia

$2,150

168

$10,000

Lightning 6-Max

104

$15,800 

“HinduKrush”

UK

$4,305.50

169

$15,000

Breeze

366

$18,300 

“Roma4892”

Italy

$3,511.77

170

$40,000

Octopus

289

$98,600 

“SoulRead88uk”

UK

$19,227

171

$15,000

Deepstack Swordfish

596

$16,390 

“Markylar12”

UK

$3,096.07

172

$20,000

Crocodile

203

$30,450 

“dulek_jason”

Poland

$6,546.75

173

$25,000

Saturday R&A

282

$33,250 

“PokerMogo”

Romania

$6,799.62

174

$15,000

Swordfish

541

$15,000 

“Mr.Abuse”

Ukraine

$2,835

175

$20,000

Monsoon

476

$23,800 

“77portuga77”

Brazil

$4,522

176

$60,000

6-Max

413

$61,950 

“Gandalf_MRS”

UK

$12,699.75

177

$15,000

Mini 6-Max

611

$16,802.50 

“rotisseurBJK”

Germany

$3,192.47

178

$30,000

Saturday Challenge

543

$33,700 

Cristian “progree69” Sampaoli

Argentina

$6,369.30

179

$15,000

Tornado

119

$15,900 

Anton “YSoSerious7” Yakuba

Ukraine

$3,975

180

$10,000

Turbo 6-Max

228

$11,400 

“arko415”

Russia

$2,622

181

$30,000

Sunday Lightning

265

$40,100 

“unclesala”

Switzerland

$8,822

182

$45,000

Sunday Breeze

1,000

$50,000 

“1LevelAbove”

Sweden

$9,000

183

$30,000

Sunday Deepstack Swordfish

1,203

$33,082.50 

“anth0nypappa”

Hungary

$5,710.03

184

$150,000

Mega Deep

913

$182,600 

“cuttyshark89”

Andorra

$32,868

185

$60,000

Sunday Crocodile

379

$60,000 

“Juanfran1973”

UK

$11,514

186

$40,000

Mini Mega Deep

1,743

$47,980 

“theginger45”

UK

$8,103.82

187

$20,000

Sunday Swordfish

810

$22,275 

“cr7ttrrnetrnet”

NA

$4,031.77

188

$45,000

Sunday Monsoon

853

$45,000 

“HappySh00ter”

Cyprus

$8,145

189

$1,500,000

Main Event

1,319

$1,755,000 

“Alien_Army”

Austria

$298,350

190

$250,000

Mini Main Event

1,665

$362,550 

Jono “spyver” Beck

UK

$61,234.69

191

$50,000

Micro Main Event

1,820

$68,007.50 

“nyaaaan”

Russia

$11,486.46

192

$100,000

Sunday Challenge 1R

759

$100,000 

“veeea”

Russia

$18,350

193

$30,000

Sunday Tornado

227

$30,000 

“Tudlenudle”

NA

$6,135

194

$50,000

Turbo Mega Deep

232

$50,000 

“germaxii”

Argentina

$10,225

195

$20,000

Mini Turbo Mega Deep

832

$21,120 

“phatshaff”

Ireland

$3,822.72

196

$30,000

Turbo Main Event

239

$30,000 

“maladietz”

Romania

$6,135

197

$15,000

Super Turbo Main Event

159

$15,000 

“Mindcrushers”

Canada

$3,225

Poker Central is set to offer a plethora of WSOP and SHRB streaming this summer but it will come at a cost.

The company announced a brand-new app called PokerGo that will offer live streaming of various poker events in addition to previously recorded poker programming.

PokerGO will feature coverage of the $111k WSOP One Drop event, $10k Heads-Up, the $1,500 6-Max final table, untelevised coverage of the Main Event and more.

That’s in addition to five days of Super High Roller Bowl coverage.

The streaming service starts at $10 a month but you can also opt for $99 for the whole year and get a significant discount.

PokerGO the Netflix of Poker?

In addition to live programming PokerGO will also offer a back catalog of shows including Poker After Dark, Face the Ace and Doubles Poker Championship.

Matt Berkey in the Super High Roller Bowl

PokerGO will also feature Poker Central original programming like Pokerography and Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story.

“PokerGO will offer the best live and on-demand poker tournaments and content for the fiercely passionate poker fan and casual enthusiast alike - whenever and wherever they want them,” said JR McCabe, chief digital officer for Poker Central.

Later in the summer PokerGO will stream high-stakes cash games on a weekly basis.

The live-streaming service won’t go dormant after the summer either with multiple events set to premiere on PokerGO every month.

All PokerGO live events will be produced by Poker Productions, which has a long history in the poker world and produced some of the biggest poker TV shows ever.

It's been an interesting ride for Poker Central, which initially began as a traditional cable network but has now fully pivoted to the digital world.

Poker Central Kicks Off Summer with Free Streaming

Not convinced? Poker Central will offer Day 1 of the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl for free to give everyone a taste of the action.

You can stream PokerGO simply by heading to the company’s website but the service will also be available as an app on iOS and Android as well as streaming devices like Apple TV, Roku TV, Android TV, chromecast and Fire TV.

PokerGO will also be added to Xbox One and PS4 in the near future.

You can check out the complete schedule of live streaming events on the PokerGO website (with more to be added in the future) but here’s a look at the initial offering:

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a tip of the hat, a monster pot and all your cards live as you embark on a new afternoon poker news adventure.

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

Today in the 3-Bet we find the voice of the World Poker Tour moving on, a massive tilt in the $10k SCOOP ME and a disaster of a McDonalds prop bet.

1) Mike Sexton Joins the Party

Huge news over the weekend for one of the true legends of the game and an absolute fixture of poker commentary over the past 15 years.

Call him Chairman.

The one and only Mike Sexton - the voice of the World Poker Tour - is moving on to be the new Chairman of partypoker.

Sexton is actually one of the founders of partypoker (circa 2001) and has maintained his role as a partypoker ambassador while simultaneously calling all of the WPT action.

Now, though, he says it's time to focus fully on getting partypoker back to the top of the poker game:

“This is an emotional time for me because I have decided to leave the World Poker Tour to focus on this new role. I was at partypoker from the start, before there was even a name or a single virtual card was dealt. I experienced the crazy times of the poker boom when we became the number one site in the world, I remember people sleeping on the office floor when we were all working 24-7 get the software launched and I remember the first partypoker Million on a cruise ship which overlaid $500K. It was devastating for me to see the decline of partypoker when we were forced to pull out of the US and then watch from the side lines as our competitors remained and benefited from our customer base. I am really looking forward to working with people that love the game like I do. We are not aiming for second place. We are all in. Shuffle up and deal!”

By the turnout and feedback from the first few partypoker live events and party's revised tourney lineups and loyalty programs, they're already well on their way.

Tony Dunst will take over from Sexton in the WPT booth alongside Vince Van Patten. Congrats to both; the future looks exciting on both fronts.

2) Who Wonts Million? Errrybody

There's $1.35 million up top for the winner of the $10,000 SCOOP Main Event, set to conclude today, and it will be an absolute dogfight to see who gets it.

How do we knows this? Take a look at the final table of nine:

If you're not attuned to the latest in online poker nicknames, here's the list again with real names attached:

When your shortstack is Charlie Carrel, it's a tough go.

1. gibler321 aka Harrison Gimbel (Canada) 7,580,568
2. Garrin4e (Ukraine) 6,053,022
3. blanconegro aka Connor Drinan (Mexico) 4,167,833
4. th'Kick (Switzerland) 3,854,531
5. Odd_Oddsen aka Ola Amundsgaard (Norway) 3,568,122
6. Maroonlime aka Emil Patel (Finland) 3,034,022
7. C. Darwin2 aka Simon Mattsson (Sweden) 2,585,971
8. €urop€an aka Samuel Vousden(Finland) 2,027,037
9. Epiphany77 aka Charlie Carrel (United Kingdom) 1,778,904

That ... that's a final-table lineup to strike fear in a couple hearts - namely Carrin4e and th'Kick. Watch all the action live via the PokerStars client.

3) $1k McDonalds Bet Ends in Fizzle

We felt obligated to give you the final outcome of that $1,000 McDonalds prop bet but, needless to say, we shall not mention it again.

The McHamburglar has failed. Pretty badly.

The bet did raise $14,00 for charity, though, and he's paid his creditors off already, it seems, so life shall go on. Here's how it ended up:

10 hours in, $90 worth of food consumed. Mental state = shaky

About $150 ordered with about $55 in the fridge. 21 hours in, $95 consumed. On pace for about $150 worth in 36 hours.

Late night run included about 4 Mcnuggets, a mcflurry, one bite of filet o fish (which then got thrown away) and Maybe a half of a small fry

@McHamburgler1k has officially called the bet off. Was a fun time from the inception of the bet until now, and we raised $14k for charity!

If you attend the PokerListings Battle of Malta every year, you might want to lock up your seat asap.

This November marks the sixth edition of the award-winning small buy-in, big-value tournament and if the pre-sales are anything to go by it will be the biggest one ever.

Last year Robert Berglund outlasted 1,813 entries in the main event to take down a €160,000 first-place prize, the biggest ever in the tournament’s history. Not bad considering the buy-in remains locked at just €550.

This year the tournament will very likely flirt with 2,000+ entries thanks to a new weekend-focused schedule.

Big Discounts for Early Registrations

Right now potential BOM champs can grab a significant discount by picking up one of the early-bird packages available on the registration page.

Live that BOM life.

The best deal is for the two-person VIP package, which gets knocked all the way down from the usual €2,411 to just €2,025.

The 2-player VIP package is an all-inclusive special that includes:

• 5 nights at 5-Star Hilton hotel (2-7 November) w/ double accommodation, breakfast included
• Entrance for 4 parties: BOM Cocktail Party, All-in Friday, Knight Life Monday and BOM VIP Player Party.
• Main Event Buy-in included for 2 players (cost €1,100)
• Casino buffet dinner during tournament play

The single-player package includes all of the above with just one buy-in for €1,369.

The discounts aren’t just at the high-end, however, as you can snag a single-person economy package for just €995 instead of the usual €1,144.

The economy package offers accommodation at the Ir-Rokna hotel just beside the casino but includes almost everything else and is an excellent way to get in on the action on the cheap.

Either way it’ll be a poker vacation you’ll never forget. Here’s a quick preview of what the package has to offer:

9 Events, €650,000 in Guarantees!

This year’s Battle of Malta, which will take place Nov. 2-7, 2017, is offering a packed schedule of side events with an extra €150,000 in prize pool guarantees.

Can't get enough BOM!

The always-popular Siege of Malta Second Chance will offer a €100,000 GTD while the Grandmaster High Roller will carry a €50,000 GTD respectively.

That’s in addition to the Main Event which offers its regular €500,000 guarantee. Check here for the full 2017 BoM schedule.

Also new this year is host Gaëlle Garcia Diaz, who has played the tournament before but never presented the action.

As usual the event will likely attract some of Europe’s biggest poker stars in an effort to score a piece of those big guarantees.

To learn more or secure your seat now, head over to our Battle of Malta home page.

You can add a SCOOP Main Event title to the heady list of poker accomplishments that Charlie Carrel has racked up since he started playing poker a few years ago.

Carrel, who plays online as Epiphany77, outlasted 693 entries in the SCOOP-H $10,300 buy-in Main Event to win $1.2 million last night.

The U.K. native actually had a shot at an even bigger first-prize payout but cut a heads-up deal with Harrison Gimbel that set aside just $100,000 for the winner.

Gimbel, who started the final table as the chip leader, happily collected $1.1 million for his runner-up finish.

Incredibly it was Carrel's second SCOOP title in this year's series.

Harrison Gimbel

Here’s a complete look at results from the stacked final table (*reflects two-way deal):

1. Charlie "Epiphany77" Carrel (United Kingdom) $1,200,899.97*
2. Harrison "gibler321" Gimbel (Canada) $1,122,873.99*
3. th'Kick (Switzerland) $690,348.58
4. Igor "Garrin4e" Yaroshevskyy (Ukraine) $492,542.82
5. Ola "Odd_Oddsen" Amundsgaard (Norway) $351,414.75
6. Connor "blanconegro" Drinan (Mexico) $250,723.93
7. Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattson (Sweden) $178,863.39
8. Samuel "€urop€an" Vousden (Finland) $127,628.42
9. Emil "Maroonlime" Patel (Finland) $91,058.81

ROFLshoves Wins SCOOP-M Main Event for $787k

SCOOP has always been known for offering three versions of each event with different buy-in levels.

The Main Event is no exception and Carrel wasn’t the only player to walk away with a huge payday last night.

ROFLshoves' signature Ace Ventura avatar.

Online player ROFLshoves outlasted 5,033 entries in the SCOOP-M $1,050 Main Event to take down a staggering $787,312.

ROFLshoves, who hails from Australia, was dominant at the final table and repeatedly turned down requests for a deal.

Even heads-up against opponent Léo82, ROFLshoves wasn’t feeling the chop.

“I just got a good feeling and I love heads-up,” ROFLshoves typed in the chatbox.

So the pair played out the contest with no deal and a $200,000 difference between first and second place.

It ended up working out for ROFLshoves who finally landed the knockout blow with A-7 over Léo82’s K-9.

“Time for drinks on the beach,” typed ROFLshoves.

Here’s a complete look at the payouts for SCOOP-M $1,050 Main Event:

1. ROFLshove (Australia) $787,312,19
2. Léo82 (Brazil)$586.344.50
3. BrightStripe (Austria) $415,222.50
4. MikeFdem (Canada) $284,364.50
5. ramondemon77 (Romania) $213.902.50
6. olelemaiko (Bulgaria) $163,572.50
7. Woodstock37 (Canada) $113.242.50
8. Yurec1707 (Ukraine) $62,912
9. BORRAURELIO (Brazil) $40,264

madalain Gets Insane Value in SCOOP-L Main Event

The $109 buy-in SCOOP-L Main Event offered one heck of a value proposition.

Despite a relatively low buy-in of $109 the event ended up offering a $2.3 million prize pool thanks to the 23,316 entries.

Austrian online player madalain outlasted them all to win $221,516.

Surprisingly there was no deal in this one either as madalain kept the pedal to the metal.

It paid off in a big way as madalain scooped the entire thing straight-up to get a shiny 2,000% ROI.

That's pretty much it for the 2017 SCOOP with just a handful of events scheduled for today, which were actually re-scheduled from last week because of a PokerStars outage.

Here’s a look at the final-table payouts for SCOOP-L $109 Main Event:

1. madalain (Austria) $221,516.37
2. ale kmkz (Brazil) $161,719.77
3. MelloBH (Brazil) $104,922.00
4. madcandle (Finland) $83,937.00
5. peloin (Mexico) $62,953.20
6. EluSiveMark (Netherlands) $41,968.80
7. volodimir24 (Ukraine) $29,145.00
8. Val1k (Ukraine) $19,818.00
9. AKA_PSV (Netherlands) $11,658.00