Posted on

Chad Eveslage Rises to the Top in WPT Player of the Year Race After Massive Five Diamond Win

With the WPT's 20th anniversary coming to a conclusion in December, Chad Eveslage emerged as Season XX player of the year this week.

With the World Poker Tour’s 20th anniversary coming to a conclusion in December, Chad Eveslage emerged as Season XX player of the year this week.

The Champions Club member from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, topped the points leaderboard to earn the title. In 2022, Eveslage produced four cashes including a win and a third-place finish. He’s already looking ahead to jumping in the action this year.

“I’m honored to add my name to the list of players who have won WPT Player of the Year,” Eveslage said in a news release. “2022 was an amazing run for me and to add the player of the year to my WPT title just made the year even more special. I can’t wait to get back in action and try to defend this title.”

An impressive year on the WPT

Eveslage was already a tour champion coming into 2022 after taking down the WPT Venetian a year earlier for $910,370. The poker pro secured his second WPT win at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in October, taking home just over $1 million.

In November, he added the third-place finish at the Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open for $390,000. In total, Eveslage collected almost $1.5 million during the 20th season.

“Chad put on an impressive performance throughout the course of Season XX,” WPT CEO Adam Pliska said of his performance. “His player of the year title is well deserved. It was a momentous 20th anniversary season for WPT, and Chad’s accomplishment will live on as a part of that legacy, as will the effort of all players throughout 2022.”

Rounding out the standings, looking ahead

WPT player of the year runner-up Steve Buckner. (photos courtesy WPT)

Eveslage finished with a total of 2,325 points and  the Indiana native also collected the tour POY trophy and a WPT Passport worth $15,000. The prize can be used to enter any Season XXI event. 

Steve Buckner, who finished the season with two runner-up finishes and just 50 points behind Eveslage, earned a $10,000 Passport.

Josh Kay, who scored a runner-up and fifth-place finish last season, scored a $5,000 Passport.

Season XXI of the WPT begins in late January with a Prime series in Paris, France. The first Main Tour stop, WPT Rolling Thunder at the Thunder Valley Casino in California, is set for April 1-4.

Here’s a look at the WPT’s early schedule including several international stops.

EventDateLocation
Prime ParisJan. 31– Feb. 5Club Circus Paris, France
Prime Gold CoastMarch 2-6The Star Gold Coast, Australia
Prime CambodiaMarch 16-20Naga World Integrated Resort, Cambodia
Prime AmsterdamMarch 29 – April 1Holland Casino, Netherlands)
Rolling ThunderApril 1-4Thunder Valley Casino, California
Prime IndiaApril 13-17Deltin Royale Casino, India
Seminole Hard Rock Poker ShowdownApril 28 – May 2Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida
ChoctawMay 5-8Choctaw Casino Resort, Durant, Oklahoma
Prime SlovakiaMay 11-15Card Casino Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Gardens Poker ChampionshipMay 21-25The Gardens Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, California)
Prime VietnamMay 25-29Crown Poker Club, Vietnam
Prime SanremoJun 7-11Casinò di Sanremo, Sanremo, Italy
Posted on

Poker Podium: Chris Klodnicki, Christian Rudolph Among Major December Online Winners

The holiday season brought plenty of gifts and treats for online poker players and Poker Podium looks at big December winners.

The holiday season brought plenty of gifts and treats for online poker players. A few bigger names found the winner’s podium during a hefty international online poker schedule.

PokerStars, GGPoker, and 888poker all held major series with big scores coming from players like Chris Klodnicki, Christian Rudolph, and Dan Wilson all finding some nice wins.

Poker Podium once again takes a look at some big online poker winners from December.

PokerStars

The New Year Series kicked off at PokerStars on Dec. 25 and runs through Jan. 17. The festival features 140 winter- and holiday-themed tournaments with $40 million guaranteed.

AS of Tuesday, the series had already produced big numbers including:

  • Tournaments completed – 119
  • Entries – 467,648 
  • Prize pool total – $16 million
  • First-place payouts – $2.3 million

The New Year’s Day Sunday Million was one of the marquee events so far and came with a special buy-in of $202.30. The normal $1 million guarantee remained intact.

The tournament saw 5,362 entries with Switzerland’s “Scoops 2022” scooping the first-place payout of $143,479, Scoops locked up the largest score of the series so far.

In other action, Dan “NukeTheFish!” Wilson topped the field in the $530 NLHE Six-Max for $32,659. This player from Ireland has $1.5 million in live tournament winnings as well as a doctorate in astrophysics.

The $530 NLHE Six-Max Deep Stack saw Christian “WATnlos” Rudolph, of Austria, rise to the top for $39,298. He has more than $5 million in live tournament winnings and also now another online score to add to his poker resumé.

In 2020 Rudolph grabbed a World Series of Poker bracelet online at GGPoker as well. He took down the $25,000 Poker Players Championship for $1.8 million.

Brazil’s Bruno “great dant” Volkmann Event took down a $320 NLHE event for $26,897. The New Year Series continues this month. For a complete preview, click here.

PSPC next up for PokerStars

The Stars action next heads to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which runs from Jan. 22 – Feb. 3 at the Baha Mar Resort.

The $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship is also part of the festivities. The company has awarded numerous Platinum Passes over the last year, which includes a complete tournament and travel package.

Stars ambassador Nicholas Walsh recently awarded a pass to one lucky winner – quite a Christmas gift.

GGPoker

Plenty of World Series of Poker championship ring action was underway at GGPoker in December. The Winter Circuit awards 18 championship rings and offers $150 million guaranteed throughout the series, which runs through Jan. 9.

Nick Maimone was already on a roll last month. He bagged a $1,050 Sunday Main Event High Roller for $80,332 and then took the title in the $1,500 Sunday Saver High Roller Hyper Turbo for another $34,090.

If that weren’t enough, he then came out on top in the $1,050 Naughty or Nice Bounty, which was part of the Winter Circuit. The tournament saw 1,399 players for a $1.4 million guarantee. Maimone pocketed $157,755 and his first WSOP Circuit ring. He has more than $2 million in live tournament winnings to go along with plenty of cashes online.

He wasn’t the only big name grabbing gold in December. Chris Klodnicki vanquished the competition in the $320 GGMasters Bounty Winter Freezeout. The event saw 1,421 players for a $422,037 prize pool.

Klodnicki picked up $40,590 for his efforts, adding to a deep poker record. In a career stretching back to 2005, Klodnicki has $10.1 million in live tournament winnings. That now includes two circuit rings and a WSOP bracelet as well.

Plenty of action remains in the Winter Circuit at GGPoker. Click here for a complete preview and click here for the WSOP.ca/GGPoker series in Ontario, Canada.

888poker

This site got in the spirit of the season in December with the Happy Holidays Sale series. The festival was a thank you to players and offered half off the tournament buy-in with the same normal guarantees.

888 awarded more than $300,000 in the series with players from the United Kingdom topping the leaderboard with three titles. Brazilian players grabbed two titles and the other event victories went to those in Malta, Ireland, Finland, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Belarus, and Montenegro.

All tournaments saw a total of 9,410 entries with $301,755 paid out. The $55 Mystery Bounty Main Event kicked off on Christmas Day and guaranteed $100,000. The tournament saw 1,618 players with 485 rebuys, topping the guarantee for a $105,150 prize pool.

In the end, “Laszlo_Szucs” took the top spot for $7,192 plus $258 in bounties for a total of $7,450.

The tournament also featured a top bounty of $10,000. Canada’s “Josieviolet” scooped that prize, finishing 113th for a total of $10,094.

In the $265 Mystery Bounty High Roller, Montenegro’s “Ognian1988” found the win for $12,034. The tournament produced 148 players, 37 rebuys, and a $46,250 prize pool, easily topping the $40,000 guarantee.

The tournament also features a $4,000 top bounty prize up for grabs, which went to Finland’s “Inflaatio.” The bounty winner finished sixth for a total payout of $8,957.

Posted on

PokerStars Founder Isai Scheinberg Named as Recipient of WPT Honors

The World Poker Tour is honoring PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg as one of the latest recipients of the WPT Honors Award.

When Isai Scheinberg launched PokerStars in 2001, online poker was in its infancy. Early platforms often suffered from outages, poor software, and other user unfriendly issues.

Scheinberg set out to change that. When the site went live, players found a much-improved software experience. That helped pave the way for the company to become one of the biggest online poker operators in the world.

The World Poker Tour recently announced that Scheinberg would be recognized as part of the tour’s WPT Honors, along with commentator Vince Van Patten.

“These two men have both made transformational contributions to the poker community, Isai as a pioneer with his incredible ingenuity and boldness, and Vince with his love and dedication to expanding the game of poker,” WPT CEO Adam Pliska said in a news release. “Both honorees are truly deserving of the award.”

Recognizing an industry titan

When it comes to the world of online poker, not many people have meant more to the industry than Scheinberg. Stars was a key player in the poker boom era and helped increase interest in poker worldwide. The company’s efforts helped grow the game all around the world.

“I am very honored,” Shceinberg, 74, said of the award. “The World Poker Tour is a very important poker company which made major contributions to the game. The first TV advertising PokerStars did was on WPT programming on the Travel Channel. It had a major impact that led to millions of players joining us.”

Born in Lithuania before immigrating to Israel, the former programmer later moved to Toronto and worked for IBM Canada. His site resonated with players and the WPT noted that many “still consider Scheinberg to be the standard bearer for how online players should be treated.”

The WPT Honors Award launched in 2017 as the highest achievement from the company. The award is granted every year, honoring members of the poker industry who have made exceptional contributions to the WPT and the poker community as a whole.

WPT Honors recognizes those who distinguish themselves through “excellence and dedication beyond expectations.” These are the previous WPT Honors recipients:

  • 2017 – Bruno Fitoussi, Linda Johnson, Mike Sexton
  • 2018 – Lyle Berman, Steve Lipscomb
  • 2019 – Deb Giardina, Matt Savage
PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg (right) with his son Mark.

Schainberg was an online poker pioneer

The poker boom of the 2000s was a heady time for the industry. Live tournaments saw massive fields as televised poker helped the game gain even more fans and players.

When Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, he’d won his seat via an $86 online qualifier at PokerStars. That helped launch the poker boom of the 2000s with PokerStars right at the forefront.

The site offered online tournaments and cash games for players around the world. Scheinberg was a poker player himself and understood the game.

The gifted computer programmer helped fine-tune software that was user friendly. The site also offered a fair game and played similarly to what a player might find at a live poker game.

“It was the tournaments that made PokerStars a hit with players,” Forbes noted of the company founder. “For a small amount of money – often less than $25 – players could buy into a single-elimination tournament and have a chance at winning a huge payday without the fear of incurring big losses.”

Rescuing Full Tilt players, selling the company

When the US government cracked down on online poker in 2011, Scheinberg and PokerStars agreed to purchase Full Tilt Poker. That company faced economic insolvency and without the deal, millions of dollars in player funds would have been lost.

Stars eventually agreed to a $731 million settlement with federal prosecutors and shifted to catering to players outside the US. 

Ironically, the company later entered back into the American market in the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Scheinberg and his family sold PokerStars in 2014 for $4.9 billion. In 2019, Paddy Power Betfair (now known as Flutter Entertainment) acquired the company, creating the largest online gaming company in the world.

The Stars founder now spends much of his time working in philanthropy and spending time with his family.

Posted on

ON THE BUTTON: WPT CEO Adam Pliska on the World Championship, Online Poker, & What’s Ahead

wpt ceo adam pliska wpt world championship

The World Poker Tour wraps up this week with the company’s World Championship coming to a close on Tuesday at Wynn Las Vegas. The United Kingdom’s Benny Glaer takes a massive chip lead into the final table on Tuesday, filmed for television with the action streamed live on the WPT’s YouTube and Twitch channels.

The series also featured the WPT Prime and Ladies Championship, both also streamed and filmed for TV. Players were treated to numerous other events and the festival earned high praise overall.

Many referred to the WPT World Championship as a mini World Series of Poker and believe the event filled a hole in the winter live poker schedule. Online poker also offered a chance to send numerous qualifiers to the series. Other casino partners also got on board with live qualifiers as well.

WPT CEO Adam Pliska recently sat down with PokerScout to discuss the series, what’s ahead, and the company’s growing connection to online poker.

How did the idea for this series come about? Is it something you’d planned for a long time and didn’t have the budget for until the purchase of the company in 2021?

I think for a long time, we would have loved to have transformed the championship and give it more weight. The purchase certainly helped. But there’s also a number of components that are kind of coming together.

First, in terms of qualifiers, we now have a partner and that would be WPTGlobal and ClubWPT, and they sent over 50 qualifiers. That’s been great and just taken off. We’ve also been bringing in the ambassadors. We’ve been doing these special events throughout the year, and to have a place to kind of showcase that and bring people together, it’s been something we wanted to do.

We started to sketch this out maybe about a little over a year and a half ago. And then we literally just went to the casinos and started pitching the idea that we were going to do something and we wanted them to be united behind it, because we needed support from all the casinos because they were having to send players here.

 And so that really started in full force by October of last year. Then by the beginning of the year, we were working diligently with Wynn and by February, there were almost daily discussions.

Were you guys ever concerned about meeting the $15 million guarantee for the main event?

Well I was (says laughing) because it’s not unlimited entry and it was something new. It’s one thing to say, ‘Come to the WPT Championship’ and you know what it is. It’s another thing when you don’t know what it is.

And so in this month before, we’ve had great events, hoping that if we add all these other components, we would get to $15 million. In my mind, we would have failed if we didn’t hit $17 million. But then as we got closer, the response was very good. I think everything was hitting on all cylinders.

At that point, I started to realize, ‘okay, I’m not going to have to worry so much about this.’ By the time we started here, I wasn’t worried about $15 million.

But I did tell the group, I really wanted to hit $20 million for 20 years. We absolutely would have put $20 million (on the guarantee) if I was sure that we’d hit $20 million. I would have loved to say I knew this all the time. But that’s not the case.

So then by the time we started, I told the group, ‘knocking it out of the park would be $22.5 million.’ So the idea that it was almost $30 million was just phenomenal. I did a commercial saying, ‘thank you players for 20 years and $20 million.’ Before the day started, it was already $25 million, so that got scrapped.

What have you been hearing from players?

The response from players has truly been tremendous. And there’s a couple elements that have surprised me. It’s not only enthusiastic response, it’s an enthusiastic, constructive response.

It’s so positive and overwhelming, it’s almost so much that we’re filtering through that people are also throwing in their other ideas and stopping us and saying, ‘hey, it’d be great if you did this.’

We’ve never in 20 years received anything to this degree from the players, even in the early days in seasons one through three, which were incredibly exciting.

Any ideas you’re considering for next year?

I think I have a meeting two nights from now to start talking about next year. Throughout the week we’ve been still doing our normal debriefs. We come up with all of the things that we can do better and are taking in all the ideas. There’s a number of things we’re thinking about.

The first thing I have to consider is making sure we get more space. I think we could have accommodated more, but we just need to make sure that we get more players.

A look at some of the WPT World Championship action at the Wynn Las Vegas. (photos courtesy WPT)

How big a role is online poker starting to be for the WPT? It seems like the company is geared more toward that aspect of the game recently.

It’s an essential role for us. That was the other component that made it easier to do a $15 million guarantee, which for the WPT is still hefty. But the online support is great. I think the online qualifier support is going to double next year. 

Among WPTGlobal, ClubWPT, and the feeder and funnels (live qualifier) system, there was probably $2.5 million (in the prize pool). And online poker is another touchpoint. Just like ClubWPT has been a touchpoint in the US, especially amateur players.

Here you have a platform (WPTGlobal) that can take a broader group of players Internationally, and keep us in touch and really offer some great things on that site. It’s tremendous, and cash games as well.

And you see that in the shows we’re taping. Now we are taping three shows, the Ladies Championship, Prime Championship, and World Championship, but we’re also taping cash games (at the Wynn) as well. And you’re seeing the cash games are becoming a bigger part of our tour schedule.

In the past, the tour has partnered with online sites like partypoker. Have some of those deals gone away?

No, it’s just that WPTGlobal’s been an exclusive partner this year. But we were open (to others) in areas. Winamax sent people (to the WPT World Championship). When you have a major commitment from WPTGlobal and you’re doing something brand new, it’s much harder to go in and say what it is.

I think next year, (online sites) are going to be wanting to send people. I already have been getting messages about home game groups who’ve been asking, ‘can we now send this for next year?’ I think that’s great. We were able to do a lot of fun things with the ClubWPT qualifiers during the week. I think that’s good.

Many players see the WPT World Championship as like a WSOP or EPT in the winter. A little different, but your own big festival. Is that something you appreciate and want to grow?

The one thing that you definitely felt in the room is that reunion effect. You felt that in the past, mostly at the WSOP. But you had this great reunion effect. And we’re definitely going to capitalize on it.

I do think it’s sustainable and we have big ambitions to continue to grow this. We’re absolutely going to capitalize on that reunion effect. We love it. It was so good to see it.

And this is just a great way for us to bring all of our partners together and showcase what we’re trying to do throughout the year. So I think we’ve kind of set a tentpole on the ground.

Posted on

Benny Glaser Returns as Chip Leader in WPT Championship, Ladies’ Final Table Set

As the fifth day of action plays out at the wPT World Championship, Benny Glaser returned as chip leader for the second day in a row.

As the fifth day of action plays out at the World Poker Tour World Championship, the United Kingdom’s Benny Glaser returned as chip leader for the second day in a row.

Plenty of other big names also are back including two-time WPT champion Daniel Negreanu. Fellow Champions Club member Soheb Porbandarwala also brought a nice stack back to the Wynn. A few others still in contention also included Bryce Yockey, Frank Funaro, and Corey Paggeot.

The tournament was to play down to the final six players with the winner scoring $4.1 million from the 2,960-entry field. All six players at the final table also bag payouts of at least $1 million.

A look at the chip leader

Glaser is no stranger to running deep in massive tournaments. He has $3.7 million in live tournament winnings including four World Series of Poker bracelets. He’s yet to record a WPT win, but seems on his way to giving it a nice shot.

“It’s been really fun,” he says. “It’s been kind of a roller coaster for a couple of days. Days one and four ended having a pretty rough last of the day and then having great ends to all the (other) days pretty much.”

On Friday’s Day 3, Glaser bagged 7.6 million and then moved that to almost 29 million to close out Saturday with the chip lead again. Beyond his success at the live felt, Glaser is also a regular in the online poker theater. In 2022, he scored four PokerStars WCOOP titles and one SCOOP win as well.

“I mostly play for the COOPS,” says Glaser, who enjoys music and playing guitar when not at the tables. “And then I’ve been traveling a lot this year. So I pretty much prioritize the COOPS partly for those reasons that I enjoy going for those titles.”

Massive cooler sends two players packing

One hand stood out during Saturday’s action. The massive development saw New Jersey grinder and Champions Club Asher Conniff pick up pocket Kings. Rania Nasreddine, of Oklahoma, also landed pocket Queens.

If that wasn’t enough, Bulgaria’s Krasimir Yankov grabbed pocket Aces. Conniff and Nasreddine both hit the rail on the cooler and Krasimir secured about 3.8 million chips.

Nasreddine finished 72nd for $53,200 while Conniff took 73rd for $46,650. After the second break, Yankov moved among the chip leaders with more than 13 million chips.

Ladies Championship reaches final table

Along with the championship event, the first televised final table was in the works for Sunday. The $1,100 Ladies Championship drew 578 entries for a $560,660 prize pool, demolishing the $200,000 guarantee.

When the dust settled, six players remained with Lina Niu in the lead with 5.6 million chips.

The chip leader hails from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, and has only $16,857 in live tournament winnings. Ukraine’s Olga Iermolcheva follows her with 5.1 million chips and has $372,359 in live tournament winnings.

Poker pro and commentator Jamie Kerstetter also sits among the final six and enters the final table with $764,958 in live winnings.

Longtime pro Kathy Liebert also remains among those looking to lock up this title. In a poker record dating to 1994, she has $6.8 million in tournament winnings. Here’s a complete look at the final table.

WPT Ladies Championship final table

  1. Lina Niu – 5,565,000
  2. Olga Iermolcheva – 5,065,000
  3. Kathy Liebert – 2,340,000
  4. Cindy Spier – 2,230,000
  5. Jamie Kerstetter – 1,405,000
  6. Dusti Smith – 680,000
Posted on

ROLES REVERSED: WPT Television Anchor Lynn Gilmartin Rolls on to Day 4 at World Championship

The roles were reversed for WPT television anchor Lynn Gilmartin at the WPT World Championship as she moved to Day 4 at the event Saturday.

When cameras roll to film three final tables from the World Poker Tour World Championship next week, Lynn Gilmartin will once again be hosting the action from the anchor desk.

A regular part of the tour since 2013, the Australian is one of the faces of the tour’s television show, but has also taken on more movie roles as an actress in recent years.

That included a recent poker-related film with Russell Crowe. And at the Wynn this week, Gilmartin also transformed into another role – successful poker player. Playing in the $10,400 championship, she’s now advanced to Day 4 on Saturday with 650,000 chips and her first WPT cash.

“It’s outrageous,” she says of her deep run in the tournament. “I can’t believe it.”

Gilmartin spoke with PokerScout Friday from the Wynn about her poker success, acting career, recently becoming a mother, and more.

Running deep in the WPT World Championship

Stroll through the Wynn ballroom and television camera teams regularly move around the room filming the action on the felt. On Friday, much of that involved Gilmartin.

While she’s accustomed to being in front of WPT cameras, having them clamor over her play at the tables is a bit unusual. She’s staying positive though, and bringing her best play to the tables.

“It’s pretty unexpected,” she says. “I’ve also really been believing in myself. I have not been studying, which I regret. But I just haven’t had the time with mum life.”

Despite not preparing as much as she hoped, Gilmartin just keeps advancing in the tournament. Consistently finding some pots going her way, that free-wheeling approach seems to be working.

Some occasional advice has also come from her husband, poker pro and WPT Spanish commentator Angel Guillen. Tour commentator Tony Dunst, who finished the championship on the bubble, also offered some tips. But Gilmartin has mostly gone it alone at the Wynn.

“When I knew I was going to play the main event, we had a plan like, ‘Okay, we’re going to have a plan. We’re going to have study sessions, two or three lessons a week.’ That never happened. We had one lesson in a playground, but it’s working. So we’re going with it.

“And that’s exactly what Angel said this morning, ‘what you’re doing is working.’ I got some advice from him, and Tony was lovely. Last night he texted me after watching the stream and sending me some advice, and some other friends as well. So I just appreciate the support so much.”

An appearance by Gilmartin at their tables has been a bit of a surprise to fellow players as well. She’s started Saturday as one of only 128 players remaining and hoping for an even deeper run at the Wynn.

“Everyone’s so shocked to see me on this side of the felt because it’s not a common scenario,” she says, “but with just the support alone, I feel like a champion already.”

On the film set, working with with Russell Crowe

In recent years, Gilmartin’s life and career has transitioned some. After COVID, she and Guillen moved to her native Australia. They now live on the Gold Coast, considered the country’s version of Hollywood.

“It’s been great,” she says. “The film and TV industry went berserk in Australia during COVID. It really boomed because we had no COVID for such a long time. So a lot of American productions are coming into Australia. In fact, Australia had to turn back billions of dollars worth of film productions because we just didn’t have the capacity.

“I worked more in Australia than I did in almost a decade in LA in terms of film. It feels great. I missed Australia so much. So getting that really nice solid dose of home for a while was wonderful. And now coming back to Vegas and traveling again for the World Poker Tour events, it just feels really nice to be back especially after having a baby. And now I just feel like I’ve got my feet back on the ground.”

In the film industry, Gilmartin recently worked with Russell Crowe. She was part of his film Poker Face, which was released in November. Crowe wrote, directed, and starred in the film with Gilmartin not only acting, but she and Guillen also helped with some poker scenes.

“Working with Russell was amazing,” she says. “It was incredible to watch a genius in action, witnessing him write about our game and bring it to life so beautifully.”

Gilmartin and Guillen hoped to offer a hand that might be seen at a normal poker table, not the Hollywood stereotype of a premier hand versus another unlikely premier hand.

WPT host Lynn Gilmartin continues running deep in the WPT World Championship. (photos courtesy WPT)

As in the movie industry, however, not everything works out as planned. She had a great time acting in the film, but some of that consulting work ended up on the cutting room floor. One of those hands, however, proved critical in the film.

New role as a mom and kicking off Day 4

Life in Australia now includes a 1-year-old old boy for Gilmartin and Guillen. She loves her role and is thrilled to see her new son grow and develop.

“It’s amazing,” she says. “Life is busy. It’s like a constant moving freight train. But it’s the most amazing experience. All the cliches that you hear are so true. It’s just the most rewarding experience. And I’m very grateful that I’m able to take him on tour with me and I have Angel’s mom and auntie here helping us.”

Now with a minimum payout of at least $29,400 in the bag, Gilmartin hopes for something even more special. She’s on a smaller stack and will need to find some chips early, but she’s in a spot most poker players would envy. She adds laughing: “$4.1 million, that’s what I want.”

That didn’t quite happen as Gilmartin hit the rail Saturday afternoon, scoring 91st for $36,500 – a nice finish for someone who is usually reporting on card chsarks rather than being one herself.

Posted on

WPT World Championship Reaches $30 Million; New Schedule Includes Several International Stops

The WPT World Championship rolled into Day 3 Friday, smashing the $15 million guarantee for a $30 million prize pool.

Much of the poker world has an eye on Las Vegas as the World Poker Tour World Championship continues playing out at the Wynn. After guaranteeing $15 million, the tournament ultimately smashed that this week with almost a $30 million prize pool.

The tournament brought in 2,960 entries with only 399 players returning for Day 3 on Thursday. The winner will score a juicy $4.1 million.

In other news, the WPT also released dates for the early part of next season’s schedule. That includes some interesting international stops such as events in Italy, the Netherlands, France, and more.

WPT World Championship earns rave reviews among players

When cards got back in the air on Friday, Romania’s Adrian Sorel State returned as chip leader with 2.4 million. He has $584,614 in career live tournament winnings and significant online poker winnings as well, at just under $1 million.

Among those returning for Day 3 included WPT champions Daniel Negreanu, Mike Del Vecchio, Taylor von Kriegenbergh, Freddy Deeb, and Eric Yilmaz. WPT anchor Lynn Gilmartin and WPTDeepStacks winner Alex Greenblatt also returned for action.

This marked only the second WPT cash for Negreanu since 2019. However, he remains one of the biggest winners on the tour.

As players continue battling at the Wynn, most players seemed pleased with how the event turned out. There is a packed schedule that includes a WPT Prime event as well as a Ladies Championship. Both of those, along with the main event, will see the final tables live streamed and filmed for television.

The WPT Prime Championship reached the final table this week and also saw huge numbers. The tournament shattered the $2 million guarantee, with a $5.3 million prize pool heading back to players in the money.

The Prime event saw 5,430 entries with the champion scoring $712,650. American  Lara Eisenberg leads the final six players with 39.2 million chips. The series saw the $1,600 Mystery Bounty and $200 Ladies Championship also kick off on Friday.

WPT releases events for 2023 season

The World Championship may bring the 2022 season to a close, but the tour already is offering players a look at what to expect for 2023. WPT officials announced the first half of the Season XXI schedule this week.

“Coming off an incredible 20th-anniversary season for WPT, we are looking forward to its progression into 2023,” WPT CEO Adam Pliska said in a news release. “Players have much to anticipate during Season XXI, as we have established some new partnerships and continued our relationships with longstanding staples of the tour.”

The $3,500 buy-in WPT Rolling Thunder kicks off the Main Tour action from April 1-4 at Thunder Valley Casino in northern California. Thunder Valley returns after hosting the final live Main Tour tournament of 2020.

The $3,500 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown follows from April 28 – May 2 in Hollywood, Florida. The event set the WPT record for most Main Tour entries in 2021 with 2,482 and an $8 million prize pool.

The $3,800 WPT Choctaw returns May 5-8 for the property’s eighth championship. Later the same month, The Gardens Casino in southern California hosts the $5,250 Gardens Poker Championship from May 21-25.

The Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Choctaw, and Gardens Poker Championship are all slated for televised final tables.

“It is the pride of WPT to offer such a wide range of tournament festivals when it comes to buy-in and location,” WPT Vice President Angelica Hael said. “We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to all of our live partners worldwide and our appreciation for the players for their continued support.”

WPT Prime events also announced with international stops on tap

Beyond the Main Tour, company officials also released part of the WPT Prime schedule. WPT Prime Paris begins the schedule from Jan. 31 – Feb. 5 at Club Circus Paris in France.

Players will find four Prime stops in March and April. The first of those is WPT Prime Gold Coast at The Star Casino from March 2-6 after setting records in the state of Queensland in 2022 with WPT Australia.

WPT Prime Cambodia next plays out March 16-20. That event broke the all-time WPT Prime entries record back in August with 1,050 runners (before being broken in Las Vegas at the World Championship).

The tour then heads to Europe with WPT Prime Amsterdam set for March 29 – April 1. The action also returns to India for the first time in over three years from April 13-17.

The tour’s first-ever stop in Slovakia is next. The Prime tournament is planned for May 11-15 at Card Casino Bratislava. That’s followed by the Prime Vietnam festival May 25-29 at Crown Poker Club. The WPT Prime Sanremo rounds out the first half of the season in Italy from June 5-11 at Casinò di Sanremo.

More stops are expected to be released in the coming weeks. Here’s a look at the 2023 WPT schedule so far.

2023 WPT schedule first half

EventDateLocation
Prime ParisJan. 31– Feb. 5Club Circus Paris, France
Prime Gold CoastMarch 2-6The Star Gold Coast, Australia
Prime CambodiaMarch 16-20Naga World Integrated Resort, Cambodia
Prime AmsterdamMarch 29 – April 1Holland Casino, Netherlands)
Rolling ThunderApril 1-4Thunder Valley Casino, California
Prime IndiaApril 13-17Deltin Royale Casino, India
Seminole Hard Rock Poker ShowdownApril 28 – May 2Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida
ChoctawMay 5-8Choctaw Casino Resort, Durant, Oklahoma
Prime SlovakiaMay 11-15Card Casino Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Gardens Poker ChampionshipMay 21-25The Gardens Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, California)
Prime VietnamMay 25-29Crown Poker Club, Vietnam
Prime SanremoJun 7-11Casinò di Sanremo, Sanremo, Italy
 

Posted on

Former Canadian Police Employee Grabs Platinum Pass in PokerStars EPT Women’s Bootcamp Event  

Canada’s Roxanne Johnson scored a Platinum Pass recently as part of the PokerStars x Poker Power Bootcamp Showdown at the EPT Prague series.

Following a four-week poker bootcamp, seven women from around the globe took part in the PokerStars x Poker Power Bootcamp Showdown on Dec. 12 at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague series.

Canada’s Roxanne Johnson came out on top and scored a Platinum Pass for the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) in late January. The prize is valued at $30,000 and Johnson was thrilled to be among the players heading to the Caribbean for the PSPC.

“I can’t believe that just happened, it’s so surreal but I am so excited to be heading to PSPC in the Bahamas,” said Johnson, who lives in Kelowna, British Columbia. “It’s been an amazing journey so far with all the support, from the teams at PokerStars and Poker Power to meeting all the other women in Prague. Can’t wait for the next chapter at the PSPC!”

PokerStars continues reaching out to women

A former court liaison officer with the Canadian Mounted Police, Johnson (pictured in lead image with PokerStars ambassador Jen Shahade) is the latest winner from the PokerStars and Poker Power partnership. The latter works at furthering the game of poker among women. 

PokerStars teamed up with Poker Power earlier in the year to help women build their confidence and skills in the game. The two groups also hoped to create more opportunities for female players.

The partnership is part of PokerStars’ efforts to the growth of the game and supporting women in poker.  This includes encouraging more women to sit down and have fun at the tables.

The plan also emphasizes ensuring a comfortable environment for all players, both live or online. The boot camp saw novice women players learn gameplay skills that translate to real world success including:

  • negotiation
  • strategic decision-making
  • capital allocation

PokerStars ambassadors Jen Shahade, GJ Reggie, and Lali Tournier also participated and offered support. Tars officials were pleased at how the event turned out.

“We are thrilled to celebrate Roxanne as our first PokerStars and Poker Power Showdown champion, and can’t wait to see how she gets on in the Bahamas at what is set to be an unforgettable experience,” director of partnerships, public relations, and consumer engagement Rebecca McAdam Willetts said in a news release.

“We are committed to supporting women in the game and want to ensure that anyone has a chance at a seat at the table, and more importantly, a voice. The bootcamp and subsequent tournament at EPT Prague was an important element in our long-term plan to see more women learn, take part, have fun, and above all feel safe and comfortable.”

Winner’s journey

Johnson loves poker’s intricacies and the thrill that can come when playing. She was inspired to participate in the boot camp by the opportunity to play at a live event.

In heads-up play in Prague, she battled  Romanian journalist Catalina Teodorescu for the Platinum Pass. In the final hand, Johnson flopped a pair of Kings with Teodorescu holding  Queen-Jack suited. 

The win now sees Johnson joining recent female Platinum Pass winners Giada Fang, of Italy, and Rishya Iyer, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Each week of the boot camp focused on developing players’ confidence and competence. Johnson seems to have learned quite a bit of that in finishing off the EPT event with a victory.

“Poker Power applauds Roxanne’s success and is thrilled to be a part of her exciting journey to the PSPC in the Bahamas,” Poker Power managing director and general manager Erin Lydon said. “The dedication of our instructors coupled with the hard work and courage of the boot camp participants created an inspiring learning environment.”

The PSPC is set for Jan. 30 – Feb. 3 at the Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, Bahamas. Each Platinum Pass includes:

  • $25,000 buy-in to the  PSPC
  • six nights hotel accommodation for the winner and a guest in a five-star hotel
  • airport transfers and flights
  • $1,900 expense money
  • Platinum Pass winner experiences during the event

* Lead image courtesy Danny Maxwell/PokerStars

★★★ Ready to get in the action at PokerStars? Click here for a complete site review with exclusive PokerScout bonus offers. ★★★