Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer and editor from Crandall, Texas. He's a senior editor with Casino Player and Strictly Slots magazines, and a feature writer for the World Poker Tour. He covers a wide range of topics including poker, gambling, sports betting, travel, true crime, sports, and more.
The online bracelet hunting may have concluded, but the live action returned last week with the World Series of Poker Europe now underway at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.
After a week, two players have secured their first bracelets. The series runs through Nov. 16 and features 15 bracelet events.
The €10,350 Main Event highlights the festival and kicks off on Nov. 11. As events play out, another well-known player will soon join the mix. Six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu plans on jumping in the action this week. Here’s a look at some of the headlines from the series so far.
Event 2: €550 Pot Limit Omaha Eight-Max
The Omaha action featured the second-straight bargain buy-in, bringing in 566 entries for a €268,850 prize pool. Germany’s Helmut Phung, 30, took the chip lead into the final table and never relinquished that. He scored his first bracelet and a top prize of €55,132.
“My plan was to win the tournament and to put a lot of pressure on the other players,” he said afterward. “I played with them on all the different tables and knew what to expect.”
Helmut Phung shows off his bracelet after winning the opening event at the World Serief of Polker Europe. (photo courtesy WSOP)
This was only Phung’s third career series cash, all coming in WSOPE events. The win greatly ballooned his live tournament record, which now stands at more than $84,000.
Norway’s Martin Almaas finished runner-up for €34,051, the largest score of his career.
Event 1: €350 No Limit Hold’em Opener
Some classic Hold’em action kicked off the series at the lowest buy-in level on the schedule. That brought in 2,454 entries for a €734,359 prize pool.
When the action reached heads-up play, a pair of Italians battled for the top spot. Fabio Peluso (pictured in lead image, courtesy WSOP) ultimately found the winner’s circle for €95,670. His only previous WSOP cash came in the same event in 2021.
The win comes after another big finish earlier this year. In April, Peluso took runner-up in the PokerStarsEuropean Poker Tour €1,100 Main Event in Monte Carlo for €217,340. Some recent focus on his game has apparently paid off.
“I have been studying a lot and discussing spots with my poker friends,” he said. “And of course the run-good helps too.”
Carlo Savinelli took runner-up for €59,032 and now has more than $274,000 in WSOP winnings. The Italian now has almost $1.4 million in live tournament winnings overall.
Daniel Negreanu heading to Rozvadov
With his eyes on another bracelet, Daniel Negreanu announced last week that he’d be heading to King’s as well. He even listed a staking package online for players to back the Canadian-born poker pro.
Look for Negreanu to debut in a Rozvadov field this week.
“Come and get it!” he noted on Twitter on Oct. 29. “I’m heading to WSOP Europe next week and here’s your chance to get a piece and have a sweat.”
On the Brandon Adams Podcast recently, the GGPoker ambassador discussed his own preparation for massive series like the WSOP. That includes some changes to his workout routine during the series.
Fresh off a win in the Super High Roller Bowl, he’ll be looking for another win in Europe. That turned around a year that was set to be his biggest losing year in poker. Negreanu now has almost $50 million in live tournament winnings.
Upcoming events
Plenty of big tournaments await players in the coming weeks. After three starting flights, the €1,350 Mini Main Event reaches Day 2 on Thursday.
The €550 Colossus also kicks off on Thursday and should bring in a huge field as seen at the annual live series in Las Vegas and in the recent WSOP Online at GGPoker.
For those with much bigger bankrolls, the €25,000 Platinum High Roller also gets underway on Monday. Here’s a look at the remaining schedule.
Two World Series of Poker Online events wrapped up at WSOP.ca over the weekend in Ontario with David Cowling taking down the championship finale.
The events bring to a close the three-event series on the Canadian platform. The Ontario site is a partnership between the WSOP and GGPoker. GG officials were pleased with the popularity of the series in Ontario.
“We were very happy to bring real WSOP bracelet action to Ontario, and were thrilled by the participation and enthusiasm shown by players right across the province,” GG head of public relations Paul Burke tells PokerScout.
Event 3: $1,050 GGMasters Online Championship
David “Edeskie” Cowling, of Toronto, found the winner’s circle in this championship event that came with a (CAD)$250,000 prize pool. He scored $50,992 and his first WSOP bracelet in the process.
The final hand saw Cowling catch two pair on the flop with his 8♥2♣. His opponent, “Funky Kong,” moved all in on the river when a third spade hit the board.
Cowling ultimately called, picking off his opponent’s bluff. Funky Kong showed K♣9♦ for just King high. Cowling earned a nice payday and some WSOP hardware for his efforts.
The win adds to Cowling’s poker record that includes $225,218 in live tournament winnings. This marked the largest score of his career with the previous coming in May. In a €3,000 Mystery Bounty event on the PokerStars European Poker Tour, Cowling took fifth for €45,950.
The WSOP.ca win marked the first major tournament win of his career as well.
Event 2: $210 Pot Limit Omaha Bounty MILLION$
This event brought some Omaha action to the mini-series and featured a $100,000 guarantee. The tournament saw a considerable boost, however, with the prize pool ballooning to $130,200.
When the action concluded, Xing “Mai_K_4_Life” He, of Scarborough, grabbed the bracelet and a payday of $8,239.
That total doesn’t include a deal made between the final two players. The amount also doesn’t include bounties, which made up half of the prize pool.
He’s poker record includes $35,468 in live tournament winnings. In the recent WSOP Online at GGPoker, he also scored 56th in the $5,000 Main Event for $52,807.
More action coming to GGPoker
The first WSOP Online event in Ontario played out a week earlier with Tristan Schneidergrabbing the gold for $28,968 in the $150 BIG 150 Ontario MILLION$.
Ontario players looking for more action should be in luck in the coming days. Like the WSOP platform in the US, the Ontario site is expected to run a regular Online Circuit Series as the site did in October.
On the international GGPoker platform, the Bounty Hunters Series, which runs through Nov. 7 with $50 million guaranteed.
The company also recently partnered with Dusk Till Dawn casino for the United Kingdom Poker Championships, which are set for January 7-11. Online qualifiers for the series are already underway.
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As the company celebrates its 20th anniversary through the year, 888poker was recently recognized by EGaming Review (EGR) as the 2022 Poker Operator of the Year.
EGR is the benchmark of excellence in the online gaming industry. The site’s annual awards recognize longevity and commitment in the industry. 888 won the award for casino operator as well.
The award comes after 888 officials worked throughout the year to upgrade and improve the platform. Company officials are pleased to see some of this work paying off with the EGR award.
“We are proud to have won this award,” 888’s announcement of the achievement says, “and accept it with grace as we commit to continuing future improvements to the software and player experience.”
An award-winning year at 888poker
Adding the EGR award comes after two decades in the online poker industry. The judging process involves a team of independent, external judges bringing their impartial, in-depth expertise to the process.
In 2022, 888poker made additional software upgrades to the site’s platform. The software offers a more intuitive user interface and is powered by proprietary technology.
The site’s tournament schedule received major improvements this year. That included making the schedule more player friendly, with affordable buy-ins and higher guarantees.
“Our online and live poker series were wildly successful in 2022, with millions in prize money awarded across various events,” 888poker also noted in a news release.
March’s Retro Week Series in March paid homage to the site’s iconic tournaments over the past 20 years. The series easily topped the $888,000 guarantee, awarding over $1 million.
Also as part of the 20th-anniversary, 888 sent 34 qualifiers and ambassadors to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Twenty of their stories were documented in the site’s “20 Years, 20 Stories” feature.
More bullet points from 2022
In 2022, 888 also expanded the company’s global reach, particularly focusing on Brazil and Ontario, Canada. More influencers and personalities also came on board as ambassadors.
That included boxing champion Chris Eubank Jr., YouTube personality Jack “JaackMaate” Dean, and Brazilian YouTuber Cauê Moura.
Social media also became a bigger emphasis for the site. The company introduced the 888 StreamTeam and relaunched the 888pokerTV Twitch channel. The channel grew considerably over the last year and offers streaming coverage of online and live events, poker strategy, and hand analysis content.
Some key highlights for the social media efforts include the Play with Friends weekly Sit & Go on Twitch and Focus Fridayson YouTube. Game integrity also became an even bigger concern, according to 888.
“We have further strengthened our efforts to create a fairer and more balanced playing experience,” the company notes. “Implementing new technology and growing our dedicated Fair Gaming team has expedited this process.”
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The first champion emerged in the World Series of Poker Online on Sunday, held exclusively for players in Ontario, Canada. The WSOP.com/GGPoker platform in the newly regulated province saw Tristan Schneider claim his first bracelet as the platform’s debut bracelet winner.
Ontario launched a completely regulated online poker market earlier this year. The new WSOP platform also recently went live in Ontario and quickly announced a series of three bracelet events.
The Ontario action comes after summer bracelet events at the live series in Las Vegas as well as WSOP Online bracelet events on WSOP.com in the US and at GGPoker’s international platform.
Event 1: BIG 150 Ontario MILLION$
Schneider, also known by the username “Schneids” on the Ontario platform, topped a field of 1,310 entries in this $150 event to score $28,968 (Canadian dollars).
In heads-up play against “rexdale225,” Schneider held a chip advantage of 7.4 million to 5.1 million when the final hand developed.
That saw Schnieder dealt pocket deuces and both players saw a flop of K♠2♦5♥. That gave Scheids a set of 2s and he checked the action, receiving a check from his opponent as well.
The turn brought the 9♣ and Schneider brought in a nice bet of 635,000. Rexdale called and the 5♠ came on the river, giving Schneider a full house.
After betting 3.6 million, Rexdale moved the last of his 4 million chips in and his opponent quickly called. Rex tabled 8♥5♣ for three of a kind.
That didn’t top Schneider’s full house, however, and he collected the championship and his first bracelet. The win marked a bit of Ontario online poker history.
More bracelet action on the way in Ontario
Schneider becomes the first bracelet winner on the new platform, but players have a bit more to look forward to. The final two events are set for Oct. 30 and starting flights are now underway.
The remaining schedule includes a $1,050 championship event that caps the series and features the festival’s highest buy-in. The event should offer some nice bragging rights for one lucky player winning the main event.
Some Omaha action also awaits Ontario players. Here’s a look at details of the final two events.
Even more tournaments in the works for GGPoker/WSOP Ontario calendar
Beyond the events in Ontario, even more is coming to the international GG platform. The site has partnered with the Dusk Till Dawn casino for the United Kingdom Poker Championships (UKPC).
The £560 Main Event features a £500,000 guarantee plus £50,000 in added prizes for players who qualify online. The championship event runs online at GGPoker beginning Jan. 7 and live at Dusk Till Dawn on Jan. 11. Numerous qualifiers and satellites are already available.
The Bounty Hunters Series also is underway, running through Nov. 7 with $50 million guaranteed. There are numerous progressive bounty tournaments with buy-ins starting at $5.25.
The series features a $210 Mystery Bounty Main Event with $5 million guaranteed. The final stage plays out on Nov. 7 and includes a $500,000 top bounty.
The WSOP Europe also runs Oct. 26 – Nov. 16 at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. GG is offering players several qualifying opportunities for the €10,350 Main Event, which gives players a €5 million guarantee.
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September produced some massive winners in the international online poker market. Players saw some massive series and payouts on PokerStars, GGPoker, PartyPoker.
One major highlight included Simon Mattson taking down the World Series of Poker Online Main Event. Preben Stokkan also came up big, winning the PartyPoker Millions Online Main Event. Poker Podium takes a look at those winners as well as other action from September.
PartyPoker
The MILLIONS Online recently wrapped up at PartyPoker. In the $3,200 Main Event, Preben Stokkan (pictured in lead image, courtesy PartyPoker) found the winner’s circle for a payout of $391,731.
Originally from Norway and now living in the United Kingdom, Stokkan also earned a Party Ape NFT as part of the prize package. He took the chip lead into the final table and rode that to victory.
Eelis Parssinen, of Finland, took runner-up for $270,213 with Austria’s Ole Schemion grabbing third for $186,168.
The win came only days after Stokkan also chalked up a victory in the $1,575 Closer PKO. That event brought in 253 players for a $379,500 prize pool. Stokkan added $73,423 for that win as well.
The $320 Min Main Event saw Franco Spitale, of Argentina, rise to the top for a payout of $100,480. Austria’s Leon Sturm finished runner-up for $68,227.
Two other players shined in the MILLIONS Online. Ricardo Arraiano, of Malta, won the Super 500 PKO for a total prize of $69,315. Emiliano Ricchini, of Argentina, won the Super 100 for a total of $31,765.
PokerStars
The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) recently wrapped up at PokerStars, despite some hiccups. Stars has rescheduled main events and added some other tournaments for November after DDoS attacks led to some tournament cancellations.
The first running of WCOOP saw several big winners however. Well-regarded online player Renas Bruschi took the $5,000 Titans title for $173,239. Bruschi has more than $8 million in online winnings.
After two runner-up finishes in the series, Stars ambassador and Twitch streamer Patrick Leonard added a WCOOP ‘22 title by winning the $1,050 Six-Plus Hold’em event for $17,444. He also won events in this version of Short Deck in the 2021 WCOOP and in SCOOP earlier this year.
After the nice finish, Leonard then made a huge run in the $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event at GGPoker (more on that below) as well for a score of more than $91,000.
CLOSE! Nearly kept it in the family with @UhlenPoker exciting way to end the 3 week grind. Thanks for everybody giving so much love on IG every day. I'll be back. I want it all. pic.twitter.com/Vy0iVomLnV
Winamax ambassador Joao Vieira also scored three WCOOP titles in the series. That included taking down the $2,100 Deep Stack for $62,131. He also rose to the top in the $2,000 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw for an additional $32,230.
Women’s WCOOP event winner Charlotte Van Brabander. (photo courtesy PokerStars)
Brazil’sRui Ferreira took runner-up in that Deep Stack event for $48,097 after already winning three events in the series as well.
Sweden’sChristian Jeppsson scored his third career WCOOP trophy in the $2,100 Thursday Thrill PKO for $115,695. He then added another win in the $1,000 NLHE freezeout for $47,880.
Ognjan Dimov was one of the series biggest winners, scoring three championships. That included winning the $5,200 High Roller for $160,277 and the $10,000 High Roller for $230,000.
In the first WCOOP Women’s World Championship, Belgium’s Charlotte Van Brabander (a former PokerStars ambassador) took the top spot for $15,886. Current Stars ambassador Georgina “GJReggie” James also made a nice run, finishing seventh for $3,014.
GGPoker
Obviously much of September’s GG action focused on the WSOP Online. The series recently wrapped up and Simon Mattsson scored the biggest title of the series. He took down the $5,000 Main Event for a massive score of $2.8 million.
Main Event winner Simon Mattsson. (photo courtesy PokerStars/Danny Maxwell)
The championship easily topped the $20 million guarantee, bringin in 4,984 entries for a $23.7 million prize pool. That wasn’t Mattsson’s only win of the series. He also took down a $5,250 Bounty Hunters Super High Roller non-bracelet event for $23,293.
In total, the series’ 33 events produced a total prize pool of more than $66 million. Beyond the Main Event, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker saw the second-largest payout of the series. Markus Prinz scored that title for $1.2 million with the tournament attracting 4,706 entries for $6.7 million.
The $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller also produced hefty numbers with 593 entries for a $5.7 million prize pool. David Yan scored the win for almost $1 million.
888poker
A former WSOP Main Event champion scored a nice finish at 888 in September. Sweden’s Martin Jacobson, winner of the 2014 WSOP Main Event, came up just short of a title in the $109 Big Shot, which features a $100,000 guarantee.
The event brought in 909 total entries and Jacobson entered the final table as chip leader. However, the United Kingdom’s “Patsharpe” took the top spot for $15,480 with Jacobson as runner-up for $11,290.
In other news, 888 recently offered up some prizes for those who shared one of their best stories from the site. Numerous players submitted their memories including this winner from a recreational player.
My best story was when I decided to shot take in the $16.50 PKO and at the table somebody started shoving any two cards covering everybody. He went on a rampage knocking like 8 people in a row. It taught me a valuable lesson of just how much variance is in poker. @888pokerpic.twitter.com/HNnshXCjoC
The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is getting a bit of a sequel this fall at PokerStars. After having to cancel tournaments over the weekend, the site is planning to re-run the WCOOP Main Events and other tournaments as part of a special Championship Weekend Nov. 5-6.
The series also plans to boost guarantees for several events as well. The move comes after Stars saw numerous hacking attempts over the weekend. The two-day mini WCOOP offers a chance for players to get back in on any missed events.
WCOOP briefly resuming in November at PokerStars
The two-day return of WCOOP is a bit of an unusual situation for online poker. The Stars festival will start on Saturday, Nov. 5. The series will include reruns of all canceled events from Sept. 25 and players can look for the return of:
“To ensure a great WCOOP experience, all the NLHE Main Events will offer players boosted guarantees,” the company noted in a news release.
PokerStars will also run freerolls and added value satellites in the coming weeks. As part of the action, Stars is even adding more to the schedule. Players can expect additional events “to ensure players have plenty of options to choose from.”
PokerStars plans to release more details on the two-day WCOOP in the coming weeks.
Major Sunday events shut down
Beginning on Sunday, Stars players saw major delays in tournaments. The events couldn’t have come at a worse time with the massive series underway.
The WCOOP is one of the biggest events in online poker and some of the site’s major championship events were affected.
“We have paused all tournaments on the .com client whilst we deal with some technical issues,” the company Tweeted initially. “We will update here as soon as we can, sorry for any inconvenience.”
The technical issues continued and the site later announced that all tournaments would be canceled. Players involved in any action that was stopped would receive payouts or refunds based on the Stars cancellation policy.
PokerSats support announced on Monday that DDoS attacks caused the issues. The Stars team hoped to assure users that any personal data on the site was safe.
“We can confirm that all our customers’ accounts are safe and their personal information secure, with no signs of any cyber breach,” the company noted on the PokerStars blog. “Our teams are working to counter the issue and look after customers whose play may have been affected.”
PokerStars is now back online. On demand tournaments, cash games, Spin & Go’s and Sit and Go’s are now running. 1/2
PokerStars certainly isn’t the only company to become the victim of these types of hacking attempts. DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service and involves criminals looking to gain access to other computer networks.
“A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack occurs when multiple machines are operating together to attack one target,” the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency notes. “DDoS attackers often leverage the use of a botnet – a group of hijacked Internet-connected devices to carry out large-scale attacks.
“Attackers take advantage of security vulnerabilities or device weaknesses to control numerous devices using command and control software. Once in control, an attacker can command their botnet to conduct DDoS on a target. In this case, the infected devices are also victims of the attack.”
PokerStars support officials believe the issue is now resolved and behind them. The new mini WCOOP offers a chance to at least complete the series and play out the canceled events.
“We have a great track record of keeping our platform operational, however we know how frustrating it can be to experience this kind of disruption, especially during our WCOOP and Galactic series,” the company noted. “We’d like to apologize to everyone affected and thank them for their patience.”
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The World Series of Poker Online wrapped up on Tuesday at GGPoker with the $5,000 Main Event closing out the series on Monday. The tournament featured a $20 million prize pool and when the action concluded, Sweden’sEric Mattsson took the title for his first bracelet and $2.8 million.
This becomes the biggest score of Mattson’s career and quite a bullet point, winning one of the biggest events in online poker. No stranger to success, Mattson is the top-ranked online poker player in the world.
The last week saw three other events wrap up as well, including one player grabbing his second bracelet of the series. Here’s a look at the action over the last week.
Event 33: $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event
After numerous starting flights throughout the series, the major highlight of the series concluded with some massive returns for players at the top. Mattson (pictured in lead image courtesy PokerStars/Danny Maxwell) pocketed the lion’s share of the prize pool and also landed the bracelet.
The Swedish player has $1.5 million in live tournament winnings, almost doubling that total with this win. His previous biggest cash came in 2017 when he won a $2,200 event at the PokerStars Championship Barcelona series for $337,007.
Mattson, 29, shines at the online tables and has won more than $20 million throughout his career. The bracelet win comes after also winning a $5,250 Bounty Hunters Super High Roller in the GG series as well for $23,293.
The top four players earned seven-figure scores including Thailand’s Sakooh Kannapong, finishing runner-up for $2.1 million. Feng Zhao, of China, scored third for $1.6 million and Finland’s Samuel Vousden took fourth for $1.2 million.
The event crushed the $20 million guarantee, attracting 4,984 entries for a $23.7 million prize pool. Here’s a look at all the top payouts and final table action.
This penultimate event came with a bargain price point and brought in 3,403 entries for a $1.3 million prize pool. Germany’sMarc Radgen came out on top for $147,983 and his first bracelet.
This was also the biggest tournament score of his career. Daniel Rezaei, of Austria, finished runner-up for$110,970.
Event 31: $1,050 Beat the Pros Bounty Freezeout
The bust-the-pros action brought in 1,318 entries for a $1.3 million prize pool. Germany’s Claas Segebrecht found the top spot again in this one for $54,315.
This marked the second bracelet for Segebrecht, who also won the second event of the series for $102,152. It’s been a huge series for Segebrecht who also recorded a fifth-place finish for $45,329 in the Flip & Go event and a third in the Crazy Eights for $49,415.
The German player also has $2.8 million in live tournament winnings. Naomie Haddad, of Israel, finished runner-up for $54,184.
Event 30: $840 Six-Handed Bounty
Finland’s Joni Jouhkimainen reached the winner’s circle in this event for his first bracelet and a total of $146,067. The poker pro has $5.2 million in live tournament winnings as well.
Jouhkimainen came close to a bracelet twice last year at the WSOP Europe. He finished runner-up twice for a total of more than $500,000.
The bounty action produced a field of 2,024 entries for a $1.6 million prize pool. Brazil’sBruno Ikeda finished in second for $65,841. It was a huge tournament for Brazilian players, also finding finishes of fourth, fifth, and sixth.
More action coming to GGPoker
The WSOP Online may have come to a close but the bracelet hunting continues in the coming week for American players at WSOP.com. Plenty of action is also coming to GGPoker, especially for low rollers.
The mini MILLION$ is set for Oct. 2-17 with a total of $5 million guaranteed through the entire series. For a complete preview of the festival and schedule, click here.
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A little gambling was always a part of life for Jonathan Gilliam. He first learned how to play poker during sessions at family get-togethers, which helped foster a love of the game. Even as a kid, Gilliam was winning in his family’s Friday night home games.
Fast forward a few decades later and the winning continues. Gilliam recently grabbed one of poker’s biggest trophies. He scored his first World Series of Poker bracelet bracelet as part of the WSOP Online at GGPoker.
The 37-year-old poker player from Virginia in the United States, regularly travels for some of the larger GG events. That paid off when he won the $1,000 Ultra Deepstack for $149,520 on Sept. 3 while playing in Canada.
“Winning a bracelet has been surreal because that’s the pinnacle of why I started playing and to achieve that as a rec player is phenomenal,” he says, “The moment I won I was actually playing on my phone alone far from home. So there was a lonely feeling and I couldn’t immediately celebrate. I only texted my wife and a few close buddies.”
Marines, poker, and business
As a child, Gilliam spent time in numerous locations. His family moved around a lot and his mother was murdered when he was 11. His grandparents stepped in and raised him in a small town near Lynchburg, Virginia.
The poker life came with some twists and turns for Gilliam. At age 18, he immediately joined the U.S. Marine Corps. His work didn’t leave much time for poker, but Gilliam occasionally found some time to play online. He didn’t play much live poker throughout his military career however.
After 10 years in the service, Gilliam was stationed in Baltimore, Maryland. The state legalized poker around the same time and Gilliam gave it a shot at the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore.
“I got my first real taste of tournaments at the first WSOP Circuit series in Maryland in 2015,” he says. “I made a deep run in the Main Event and finished fourth. Ever since then I’ve been hooked.”
That finish brought a score of $69,536 and he now has career live tournament winnings of more than $500,000. However, Gilliam has never been a full-time player, preferring running a business as his main source of income to support his family.
The same year he began playing tournaments, Gilliam left the Marines and began refurbishing military trucks for marketing purposes. His company’s biggest client is the Mission BBQ restaurant chain and Gilliam builds all the military trucks seen outside each restaurant.
Playing tournament poker was a big part of Gilliam’s life until the pandemic. Live games evaporated in Maryland and he eventually turned to traveling to play online occasionally. COVID also brought another change for Gilliam and his family.
“My wife and six kids decided to follow our dream and buy a farm in Virginia,” he says. “Taking care of our horses, animals, and our ventures is fun. It has definitely cut into how many live tournaments I have played the last couple years, but it has allowed me to study more online and play better than I ever have.”
That paid off in the WSOP Online and Gilliam is now a bracelet winner and pocketed a nice chunk of cash as well. He says the biggest moment in the tournament was actually registering to play.
“That Saturday I had plans that evening and I knew I couldn’t play, but tickets were sold out when I got to the event and I was like, ‘Shoot let me check the lobby,’” he says. “I max late-regged and the rest is history.”
The winning continued a few days later. He chopped a Sunday high roller event at GG for another $41,717. At the live poker tables, Gilliam’s play is limited because of the reduced number of tournaments available on the East Coast since the pandemic.
However, when not traveling to play major online series, live tournaments close to home are part of his schedule. Gilliam also enjoys golf, riding ATVs and horses, and target shooting.
Family is also a huge part of his life. That expanded in 2019 when his sister passed away and Gilliam adopted her two children. The farm has made for a nice place to raise a family.
With a nice six-figure score now under his belt, what’s planned for the winnings? His wife Tabitha has been a huge supporter and will definitely be a big part of his plans.
“Not exactly sure what I’ll do with the money yet, but most likely pay off debt and buy my wife a new Ford Bronco or camper,” he says. “She is honestly my biggest fan and supporter, and I couldn’t do any of it without her.
“Tournament schedules are tough and for me to jump on a plane to fly out to Vegas or wherever and leave her with six kids to take care of is hard! Her love and faith in me is really what motivates me to try my best.”
* Photo courtesy WPT
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introduced the 888 
