Poker News

New Jersey Online Casinos Win $148M In 2015

Last week, New Jersey gaming regulators released revenue figures for December, which showed that online gaming has reached new heights in the state. December Internet gaming revenue was $14.04 million, up nearly 31 percent from December 2014’s $10.74 million. Revenue from poker did fall to $1.98 million, down from $2.06 million the previous year. The […]

A Poker Life: Aaron Mermelstein

In the past year, Aaron Mermelstein has experienced some ups and downs that most poker pros take decades to encounter. In fact, in the span of just 11 months, the 28-year-old Philadelphia native went from needing a stake to grind low-stakes online tournaments, to flush with cash after a big win, to broke again after […]

Nick Petrangelo Explodes On The Scene In 2015

Nick Petrangelo had one of the best years on the tournament circuit in recent memory. He won two titles, including his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet, made a total of 11 final tables and cashed for $3,362,396 in 2015. He finished third in the 2015 Card Player Player of the Year race, but […]

Casino At Dania Beach Opens After $50M Renovation

The Casino at Dania Beach re-opened on Jan. 13 after spending more than $50 million on renovations to the property since October 2014 and a rebranding. The grand opening is planned for Feb. 26. The facility, which closed more than a year ago for the renovations, now features Las Vegas-style slots, a luxurious poker room, […]

Online Poker Bill Introduced In Washington State

A proposal to legalize and regulate online poker rooms was re-introduced last week in the state of Washington’s legislature. House Bill 1114 was put on the table by Representatives Sherry Appleton and Vincent Buys. Washington, which previously criminalized online poker, likely won’t be approving the measure this year but it does keep the conversation going. […]

Online Poker: Alex Millar Drops $112,000

High-stakes poker pro Alex “Kanu7” Millar didn’t start off 2016 on the upswing. Just weeks ago, he ended his sponsorship with PokerStars over controversial changes to the site’s VIP rewards program. The British grinder lost $113,000 over the past seven days on the site, according to tracking data from HighstakesDB. Joining Millar with a six-figure […]

Mike Watson Wins 2016 PCA Main Event

Mike Watson has won the first European Poker Tour main event of 2016. The 31-year-old Canadian poker pro topped a field of 928 players to win the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $5,300 no-limit hold’em main event. For the win the man known as “SirWatts” online captured his first EPT main event title and the $728,325 […]

Nick Maimone Wins 2016 PCA $25,000 High Roller

The 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller drew a field of 225 entries, with 173 unique players and 52 re-entries building a $5.4 million total prize pool. In the end the lion’s share of that went to Nick Maimone, who busted every single player at the final table to capture the title […]

Selbst Could Lose $2M In WSOP Prop Bet

Vanessa Selbst is on the hook for $2 million if a 20-year-old poker pro scores a hat trick at the 2016 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Selbst, a winner of three bracelets in her career, gave Poland’s Dzmitry Urbanovich 200:1 odds on $10,000 against him winning three bracelets in his rookie year at […]

$300k Buy-In 2016 Super High Roller Bowl Announced

Poker Central, the world’s first 24/7 poker TV network, introduced it’s marquee event in 2015: the Super High Roller Bowl. The first running of the high stakes event and Poker PROduction’s coverage of the tournament were both great successes and as a result the Super High Roller Bowl is back for 2016. This year the […]

New Jersey May Take Over Atlantic City: Report

Though no additional Atlantic City casinos closed in 2015, the state of New Jersey is considering a takeover of the city’s finances, according to a report from Bloomberg. Facing a budget deficit of $90 million next year and owing tens of millions in tax refunds, Atlantic City is thinking about filing for bankruptcy, while the […]

Americas Cardroom Brings Back High Five Series

The High Five Tournament Series returns this month to Americas Cardroom on Jan. 20. This action-packed series will add five extra tournaments per day with total guaranteed prize pools of $840,000. The series comes to a massive conclusion on Jan. 24 at 4 p.m. ET with the $420+$35 buy-in $420,000 GTD Main Event. This series […]

Nebraska Poker Bill Faces Long Odds In 2016

A bill that would legalize poker rooms in the state of Nebraska faces an uphill battle in 2016. The measure was introduced early last year in what the sponsor called the state’s first real push for poker. According to Omaha.com, an amendment to the proposal that would make it so only games with community cards, […]

Poker Hand of the Week: What's Your Play?

Give us your opinion in the comments section below for your chance at winning a six-month Card Player magazine digital subscription. Ask any group of poker players how you played your hand and they’ll come up with dozens of different opinions. That’s just the nature of the game. Each week, Card Player will select a […]

2016 POY Update: Steve O'Dwyer Takes The Lead

The 2016 Card Player Player of the year race is less than two weeks old and already there have been several gigantic events, each rewarding massive payouts and plenty of POY points. Here is a look at the tournaments that have had the biggest impact on the overall standings: 2016 WPT Philippines $200,000 Super High […]

Late Clemson Touchdown Great For Vegas: Report

A Clemson touchdown with less than 15 seconds on the clock on Monday was great for the Las Vegas casino industry, according to a report from CBS Sports. The 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship in Glendale, Arizona was an instant classic, with Alabama beating Clemson by a score of 45-40. It was no surprise […]

Country Eyeing Record $1.5 Billion Powerball Jackpot

After the Powerball changed its odds from 1-in-175 million to 1-in-292 million last fall, it seemed likely that the country would eventually see a $1 billion jackpot. It only took until the first half of January. Thanks to no winner since Nov. 4 of last year, Wednesday night’s drawing (10:59 p.m. EST) stands at a […]

What A $1.5B Powerball Could Buy In The Casino World

Tonight’s $1.5 billion Powerball drawing is the largest in history, fueled in part by the implementation of online lottery services in some U.S. states and the Powerball last fall making the odds of winning roughly 1-in-292 million, up from approximately 1-in-175 million. The lump sum payment is roughly $930 million. There are, of course, taxes. […]

High Stakes Poker Pro Opens Up About Fear Of Failure

Even the best poker players in the world often doubt themselves. Pratyush Buddiga, a high-stakes poker pro with nearly $4 million in career live tournament earnings, recently posted a blog entry where he admitted to a near crippling fear of embarrassment and failure. The 26-year-old Colorado native was able to trace his anxiety back to […]

Tribe Gets Reservation For Massachusetts Casino

A Native American Tribe was officially given a reservation on which to build a casino within the borders of the state of Massachusetts. According to a report from the Associated Press, the Bureau of Indian Affairs officially designated Mashpee Wampanoag lands as a reservation on Friday. In September, the U.S. Department of Interior agreed to […]

DraftKings, FanDuel Win New York Ruling

The two leading DFS sites can continue doing business in New York cyberspace while they appeal the state’s attempt to shut them down to the New York Supreme Court, an appellate panel said Monday. FanDuel and DraftKings will be allowed to take action from New York residents in the months leading up to their May […]

NJ Lawmakers Find Compromise For New Casinos

Lawmakers in the Garden State, along with Gov. Chris Christie, announced Monday that they have reached a compromise on the most contentious parts of a plan to let voters decide in November if two new casinos should be built in North Jersey. Christie held a press conference to say that a deal has been reached. […]

Billionaire Fights Worker At Own Casino

Australian casino tycoon James Packer allegedly got into a physical altercation with a worker at his casino in Melbourne after the security guard apparently didn’t recognize who he was. According to a report from The Guardian, the security guard didn’t let Packer and another executive into an unspecified part of the casino on New Year’s […]

NV Gaming Win At Historic Low In Fiscal Year

Unlucky gamblers are increasingly playing less and less of a role in the success of Nevada’s casino industry. Nevada’s largest casinos had total revenue of nearly $24.6 billion in fiscal year 2015, according to figures released Friday by Silver State gaming regulators. The figure was for casinos that won at least $1 million from gamblers […]

Florida Poker Room Accused Of Misconduct

The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering has found that there were indeed serious irregularities at an August poker tournament at Hialeah Park. After players complained that the prize pool was severely short, regulators stepped in to investigate and found 11 violations, according to a report from the Miami Herald. The scandal reportedly was the first […]

Esfandiari Kicked Out Of Tournament For Urinating

Poker legend Antonio Esfandiari was disqualified from play in this week’s $5,300 buy-in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event for something he did underneath the table. Esfandiari and poker-playing businessman Bill Perkins had a prop bet that called for Esfandiari to lunge everywhere he went for 48 hours. The bet began on Jan. 8. It’s unclear […]

Steve O'Dwyer Wins 2016 PCA $50k High Roller

Steve O’Dwyer is dominating the super high roller tournament scene. Since the start of November 2014 he has won four tournaments with buy-in’s of $50,000 or more and made seven such final tables, cashing for $7,003,209 in super high roller events alone over that 14-month span. O’Dwyer’s latest addition to his high roller resume came […]

Online Poker: Blom, Kostritsyn Start Year In Red

Poker pro Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, last year’s biggest winner on the Internet, hasn’t started this year in the black. The Swede has dropped $115,000 so far in January, according to tracking data from HighstakesDB. Through the first nine days of the new year, Blom logged nearly 400 hands. Though he lost roughly $1.4 million on […]

Kenney Wins 2016 PCA $100k Super High Roller

Bryn Kenney has final tabled the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 no-limit hold’em eight-max super high roller event for the third time in six years. After two prior third place finishes the 29-year-old poker pro from Long Beach, CA has finally broken through, topping the field of 58 entries to win the 2016 running and the […]

Aaron Sorkin To Direct New Poker Movie

Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin will make his debut as a director with “Molly’s Game,” a film about the life of former high-stakes poker organizer Molly Bloom, according to a report from Deadline.com. Sorkin was brought on as the screenwriter for the film adaptation of Bloom’s memoir back in 2014, but he now will also be […]