by Brian Pempus | Published: Sep 22, '15

Name: Jason Les Age: 29 From: Costa Mesa, CA Years Playing Poker: About 10 Lifetime Tournament Earnings: $756,476 Top Poker Accomplishment: 5th in 2014 $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Alpha8 Las Vegas for $431,640 Twitter: @heyitscheet High-stakes poker pro Jason Les is widely regarded as one of the top heads-up no-limit hold’em players in the world, and […]

by Brian Pempus | Published: Jul 28, '15

High-stakes poker pro Jason Les is a cash game star, but he just recently had his breakout year at the World Series of Poker. Les final tabled two events this summer, recording a runner-up finish in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout and a third place in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship. His deep runs this […]

by Brian Pempus | Published: Jan 31, '17

Monday was another losing day for the human team, but the bleeding was finally stopped. After the completion of the 120,000 hands against Carnegie Mellon University’s poker machine Libratus, the poker pro team was down 1,776,250 chips. The chips have no cash value, but the poker pros are splitting a $200,000 purse for a grueling […]

by Brian Pempus | Published: Jan 30, '17

The poker playing supercomputer Libratus still had 4,200 hands left to play against its human opponents on Monday, but with a lead of more than 1.5 million chips the “Brains vs. AI” contest had for quite some time been virtually over. The deficit equates to about 15,000 big blinds, or 75 buy-ins. Every hand of […]

by Brian Pempus | Published: Jan 26, '17

A team of world-class poker pros was losing by nearly by one million chips to a poker-playing machine at a Pittsburgh casino on Thursday. That’s about 10,000 big blinds. Every hand begins with each player having 20,000 in chips. The blinds are 50-100 with no ante. The group of heads-up no-limit specialists battling Carnegie Mellon […]

by Tim Fiorvanti | Published: Mar 18, '26

Yuri Dzivielevski completed one of the most incredible streaks in mixed game tournament history with a victory in the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl Mixed Games. The 34-year-old secured the $1.3 million first-place prize to cap off a stretch in which, in rapid succession, he won a $15,000 event and finished second twice on […]

by Tim Fiorvanti | Published: Mar 04, '26

The return of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship represents the resumption of one of the most recognizable events in the history of the game. The 64-player heads-up championship debuted in 2005, pitting the best players against celebrities, athletes and wealthy enthusiasts. Phil Hellmuth won the inaugural edition of the tournament, which aired on NBC. The […]

by Sean Chaffin | Published: Feb 04, '26

Even among the most intrepid travelers, visiting all seven continents is a rare feat. Antarctica is simply too far off the beaten path, not to mention brutally frigid. But high-stakes poker pro Ben Tollerene had longed to visit the Great White South and was able to cross it off his bucket list. Antarctica’s scenery astounded […]

by Erik Fast | Published: Jan 21, '26

In a month crowded with world-class poker tournament action, the World Series of Poker Paradise stood out as the undisputed heavyweight. While competing for players’ attention against rival festivals in Las Vegas and Prague, the Triton-partnered WSOPP leveraged its high-stakes focus to build over $203 million in prize pools across 15 bracelet events. The festival […]

by Tim Fiorvanti | Published: Jan 21, '26

Joao Simao ended 2025 on one of the hottest runs in tournament poker, capping off a tremendous few months by winning the Super High Roller Bowl X for $1.1 million. Simao took down the $100,000 buy-in event at the PokerGO Studio following a wild heads-up battle to close out the event and the year. The […]