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June 27, 2024 – Poker pro-Ori Hasson claimed victory at the Wynn Summer Classic Mystery Bounty Poker Tournament with a take-home win of over $800,000. The $460,570 on top of the $369,500 in bounties brought the crowd to a stop with an impressive haul as the champion overtook an Israeli poker player at $1.8 million.

The Mystery Bounty format, which is becoming more and more popular in the poker business, attracted a sizable field of 2,598 entries for the $2,200 buy-in no-limit hold 'em poker tournament throughout four starting flights. As a result, $5,196,000 was the total prize pool.

During the hectic summer poker season in Las Vegas, many well-known players cashed in one of the major tournaments held at the Wynn, where the top 322 players took home at least $3,051 in prize money. Some of the popular faces in poker included Aaron Pinson, Pete Mugar, and Ruth Graham to name a few.

Notable players who incurred six-figure earnings feature Wassim Assaf with over $365,000 in 8th place, as well as Swiss player Karo Nuri with more than $326,000 in 7th place. Runner-up from France, Damien Gayer won a lump sum of $423,536 taking a total of close to $500,000.

June 24, 2024 - In 2019, Yuri Dzivielevski won his first bracelet from the World Series of Poker Last June 24, at the $50,000 Poker Players Championship Event #58, the 2024 WSOP made a comeback with the same nine-game lineup, featuring many of the same big names competing.

With 379 entries, there was a $1,011,930 final prize fund for this event. The 57 players who cashed included many well-known names:

• 57 players cashed, including:
• Phil Hellmuth, 17-time bracelet winner
• Shaun Deeb, 6-time bracelet winner
• Robert Mizrachi, 5-time bracelet winner
• Brian Rast, 6-time bracelet winner
• Koray Aldemir, 2021 WSOP Main Event champion
• Phil Hui, 14-time bracelet winner
• Ben Yu, 13-time bracelet winner
• Adam Friedman, 5-time bracelet winner (12th place)

Since then, the 32-year-old Brazilian poker player from Florianópolis has amassed five bracelets in his WSOP hardware collection. His most recent victory came in this year's series $3,000 buy-in nine-game mixed event. As the winner, Dzivielevski took home $215,982.

The Brazilian poker pro now has almost a quarter of Brazil's 26 bracelets to his credit. He is the only multi-bracelet winner in the country. In poker history, he is only the 40th player to have won five or more bracelets.

This was Dzivielevski's third bracelet in a multi-game tournament. He had previously won the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and the $2,500 mixed Omaha eight-or-better and stud eight-or-better in 2019 and 2018. His two prior bracelet wins came from pot-limit Omaha, where he won the 2020 WSOP Online $400 "PLOssus" and the WSOPO $10,000 PLO championship.

June 24, 2024 – The microFestival online poker series from GGPoker is back which is set to start on Sunday, July 7th. This online poker event was designed with budget-friendly poker players in mind. The 2024 GGPoker microFestival takes place over 15 days, which ends on Sunday, July 7, starting on Sunday, June 23.

When the series launched on June 4, 2023, players who played for smaller stakes overwhelmingly praised it. Like last year's launch, this year's version will be aggressively supported by freerolls and other promotions. Every day, GGPoker will provide multiple $5,000 freerolls with a minimum prize pool of $250,000 throughout the series.

There are hundreds of activities available over the 15-day microFestival, with entry prices ranging from $1.10 to $25. Additionally, a $10 million prize pool is assured to be given out. The $10.80 Mystery Bounty Big Event, which has a $1 million guaranteed prize pool and a $100,000 top bounty payout, is the festival's main attraction.

Featured Games

GGPoker's microFestival returns with hold'em and Omaha tourneys, offering bounty, turbo, and short-handed events. A daily $10.80 event is also featured. Sarne Lightman, GGPoker's Managing Director, highlights the series' accessibility with events starting at $1. The festival includes 50 daily $5,000 freerolls as 'Second Chance' events for players who didn't cash the previous day, ensuring multiple opportunities to win big.

June 21, 2024 – Prominent online poker operator WPT Global has improved the current promos and expanded the possibilities available to players worldwide to participate in the brand's main live and online tournaments. The new money can be utilized to pay for various tournaments as well as to allow friends and family to attend the events.

There are two varieties of WPT Global Passports: the $1,500 WPT Prime Passport for the well-liked worldwide mid-stakes series, and the $12,400 WPT Passport, which is perfect for the year-ending WPT World Championship in Wynn Las Vegas.

Convertible Winnings

Players may now convert their online satellite winnings on WPT Global into WPT Passport Dollars, which they can then use whenever they choose at any World Poker Tour stop worldwide, thanks to the recently redesigned WPT Passport system. When selecting your chosen stop, please give yourself at least 25 days' notice to ensure that all arrangements can be made.

After a successful satellite performance, the WPT Passport Dollars can be redeemed for a variety of things, including tournament entries, travel fees, and other associated charges, greatly increasing flexibility and versatility.

The corresponding Passport Dollars won by the weekly finalist players will be added to their balance and can be utilized to create a tournament schedule that works for them. For instance, with a huge guaranteed prize pool of $40 million at Wynn Las Vegas in December, the $12,400 WPT Passport may be quite tempting to deploy for one large shot.

On the other hand, these Passport Dollars can also be divided up and used for other purposes at one of the several WPT Prime locations worldwide. They can also be used to pay for your lodging and travel. You may deposit up to $2,000 in cash expenditures for each WPT Festival into your WPT Global account using your personal Passport Dollars balance.

Players who have enough Passport Dollars at each tournament stop can claim up to $2,000. However, they must also use their Passport Dollars to purchase a ticket to an event with a minimum $1,100 buy-in. A player may submit a single expenditure request for each WPT festival they play, regardless of the number of tournaments they plan to enter.

About WPT Global

WPT Global, which debuted in 2022, provides a safe and equitable online poker environment, focusing mainly on recreational players with little competition from professionals. It features a game integrity engine, a rewarding loyalty program, and data-driven AI for safety. It’s also available in more than 60 countries, excluding the US.

June 19, 2024 – With the 2024 World Series of Poker closing, returning poker champion James Obst has managed to claim his second WSOP bracelet. In the $10,000 seven-card stud tournament, he defeated 107 competitors to take home the trophy and the top prize of $260,658. His total documented tournament earnings to date exceed $3.5 million.

With just a Stud Hi-Lo bracelet needed to capture the Stud triple crown, Obst is one leg away from taking home his first WSOP bracelet from the $10,000 Razz Championship in 2017. After surpassing Mel Judah, Martin Kozlov, and David Steicke, Obst now has over $3.9 million in live lifetime tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob. This puts Obst in 10th place on the Australia All-Time Money List.

Obst, who had been leading Volpe by a slim margin, surged ahead to take a two-to-one lead and then a three-to-one lead. Volpe made a comeback, but Obst rivered a full house while Volpe was forced to give way by a massive pot. On the eighth, three wagers came in, and Obst was back in the lead. When Volpe rivered a straight against Obst's trips and flush draw, he won a sizable pot of his own. However, Obst's rush put Volpe back down five to one.

James Obst won his second cash of the year and now sits in 66th position on the PGT standings with 282 PGT points. With 173 PGT points, Paul Volpe joins the Top 100, while Jason Daly, who finished in third place, is 134th on the PGT leaderboard with 119 PGT points.

Everyone has a general idea of what 888 Holdings plc represents, especially the residents of New Jersey. 888 Holdings plc, a major player in the online gaming sector, has just announced that it will begin shutting down its 888poker and 888casino platforms in the United States, starting June 3. This decision, which 888 Holdings made public this week, marks a significant shift in the ever-changing online gambling landscape, particularly since it affects players in New Jersey, where it first started.

But despite this closure, there’s still some good news: the Tri-State agreement which facilitates live poker rooms for World Series of Poker (WSOP) participants in Nevada, Michigan, and New Jersey will remain unaffected. Needless to say, the cooperative agreement has been crucial for maintaining a robust live poker environment for players in these states.

The announcement of 888 Holdings' withdrawal from the U.S. market is not entirely unexpected. As far back as February, the company began divesting its assets in the US to Hard Rock Digital. As most everyone is aware, Hard Rock Digital is the online arm operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Tribe will likely use the platform to expand its brand and operations outside Florida.

In the meantime, this move followed the termination of 888 Holdings’ partnership with SI Sportsbook, a collaboration that had initially supported its sports betting platform and was promising at first. But perhaps these strategic shifts were indeed a sign that called for a broader restructuring of 888 Holdings' U.S. operations. Either way, there is no official statement from 888 Holdings regarding the closure as of this time, and the only indication of the exit is an email sent to consumers. But it is highly likely that an official announcement will be issued in the coming days – though the June 3 closure is already in the cards.

An underwhelming performance coupled with meager revenues

Suffice it to say that the performance of 888poker in New Jersey has lately been underwhelming, to say the least. In March, the platform accounted for less than 1% of the state's online poker market, a clear indication of its struggles. And the recent decision by New Jersey regulators to release revenue figures for individual online casino operators, rather than just license holders, further highlighted 888poker's poor performance. Case in point: in January, the platform generated only $48,000 in revenue, representing a meager .006% share of the market. In stark contrast, PartyPoker, its nearest competitor, recorded revenues exceeding $530,000 in the same month alone.

It’s worth noting, however, that this closure marks a crucial moment in New Jersey's online poker history. In fact, it will be the first time in nearly a decade that an online poker platform has exited the state's market. Incidentally, players currently using 888poker and 888casino are advised to withdraw their funds by June 3. However, for those who do not manage to do so, 888 Holdings has assured that checks will be mailed over the coming months to ensure all players receive their remaining balances.

While the World Series of Poker’s operations seem to be stable and ongoing, it appears that Hard Rock Digital has no plans to revive 888’s poker platform. This decision leaves a gap in the New Jersey online poker market, which, as we all know, is one of the six states in the U.S. where online poker is legal. New Jersey, along with Nevada and Michigan, remains an integral part of the WSOP's Tri-State agreement, which continues to provide a vibrant live poker scene for players in these three states.

888 Holdings’ overall impact

The impact of 888 Holdings' withdrawal will likely be felt by the broader online gaming community in New Jersey. As the state continues to evolve through its regulatory frameworks, gaming operators and companies will need to adapt to the increasingly transparent and competitive market environment.

The closure of 888poker and 888casino by 888 Holdings represents a significant change in the U.S. landscape for online casino gaming. Moreover, players in New Jersey and other states who are affected by this decision will need to transition to other platforms. Meanwhile, it’s fortunate that the WSOP's Tri-State agreement continues to be a cornerstone in live poker, ensuring that different players in Nevada, Michigan, and New Jersey can still enjoy competitive poker experiences. For now, the casino industry will be closely watching how these changes unfold and what they mean for the future of online gaming in the U.S.