The chequered flag for the McLaren Turbo Series on PartyPoker was waved for the final time after the conclusion of the festival’s Main Event and Mini Main Event.

Both tournaments revved past their guarantees, with the series showstoppers attracting thousands of runners.

The $33 buy-in McLaren Turbo Series Main Event guaranteed $100,000, and thanks to the 4,343 entries, the final prize pool stood at $130,290. The 626 players who made it through to the second and final day each shared a slice of the cash up for grabs.

Team PartyPoker’s Matt Staples put in a deep run but narrowly missed out on the final table. He was forced to make his final pit stop following his elimination in 11th place for a score of $657.

At the final table, “Howzithowzit” and “P4G4 0 B1G0D3” were the first to hit the brakes and brought the Main Event into seven-handed play. “EMERSONRN186” took home the first four-figure payout and saw $1,117 hit their account. “DaDBM” bowed out in sixth place and was awarded $1,553 along with an additional $542 in bounties.

“DominikChmiel16” (5th - $2,732), “CarlosRocha1” (4th - $4,358) and “Betzaiten” (3rd - $5,643) all saw respectable returns on their $33 investment and then “naoseiquemeusou” overcame “Merci_bcp” in heads-up play to seal the victory and claim the title.

McLaren Turbo Series Main Event Final Table Results

“tutuia” Takes Down the PartyPoker McLaren Turbo Series Sunday Party

“SoyTuSicaria” Bags Mini Main Event Honors

The Mini Main Event of the series was also well attended and saw a similar turnout to its bigger brother. Some 4,687 entries created a sizeable $23,435 prize pool, surpassing the $20,000 guarantee. The Mini Main Event came with a $5.50 buy-in and had a top prize of $1,341.

The Day 2 field saw 668 return, and the last player standing was “SoyTuSicaria” who boosted his payout by a further $969 thanks to his numerous eliminations.

McLaren Turbo Series Mini Main Event Final Table Results

Don’t Miss Out on PartyPoker LIVE MILLIONS Malta

In September, PartyPoker’s flagship event, the LIVE MILLIONS, is making a comeback to Malta. For twelve delightful days, poker fans can enjoy the sun-soaked ambience at Portomaso Casino, located along the scenic Maltese coastline.

The schedule for LIVE MILLIONS Malta has been confirmed, featuring 33 distinct events that will take place from Friday, September 22 to Tuesday, October 3, 2023. PartyPoker has taken great care to ensure a diverse range of exciting activities to cater to everyone’s preferences.

The series highlights various attractions, such as a dedicated ladies’ event, a wide spectrum of buy-in options spanning from €60 ($66) to €5,300 ($5,830), and an array of poker variations including PLO, HORSE, and 8-game mix events.

PartyPoker LIVE MILLIONS Malta Full Schedule

Check Out PokerNews Exclusive Freerolls On PartyPoker

Keep Track of LIVE MILLIONS Malta Online Satellites With The PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar

If you need some help keeping track of the online satellites and package events for LIVE MILLIONS Malta, then you should check out the newly launched PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar.

This free-to-use tool will allow you track, filter, and even register for PartyPoker tournaments all without leaving the PokerNews website!

Join PartyPoker Now And Earn A Welcome Bonus

Prepping for the LIVE MILLIONS Malta event is easier than ever. To play satellites for the event and to get yourself a first deposit bonus, just Download PartyPoker via PokerNews to get a 100% matched deposit bonus of up to $600, plus up to $30 worth of free play.

The minimum deposit is $10 deposit and comes with $10 in tournament tickets released over the course of a week:

• Day 1: 2x $1 SPINS tickets + 1x $5.50 MTT ticket
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Deposits of $20 get a more generous ticket package:

• Day 1: 1x $5.30 MTT ticket
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• Day 4: 1x $5.50 MTT ticket
• Day 5: 3x $2.20 MTT tickets
• Day 6: 2x $3 SPINS tickets + 1x$3.30 MTT ticket

Players who are residents in the United Kingdom can access a different PartyPoker welcome bonus. UK players who deposit £10 or more deposit will receive a 100% matched deposit bonus of up to £400 plus £40 in Party Dollars. Party Dollars can be used in any of the PartyPoker’s poker or casino games.

To release the deposit bonus, you must meet playthrough requirements. This involves earning four times the deposit bonus amount in loyalty points.

The deposit bonus is released 10% increments and will expire after a time. For full details, check out the terms and conditions on the PartyPoker website.

The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) London Main Event has crowned its champion, and the worthy winner is none other than Weixiao Liao. Some 405 players bought into the £1,250 Main Event and created a £421,372 prize pool. The top 44 finishers won a slice of that pie, with Liao taking home the lion’s share.

A four-handed deal all but ended the tournament as a contest because the deal did not leave any additional prize money to win. The final four flipped for the trophy, and Lady Luck shone down on Liao, gifting him the victory, the trophy, and the title of champion thanks to the lowly seven-deuce coming up trumps.

2023 GUKPT London Main Event Final Table Results

*reflects a four-handed deal

Calogero Morreale, who is running hot in the Grosvenor National Poker League, was the first Main Event player to cash. The likes of Andy Moc, Yucel “Mad Turk” Eminoglu, Team Grosvenor’s Katie Swift, and Ludovic Geilich also saw a return on their £1,250 investment. Matt Davenport, Rob Cowen, and Arthur Conan also found themselves in the money places.

At the final table, Sahil Chuttani was the first finalist to fall. Chuttani found himself all-in for his last 20 big blinds with ace-queen against the dominating ace-king of Longmao Fan, and he never caught up.

Adam Gill joined the list of busted players after a clash with John Blanchard did not go to plan. Gill was all-in with ace-five of hearts, and Blanchard looked him up with a pair of jacks in the hole. Gill spiked a five on the flop but found no additional outs, so had to make do with an eighth-place finish.

Alex Todd Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win Record-Breaking 2023 Goliath Main Event (£178,860)

Seventh place and the last four-figure sum of the tournament went to GUKPT regular Artan Dedusha. Dedusha, the 2020 GUKPT London Main Event champion, was down to only nine big blinds, and was in desparate need of a double. He made a move with pocket threes, and Jiaze Le called with queen-jack. Le won the coinflip courtesy of a jack on the flop, and Dedusha was demolished.

Carlo Citrone‘s recent return to the live poker scene has been kind to him. In February, he won the £550 GUKPT Cup in Manchester for £29,500, and followed that up with a brace of cashes at the 2023 World Series of Poker. Citrone busted from the GUKPT London Main Event in sixth place for £13,490 when he open-shoved six big blinds with ten-seven of clubs, and Le called with pocket kings. The board never even hinted at rescuing Citrone, and he headed for the cashier’s desk.

A cruel hand reduced the final table to four players, and it was Blanchard who was on the end of the bad beat. Liao shoved from the small blind with what turned out to be eight-four of spades. Blanchard, in the big blind, called off his last 16 big blinds with ace-king, and must have thought he was back in the hunt for the title. That may have been the case preflop, but Liao turned a flush to send Blanchard home in fifth for £18,450, a new career-best for the man from Oxfordshire.

Ravi Sheth Does the Double at GUKPT London; Wins Mini Main

The final four players decided to reduce the pay-jumps by discussing then agreeing to a deal. The deal left no additional prize money up for grabs. Instead, the quartet fought it out for the right to take home the trophy. Unsurprisingly, all four players began shoving all-in preflop.

Le was the first of the deal makers to bust; the deal scored him £62,669 despite busting in fourth. Then a double elimination sent both Middleton and Fan to the showers. Middleton held seven-four, Fan held king-ten, and the Liao showed the lowly seven-deuce. A deuce on the flop and another on the river gifted Liao the title and the trophy.

Brandon Sheils Binks High Roller After Two Sixth Place Finishes

Brandon Sheils helped himself to the £61,070 top prize of the GUKPT London £2,000 High Roller. Sheils had been in top form at this festival, and had finished sixth in the £550 GUKPT London Midi Main Event for £6,020, and in the Mini Main Event for £4,820; Ravi Sheth won both of those events.

Sheils was one of 114 entrants in the High Roller, which saw the top 11 finishers share the £196,990 prize pool.

Jack McDermott and Pavel Abramov bowed out before the final table, and what a final table it was.

Harry Lodge‘s exit in ninth left the waters ever-so-slightly less shark-infested. Then came the demises of Gary Blackwood, Jamie Dwan, Keith Johnson, and Jack Benson. Popular Belgian pro Kenny Hallaert ran out of luck in fourth before Daniel Efeturk fell in third for £26,000, his best-ever live result.

Sheils found himself up against the 2013 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event champion Tom Middleton, which is not a great spot to find oneself in. However, Sheils kept his head in the game and emerged as a worthy winner, doing so with £61,070 for his efforts, leaving Middleton to scoop a £39,790 consolation prize.

GUKPT London £2,000 High Roller Final Table Results

GUKPT Heads to Luton on September 14

Players do not have long to wait to get their teeth into more GUKPT events because GUKPT Luton is right around the corner. The seventh leg of the 2023 tour takes place between September 14-24, and includes a £1,250 buy-in Main Event.

Several top-tier Brits have won the GUKPT Luton Main Event, including Sam Trickett, Richard Gryko, Neil Channing, Charles Chattha, Jamie O’Connor, Driton Haxhiaj (twice), and Tom Hall. Will your name be joining that stellar list?

On Monday night, Season 11 of High Stakes Poker continued on PokerGO with Episode No. 4 of the new season.

It was a continuation of last week’s lineup that included Jean-Robert Bellande, Charles Yu, Andrew Robl, Rob Yong, Rick Salomon, and Ferdinand Putra.

Here are the stacks at the top of the episode:

Watch Eric Persson Put on a Punting Clinic

River Bomb Pot Disaster

The first hand of the episode was a “bomb pot” where all six players put in $5,000 blind and went straight to the flop, which came down 4♥5♦K♣. Yu, who was in the cutoff, had the best of it with the K♦Q♣ for top pair and he bet $25,000.

Only Salomon called with his 3♦3♣ and action went check-check on the 3♥ river. Salomon bet $100,000 and Yu snap-called only to exclaim, “What?!?” after his opponent rolled over his rivered full house to claim a $280,000 pot!

Big Slick for Rick

After a bunch of players added to their stacks, Yong raised the button to $5,000 with the A♦J♠ and then called when Salomon three-bet to $25,000 out of the small blind with the A♠K♥. Salomon continued for $25,000 on the 3♠J♣10♦ flop and Yong called with top pair.

Salomon kept the pressure on with a bet of $55,000 on the 3♦ turn and Yong once again just called. The A♥ river was a bad card for Salomon as he made aces up with a king kicker, and he promptly bet $100,000. Yong, who had a bigger two pair, snap-called and claimed a pot worth $414,000.

Here’s a look at the stacks after that hand:

A $700,000 Bet on the River

About midway through the episode, Robl raised to $6,000 under the gun with the A♦7♦ and “Big Slick” Rick Salomon three-bet to $26,000 from the button. Both blinds folded, Robl called, and the 4♦J♦K♠ flop had action written all over it.

Robl checked, Salomon bet $20,000, and Robl woke up with a check-raise to $80,000. Salomon wasted little time in making the call and the 5♥ appeared on the turn. Robl fired out a bet of $130,000 but Salomon snap-called to see the Q♦ river.

Robl made his nut flush and paused for a few beats before betting $700,000. Salomon, who was sitting with $1.21 million, simply sent his cards to the muck and said, “You got me.”

What Did JRB Just Fold?

With a $4,000 straddle on, Salomon raised to $15,000 with the 4♥2♠ only to have JRB, who hadn’t got much going all session, three-bet to $50,000 from the small blind with the Q♥Q♣, leaving himself $315,000 behind.

The big blind and straddle both folded before Salomon, who had been on a big heater all episode, four-bet all in. It seemed like an easy spot for JRB to get it all in, at least according to commentator Nick Schulman, but surprisingly it didn’t go that way.

“Big bully,” JRB said before sliding his cards to the muck. “I had a big hand.”

Salomon then showed his four-deuce, much to the delight of the other players.

“Easily the worst fold in the history of the show,” Schulman quipped.

JRB Finds Redemption

Not long after, the straddle was on by Putra and Yong raised to $10,000 first to act with the 10♥10♣. Salomon called with the 9♦8♥, JRB came along from the small blind with the 2♥2♣, and Putra put in an additional $6,000 to make it four-way action to the 2♠3♣6♣ flop.

JRB flopped bottom set and led out for $20,000, which only Yong called. After the dealer burned and turned the 7♠, JRB bet $65,000 and Yong moved all in. JRB called off the $134,000 he had behind and a $482,000 pot was on the line.

Yong only ever runs it once, so that’s what they did here. The 3♠ river was safe for Bellande and he doubled through Yong.

Back-to-Back Sets for JRB

In the next hand, which was the last of the episode, JRB straddled to $4,000 and Yong popped it to $10,000 on the button with the A♦7♥. Salomon called with the K♣10♦ from the small blind and then Bellande just called with his 8♦8♣.

The A♠J♥8♠ flop gave Bellande back-to-back flopped sets and he bet $15,000 after Salomon checked. Yong responded by raising to $45,000 with top pair, Salomon folded, and JRB just called.

The 5♥ turn saw Bellande lead out for $35,000 and Yong once again raised making it $125,000 to go. JRB didn’t take long to move all in for $406,000 and that was enough to get Yong to fold. With that, JRB claimed the $655,000 pot and ended the episode on a high note.

Here are the stacks at the end of the episode:

Episode 5 of High Stakes Poker Season 11 will air next Monday (September 4) at 5 p.m. PT on PokerGO.

Past High Stakes Poker Season 11 Episodes

Check out our past recaps from Season 10 of High Stakes Poker on PokerGO:

_{*Images courtesy of PokerGO/Antonio Abrego}

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

It seems appropriate that Lucien Cohen was holding a coffee in his hand as the final card of the €1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event was dealt. The man affectionately known as “Ratman” wore the same shirt every day of the tournament after another player spilt coffee on him during the early stages of the tournament at Casino Barcelona. He said it felt like the incident was good luck, and it appears he was right.

The ESPT main event needed an extra day at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona, as the largest live tournament field in PokerStars history saw Cohen dominate from start to finish and celebrate with his rail after defeating Ferdinando D’Alessio in heads-up play.

The field of 7,398 entries represented a new record field, which generated a massive €7,102,080 prize pool. In the end, the Frenchman claimed the €676,230 top prize along with the coveted PokerStars trophy.

Cohen, called the “Ratman” due to his pest control business, earns the honor of adding an ESPT series title to the EPT trophy he claimed in Deauville in 2011. That score of €880,000 is the only tournament cash of his career larger than today’s victory. The 59-year-old considers himself a recreational player but told the PokerStars team after his victory that he has found excitement in the game once again.

Final Table Results

Tournament Recap

The top 1,109 players standing after eight opening flights earned a payday of at least €1,750, including notable names such as Conor Beresford (453rd - €3,500), Julien Mariani (960th - €1,880), Dinesh Alt (945th - €1,880) along with PokerStars Ambassadors Fintan Hand (969th - €1,880) and Benjamin Spragg (774th - €2,290).

Perhaps the cruelest elimination came on Day 2, when Ali Alnuaimi called off his stack with aces full , losing to the quad queens of Aristidis Theodoridis.

The final elimination of Day 4 was PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot, who saw his pocket pair come up short against D’Alessio to finish seventh, seeing the final six players bag one last time.

Day 5 Action

The remaining six returned to the felt in search of ESPT glory, with Cohen bringing a sizeable chip advantage into the added Day 5. It only took three hands to see the first elimination, as D’Alessio took the final 11 big blinds from Day 1e chip leader Avihai Smadga, who entered the day as the short stack.

From there, Cohen took over the rest of the final table eliminations. His first victim was India’s Ankit Ahuja, who couldn’t catch up to the Frenchman’s pocket pair to hit the rail in fifth spot.

Cohen found another pair to take out Danilo Velasevic in fourth place before making a straight on the river and seeing Petros Karadimos call off with top pair to finish in third.

Heads-up play began with Cohen holding a better than four-to-one chip advantage over Day 3 leader D’Alessio. The action could have been over in just a single hand, but the Belgian dodged Cohen’s flush draw to pull closer.

There would be no second double for D’Alessio, who earned €415,320 after check-raising his top pair only to see Cohen holding a better kicker. Cohen shouted “Ratman” before spilling some of his coffee on the table as he celebrated the victory with family and friends. Perhaps a serendipitous end to a magical run for the double-series champion.

Global Live Events Assistant Manager

The PokerStars Estrellas Poker Tour High Roller, which ran at the Casino Barcelona, has now concluded.

The event attracted 2,214 entries over the course of two starting flights to make for a prize pool of €4,250,880. Of those, 332 players made it through to Day 2 and locked up at least the min-cash of €3,400. By the end of Day 2, just ten players remained.

Conor Beresford came back to the felt as the chip leader on Day 3 and remained out in front until he lost a huge pot when his aces were cracked by Antoine Labat with pocket jacks.

Labat continued to accumulate chips and make it to third place as chip leader, at which point a deal was made. Labat earned the most from the deal, taking €500,000 in an ICM (Independent Chip Model) split.

The final three then flipped all in blind for the trophy. Goran Mandic came out on top to claim the trophy and the title as the official winner of the event. He earned €418,980 from the deal.

Final Table Payouts

* denotes three-way deal

Day 3 Action

Ten players returned to the felt for the final day of the Estrellas Poker Tour High Roller. After just 20 minutes of play, Castro was the first to bust after shoving from the small blind and getting called by Noceda in the big blind.

With that, the final table was drawn. Beresford had a significant chip lead going onto the final table, more than 2:1 over second-place Noceda.

Marques was the first to bust from the final table when he shoved from the blinds and was called by Saminadin. Next to go was Lybaert, who shoved and was called by Cappiello, who held up with the better hand.

At this point, Beresford still held the chip lead, but that all changed when he got his aces in against Labat’s jacks. Labat rivered a set to win the pot and double up. That knocked Beresford off the top spot for the first time since the end of Day 2 and brought Labat into the lead.

Shortly afterwards, Sun doubled up through Cappiello. Saminadin was also gaining chips and momentarily took the lead when he got it in good to bust Cappiello in seventh place. Both Sun and Labat then doubled through Saminadin to bring his stack back down. Labat once again took the lead.

Soon after the first break, Noceda was next to bust. He shoved and was called by Saminadin, who held up and gained a few million for his stack.

Noceda was followed to the rail by Beresford, who made a reshove and ran into ace-king. Beresford was the chip leader at the start of the day, but had to settle for fifth place and €165,230.

Saminadin’s deep run ended shortly after when he called off his chips in the big blind as the slight favorite in the hand, only to be busted by Mandic. He came in fourth for €215,390.

The action went three-handed and after only a few minutes, players decided to look at the numbers for a deal. An ICM deal was made, and the final three payouts were confirmed. Yunsheng Sun took €385,240 as third in chips, Mandic took €418,980 for second in chips, and Labat took €500,000 as the chip leader.

All that was left was to see who would claim the official title and trophy. For that, players opted to spin it blind. Four hands was all it took to decide the outcome. Mandic prevailed to earn himself the trophy.

A year ago, in this same room, Kayhan Mokri had the shiny trophy that would mark the pinnacle of his ascendant poker career firmly in his sights.

Mokri was the chip leader with six players left in the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event in 2022. He ended up finishing in sixth place, taking home €334,480 but also some bittersweet feelings after coming so close.

Fast forward to 2023, and Mokri has finally found redemption and the defining title that has so far eluded him. The Norwegian pro defeated French high stakes regular Jean-Noel Thorel heads-up to win the EPT Barcelona €100,000 Super High Roller and €750,960 top prize.

Mokri, one of poker’s rising stars, had come close to winning a title so many times before. He had finished second in three events so far this year, including a €25,000 event here in Barcelona just a few days ago. He also finished fourth in the PCA High Roller back in February. Mokri had nearly $2,500,000 in live career earnings but had never actually won a live poker tournament. That changed today.

“I’m taking this with me. Know how many heads-up matches I’ve lost,” Mokri said after finally being able to hoist the trophy, posing for pictures from his friends on the rail.

Mokri’s run in the Main Event last year and his win in the Super High Roller cap a rapid rise for a player who’s quickly becoming one of the top names in the game. Mokri grew up watching the likes of Timothy Adams and Steve O’Dwyer compete on EPT live streams. Now he’s playing amongst them and, for today at least, beating them.

He became a professional in 2017 and quickly became a regular in Bobby’s Room in Las Vegas, competing in the highest-staked cash games around. Six-figure pots weren’t uncommon. Mokri only transitioned to playing more tournaments last year and quickly established a name for himself, making eight final tables in 2023 alone. He’s now a familiar face in high roller tournaments, playing against the same players he once idolized; his largest career score came in a $250,000 event in London earlier this month, where he finished in eighth place for $860,000.

Final Table Results

Day 2 Action

Mokri began the day as a massive chip leader with 1,713,000, thanks largely to a fortunate ace on the river in a massive pot against Sam Grafton on Day 1, and had nearly a million more than Alejandro Lococo in second place.

O’Dwyer, Thorel, Grafton, and David Yan jumped back in at the start of the day, creating a total field of 18 entries and €1,746,360 prize pool. Yan had a short stay, setting up the nine-handed final table.

Mokri won a big pot off Lococo with a set of jacks early at the final table to climb near 2,000,000. Patrik Antonius was the first to exit, moving all in with fives but running into Thorel’s jacks in the big blind. O’Dwyer and Felipe Ketzer then tangled in a 600,000-chip pot as O’Dwyer picked up aces while Ketzer had ace-king, sending the Brazilian to the rail in eighth place.

Lococo, down to 85,000, then moved all in with ace-five but ran into Mikalai Vaskaboinikau’s dominating ace-king, ending the Argentinian rapper’s run in seventh. The six remaining players then jostled for three hours, moving up and down the chip count leaderboard as the levels progressed. But there was one constant: Mokri’s spot at the top as he maintained his big advantage.

Adams finally shoved for 163,000, and Vaskaboinikau called. Grafton then reshoved for 306,000 and won a race with ace-king against Vaskaboinikau’s ace-queen and Adams’ nines to double up off the Belarusian while sending Adams to the rail in sixth. Vaskaboinikau was left short and lost another coin flip with eights to Mokri’s ace-king a short time later to be eliminated on the money bubble.

Mokri caught a lucky break, again against Grafton, when Grafton called all in for 400,000 with two kings against Mokri’s ace-three. Grafton was poised for a double up until a straight came on the board, chopping the pot. Grafton was then sent out in fourth place when he called all in with a straight, but Thorel had two kings for a rivered full house.

At the dinner break, Mokri led with 2,155,000 to Thorel’s 1,620,000 and 725,000 for O’Dwyer. Thorel took the chip lead from Mokri for the first time in the day when he called a bet of 500,000 on the river with two pair. While it was Mokri who took out a short-stacked O’Dwyer in third place, Thorel led 3,165,000 to 1,335,000 at the start of heads-up.

Mokri dropped down to 600,000 at one point during the duel but steadily increased his stack until he tied the match by calling two bets from Thorel with just ace-high. Mokri then five-bet shoved to retake the chip lead, one he would never relinquish.

On the last hand, Mokri bet 175,000 on an ace-high board. Thorel then jammed for 870,000, and Mokri tank-called with ace-queen for top pair. Thorel had straight and flush draws but missed the river as Mokri secured the trophy. Thorel had to settle for another runner-up finish. The French businessman, who spent his career building a pharmaceutical empire and now occupies his time regularly competing and beating the top players in the game, finished second to Adams in a $125,000 event earlier this month for $2,830,000. He was also second at the $250,000 Super High Roller at the PCA in January.

It was a title that was a long time coming for one of poker’s newest stars. Mokri had the results over the past year to establish himself as one of the game’s best, and it all started here a year ago. Now he has the trophy he’d been missing all along.

The Global Poker US Poker Open is back for a third season in collaboration with PokerGO’s US Poker Open (USPO) in Las Vegas.

The series passed its halfway mark over the weekend, and the final week is underway! In addition to the 64 trophy events, the Global Poker USPO will feature multiple satellites every day, starting from SC 5.5 for the SC 33 tournaments and SC 16.5 for the SC 99 tournaments. Be on the lookout for reward drops, which can be used for the SC 5.5 and SC 16.5 satellites.

The biggest storyline thus far has been a pair of two-time winners, one on the Gold Coin side and the other on the Sweeps Coin side. Regarding the former, “FlushMe2Tears” kicked thing off on Monday, August 21 by topping a 462-entry field to win Event #01L – GC 20,000,000 GTD NLH for GC 4,789,785. Two days later, they were back at it besting a 272-entry field to win Event #03L – GC 12,500,000 GTD 6-Max for GC 3,318,480.

2023 USPO Gold Coin Winners Thus Far…

On the Sweeps Coin side, “PattyC” won their first event on Tuesday, August 22 when the topped a 1,037-entry field to win Event #02L – SC 25,000 GTD NLH for SC 3,865.15, and then four days later on Saturday, August 26 they navigated a 479-entry field to win Event #06L – SC 20,000 GTD 1 Rebuy/1 Add-On NLH for SC 5,038.61.

2023 USPO Sweeps Coin Winners Thus Far…

Win a Trip to Las Vegas

The Global Poker US Open series will feature 64 unique trophy events and will be headlined by the GC 125,000,000 guaranteed and SC 250,000 guaranteed Main Events. In total, the series will feature GC 757,500,000 and SC 1,515,000 in guaranteed prize pools.

There will also be leaderboards for the players competing in the series. The overall GC Leaderboard Champion will win the GP X USPO Champion hoodie, additional Global Poker X USPO apparel, the Golden Crown Trophy and five free entries to a Global Poker Golden Scrimmage tournament.

Meanwhile, the overall SC leaderboard champion will win a $5,000 trip to Las Vegas, where they will be presented with a $5,000 check and other prizes inside the PokerGO Studio.

As of press time, “lapochka888” sits atop the Gold Coin leaderboard with 1,167.33 points with “FlushMe2Tears” hot on their heels with 1,116.48. On the Sweeps Coin leaderboard, “flush634” is on top with 547.52 points, while “PattyC” isn’t too far behind with 521.87 points.

The remaining Gold and Sweeps Coins schedules for the Global Poker USPO are available in the tables below.

Remaining Global Poker USPO Gold Coins Schedule

Remaining Global Poker USPO Sweeps Coins Schedule

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

When they told Matthew Gross that scared money don’t make money, he took it to heart. Gross came into Event #1: $550 No Limit Hold’em at the PokerStars Summer Series at Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia with no fear and ultimately emerged victorious after a heads-up deal, claiming the trophy and $69,568.

Action throughout the day was heavy, and Gross was no stranger to embracing it. Multiple times he was seen pushing his equity in big spots and not being afraid to show a bluff. This all culminated in Gross getting all the way to heads-up play with the chip lead and agreeing to an even chop with Elias Garney. The lead was enough to spark an agreement for Gross to take home the coveted spadie trophy and the bragging rights.

“It’s nice to finally break through. I’ve come close a couple of times and to finally get one feels good.” Gross replied when asked how he felt about winning his first Spadie. “I knew going into the final table that I could probably win this, and when we reached a certain point, I just started taking on some steam.”

“I haven’t played in almost a year and a half, and there were points where I felt like a guy coming off the disabled list at 85 percent, and somehow, I was still just playing lights out.”

PokerStars Summer Series Event #1 Final Table results

*reflects a heads-up deal

Final Table Action

The final table kicked off with a spicy hand by the winner himself. Gross jammed over a flop continuation bet from Soukha Kachttavong and would draw the fold only to show he sent it in with just a flush draw. Kachttavong would rebound well with a hand a few orbits later where he took down a large pot after putting a cold four-bet out of the blinds.

The first elimination would come when Donald Bell fell to Gross after his Ace-nine could not improve against Gross’s pocket jacks. Soon after that Yingxin Chen hit the rail in 8th place after an impressive showing. Soukha Kachttavong would fall in 7th place when Garney woke up with aces against his jam.

Alesandro Jimenes, Adam Reese, and Michael Dangelico would all fall to either Gross or Garney as the table whittled down to the final three players. At three-handed the table discussed a chop but after the players couldn’t come to an agreement the play raged on.

Boris Vaynberg would fall shortly after that when he jammed button and couldn’t improve against Garney.

The final two didn’t play another hand before agreeing to chop up the remaining prize pool 50/50 with both player taking home an amazing payday to the tune of $69,568. Gross held the small chip lead and the agreement included him getting the spadie trophy.

Overall, the first event in the PokerStars Summer Series was a huge success, attracting 1,020 entries and more than doubling the guarantee. And best of all…It’s not over. There are still two more weekends in a row to earn a PokerStars trophy and earn a share of two more massive prize pools.

Stay locked in to PokerNews over the next two weekends as the PokerStars Summer Series continues.

Jared Halter, 41, grew up in York, Pennsylvania, and was a multisport athlete who played soccer in college. He has a Ph.D. in Education and Sociology from Clemson University where he studied social inequality and wrote his dissertation on the American Dream (no, we don’t mean Dusty Rhodes). He also has a Masters in Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs from Syracuse University and a Bachelors in Sport Management from Slippery Rock University.

Now, Halter is a faculty member in the Intergroup Relations & Justice program and Associate Director of the Institute for Transformative Dialogue at Central Michigan University. He teaches intergroup dialogue courses on race, class, and gender.

However, by night he becomes one of the Wolverine State’s most accomplished online poker players where he plays on PokerStars and WSOP.com as “beamdoctor”, and on BetMGM MI as “ashlee olsen”.

Jared “BeamDoctorPoker” Halter Streams PokerStars Platinum Pass Invitational Victory

Halter’s Poker Origin Story

Halter learned to play poker when he was in undergrad in college.

“We didn’t play a lot of Texas hold’em. We played a lot of variations like Acey Duecy and Baseball,” he told PokerNews. “It wasn’t until I put my dog of 15 years, Zephyr, down in February of 2021 that I started to regularly play hold’em. Legal poker had just opened in Michigan, and I began playing micro cash games. I began to watch Twitch streamers like Kevin Martin, DavidKayePoker, Naigo, and AccidentalGrenade.”

He continued: “These streamers inspired me to begin streaming on Twitch. My first poker stream was in June 2021. I also decided to switch to online MTTs when I began to stream. I began to work with SchwibbsPoker as my poker coach end of 2021 and study using GTO Wizard and BBZ Poker. Because of the impact of BBZ had on my poker game, I decided to become a BBZ affiliate and represent their brand when I stream/play.”

A year ago, Halter completed a $100 to $10,000 bankroll challenge Since then, he has won a Pokerstars Platinum Pass, WSOP Main Event Seat, and boosted his bankroll to a point where he plays online MTTs between $10-$250.

“On occasion I will mix in some $25-$50nl online cash when I stream. I play live tournaments when I win seats into big poker series – PSPC Main Event in the Bahamas and WSOP Main Event. I enjoy live poker but prefer the volume of online poker tourneys and being able to hang with the community on stream while I play.”

The Charity Drive

Each year Halter selects a cause or issue and an organization that supports it to do a charity drive. How it works – for 3-4 months he donates part of his winnings, as well as Twitch revenue, and encourages donations from viewers.

“This year I am donating 10 percent of all my winnings during the campaign, ‘Raising Rivers: All-In for Navajo Water,’ and will donate all Twitch earnings from subs, bits, and ad revenue,” he shared. “I do a yearly campaign because it is a way for me to combine poker/streaming with what I have dedicated my career to, creating a more just and equitable world. Poker has given me the means to have the money to donate that I would not have on an educator’s salary. What it really boils down to is that I want the world to be a better place for every person, and right now I have a revenue stream that I can use to help others in need.”

Why this particular cause?

“A lot of non-Native/non-Indigenous people are unaware that 30 percent of Navajo people do not have access to clean, running water in their homes. Navajo people often drive for miles to get water and bring it back to their home/family,” Halter explained. “I was blown away when I read the stories and learned that the United States, the richest country in the world, had a group of people where almost 1/3 didn’t have access to clean, running water. In our country, we have people living in a condition that many people in this country would think only occurs in the most undeveloped and impoverished countries in the world. And yet, it is happening right here in the United States.”

He elaborated: “As I reflected on what it would be like to not have clean, running water – no toilet, no shower/bath, no faucet to wash my hands, no water to do laundry or wash dishes, no water to drink from a tap, and so on – I realized how much I take for granted the impact clean, running water has in my day to day life. The Navajo Water Project takes money donated and directly uses it to provide Navajo homes with clean, running water.”

Halter’s initiative is twofold as he not only gets to support a great cause, he gets to mobilize his online community.

“I enjoy learning with my community and getting better at poker on stream, and I really enjoy the connection and community aspect of streaming. I get to interact with a lot of cool people and have made some very good friends in real life like DrDadPoker. I am very humbled by the fact that so many people want to follow my poker journey and have been part of my most special poker moments. I am so grateful for the people who hang out during streams. I never thought that when I started playing and streaming poker, that two years later I would have the viewership and poker results that I have had.”

Click here to find Halter on Twitch!

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.