Earlier this month, the Legislative Assembly of Macau exposed its plans to bring severe amendments to the special management region’s betting debt legislation in an effort to get rid of prospective conflicts with the ongoing adjustments in the guideline of neighborhood junket operators through the intro of a new item of regulations.

At the time when the discussions on the brand-new bill, called “Legal Structure for Operating Games of Possibility in Casino sites”, likewise called “the brand-new junket regulation”, were held at the start of May 2022, the Legislative Assembly’s 2nd Standing Committee made a reference to Write-up 60, according to which guideline of credit score in gambling establishment locations will go through its very own legislative structure. According to some media records, these laws reference the wagering credit scores regulation of Macau, No. 5/2004, which presently states that both junket operators and also concessionaires are enabled to take part in debt borrowing practices.

Chan Chak Mo, the chairman of the aforementioned Board, shared that the gaming credit report law requires to be altered in a way that would certainly match the brand-new costs, which specifically mentions that gamer down payments can be accepted by concessionaires only. The Board chair even more noted that, in the future, junket operators would only have the ability to bring in bettors to the gambling enterprise and exchange chips but they would not have the ability to place any type of consumer deposits with the concessionaire, as these actions matched with the initial function of the legislation in making certain that the neighborhood gaming industry establishes in a healthy manner.

Macau Authorities Looking for Alternative Revenue Sources to Cut Dependency on Gambling Services

The Covid-19 pandemic episode forced the special administrative area’s authorities to start trying to find alternative revenue sources, considering the fact that most of its gross domestic product (GDP) depends on casino site concessionaires.

However, this dependency on the contribution of wagering operators is set to change, as the Government of Macau has actually been seeking other income networks. The authorities in the special management region are investing even more efforts into presenting more openness to the sector, and also there have been some worries about the interaction between gambling establishment operators and also customers. At the start of the month, neighborhood legislators introduced a piece of regulations called Legal Structure for Operating Gamings of Possibility in Casinos, which entails a number of essential adjustments, consisting of one under which casino sites will handle gamers’ down payments.

Historically, supposed junkets were able to approve money on behalf of casino sites and make deposits with wagering venues. In the last few years, nevertheless, a number of VIP players filed legal action against online casinos, which elevated some questions concerning gamers’ down payments and also how they were not reaching their meant target. This is exactly why the proposed changes in the local gaming credit report regulation are aimed at making gambling establishments the only entities that are provided the right to take care of deposits without the participation of any type of intermediaries.

Each Macau Junket to Be Given Chance to Collaborate with One Casino Only

The freshly suggested piece of regulation features some vital elements relating to the procedure of junkets on the area of Macau. According to some experts, no precise forecasts can be made about this, because it would certainly depend upon local demand. A multitude of neighborhood gambling establishments have actually currently kept in mind that they would choose to get rid of the middlemans as opposed to be stripped of the opportunity to check their operations in all times.

A large number of gambling establishments have actually justified such a measure with fears that some illegal steps of their junket partners could cause serious difficulties of the scenario for them when it involves Macau regulatory bodies.

For a long time currently, junket operators have been shedding energy in the special administrative area of Macau. Supposed private VIP rooms are set to additionally vanish due to the stricter policies troubled the industry, as gambling establishments would certainly no more be able to allow the procedure of dedicated high-roller spaces under the junket firms’ branding within its facilities.

Certainly, the lately revealed constraints have actually activated mixed reactions relating to the anticipated effect of the harder measures on the online casinos’ performance and also monetary results. In theory, eliminating middlemans can assist betting firms in Macau improve their earnings, but in order for this to happen, they will certainly need to match the visitor traffic.

Moving forward, each junket driver will only work together with a solitary casino site licensee, which likewise focuses on taking on the variety of junkets in the special administrative area. For the time being, fewer than 40 junket companies have reapplied for such an operating certificate.

Rui Cao had not recorded a live poker tournament score since the summer of 2019, but the French high-stakes player ended his nearly three-year hiatus in style with a win in the 2022 Triton Series Madrid €25,000 buy-in short deck event. Cao defeated a field of 68 total entries to secure his second Triton trophy, along with the top payout of €497,000 ($521,850 USD).

The victory also saw Cao secure 504 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first qualified score for the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.

The second and final day began with just 13 players remaining and nine set to make the money. Chris Brewer, just one day removed from a win in the €20,000 buy-in short deck event, was eliminated on the money bubble to ensure that the remaining nine all locked up at least $51,870. That sum ultimately went to Ryan Yum. Isaac Haxton followed in eighth place ($67,830 USD) when his Q-10 suited failed to outrun the A-Q of Kenneth Kee.

Santi Jiang was the next to fall, with his A-9 suited running into the A-Q of Cao. Both players made a pair, but Cao’s queens were best and Jiang was knocked out in seventh place ($87,675 USD).

Jason Koon, a World Series of Poker bracelet winner and three-time Triton champion, saw his run come to an end in sixth place ($110,670 USD) when his 10-9 suited was beaten by the A-10 of Cao. Koon also earned 168 POY points for his eighth final-table showing of the year. With 2,145 points and more than $2 million in year-to-date earnings, Koon now sits in 12th place in the overall standings. With more than $37.2 million in career earnings, Koon remains in eighth place on poker’s all-time money list.

Choon Siow got the last of his chips in with pocket kings leading the Q-10 suited of Kee, but the board gave Kee queens and tens to win the pot. Siow earned $142,800 as the fifth-place finisher.

Tom Dwan called off the last of his short stack with Q-10, only to be shown a dominating K-10 by Cao. King high was best by the river and Dwan was eliminated in fourth place, earning $183,855 for his second final-table finish in as many days.

Kee slid down the leaderboard during three-handed action. He eventually got all-in with A-K leading the A-Q suited of Cao, but a couple of queens on the board sent Kee packing in third place ($243,600 USD).

With that Cao took more than a 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Richard Yong. A big hand saw Yong close the gap considerably, and he had a chance to take a huge lead of his own when he rivered a full house against Cao’s straight that was also completed on fifth street. Cao bet folded on the paired board to preserve a big chunk of his stack. Yong took down the pot to move into the lead, but Cao soon moved back in front and then extended his advantage.

By the time the final hand was dealt, Cao held nearly a 4:1 chip advantage. All the chips got in with Cao holding ADiamond Suit9Diamond Suit while Yong had the 10Heart Suit8Heart Suit. The board ran out 9Club Suit8Spade Suit7Diamond Suit9Spade Suit8Diamond Suit to give both players a full house. Yong’s eighths full was second-best, though, and he was knocked out in second place ($374,850 USD). The Malaysian now has nearly $15 million in lifetime tournament cashes.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: Joe Giron / Triton Poker.

Michael Addamo was arguably the hottest tournament poker player on the planet in the final months of 2021. The 27-year-old four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner from Australia made eight high-stakes final tables from September through November, winning six titles and cashing for more than $9.4 million along the way. Addamo came into May of this year with only one live tournament cash so far in 2022 but soon got back to his winning ways. He defeated a field of 90 entries in the Triton Series Madrid €20,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em eight-max event to secure his 18th career title and the top prize of €478,000 ($501,900 USD).

This score saw Addamo increase his recorded earnings to more than $22.7 million. He is Australia’s clear all-time tournament earnings leader, and now sits in 27th place on poker’s overall earnings leaderboard.

The final day began with Addamo on top of the leaderboard and a few players in the danger zone. The shortest of all was Morten Klein, who hit the rail in ninth place ( $52,920 USD) when his A-10 ran into the A-K suited of Paul Phua, who started the day in second chip position.

Fernando Garcia (8th – $69,930) was the first to fall inside the money, with his 9-6 suited unable to beat out the A-3 of Phua. Bracelet winner Danny Tang soon followed as he was left short after his pocket queens ran into the pocket kings of Rob Yong. Tang ultimately got the last of his stack in ahead with A-4 leading the K-J suited of Dong Hyun Kim, but a jack o the flop give Kim a lead that he never relinquished. Tang took home $89,880 USD as the seventh-place finisher. He also scored 162 POY points for his fifth final-table finish of the year. He now sits in 43rd place in the 2022 standings.

Yong clashed with Wayne Heung in the next massive pot. He three-bet shoved with 10-9 over Heung’s open, only to receive a call from A-K. Heung’s hand held up and Yong was eliminated in sixth place ($113,400 USD).

Despite his strong start to the day, Phua was ultimately the next to run out of chips. The Triton event all-time cash leader secured his record-furthering 17th in-the-money finish, with his run ending when his top pair on the flop was beaten by the nut flush draw and overcards of Michael Soyza. The flush came in on the turn to leave Phua drawing dead. He earned $145,425 USD for his fifth-place showing.

Addamo had fallen from atop the leaderboard earlier in the day, and was at one point down to just a handful of big blinds. He managed a few double-ups to get back in the mix, and then found himself involved in a classic preflop race with his pocket queens facing the A-K of Heung. The queens held and Heung was knocked out in fourth place ($180,600 USD).

Dong Hyun Kim’s strong showing in this event reached its end when his pocket threes lost a race against the A-6 suited of Soyza, who made a pair of sixes to pick up the pot and narrow the field to two. Kim took home $230,475 USD as the third-place finisher.

With that Soyza took almost a 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Addamo. That dynamic was soon flipped on its head thanks to a preflop race of Addamo’s ADiamond Suit7Diamond Suit against the pocket sixes of Soyza. Addamo spiked a seven to make the best hand and move ahead on the leaderboard. In the final hand, Soyza shoved with Q-2 suited and Addamo called with A-4. Neither player improved on a king-high runout with a pair of sevens on board, and Addamo’s ace high locked up the pot and the title for the Australian. Soyza earned $348,600 USD as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: Joe Giron / Triton Poker.

After two starting flights and four more days of tournament action in the €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event 2022 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, it was 55-year-old Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu who ended up striking a deal heads-up with Morten Hvam for €564,640 and the title. Morten Hvam took second place for €564,640.

This was Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu’s seventh recorded career title. His largest latest victory being a win in a Brazilian Series of Poker event for $109,350. He now has more than $1.4 million in earnings to his name. This was his first POY-qualified final-table finish of the year, but it alone was enough to catapult him into 17th place in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.

The 2022 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event attracted 1,073 entries and offered up a €939,840 ($986,832 USD) prize pool.

The final day of this event began with just six players remaining, with 2019 PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Players Championship (PSPC) champion Ramon Colillas eliminated in seventh place ($131,691 USD) at the end of the previous night’s action. Morten Hvam came into the final day with the lead, while Mesqueu sat in second chip position.

2022 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event Final Table Results:

Six-handed play lasted for several hours, with the first elimination of the day not taking place until after four levels had been completed. During that time, Mesqueu had overtaken the lead and pulled away from the pack. He added to his total when his 5-3 outran the A-2 of short stack Erkan Soenmez (6th – $175,402 USD) to finally send a player to the rail.

The knockouts came fast and furious after that. Mesqueu open-shoved with K-9 and received a call from Hugo Pingray, who held A-K. Both players flopped a king, but a nine on the turn gave Mesqueu two pair and a big lead. The river changed nothing and Pingray was eliminated in fifth place ($239,883 USD).

Jaime Cervantes’ run in this event concluded when his A-J failed to win a preflop race against the pocket nines of Hvam. He was down to needing an ace or jack on the river by the turn, and when a blank rolled off the deck he settled for $313,645 USD as the fourth-place finisher.

Dragos Trofimov got the last of his short stack in with A-4 facing the J-8 of Mesqueue and the J-6 pf Hvam. The flop gave Hvam jacks and sixes, which remained best through the turn and river. Trofimov secured $417,469 USD for his third-place showing.

Heads-up play began with Mesqueu holding 25,250,000 to Hvam’s 6,950,000. The two discussed a deal, but ultimately played on without having come to an agreement. In the final hand, Hvam min-raised on the button with KClub Suit10Diamond Suit and Mesqueu three-bet with KHeart SuitKDiamond Suit. Hvam called and the flop came down 9Diamond Suit7Diamond Suit6Spade Suit. Mesqueu made a continuation bet of 1 million, only to have Hvam move all-in for 3.4 million. Mesqueu made the call with his overpair. The turn brought the 5Spade Suit and the river the JDiamond Suit, locking up the pot for Mesqueu and his pocket kings. Hvam earned $592,872 USD as the runner-up finisher.

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The PokerGO Tour has returned to Venetian Las Vegas this week for a trio of high roller no-limit hold’em events spread from May 5-7. The kickoff tournament featured a $10,000 buy-in, with a total of 34 entries made before registration was officially closed. The $340,000 prize pool was divvied up among the top five finishers, with the lion’s share going to eventual champion Vikenty Shegal.

Shegal is on an impressive run so far this year. This was his first title and eighth final-table finish of 2022, with $772,721 in earnings secured along the way. With 1,355 Card Player Player of the Year points, he is now ranked 57th in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker. He also earned 136 PokerGO Tour points for the win, enough to see him move within reach of the top 30 in that points race.

Shegal knocked out Sam Soverl in seventh place, then eliminated Elvis Toomas on the money bubble to take extend his chip lead heading into five-handed action. His rampage continued when his flush beat the two pair of Daniel Colpys (5th – $23,800) to narrow the field to four.

Dylan Linde was the only other player besides Shegal to score a knockout inside the money. His pocket nines held against the J-9 of Alex Foxen, who flopped a straight draw and turned a flush draw. Linde flopped bottom set, and improved to a full house on the river to send Foxen home with $37,400. This was Foxen’s 12th final-table finish of the year, with more than $1.6 million in POY earnings accrued thus far. As a result of his impressive consistency, he now sits in sixth place in the POY standings and fifth on the PGT leaderboard.

Isaac Kempton was the next to fall. The Wynn Millions main event runner-up and recent PGT Heads-Up Showdown semi-finalist four-bet shoved with A-3 suited, only to run into the pocket jacks of Shegal. The big pair held up to see Kempton finish third for $54,500 and 150 POY points. He is now ranked fifth on the leaderboard and is fourth in the PGT race.

A preflop cooler brought this tournament to an end. Shegal limped in with 10Heart Suit10Club Suit and called Linde’s shove. Linde revealed pocket 9Diamond Suit9Club Suit. The board ran JDiamond Suit3Heart Suit2Heart Suit9Heart SuitQHeart Suit. Linde overtook the lead with a set on the turn, but Shegal backed into a flush to take down the pot and the title. Linde, a bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion, earned $88,4000 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded in this event:

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

The Spanish professional player Adrian Mateos defeated Marius Gierse in the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller event, earning €1,385,430 ($1,454,702 USD) and his 20th live tournament title. Mateos now has more than $27.8 million in lifetime earnings, enough to put him in 18th place on poker’s all-time money list. He is the runaway leader on the Spanish money list, with more than twice the earnings of his nearest competitor in Sergio Aido ($12.9 million).

The third and final day of this high-stakes event began with six players remaining, all of whom were in the money after Orpen Kisacikoglu was knocked out on the bubble to bring day 2 to a close. Mateos picked up pocket tens against Kisacikoglu’s A-10 and held to extend the Spaniard’s chip lead going into the final table.

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Kent Staahle was the first to fall inside the money, with his pocket nines running into the pocket aces of Marius Gierse. The Norwegian was unable to come from behind and was eliminated in sixth place ($299,502 USD).

Not long after Staahle hit the rail, Hungarian poker pro Laszlo Bujtas found himself all-in with A-5 leading the J-10 of Belarus’ Mikalai Vaskaboinikau. Bujtas paired his ace on the turn, but the card also gave Vaskaboinikau an ace-high straight to leave Bujtas drawing dead. He earned $385,077 USD for his third live high roller cash of the year. He now has more than $4.5 million in live earnings to his name.

Four-handed play continued for roughly two hours. Despite having scored the most recent knockout, Vaskaboinikau was the player who fell to the bottom of the chip counts. he ended up calling all-in for just shy of nine big blinds out of the big blind with KSpade Suit7Club Suit. Mateos had shoved with JHeart Suit10Diamond Suit from the small blind. A jack-high flop gave Mateos the lead, which he maintained through the river to send Vaskaboinikau home in fourth place ($492,041 USD).

Mateos took a healthy lead into three-handed play, with his 5,410,000 representing more than half of the chips in play. His lead went from sizable to gigantic thanks to picking off two big bluffs, one from each of his remaining opponents. In both instances, he flopped top pair and called his way to victory, leaving his opponents on fumes.

Bracelet winner and high-stakes tournament crusher Mikita Badziakouski was the first to succumb. He shoved his last handful of big blinds with ADiamond Suit2Diamond Suit from the button. Mateos called with AClub Suit10Diamond Suit from the big blind and the board ran out KSpade SuitKHeart Suit10Club Suit7Club Suit7Heart Suit to eliminate Badziakouski in third place ($641,792 USD). The score increased the Belarusian’s lifetime earnings to more than $35.2 million, which is good for ninth place on poker’s all-time money list. He also scored 400 POY points, which saw him climb into 71st place in the rankings.

With that Mateos grew his stack to over 10 million, while Gierse sat with less than 400,000. Gierse managed to score one double up, but he was unable to win the second time he found himself all-in and at risk. With blinds of 40,000-80,000 and an 80,000 big blind ante, he shoved 690,000 from the button holding JClub Suit4Spade Suit, Mateos called with KSpade Suit3Club Suit and the ADiamond SuitQHeart Suit6Club Suit9Heart Suit9Diamond Suit saw him lock up both the pot and the title. Gierse, who recently won a $25,000 event at the Super High Roller Series Europe, earned $1,005,470 as the runner-up in this event. With three final-table finishes and more than $1.6 million in year-to-date earnings, the German poker pro now sits in 64th place in the overall POY standings.

Final Table of EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller:

The first major event of the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo is now in the books. The €10,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em mystery bounty event attracted 83 high rollers, building a main prize pool of €390,100 while another €415,000 was set aside for the ‘mystery bounty’ payouts. There were two €100,000 bounties up fro grabs, that ultimately went to fourth-place finisher Imad Derwiche and runner-up Sergi Reixach, who was the player to ultimately cash for the most money in this event when totaling cash payouts and bounty earnings.

In the end, the ultimate victor of the tournament was French entrepreneur Jean-Noel Thorel. He took home €107,290 from the main prize pool and another €77,500 in bounties after defeating Reixach heads-up. Thorel is no stranger to high-stakes tournament action, with nearly $7.2 million in prior cashes under his belt before winning this title. This was just his third recorded live tournament victory, though. His top five largest scores have all come from runner-up and third-place finishes.

While Thorel didn’t draw one of the two six-figure bounty envelopes, he did secure a €50,000 bounty to make up the majority of his earnings from that segment of the prize money.

The top 11 finishers made the money in this event, with 2021 World Series of Poker Europe main event runner-up finisher Johan Guilbert eliminated on the money bubble. Other big names hit the rail inside the money, including WSOP bracelet winner Boris Kolev (10th – €9,750), bracelet winner and two-time Super High Roller Bowl ring winner Timothy Adams (9th – €11,120), and another high-stakes regular and bracelet winner in Sam Greenwood (6th – €23,800). Greenwood joined Thorel as one of the winners of the €50,000 bounties.

Recent Irish Poker Open main event winner Steve O’Dwyer placed fifth for €30,430 and €10,000 in bounties when his J-4 suited was unable to win a four-way all-in against Thorel, Reixach and Belarmino De Souza.

Imad Derwiche got all-in with 10-8 suited and found himself at risk against A-K for both Thorel and Reixach. The board double paired and Derwiche with the rail with €38,420 and the six-figure bounty payout he earned for busting Adams earlier in the day.

Reixach took a sizable lead into three-handed action. He further added to his stack when his 5Spade Suit4Spade Suit suited, which he shoved preflop, was able to outrun the ADiamond SuitAClub Suit of short stack De Souza. A flush on the turn left De Souza drawing dead. He took home €49,930 as the third-place finisher.

Reixach held a healthy lead going into heads-up, but the tables were soon switched thanks to a chop that wasn’t. All the chips went in preflop with both players holding A-Q. Four hearts rolled off the deck to give Thorel a flush and the double into the lead. Reixach eventually got the last of his stack in on a 7Spade Suit4Diamond Suit2Diamond Suit flop with JDiamond Suit9Diamond Suit. Thorel held 5Diamond Suit4Heart Suit for middle pair. The AHeart Suit turn and 2Heart Suit river changed nothing and Reixach was knocked out in second place (€76,260 and €177,500 in bounties).

Here’s a take a look at the outcomes from the ultimate desk:

Photograph credit score: Danny Maxwell / Rational Mental Holdings Ltd.

Poker Hall of Fame member Phil Hellmuth has won eight of his nine matches played so far on PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel, including seven consecutive victories to start his run. Tom Dwan was the player to snap that streak when he met Hellmuth last August, beating Hellmuth in a $100,000 buy-in match when his pocket tens cracked the 16-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner’s pocket aces.

Hellmuth got back to his winning ways in January of 2022, besting Dwan in a $200,000 buy-in heads-up rematch. According to the rules of this show, Dwan had the option to challenge Hellmuth to a rematch for double the stakes. The high stakes cash game regular did so shortly after his loss, setting up a $400,000 buy-in round 4 clash between the pair. On Tuesday, Apr. 26 PokerGO announced that the match has officially been scheduled for May 12. The showdown will be broadcast in its entirety exclusively on PokerGO.com starting at 8:00 PM Eastern (5:00 PM Pacific).

“The next match is for $800,000. If I lose, I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to pony up $800,000 to play again, but I bet he will,” said Hellmuth at the time.

The rules of the show stipulate that the buy-in for the match will always double, with a victorious player only able to walk away if they win three straight matches prior to round 4, or two straight matches after round 4. With Dwan scoring a win in round 2, there will be a round 5 regardless of who comes out on top in the upcoming match. The loser will have the first shot at accepting a rematch, but if they decide to pass, a new player will be invited to step in against the winner at the $800,000 buy-in price point. Hellmuth and Dwan would both need to win two consecutive matches, starting with their May 12 showdown, in order to be eligible to walk away victorious.

Hellmuth won the first edition of this heads-up clash by beating three-time bracelet winner and two-time World Poker Tour champion Antonio Esfandiari in a clean three-match sweep. He then went on to beat six-time bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Daniel Negreanu in another three-match shutout. He then beat sports commentator Nick Wright in round 1 of High Stakes Duel III before Dwan stepped in to end his winning spree.

Ali Nejad is set to lead the commentary team for the upcoming broadcast, with a High Stakes Duel Hype Show planned for May 11. There will also be a High Stakes Duel Weigh-In directly ahead of the match on May 12.

Photo provided by PokerGO.

The inaugural PokerGO Tour Heads-Up Showdown saw high-stakes one-on-one no-limit hold’em action return to poker fans’ screens around the globe. The $25,000 buy-in invitational shootout event ran from Apr. 21-23 at the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Three-time World Poker Tour main event champion Chino Rheem battled his way through the 32-entry field to capture the title and the top prize of $400,000.

The win saw the 42-year-old poker pro increase his lifetime live tournament earnings to more than $12 million. He has accumulated five separate seven-figure scores in his career, including a nearly $1.8 million payday as the seventh-place finisher in the 2008 World Series of Poker main event. He also won the 2019 European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event for more than $1.5 million.

“I’m feeling good,” Rheem told PGT reporters after coming out on top. “It’s a really good feeling. Honestly, it’s just a privilege and an honor to play in these events, especially given where I was at less than a year ago. I’m really grateful. It just feels good to be able to come and play and actually win.”

While Rheem’s prowess on the felt is undeniable, he has been at the center of controversies over the years. He was put on probation by the short-lived Epic Poker League after taking down one of their few events for a million-dollar payday due to his alleged failure to pay down debts he owed to other professional players.

“It’s no secret in the poker world that I’ve had my ups and downs,” Rheem continued. “At one point in my life, I was in a really dark place. I’m just really, really grateful to have been shown the light and find god and the people that he’s put in my life to help me sustain a much more healthy, sober life. I owe it all to that, really.”

Rheem won five consecutive heads-up matches in order to secure the title coming from the ‘Diamonds’ corner of the bracket. He started his journey off by defeating three-time bracelet winner and WPT champion Nick Schulman in the round of 32. He then squared off against another three-time bracelet winner in Jeremy Ausmus. Rheem defeated the current Card Player Player of the Year race second-ranked contender to move into the quarterfinals.

Rheem overcame successful businessman and frequent high-stakes tournament contender Bill Klein to set up a semi-final showdown with WPT champion Justin Young. This would not be the first time the pair squared off, as they battled heads-up back in 2008 with the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic title on the line. Rheem came out on top then, earning more than $1.5 million and his first of three victories on that tour. he also was the winner this time around, sending Young to the rail with $100,000 for his deep run in this event. The score put his lifetime live earnings at just shy of $6 million.

With that, Rheem punched his ticket to the finals. All-time WPT main tour titles leader Darren Elias was the last player between Rheem and the title. The two played for roughly 100 minutes. Elias had taken the lead early, but Rheem surged back into the chip lead thanks to a double up at roughly the one hour mark. He shoved the river for 63,500 into a pot of 220,000 on a AClub SuitKClub Suit6Heart Suit3Spade Suit8Club Suit board with ADiamond SuitJClub Suit. Elias called after plenty of consideration with KSpade Suit10Heart Suit to see Rheem take more than a 2:1 lead of his own.

Rheem extended that advantage even further by the time the final hand was dealt. Elias open-shoved for just shy of 12 big blinds with Q-5 offsuit and Rheem called with A-8. A jack-high runout kept ace high in the lead and Elias was eliminated as the runner-up ($200,000). He now has more than $10.1 million in lifetime earnings. Elias is well situated to add to that total in a major way next month as the chip leader of the delayed final table of this year’s WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. The final six were set on Apr. 12, but the champion in that event will be decided on May 25. Elias will be playing for his record-extending fifth WPT title and the top prize of $1,000,300.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded in this event:

Winner photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

Poker Stories is a long-form audio podcast series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Kane Kalas grew up near Philadelphia where his father and baseball hall of famer Harry Kalas worked as the play by play commentator for the Phillies for nearly 40 years. He could have joined the family business like his brother Todd, who broadcasts for the Houston Astros, but while he was in college he got bit by the poker bug.

Kalas was particularly aggressive building his bankroll online, and only took a few months before he was playing at Rail Heaven on Full Tilt for stakes as high as $500-$1,000 no-limit. The baritone opera singer ventured into the live arena after Black Friday and found success on the tournament trail, including a runner-up finish at the WPT Borgata Poker Open for more than $500,000. Then in 2018, Kalas won the biggest cash game pot in televised poker history, banking $2.18 million in a hand against Jason Koon at the Triton Montenegro series.

Over the years the hedge fund manager has also done broadcasting work for a number of poker shows and tours including the WSOP, Triton, WPT Deepstacks, HPT, Hard Rock Poker Open, Poker Night In America, Hustler Casino Live, Live at the Bike, and PokerGO. Although he doesn’t work in baseball, the 32-year-old still lends his voice to the Phillies every season on opening day to sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Highlights from this interview include performing for stadiums, an operatic voice, his movie role, battling Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey, a strategically chosen online name, winning a record-breaking pot, poker broadcasting, launching a hedge fund, comparing poker greats, saying no to dancing in Footloose, High Hopes, losing a $60,000 tennis prop bet, the noticeable absence of Nate Dogg, Rick Rolling, and challenging everyone to Final Fantasy Tactics.

Catch up on past episodes featuring notables such as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Patrik Antonius, Justin Bonomo, Antonio Esfandiari, Nick Schulman, Fedor Holz, Barry Greenstein, Dan Smith, Scotty Nguyen, Mike Sexton, Maria Ho, Bryn Kenney, and many more. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes automatically when they are released.