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Articles by Mark Patrickson
Triton Poker Series: Schedule, Results, Records and How to Qualify
Published 2026.08.20 Updated 2026.08.21 9 min read Why trust VIP-Grinders? Affiliate Disclosure Since 2013 we have tested the poker rooms, casinos and sportsbooks we cover ourselves, with real accounts and our own money. We check the cashier, the verification, the licence and what the bonus terms actually say once you are inside the account. See our testing process for what we check and what we do not, and our Editorial Guidelines for how we write and maintain content.
Best Poker Prop Bets of 2025
From million‑dollar self‑belief at the WSOP to a human vs AI grudge match, this year’s prop bet suggestions had it all. In 2025, three outrageous props cut through the noise — a Main Event shot for an extra million, a poker legend defending his legacy with seven figures, and the first serious human vs AI challenge of the new era.
$10,000,000 GTD Winter Festival Series Coming on CoinPoker
The CoinPoker Winter Festival is a three-stage online series running from December 26, 2025 to January 26, 2026, built around fast turbos, satellite-heavy qualifiers, and the flagship Winter Masters Series. The three stages — Holiday Turbo Mini Series, Fresh Start Week, and Winter Masters Series — are all playable independently, with no opt-in required.
WPT Global Boosts Guarantees by 10% in Countdown to 2026
Running until the bells chime for the New Year, this guarantee-boosting offer offers tons of added value for the next 12 days. By our calculator’s measure, this creates 144 chances to play enhanced MTTs over the holidays without paying any extra in buy-ins. To be clear, this is 10% of the guaranteed prize pool that is added on, and not 10% of the total value of the buy-ins collected. But the 10% is added on whether the original guarantee is met or not.
Bernhard Binder Victorious in WSOP Paradise Super Main Event
Binder defeated Triton regular Jean-Noel Thorel heads-up to claim his first major live title, in an event which was never short of storylines throughout. This week as Event #11: $25,000 Super Main Event thinned out its field, we were already hearing good things about Bernhard Binder from another Triton reg, Mario Mosöck. The former footballer was convinced that his compatriot would be a breakout star in 2026 as he shifted some of his focus away from his more usual online arena.
Jesse Lonis and Shaun Deeb Fight Over Controversial Fold
Jesse Lonis has been taking flak for the last few days over this sick fold, and now Shaun Deeb is encouraging the pile on even more. And it turns out that the pair grew up near each other and Deeb even used to be a hero of Lonis as he climbed the stakes. Now though, it looks like the gloves are off and there is no love lost between the rivals.
Controversial Hand in WSOP Paradise $25K Super Main Event
Photo Credit: Regina Cortina The hand, which took nearly ten minutes to resolve with multiple floor rulings, saw popular vlogger Ryan Depaulo triple up in dramatic fashion, much to the chagrin of amateur James Caputo. Now, Caputo — if the Hendon Mob profile is the right one — has only $275 on his live tournament record, meaning that the detail of what follows is an understandable mistake on his part.
Matan Krakow Seizes EPT Prague Main Event Title
Krakow is a 44-year-old online poker manager with a background in journalism. Most recently he co-authored Eli Elezra’s autobiography, Pulling The Trigger. But he also knows his way around a poker table, and after stepping back from the professional game, Krakow has tripled his live tournament earnings record with this massive prize. The EPT stop in Prague, Czechia has long been Krakow’s favourite since he picked up his first cash at one of the the popular festivals.
Koray Aldemir Wins $10,000 8-Game to Bag Second WSOP Bracelet
The German rose to prominence four years ago when he took down the biggest event of the year. In the years after he built up status as a capable player, increasing his career earnings record to $23 million. But then he vanished last summer, with no recorded cashes until this weekend where he showed the world that he really is a multiple bracelet standard player. Aldemir banked $287,800 for his victory but will have been more pleased to have picked up that gold bracelet.
Aleks Ponakovs Victorious in $100K Triton Main Event
Incredibly, this was the Latvian’s first Triton title, one that was well overdue after winning almost $20 million on the circuit. He didn’t earn quite as much as Kayhan Mokri the other night, but $4,750,000 was a new career-best prize, taking his record up to top 32 on the all-time money list. Ponakovs also gets his third WSOP bracelet as the Triton events are still a part of the WSOP Paradise 2025.
Kayhan Mokri Wins $250K Triton Invitational
The Norwegian high-stakes regular put on an amazing performance, but this was one of the most one-sided events at this level that we will ever see. Mokri was a chip magnet for the entirety of the event; including pulling off a two-outer with pocket nines when his opponent’s ace-king flopped trips. While $7,725,000 is a boat load of money, we suspect that he was just as happy to collect his maiden WSOP bracelet and complete a hat-trick of Triton titles.
Sam Soverel Wins $100,000 Triton Paradise PLO Main Event
The American was crowned champion on his Triton Super High Roller Series debut and will take home an impressive $2,594,000 prize, handsomely improving on his previous career best score of $1,024,364. This impressive victory puts Soverel almost into the top 30 on the all-time money list, right behind Phil Hellmuth. He also takes home his fourth WSOP bracelet. As one of the top regulars on the high-stakes circuit, it’s incredible that Sam Soverel hadn’t journeyed out to dip his toes in Triton waters.
Matthias Eibinger Wins Triton $75K PLO at WSOP Paradise
The Austrian came out on top of a field of 93 entries to take $1,570,640 home from the impressive $6,975,000 prize pool. This win was Eibinger’s fifth Triton title, lifting him into the seven-man group of players with the same number who are all chasing Jason Koon with 12 wins. All-in-all, we can say this was a great start to the WSOP Paradise series for Matthias Eibinger.
Scorsese and Billions Creators All-in on Vegas Casino Drama
The streaming giant is going all-in on what’s likely to become one of the most impressive gambling-themed TV projects ever produced. While Netflix does cop some flak for many of its productions, the overall quality of in-house shows is generally very good. According to industry sources, the yet-untitled series will explore the high-stakes world of Vegas casinos, diving deep into the relationships, rivalries, and power structures that define Sin City.
$25,000,000 End of 2025 Giveaway on GGPoker
For the next four and a bit weeks, it’s going to be difficult to avoid picking up a slice of this free cash on GGPoker. From December 1 – 31, players can fight over $12 million as a part of the biggest cash game promo that the industry has ever seen. From December 15 – 26, there’s another $12 million up for grabs over 12 days with free Daily Gift Boxes.
Armed Police Storm Sweden’s Krukan Poker Club
What began as a regular quiet Friday night at the club soon turned into a scene worthy of a Hollywood script as the heavy-handed tactical unit swooped into position accompanied by a helicopter, drones, and the Swedish Gambling Authority. The authorities claimed that the popular poker club was no more than an underground hub operating without the necessary licensing. Officers rushed into the room with weapons pointing at the nervous players who were in the middle of a €100 buy-in tournament.
Maurice Hawkins Takes a Beating at Private Poker Game
The winner of 21 Circuit rings appeared to have been taking a one-sided beating from a larger man before the two sides were separated. Unsurprisingly, social media comments on the scrap mostly looked to be taking some pleasure at the controversial character getting thumped. For the last decade, Maurice Hawkins has provided the poker media one scandal after another, mostly regarding backing deals gone wrong with alleged unscrupulous behaviour.
$5,000,000 Christmas & New Year Giveaway on WPT Global
From December 10 to January 9, all players who make a qualifying deposit of $50 or more between November 24 and December 30, will receive a slice of the daily giveaway which is worth a whopping $5 million over the holiday period. $5 Million Winter Wonderland on WPT Global Players need only make a single deposit of at least $50 to qualify for 31 days of freebies.
Hustler Casino Live to End 2025 with a $1,000,000 Cash Game
HCL co-founder Ryan Feldman is aiming to put on a special show for a full 24 hours with huge buy-ins where each player must arrive to play with at least $1 million in the kitty. The stakes will be $500/$1,000 with a $2,000 big blind ante, and a $500,000 minimum buy-in to even sit at the table. In the spirit of having a little extra fun in the special game, some extra side action will be available. The most popular additions to the format are Squid Game and a points-based bounty system.
New WSOP Documentary AI Faked Quotes from Alan Keating
The fraudulent quotes did at least consider real quotes that Keating had said, but they were jazzed up without justification. Iannotti posted his admission on X — later deleted — adding that Keating wasn’t aware of what he had done and nor was he even consulted. For those that missed the furore earlier in the week, high-stakes cash game favourite Alan Keating appeared to criticise tournament poker on the NO LIMIT documentary, saying that it wasn’t real poker.
Alan Keating Says Tournament Poker Is Not Real Poker
In the latest episode of NO LIMIT, a poker documentary produced by the World Series of Poker around the 2024 WSOP Paradise), the high-stakes cash-game reg offered a blunt assessment of tournament poker that has reignited a long-standing debate within the poker community. Keating couldn’t have been any straightforward when he said: “Tournaments are more like checkers to me… I don’t think tournament poker is the most pure form of poker. Wait…I did just sugarcoat it.
Epic Hands in High Stakes Cash Game World Championship
All varieties of the CGWC have been well-supported so far with CoinPoker going the extra mile to feature great prizes, but this is the big one — high-stakes NL Hold’em and the best players in the business. Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger is many people’s shout for the best online cash game player in the world over the last few years and he’s getting stuck in against many of his usual rivals.
Phil Hellmuth Fires Shots at WSOP for Too Many Bracelets
The record holder of 17 prestigious bracelets isn’t known for holding back when it comes to voicing his opinions, and so usually we don’t read too much into it all. This time, though, Hellmuth has got the poker community debating passionately.
2026 Global Poker Awards Cancelled
This shocking decision marks the end of an annual tradition that began back in 2017 and served as the poker community’s premier recognition platform outside of major tournament accolades. GPI founder Dan Fleyshman launched the Global Poker Awards to honour contributions to the modern poker community that had grown up in the digital age — the kind of categories that regular people could aim at.
High-Stakes Crushers Clash Over Advice to Avoid Microstakes Poker
Could it really be good advice to forgo learning the ropes in a $5 game? Uri Peleg certainly thinks that, and he’s caused a bit of a ruckus on X by saying so. He asked the question: “How to best study while playing microstakes?” Easy, he said: “Don’t play microstakes.” That’s a shocking answer for those who did it “the hard way” during the boom years, but does he have a point? BenCB spotted the post on X and was quick to say just how much he disagreed with Peleg’s take.
Alan Keating Stuns Doug Polk with Savage Hero Call for $675K
In recent years, Alan Keating has built a reputation and standing within poker that is usually reserved for high-stakes live tournament players. For most of the poker boom, TV poker shows invited legends from years gone by, such as Doyle Brunson and the late Chip Reese, and the guys who were winning the big events consistently, like Phil Hellmuth. It was tough to break through into this pool of players purely by playing cash games behind the scenes.
Indian Poker Industry Clinches to Reprieve at Supreme Court
A bench led by Justice K.V. Viswanathan will conduct a detailed hearing on petitions challenging the unpopular Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROGA). In August 2025, the bill was passed through the Indian Parliament without any meaningful resistance, leading to fears that the growing online poker market in India would be shut down. Operators who provide access to real money games face large fines and prison sentences up to three years.
Is Poker Content Under Threat from YouTube?
The world’s largest video platform is tightening restrictions specifically around content linking to, or even referencing, unlicensed gambling sites. Although this latest crackdown is aimed at all forms of gambling, poker channels could face challenges in the near future. What Will Change? Any promotion that directs viewers to an “unapproved” gambling site will be blocked. We’re talking about anything here, from links and logos; even mentions.
High Stakes Cash Game World Championship Coming Soon
From November 10 to December 7, the high-stakes edition of this new popular series will bring together the toughest No-Limit Hold’em players in the world for a shot at prestige, huge cash prizes, and simply bragging rights over their peers. What Is the High Stakes CGWC All About?
Phil Galfond and Grok 4 Agree Epic Poker Showdown
Elon Musk posted the table showing Grok 4 leading the way in a battle of large language models (LLM) playing poker non-stop for five days straight. Is it the best AI out there?
Moneymaker Mystery Million to Debut in November
From November 2 to December 1, players of all levels will have a shot at a slice of the seven-figure prize pool with bounties as big as $100,000 up for grabs. An unbelievable 342 Day 1 starting flights are on offer, leaving you with no excuse about not having a gap in your schedule. The buy-in is a reasonable $109 and playing for a share of a million dollars for that little investment isn’t an opportunity you’re going to find in many other card rooms.
Chino Rheem Wins PokerGO Tour PLO Series II
Rheem topped the leaderboard for the 2025 PGT PLO Series II after winning Event #10: $25,200 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, also racking up seven cashes and four final tables in the 10 events. This series victory sits nicely alongside Rheem’s win in the 2023 PGT Mixed Games II and 2025 PGT Mixed Games festivals. The series finale attracted 68 entries, building a prize pool of $1,700,000 from which Rheem bagged $510,000 for the win, making his series total a cool $798,900.
NBA Players and Mafia Syndicates at Centre of Poker Scandal
Federal authorities have unmasked a sprawling criminal enterprise linking prominent NBA players with notorious Mafia syndicates, all centered around a series of rigged high-stakes poker games. This meticulously orchestrated scheme, which allegedly operated between 2019 and 2025, has sent shockwaves throughout the poker community, sparking discussion on game integrity.
GGPoker Affirms Player Protection and Game Integrity
Earlier this week, VIP-Grinders reported that Ren Lin was removed from Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Super Circuit Cyprus Main Event following news of a rules violation. Seemingly unaware of the seriousness of the offence, Ren Lin coached his friend “RealOA” during final table play and then he went on to win the tournament.
Nik Airball Sets Fire to $755K on Hustler Casino Live
The bad run kicked off from the very first hand that Nik Airball played — jack-four offsuit, known in Hustler Casino Live circles as “The Robbie” With the stakes at $100/$200 and holding J♣ 4♦ in the small blind racing a raise of $1,000, Airball raises it up to $5,000. He ends up seeing a three-way flop of 2♠ 2♥ Q♠ against Turbo and VC Sam who calls the c-bet with K♠ 5♣. Incredibly, VC Sam calls again on the 10♠ turn with only king-high and a one-card flush draw.
Ren Lin Booted from Live Tournament Over Cheating Scandal
For those who are not in the know, NSUS, the parent company of GGPoker, and owner of the World Series of Poker, looks like it is following through after indicating it would extend its zero tolerance of unethical behaviour at the online tables into the live arena. GGPoker is well-known for taking this approach on its online platform which is now the largest in the industry. And the poker community appears to be reacting in an exclusively positive way.
Venividi1993 Leads the Way in Cash Game World championship
Another player of note in the top 10 is PLO legend “cumicon” who was supposed to have retired seven years ago with more than $7 million in profit. We’re waiting to hear if Jared Bleznick will stake a claim for one of the top positions or maybe he’ll continue smashing the heads-up tables with more of the monster pots he’s becoming famous for.
$1.14M Bad Beat Jackpot Trips at Playground Montreal
The Playground Poker Club has made a habit over the years of paying out massive seven-figure sums to “unfortunate” souls who lose a hand in the most devastating fashion. Last night, while the Canadian Poker Championship was underway, two players — Bill K and Darin H — faced off in a $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em cash game and ended up in a showdown you couldn’t script. Both held straight flushes, but one of them was about to get a nasty surprise. The cooler was as brutal as it gets.
$6.5 Million GTD Venom PKO Starting Flights Kick Off Today
The Venom tournaments are a mainstay feature of ACR Poker, with multiple editions scheduled every year and each of them paying out life-changing money. This autumn, the Dual Venom PKOs are promising at least $5 million for the NL event and another $1.5 million for the PLO aficionados. But don’t forget, every time we see these events the guarantees get smashed.
$60M GTD WSOP Paradise Main Event Satellites on ACR Poker
The $60,000,000 GTD Super Main Event will be the biggest ever guaranteed prize pool in poker history. And what’s more, ACR Poker has 72 prize packages worth $30,000 each up for grabs from Sunday, October 12. Despite not being an official partner, the ACR team is still pulling out all the stops to get its players over to the Bahamas for the third year in a row.
PLO Cash Game World Championship 2025 on CoinPoker
CoinPoker’s PLO Cash Game World Championship (CGWC) is back for its third edition, running from October 6 to November 2. On top of the $55,000 in rewards, a luxury $15,000 Rolex and world-class VIP experiences are waiting to be won. And all players who log 10,000 hands will receive a 1-month PLO Genius PRO. This is the battleground where ambitious grinders and elite pros battle for the top spot, but there’s always room for new challengers. What is the PLO Cash Game World Championship?
£2K Freeroll Frenzy with Johnny Vegas on GGPoker
If you’re currently located in either country, you will have a shot at scooping £2,000 every single day, with no buy-in required. Every weekday at 8pm UK and Ireland time, new players on GGPoker will receive a freeroll ticket within 72 hours of making their first deposit by November 30 at the latest. All you need to do is click your profile picture in the top right of the client and select “My Wallet,” and check if yours has landed.
Renji Mao Seizes Second WSOP Bracelet After Epic Comeback
After claiming his maiden bracelet back in 2023 when he took down the $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack, Mao has now joined a more illustrious club after outlasting a field of 200 entries at King’s Resort in Rozvadov. Italy’s Dario Alioto finished as runner-up after dominating the tournament throughout, only failing at the final hurdle. Alioto held the chip lead from almost the beginning of the event but was ultimately forced to settle for €138,800 and no trophy.
Artur Martirosian Makes it a Trio of Triton Titles
The Russian is one of the most highly-rated players among the elite at the Triton Super High Roller Series, but boy was he surrounded by top talent as the event closed out. This will go down as one of the proudest moments in Maritosian’s career, not least because it was possibly the best PLO players in history who he defeated heads-up to claim the title — Ben Tollerene, who was also aiming to extend his own trio of Triton Wins.
Ike Haxton Bags Maiden Triton Title in Jeju PLO Main Event
The American was easily the best regular tournament player to never have landed a Triton trophy. And, incredibly, he’s been playing these events since the first one almost a decade ago. But now that monkey’s off his back after he denied WPT Global ambassador Nacho Barbero a back-to-back win in Jeju. Nobody will be shocked by Haxton finally taking down a Triton tournament but they might be when they learn that he has cashed 64 times and made 34 final tables with six runner-up finishes.
Top 10 Craziest Prop Bets Made by Poker Players
When somebody mentions poker, it often conjures up images of a pair of figures staring intently at each other across the table, usually wearing sunglasses, trying to intimidate each other. What outsiders don’t think about is that these figures generally love gambling in many different forms, and as they go about their daily lives they will come up with the most bizarre, unthinkable wagers. These prop bets mostly aim at challenging not just skill but endurance, creativity, and sometimes sanity.
Punnat Punsri Snatches Fifth Triton Title in Jeju
The Thai star exploded onto the live tournament scene back in 2021 and has been one of poker’s most feared competitors since. Prior to 2021, Punsri had 10 live scores on his record amounting to around $130,000. Since, he has gone on to accumulate a monstrous total of $29,323,449. Already he is 42nd on the all-time money list. In the Triton Super High Roller Series, Punsri now sits in equal second place with his five victories, behind Jason Koon who is miles in front with 12.
Cash Game Star Peter Wang Wins at Triton Jeju
Wang doesn’t really bother with the tournament scene that much but he was no doubt drawn into the Triton stop at Jeju, South Korea where massive cash games take place alongside the prestigious tournament. Remember, this is a guy who was involved in a $1.4 million pot with Alan Keating back in April. In fact, his first recorded live tournament score only came back in April this year, followed up last week with 12th in the $40K Mystery Bounty which was won by Jun Obara.
Phil Hellmuth Claims $3 Million Cash Game Profit, Offers $1 Million Challenge to Haters
Hellmuth is known for being touchy over negative comments about his poker ability, and he’s long been accused of being a bad cash game player. Nothing wrong with that, though, and certainly in games against some of his usual rivals at the top of the game. Hellmuth built his reputation as a tournament player and that is the environment where he is most feared.
Stephen Chidwick Dominates and Banks $3.5 Million at Triton Jeju
The number one British tournament player was in imperious form during this event, noticing up his first Triton win since March 2024. The $3,455,000 winner’s prize also takes him within $7 million of Bryn Kenney’s top spot on the all-time money list. Chidwick put on a performance that was error-free and which cements his place among the elites in the game, building a lead on the second day which was never lost until the title was his.
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