What the poker world is talking about this week. Each item is a short summary in our own words with a link to the original story. East Coast stories come first.
20Headlines this week
East Coast first
The $1,700 Main Event in Verona, NY drew 996 entries against its $1M guarantee. Final results were still being posted. In side events, Kristan Mackiewicz won the $400 Ladies Event ($13,364, 167 entries), Sean Roberge took $400 Event #12 ($23,510, 345 entries), Kirkwood Saccardo won the $600 Event #13 ($30,819) and Aidan Arnesen took the Turbo Double Stack ($22,207).
Anniversary Week runs Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 with no opt-in: gift SNG and MTT tickets for every player who has played a real-money hand, nightly Splash the Pot at two stakes from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. ET, Run It Back draws for SNG runners-up, and added satellite seats all week. On Sunday, Nov. 1, $222 is added to the Mini Main prize pool and $2,222 to the Main Event pool, and PokerNews counts over $4,000 in added seats and prize money across the week.
The $400 Monster Stack at the WSOP Circuit stop in Verona, NY drew 1,611 entries, and Stephen Posa took the ring. Ben Ramon also won the $1,100 event ($54,291, 248 entries) and Thomas Catana took the PLO8 ring ($12,930).
Scalf played it out with no chop to win $7,101 from 97 entries and a $23,280 prize pool. Next up at the room is The National, a one-day $1,100 event with a $50K guarantee on Saturday, Oct 24.
The $600 cross-property event drew 4,167 entries across 16 flights at MGM National Harbor and Borgata, clearing its $2 million guarantee. Joseph Cutler, who BetMGM says won his seat online, took the title and $308,500.
BetMGM says the Hybrid Championship is back: it starts online on the evening of Nov 8 and finishes live at Borgata on Friday, Nov 13. The Fall Open's online events are on our Online page.
The 17-event series opened Oct 21 with $600K in total guarantees. Event #1 ($400, $200K GTD) runs flights through Oct 24, and anyone who bubbles a flight gets a $200 entry into Event #17.
The New York State Gaming Commission told operators to do more to spot at-risk bettors or face new rules. Its draft rules would make each sportsbook name a responsible-gambling lead and stop promotions to flagged users.
Lonis beat 371 entries in a $1,000 WSOP Online Mystery Bounty bracelet event, taking $33,688 for first plus $25,891 in bounties, including a $14,000 envelope. It's his first bracelet since 2023.
The $400 Mini Main kicked off the Turning Stone Circuit stop with 2,409 entries, and Khaled Aljoma took the ring and $102,251. Earlier, Scott Hosbach won the 40/40/40 opener ($40,470, 727 entries) and Mark Moody took the Seniors event ($31,747, 520 entries).
A $55 multi-flight tournament with $125,000 guaranteed runs on WSOP Online, with Day 1 flights Oct 18-26. Players who bust can fire another flight, and the NJ pool is shared with PA, MI and NV.
Fresh off his second WSOP bracelet in an online event, Joey Weissman won Event #3 ($10,500 NLH) at the 2026 Poker Masters for $218,400 and his fifth PokerGO Tour title. The event drew 78 runners for a $780,000 prize pool.
The $5,000 Main Event in Las Vegas has Day 1 flights Nov. 5-7 and a PokerGO-streamed final on Nov. 10. The Fall series runs Oct. 28 to Nov. 15 and includes a $1,100 event with $500,000 guaranteed.
Sean Winter beat Sam Laskowitz heads-up to close the 2026 Poker Masters at the PokerGO Studio, and Adrian Mateos clinched the Purple Jacket when Jeremy Ausmus went out in fourth.
Negreanu led the $26,000 Event #9 final table but finished second, as Seward won his first PokerGO Tour title and $412,500.
Ausmus beat a 58-entry field in the $15,700 event, then Aram Oganyan heads-up, for $278,400. The final table also had Adrian Mateos and Joe McKeehen.
Lehr came from behind against chip leader Vitalijs Zavorotnijs to win the $15,700 event for $277,200, his second PGT title. Adrian Mateos still leads the Purple Jacket race with two events left.
Down to his last chips five-handed in the $10,500 Event #6, Vaysman rallied and then beat Sean Winter heads-up for his first PokerGO title. Joey Weissman finished sixth.
After the recent superuser hacking scandal, GGPoker banned all third-party software, including HUD and tracking tools like Holdem Manager 3 and PokerTracker 4. It also added a screen guard and win-rate anomaly detection.
Poker's all-time live earnings leader filed a civil suit in Clark County, Nevada, claiming GGPoker's parent company NSUS broke promises of an ownership stake. GG's CEO has asked the court to dismiss it, and both filings are pending.
Sources: PokerNews, CardPlayer, Poker Industry PRO, Pokerfuse and public posts on X. We summarize and link and never republish full articles. Updated Oct 26, 2026. Browse the full news archive →
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