LFG Poker Times
Shuffle up and deal.
Issue #1 — May 12, 2026
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🃏 Big Stories
WSOP Returns to ESPN — Free for Everyone
The Main Event is back on ESPN for the first time since 2020, with a multi-year deal that promises 100+ hours of coverage starting July 2. Lon McEachern and Norman Chad are back in the booth. The final table airs August 3–5 on ESPN2 in primetime — and all of it is free, no paywall. Hustler Casino Live is also bringing its Million Dollar Game to the WSOP floor on June 12, livestreamed as WSOP High Stakes Live. This is the biggest visibility moment for poker in years.
WSOP Kicks Off in Two Weeks
100 bracelet events. May 26 through July 15 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. New this year: the $550 Mini Mystery Millions opens the series, and for the first time ever, a WSOP Circuit series runs July 14–25 immediately after — so you can extend your trip without leaving Vegas. The Main Event starts July 2 with four Day 1 flights.
🏆 Results of Note
Roman Stoica — EPT Monte Carlo Champion
Stoica won the €5,300 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event this week, defeating Austrian Bernhard Binder heads-up for €825,000. Binder led for most of the final day before Stoica closed it out in four hours of heads-up play. Also in Monte Carlo: Alex Kulev took the €250,000 Super High Roller for €2.78M, and Albert Daher won the €100k High Roller for One Drop for €2.05M.
Ian Cohen Wins WPT Seminole Hard Rock — $656,200
Cohen topped a 1,417-entry field at the $3,500 WPT Showdown in Hollywood, Florida, defeating NFL Hall of Famer Richard Seymour heads-up. The field crushed the $3M guarantee with a $4.5M+ prize pool. Seymour's deep run made headlines well beyond the poker world.
💡 Worth Knowing
WSOP Is Letting Players Rate Their Dealers
Starting May 26, players can rate dealers 1–5 through the WSOP Live app. High-rated dealers get bonuses and priority assignment to featured tables including the Main Event. Scores stay internal — not posted publicly. Six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus called it a great step forward. Others are skeptical. Either way it's a new accountability layer the poker community has been asking about for years — worth watching how it plays out this summer.
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