The DeepStack Championship Series (DCS) at the Venetian in Las Vegas kicked off on May 14. The series is now getting into the fourth week of action, and has a total of $31 million up for grabs across its 150 events. The games will run until July 29, and already there have been some amazing wins.

The DCS offers a variety of options for every player’s tastes, from NLHE to Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) to Omaha eight-or-better. There is also a wide selection of bounty, turbo, multi-day and single-day tournaments on tap, as well. Buy-ins start as small as $200 and climb to as high as $5,000.

The series kicked off with a $340 NLHE DoubleStack tournament with a $100,000 guarantee on May 14. The tournament was won by Julie Polatchek, who took home just over $35,000 and 336 points in the Card Player Player of the Year (CPPOY) race. It was her best finish and best cash since first entering the poker tournament scene in 2010.

The largest guarantee to date is the $250,000 for the $1,600 PLO MonsterStack Eight Max event, which began on June 1. The final table action played out yesterday, June 03, but the final results weren’t available as of press time. While the majority of the events in the series are being held at the Venetian, this tournament is one of a small handful that was played at the Sands Casino in its Sands Expo Hall G.

Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest country. So, when Las Vegas Sands (LVS) CEO Sheldon Adelson sees it, he sees dollar signs. Adelson traveled to the country this past week where he reaffirmed his plans to build an integrated resort (IR) there.

Adelson paid a visit to Brazil’s most populated city, Sao Paulo and was asked by a local media outlet about his purpose in the country. Adelson, who has an estimated net worth of about $40 million, replied that he was considering “investing in one or more integrated resorts.” The visit followed one made by the casino mogul to Rio De Janeiro in May of last year. During that visit, he met with Brazilian President Michel Temer to discuss the possibility of constructing an $8-billion IR in the country.

Adelson faces an uphill battle. Gambling has been illegal in the country since 1941, but there have been recent pushes to change legislation in favor of allowing casinos. Proponents argue that the casinos will provide much-needed revenue to the country, giving it the ability to pay down its growing debt. There are two bills currently being reviewed by legislators on different levels, but passage of any gambling laws won’t come immediately.

According to Forbes Magazine, the 84-year-old Adelson is ranked 21 on the list of the world’s billionaires. He continues to expand his empire, and doesn’t show any signs of stopping.

Casino operators in Macau are being encouraged to participate in a “voluntary” pension plan run by the government for other businesses. Labor representatives in the gambling enclave want the six operators to get onboard, saying that it will help protect workers and give them better options for their pensions.

One of the representatives has suggested that the government provide an incentive to the operators to join the fund. The casinos will soon face the end of their license periods – in either 2020 or 2022 – and the legislator said that the government could use the threat of having a renewal approved as an incentive to convince the operators to agree to participate.

The Power of the Macao Gaming Association (PMGA), a Macau labor group, and Macau legislator Leong Sun Iok have expressed their desire that the casino operators sign up for the “non-mandatory central provident fund.” Iok is a member of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, a traditionalist workers’ group.

In a conversation with media outlet GGRAsia, PMGA director Lei Iok Po said, “The six casino operators have different pension schemes…but there are practices that… employees – upon ‘reasonable dismissal’ – will not get a single cent of the employers’ contribution to their pension scheme.” He then added, “In that sense, the government’s provident fund scheme is better because the employee can obtain the employer’s contribution in any scenario of a labour contract termination.” He pointed out one potential downside to the pension fund, though, stating, “The disadvantage with the government scheme is that workers can only withdraw their funds [pension money] at 65 years old.”

A quick report from 888Live Barcelona revealing that Fernando Pons has joined the 888Poker ambassadorial team and Maria Lampropulos has won the €2,200 High Roller.

There is a man with a big bushy beard and a fez. He’s playing the accordion. There is a gathering of children. A monkey, on a leash, goes to each kid in the crowd, tin cup in hand.

He’s got the wrong pitch.

None of the kids has money.

PokerGO and ARIA Resorts and Casino will once again come together to produce the second iteration of the Poker Masters, a seven-event series awarding the man or woman with the most money earned with a purple jacket.

I had a dream last night, which I find remarkable considering I sleep with a baby lying across my throat.

I had the power to miniaturise things. I was rich; a bit of a cock. And I would spend my time walking around the zoo, zapping things and stealing them.

I zapped a bunch of sharks during a visit to the aquarium in Barcelona, took them home and put them into a fish bowl. They were the size of goldfish, and I would feed them worms from the garden.

Lee Davy sits down with 888Poker Ambassador, Vivian Saliba, to talk about her life on the road, how she improves as a poker player, and a whole lot more.

888Live Barcelona: Vivian Saliba – “I found myself within poker.” Audio

A round-up of the World Series of Poker including bracelet wins for Joe Cada and Jordan Hufty, a potential first female bracelet of 2018 in the Omaha, and Nick Petrangelo leads the final ten with $2.9m up top in the $100k. 

I don’t know if it’s my age, but I’m forgetting faces.

Take this week in Barcelona where I am in the midst of the 888Live throng. I spied with my little eye Harry Lodge. He was sitting in front of the sportsbook screens poking holes in his phone.

Ginger hair.