We’re feeling Christmassy already here at CardsChat. It’s the season to be jolly, make eggnog and eat gingerbread — what’s not to like? But it’s also time to turn on the radio, and bet on the most popular holiday jams.

Nothing is more divisive in December than Christmas music. Love it or loathe it, you’ll have to listen. So, we decided to get festive and find out what the nation’s favorite Christmas songs are in the UK and the US, state-by-state.

Does Colorado prefer the classics? Do New Yorkers dig carols? Is there a clear winner across the board? Or a truly hated tune? Yule never guess …

Top Twen-tree Spotify Christmas Songs

The schedule for this year’s Irish Poker Masters has been announced ahead of two opening events set to take place on Friday.

The Irish Poker Masters Online gets underway on December 4 and will feature 21 tournaments. (Image: Partypoker)

As has been the case for almost all of 2020, the action will take place online. With COVID-19 restrictions making any sort of live event impossible, the Irish Poker Masters team is leaning on its long-time partner, Partypoker.

The online series will feature 21 events and run from Dec. 4 to 16. An €1,100 main event tops the bill, but side events and satellites mean there should be something for everyone.

If you’re planning on visiting your favorite Las Vegas poker rooms the next few weeks, you may notice some changes due to the Nevada governor’s new COVID-19 restrictions. But, on a positive note, despite capacity limitations, the live poker scene is still thriving.

South Point, one of the top Las Vegas poker rooms. (Image: CardsChat News)

And, even better, the poker room changes won’t impact your ability to find a seat in a juicy game, much. Governor Steve Sisolak imposed new coronavirus restrictions due to increased COVID-19 cases last week. They include limiting capacity in casinos to 25%.

That means poker rooms in Southern Nevada must decrease capacity for the time being. But some card rooms have found ways around the capacity limits to continue spreading tournaments and keeping the cash games running.

Doug Polk is catching everything in sight in every big pot it seems, and he now leads Daniel Negreanu by a country mile in the heads-up grudge match.

Doug Polk can’t possibly run any better than he has so far against Daniel Negreanu. (Image: WSOP.com)

Polk. one of the top heads-up no-limit hold’em players ever, doesn’t need much help. But the deck has repeatedly smacked him in the face throughout the challenge. His run of good luck was more existent during Saturday’s session than any other.

At this point, the odds of Negreanu coming from behind to win are getting slimmer by the day. Strange things have happened in poker. Earlier this year, Phil Galfond rallied from a $900,000 deficit against “VeniVidi1993” to win the first Galfond Challenge.

Casinos in England are preparing to reopen their doors after another national lockdown, but their Scottish counterparts aren’t so lucky.

Genting, Grosvenor, and Caesars Entertainment have joined forces in an effort to save casinos in Scotland. (Image: The Chips Are Down)

Under the UK’s devolved power structure, national governments have a certain amount of control over their own affairs. As such, Scotland has the power to order its own COVID-19 restrictions.

The current measures mean casinos in Scotland will remain closed while many in parts of neighboring England get back to business from December 2.

Looking for some interesting holiday gift ideas for the poker player in your life during these strange times? Perhaps, we can make your holiday shopping a bit easier.

You’ll need some creative holiday gift ideas this year for poker players. (Image: sookenewsmirror.com)

The coronavirus has changed the way we all live in 2020. Due to COVID-19, many families won’t spend time together during the holiday season. Some will most certainly ignore the CDC’s request to avoid those who are outside your own home. But the vast majority of people will likely refrain from private gatherings even during the Christmas season.

You’ll need to get a bit creative this year to keep your poker-playing friends and family members happy. Think outside the box. Or, just steal our holiday gift ideas.

Partypoker’s Caribbean Poker Party main event is over and, after leading from the start, Diego Ventura has clinched the title and more than $800,000.

Diego Ventura capped off a dominant performance in the Partypoker Caribbean Poker Party main event to win $879,894. (Image: Partypoker Live)

Play began last night with nine players in the mix and all eyes on Isaac Haxton. The Partypoker Ambassador had the fourth largest stack and the best résumé of anyone at the final table.

However, when the final chips had fallen, not even Haxton could dislodge Ventura and stop him from taking down the $5,300 event.

Doug Polk is starting to run away from his opponent, Daniel Negreanu, after yet another dominating performance on Day 11 of the heads-up poker grudge match.

Doug Polk keeps catching old man speeding in his match against Daniel Negreanu. (Image: YouTube)

Negreanu had surprised many poker fans with his competitive performance through eight sessions. But over the past three days — more than 1,500 hands — the GGPoker ambassador has been completely dominated. Part of that Polk dominance in recent days is due to luck. Some, however, has been the result of outplaying his opponent and getting maximum value with his monster hands.

With Wednesday’s two-hour session included, Polk has now turned a six-figure profit three straight sessions. Negreanu remains confident in his play and said in his post-game interview on the GGPoker YouTube channel that he feels he’s run terrible throughout the match. And he might be right, but Polk has also effectively taken advantage of Negreanu’s loose river calling strategy. So, luck hasn’t been the only factor in the current results.

Isaac Haxton is among those lined up and ready to engage in some final table festivities in the Caribbean Poker Party main event.

Partypoker Ambassador Isaac Haxton is among the biggest stacks at the final table of the Caribbean Poker Party main event. (Image: WPT)

The $5,300 fiesta played down to a final table of nine earlier this week and Partypoker Ambassador Haxton is among the top stacks.

The American, playing out of Canada, bagged just over 115 million chips on Day 3 and will start the November 25 finale in fourth place. Leading the charge with over 307 million chips is Peru’s Diego Ventura.

Despite Daniel Negreanu being more competitive than most expected, Doug Polk is now a heavier favorite than he was before the match started, according to PokerShares.

Doug Polk is starting to pull away from Daniel Negreanu again. (Image: Poker Central)

On Monday, Polk booked a six-figure win over four hours, bringing his lead up to around $143,000. The rival poker pros have now played 4,651 hands at $200/$400 stakes on the WSOP.com poker site, so we’re starting to get a fairly good idea for how the match will play out.

We can’t predict which talented poker player will win at this point. Right now, Polk has a lead of just 3.5 buy-ins, which can be erased in just a few unlucky hands or failed bluff attempts. The apparently no-longer-feuding pros still have at least 7,849 hands remaining, and potentially another 12,500 in addition to those. So, it’s really anyone’s game at this point. But Mike McDonald’s gambling website still considers Polk to be a massive favorite.

King’s Casino Rozvadov was one of the first European venues in to reopen following the COVID-19 outbreak in March and now it’s preparing for round two.

King’s Casino Rozvadov has announced it will reopen on November 30 after being forced to close in October. (Image: Kings-Resort)

The Czech casino was forced to close its doors again on October 9 due to new government restrictions.

The initial plan was to reopen on October 26, but that date soon came and went. Push backs continued and the latest plan is to get back to business on November 30.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that England will come out of its national lockdown and move back into a tiered system beginning on Dec. 3.

Some casinos in England will reopen after Dec. 2, but the outlook remains bleak for many. (Image: Concord Monitor/Geoff Forester)

The announcement marks the return to a policy previously dismissed as ineffective by the government, but which is returning amid mounting pressure from members of parliament and the general public.

When the national lockdown (in place since Nov. 5) comes to an end, casinos and betting shops in certain tiers will be allowed to reopen.

On Day 10, Doug Polk ran red hot yet again against Daniel Negreanu, and now leads the heads-up poker match by six figures.

Doug Polk continues to run red hot against Daniel Negreanu. (Image: YouTube)

Polk even got lucky in a hand he also got unlucky. In the hand in question, both players turned a diamond flush, although Negreanu had his opponent, who had a queen-high flush, crushed and in a world of hurt with a king-high flush. But a fourth diamond landed on the river, saving Polk an extra $25,000 behind, although he still lost a $50,000 pot.

A big part of the challenge through 10 sessions has been how pure Polk has run in all-in pots. According to Corey Steel (@CoreySteel_ on Twitter), Negreanu entered Monday’s session down $115,000 in expected value on all-in bets with cards still to come. During the Day 10 match, there weren’t any hands with an all-in and call with cards to come.

Tom Dwan has provided more insights into the way he approaches poker and what’s helped him become of the game’s most successful pros.

Tom Dwan has given fans an insight into his mindset and the way he approaches short deck poker. (Image: Wikipedia/Casino Connection)

Much like Phil Ivey has done in recent weeks, Dwan has opened up in front of the camera for Poker King.

In his latest chat with fellow pro Nick Schulman, the man known as Durrrr gave his take on short deck poker and how he thinks about strategy (see video below).

Online poker has been outlawed in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, despite a recent court order proposing regulation of the industry as a viable alternative to prohibition.

Following a ruling by the Madras High Court, the government of Tamil Nadu has made online poker illegal in the state. (Image: India.com/ANI)

The status of online poker in the region has been under scrutiny for some time. Petitions to ban online gambling have been the subject of debate inside Madras High Court for almost a decade.

Delays and postponements have dragged the debate on for longer than necessary. However, things came to a head recently after two men, reportedly, committed suicide because of gambling debts. As such, Madras High Court pushed the agenda earlier this month.

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak issued new capacity restrictions and limitations for businesses, and that will impact live poker in Las Vegas. The Democratic politician who he himself tested positive for COVID-19 is desperately trying to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak is in a no-win situation. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

On a positive note for the live poker scene in Sin City, poker rooms aren’t being forced to close. That means you can still play cards if you’re in town. But you had better be prepared for lengthy wait times especially at the busiest poker rooms such as Venetian, Aria, and Bellagio.

Sisolak finds himself in a no-win situation given the current state of affairs in the Silver State. If he doesn’t take action, many will rip on him for refusing to do enough to stop the spread of COVID-19. But if he forces businesses to close, others will bash him for destroying the state’s economy. Such is the case in these trying times for the Nevada governor. Or, any governor in the US, for that matter.

Daniel Negreanu’s winning ways against Doug Polk came to a screeching halt on Friday. The GGPoker ambassador not only lost more than $200,000 over two hours, he lost his grip on the overall lead. Even so, he’s only down a small bit.

Doug Polk regained his lead over Daniel Negreanu on Friday. (Image: YouTube)

Negreanu opened the challenge with a six-figure win on PokerGo during the only live poker session. As soon as the competition shifted to the internet on WSOP.com, Polk took over and crushed it for a $387,000 profit over two days.

Then, the former PokerStars ambassador flipped the script. He went on to win four of the past five sessions and was up $179,363 heading into Day 9 on Friday. Heads-up poker at high stakes is a wild and crazy game, however. So, during Friday’s match, Polk flipped the momentum back in his favor with a dominating performance leading to a resounding victory.

Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk’s feud didn’t begin with the “More Rake is Better” trash talk. It actually started a few years prior, back in 2014. And it all started with a petty little dispute that turned into something much bigger.

Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk have been feuding ever since 2014. (Image: WSOP.com)

The poker masters are currently in the midst of a lengthy high-stakes heads-up battle. Perhaps, it will finally put an end to the longstanding feud that began six years ago. Or, maybe not. Time will tell.

Negreanu entered Friday’s session with a lead of more than $170,000 in the heads-up challenge. They’re still in the relatively early stages of the match. So Polk, who entered as a heavy favorite, still has plenty of time to erase that deficit and win by the massive amount most projected.

Phil Ivey is back and feeling better than ever, according to the latest installment of his conversation with fellow poker pro, Barry Greenstein.

Phil Ivey is back in love with poker after learning to live in the moment and diversifying his interests. (Image: Daily Mirror)

The laidback interview shows a lighter side of Ivey. Despite being one of poker’s most high-profile players, the American has often been a closed book.

However, with help from Greenstein, he’s opened up. In the most recent video, Ivey discusses his rise to the top, how he fell out of the love with the game, and why he feels rejuvenated.

Daniel Negreanu had yet another impressive session in his grudge match against Doug Polk, and extended his lead even further.

Daniel Negreanu didn’t maximize his EV in this hand against Doug Polk. (Image: WSOP.com)

Thursday’s session was quite competitive and there weren’t many massive pots. Early in the match, the poker pros traded jabs, with one player winning a sizable pot and then shortly after the other returned the favor.

For Polk, although he didn’t turn a profit, he found some more success with his over-sized river bets than on Monday. During that infamous Monday session in which Negreanu booked a $222,000 win, Polk lost most of his money due to some ill-timed big bluffs. That wasn’t the case so much on Day 8 and it led to a much smaller defeat.