I was reading a post in a poker forum the other day. In it, a newbie wrote about a bad beat he suffered, and asked for advice on dealing with the funk he was in because of it. One of the more experienced and intelligent members of the forum, trying to be helpful, wrote back “Just remember that luck evens out over time.”

When it comes to luck, it’s as much about how you look as it is how you feel. (Image: Gaby Stein/Pixabay)

It’s a comforting salve to be sure, this oft-repeated phrase. And, surely, it can help players avoid going on tilt after a bad beat — I don’t fault anyone for saying it. Yet even as I admit the comforting effects of such an utterance, I know that “Luck will even out in the long run” is also one of the greatest fallacies in poker.

Luck Rarely Evens Out

Doug Polk blew a $175,000 lead on Day 27 before regrouping to book his first winning session in quite some time against Daniel Negreanu. He ended a five session losing streak and turned the match back in his favor.

Doug Polk stopped the momentum that was heading in Daniel Negreanu’s direction. (Image: YouTube)

The previously long-time feuding poker pros have now completed 27 sessions of $200/$400 no-limit hold’em on WSOP.com. Over that span, they’ve played 15,850 hands and have 9,150 remaining before the epic grudge match concludes.

Through Day 19, Negreanu trailed by $950,000 and appeared to be on track to lose potentially more than $2 million. But he turned the tides and went on quite an impressive winning streak, eliminating half the deficit in just seven sessions.

There’s been another changing of the guard at PokerStars, with six players moving on to new pastures.

Celina Lin is the latest poker pro to part ways with PokerStars. (Image: PokerStars)

Following the recent parting of ways between PokerStars and Chris Moneymaker, Celina Lin has joined the recent cohort of departees.

Lin was the last remaining member of PokerStars’ Team Asia and her exit marks the end of an 11-year relationship.

As we reported on Tuesday, Sheldon Adelson passed away from cancer at age 87. The casino magnate left quite an impression on poker community, but not a good one.

Sheldon Adelson certainly left his mark on the poker world. (Image: CNN)

Adelson died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a common but often deadly disease that occurs when the lymph-node cells or the lymphocytes begin to multiply uncontrollably, producing cancerous cells that have the abnormal capacity to invade other tissues throughout the body.

He was initially diagnosed with the disease in 2019. Just last week, he took a leave of absence from his role as CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp to receive cancer treatment. But days later, the Republican megadonor died of complications from that treatment.

Amateur poker players have the chance to become a world champion thanks to Partypoker. Following on from the recent glut of elite-level online MTTs, Partypoker is hosting the World Championship of Amateur Poker (WCOAP).

Partypoker will host the first online World Championship of Amateur Poker as COVID-19 restrictions stop play in the UK. (Image: APAT/Concord Card Casino)

WCOAP is a product of the Amateur Poker Association & Tour (APAT). The British company was founded in 2006 and now hosts amateur events across Europe and North America.

APAT will run its World Championship online for the first time this year. With ongoing lockdowns in the UK, WCOAP’s normal home, Dusk Till Dawn, is closed. Cue Partypoker.

Ante Up canceled its February print edition, but its co-founder tells CardsChat that it hopes to be back up and running when the COVID-19 pandemic dies down.

Ante Up magazine won’t publish its February issue due to a lack of distribution channels because so many poker rooms remain closed. (Image: Ante Up)

The magazine, which has published for 12 years, recently sent out a notice to its customers saying that not enough of its distribution locations have reopened and it would not publish its planned February issue.

“We’ll continue to hope our country can turn the corner on this terrible virus to allow enough poker rooms to reopen for us to be able to return to producing the quality product we insist on producing,” the notice reads.

Daniel Negreanu still has a ways to go before tying up the score against Doug Polk. But after Monday’s session in which he won six figures, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Daniel Negreanu isn’t too far from getting to within striking distance against Doug Polk. (Image: YouTube)

Polk has led ever since the first online session on WSOP.com more than two months ago. His lead at one point surpassed $950,000, and it appeared he was destined to potentially win millions, much like many expected before this grudge match began.

But things haven’t been so easy for the heads-up poker legend in recent weeks. Negreanu entered Day 26 on Monday having won four straight sessions and five out of six. He needed to continue on that momentum as he chases what would be the greatest comeback in poker history.

Americas Cardroom has upped the ante once again and increased the guarantee for its fourth Venom event to $8 million.

Americas Cardroom is set to host another potentially record-breaking Venom MTT, this time with an $8 million guarantee. (Image: Americas Cardroom)

The $2,650 MTT has been anything but a poison chalice since its first incarnation in 2019. Venom II was hailed as the “largest online poker tournament by a US-facing site” with a $6 million guarantee.

That record was broken last year when Venom III paid out more than $7 million. The fourth version of the event will add an additional $1 million to the guarantee and take it to $8 million.

Shay Segev won’t lead Entain into a possible merger with MGM Resorts worth more than $11 billion. The current CEO has handed in his notice after being offered a new position at sports streaming platform DAZN.

Entain CEO Shay Segev has handed in his notice following a lucrative offer from sports streaming company DAZN. (Image: The Financial Times)

Entain hit the headlines last week when it confirmed MGM Resorts had made a takeover offer worth $11 billion. The informal proposal was rejected but there are rumors a revised offer may be made in the coming weeks.

Segev may not be around if that happens. The former Playtech executive joined Entain in 2016 after stints at Playtech and Gala Coral. He took over from Kenneth Alexander as CEO in July 2020 but is now moving on to pastures new.

Joseph Cheong is closing in on another massive score as he is potentially one day away from winning the WSOPC Online Main Event. The World Series of Poker bracelet winner is one of nine players left still chasing a $1.2 million first place prize.

Can Joseph Cheong pull off another huge win? (Image: World Poker Tour)

Event #18 of the WSOP Winter Online Circuit series on GGPoker, a $10 million guaranteed tournament, attracted 6,395 entries, each costing $1,700. The winner of this massive online event will take home a gold WSOP Circuit ring and become quite wealthy. After two days of play, only nine remain, each guaranteed at least $123,106. An unknown player using the screen name “iownumind” busted in 10th place ($55,718), bubbling the final table in cruel fashion.

Alexandru Papazian from Romania called an all-in bet with pocket 3’s against “iownumind’s” pocket aces. The board ran out K-7-4-10, and then a lucky 3 on the river, setting up the final table. Papazian will enter play on Monday fifth in chips with 31 big blinds.

Sheldon Adelson has taken a medical leave of absence from Sands Corp, the parent company of Las Vegas’ Venetian Resort and Casino, to undergo cancer treatment.

Sheldon Adelson is battling cancer. (Image: LA Times)

Adelson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma last year but remained in his role as the CEO of LV Sands, the company he founded in 1988. The multibillionaire is a top Republican megadonor who donated to President Trump’s campaign in 2016 and then his reelection effort in 2020.

He’s also the top opponent of online poker legalization in the US. The casino mogul has fought long and hard to ban all forms of internet gambling at the federal level for years. His efforts have been moderately successful. Although he hasn’t achieved his goal of completely banning online poker nationwide, his lengthy fight and lobbying efforts has made it difficult for online poker legislation to progress in the US.

Daniel Negreanu booked yet another winning session against Doug Polk Friday afternoon. That makes it five out of the past six. But he’s been unable to finish strong recently, and it’s preventing him from putting a serious dent in the lofty deficit.

Daniel Negreanu is slowly chipping away at Doug Polk’s lead. (Image: YouTube)

In recent days, the sessions have gone in a similar fashion. Negreanu jumps out to an early lead and then coasts until late when Polk begins to take over the match and get most of the deficit back. Friday’s session was no different. With that said, it was still a winning session for Negreanu, which is obviously better than losing, as he attempts to climb out of a deep hole.

The day began at 2:30 pm on the WSOP.com poker site with Polk leading by $644,000 through 13,750 hands. That may seem like a massive lead, and it is, but it pales in comparison to the previous $950,000 lead. Still, Polk remains a heavy favorite despite the recent downfall.

The Galfond Challenge is starting to turn into a blowout as Phil Galfond is now running away with the match against Chance Kornuth. But this lengthy competition is far from over.

Phil Galfond is beginning to run away with the third Galfond Challenge. (Image: Twitter)

The third installment of the Galfond Challenge has taken fans on quite a roller coaster ride. And you should probably expect many more twists and turns before it concludes.

Galfond entered the match as a 4-1 favorite and laid those odds ($1 million to $250,000) on a side bet with Kornuth, the founder of Chip Leader Coaching. The favorite came out of the gates in the 35,000-hand pot-limit Omaha online competition guns a blazing. He busted out to a $180,000 lead early on a few months ago. Kornuth then took over the match, dominating for a two-month period. At one point, he led by as much as $350,000.

International Game Technology Plc has received a patent that could bring cryptocurrency gaming to Las Vegas and other casinos around the world.

IGT is looking to make Bitcoin payments standard in Las Vegas and, over time, other gaming hotspots. (Image: PYMNTS.com)

The US patent is for a system that allows players to “access cryptocurrency from a gaming establishment account.”

IGT spokesman Phil O’Shaughnessy said the move could make crypto payments for slots and other games within regulated markets a reality in the coming years.

The WSOP revealed plans to host a series of Circuit events online at WSOP.com throughout the year. Thus, making it clear the live events may be on the shelf for quite some time.

You can win one of these shiny rings throughout the year online. (Image: WSOP.com)

The World Series of Poker Circuit tour is widely popular among low and mid stakes tournament grinders. Each year, a number of events are hosted at various stops around the world, mostly in the United States. At each stop, a dozen or so events take place, and the winner in each tournament receives a shiny gold ring.

During the 2020 season, the WSOP was forced to cancel its remaining events starting in March due to COVID-19. With the virus continuing to spread, and over 350,000 dead in the US, hosting major poker events remains an issue. Ty Stewart, the WSOP’s Executive Director, told CardsChat News he isn’t yet ready to cancel out hosting live Circuit events in 2021 despite revealing plans for online Circuit events throughout the year.

Winamax is rocking the boat in Southern Europe with a record-breaking series worth more than $20 million.

The Winamax Series has set records in Southern Europe and shown that the poker industry is in the midst of a shakeup. (Image: Winamax)

The 29th instalment of the operator’s tournament series has been given a nautical theme for good reason. By setting the guarantee at €20 million ($24 million), Winamax is making waves in important European poker markets.

The first of 198 MTTs got underway on January 3 and the series will conclude on January 14. In among the bevy of tournaments will be a record-breaking main event that costs $150.

Daniel Negreanu had an overall dominating session on Wednesday, but Doug Polk picked up a bunch of chips late in the match.

Daniel Negreanu is starting to make some ground against Doug Polk. (Image: YouTube)

Negreanu has outplayed Polk for much of the past few weeks. But he’s still continuing to lose an uneven amount of coolers and bad beats in massive pots. Over the past two sessions, he’s lost a huge all-in pot to bad luck but hasn’t had any of those hands go in his favor.

On Day 23 (Jan. 4), the poker pros were all-in on the turn in one $80,000 hand. Polk had a small pair and flush draw, and Negreanu had an over pair. The river gave the Upswing Poker founder a winning flush.

Doug Polk is highly critical of the Poker Hall of Fame, and he isn’t the only one after seeing the results of the recent nomination. The GGPoker ambassador didn’t specifically criticize the voters for inducting Huck Seed. But he isn’t too thrilled with the entire results.

Doug Polk isn’t thrilled with the outcome of the recent Poker Hall of Fame votes. (Image: WSOP.com)

Seed was the top selection of the 30 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame, the only ones who were eligible to vote this year. The 1996 WSOP Main Event champ was a surprise selection. Many poker players predicted Isai Scheinberg, Patrik Antonius, or Antonio Esfandiari would win. Polk was quite surprised as well.

The Poker Hall of Fame Voting here was a complete joke.

Stoyan Madanzhiev, winner of the WSOP’s $5,000 summer Main Event, is willing to play Damian Salas heads-up, even if it’s just for bragging rights.

Stoyan Madanzhiev believes he’s the 2020 WSOP World Champion and told CardsChat he’s willing to play Damian Salas heads-up for bragging rights. (Image: Bet Kings)

The Bulgarian came under attack from WSOP commentator Norman Chad last night after staking his claim as the true 2020 World Champion.

Madanzhiev stated some facts, Chad likened him to Donald Trump, and, eventually, all hell broke loose.

MGM Resorts has made a play to become one of the largest online gaming operators in the world with an $11 billion bid for Entain (formerly GVC Holdings).

MGM Resorts has made a bid for Entain in an effort to keep pace with the industry’s leading betting and gaming operators. (Image: KXNT Radio/Getty Images)

The Wall Street Journal broke the story and, on January 4, Entain issued a statement via the London Stock Exchange.

The press release confirmed that MGM Resorts had made an informal offer of 1,383p per share plus a 22% premium. That equates to a total bid of £8.1 billion/$11 billion, but that won’t be enough to get a deal done.