The result isn’t in yet, but we know the current favorite for this year’s WSOP Hall of Fame award won’t be getting a nod of respect from one nominee.

Norman Chad (pictured) doesn’t believe cheater Isai Scheinberg should be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. (Image: Bluff)

The normally light-hearted Norman Chad is in the hat for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame. Alongside nine others, his contributions to the game are being evaluated ahead of the final result being announced on December 30.

As a nominee, Chad doesn’t have a vote. However, that hasn’t stopped him from saying why Isai Scheinberg would be a terrible addition to the Poker Hall of Fame.

Want the live poker tournament scene to return to normalcy at some point in the near future? Then get the COVID-19 vaccine, and tell all your friends and family to do the same.

Live poker isn’t getting back to normal until you take this shot. (Image: startribune.com)

This isn’t a pro-vaccine article, and we aren’t being paid off by Pfizer or BioNTech to write this. Nor are we here to scold you if you don’t trust the vaccine that is about to roll out in the US. If you don’t feel being vaccinated is necessary or you question the safety of the vaccine, that’s your right. We aren’t going to pass any judgment or control your life. Your body, your life, your beliefs.

But you should know the likelihood of major live poker tournaments in the US, including the WSOP, returning in 2021 is low if not for a successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Unless you live in a bunker and have no access to the internet (which would be impossible considering you’re reading this article), you know all about the damage COVID-19 has done to the live poker industry. In 2020, COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 51st annual World Series of Poker, a heartbreaker for the poker community.

Let’s all hope the Rio Convention Center is packed again next summer. (Image: somuchpoker.com)

Each summer, thousands of poker players from all around the world travel to Las Vegas to compete in prestigious and juicy tournaments, and to win coveted gold WSOP bracelets. But that didn’t happen this year for the first time since 1969, a year before the World Series of Poker originated.

Summer for poker players isn’t just about chasing poker dreams and winning money. It’s also about catching up with old friends you don’t get to see the rest of the year. This past summer, however, was quite different. There wasn’t a reason to travel to Las Vegas as the WSOP was canceled and replaced with an online bracelet series on WSOP.com and GGPoker.

More national lockdowns might be bad news for most British businesses but, according to a recent UK Gambling Commission report, it could be a positive for online operators.

UK gambling sites have seen another increase in activity as a result of recent national COVID-19 lockdowns. (Image: PA Wire/ITV)

The latest figures from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) show that COVID-19 restrictions have kept people betting online.

Although October’s numbers don’t match the surge of activity seen at the start of the pandemic, they do show month-on-month gains in certain areas.

Daniel Negreanu returned from a 10-day break to book a six-figure win against Doug Polk. He’s slowly starting to put a dent in what was once a $950,000 deficit. And this epic heads-up no-limit hold’em poker match hasn’t even reached its halfway point.

Daniel Negreanu is cutting into Doug Polk’s lead quickly. (Image: YouTube)

The GGPoker ambassador was down and out not long ago. It appeared he was headed for a seven-figure loss in one of the most highly anticipated heads-up matches in poker history. But the luck has turned around, and so has his game.

Negreanu scored a much needed $143,642 profit on Day 19, Dec. 11. The poker stars took last week off and returned to the virtual felt on WSOP.com Monday afternoon. Polk hoped to get back to his winning ways and make another chase at a $1 million profit. The outcome of the three-hour session, however, went in a different direction.

The Irish Poker Open was one of Europe’s first live events hit by COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and, one year on, it’s still being affected.

The 2021 Irish Poker Open won’t be taking place in Dublin’s Citywest Hotel due to continued COVID-19 uncertainty. (Image: Twitter/Citywest Hotel)

Although there is hope COVID vaccines will get life back to normal in the first half of 2021, the organizers of the Irish Poker Open aren’t taking any chances.

With the prospects of hosting a live tournament over the Easter holiday slim, the action will take place online for the second time.

Betting stores in parts of England, including London, have been forced to close again just days before Christmas.

Betting shops in London and its surrounding areas have been forced to close due to another COVID-19 lockdown order. (Image: Burnham-on-Sea.com)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his latest “stay-at-home alert” on Saturday, three days after vowing not to cancel Christmas.

The mandate means all non-essential businesses in London its surrounding areas closed on Sunday. Residents have also been told that they’ll no longer be able to spend Christmas with anyone from outside their home.

The 2020 Poker Hall of Fame inductee will be announced Dec. 30 in Las Vegas. And the winner will be …. you didn’t you think I was going to give it away that quickly, did you?

Don’t worry, it won’t be this guy. We say that confidently. (Image: YouTube)

The WSOP recently announced the 10 finalists for the class of 2020. That list is based on the fan nominations, which took place earlier this month. Voting is now up to the 32 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame. The voters can only choose the winner based on those who made the finalists list.

2020 Poker Hall of Fame Finalists

Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu are heading into what just might be the most important phase of the heads-up match as the 12,500-hand mark approaches. The poker pros took a break last week, but have two sessions planned before Christmas.

Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu have two sessions planned this week. (Image: Poker Central)

Negreanu booked a huge win in the most recent match — more than $140,000. But he’s still deep in the hole as the heads-up battle nears its midway point. And that midway point is important because the player who trails at the time has the option to call it quits without penalty. If that individual opts to continue on, the no-limit hold’em competition will last another 12,500 hands.

Polk leads the match by $814,290 over 10,784 hands, 1,716 shy of the halfway mark. Negreanu has made it clear in his post-match interviews on the GGPoker YouTube channel that he intends to continue on. We all know at this point he will trail at the 12,500-hand mark. It’s just a matter of by how much.

Phil Galfond has completely taken control of the Galfond Challenge against Chance Kornuth, and now leads the heads-up poker match by a country mile. But variance is still in play, meaning the outcome of the 35,000-hand match is still in question.

Give Phil Galfond credit for battling through some tough times. (Image: Twitter)

Persistence, discipline, and patience has paid off for Galfond. But then again, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has followed his brilliant poker career.

The Run it Once poker site founder took a beating from an extremely talented opponent for a couple of months in this challenge. Kornuth won consistently for the better part of 10,000 hands against arguably the top pot-limit Omaha player ever. And he still is another heater away from getting right back into the match. But it may take a miracle to pull this one out.

Phil Hellmuth melted down big time when he lost with pocket aces to Tom Dwan in the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Championship. “Durrrr” sent the “Poker Brat” packing in one of the most memorable televised poker hands ever.

Tom Dwan reacts to sucking out against Phil Hellmuth. (Image: YouTube)

This past week, High Stakes Poker returned for the first time since 2011, on PokerGo. Also on PokerGo, new episodes of Poker After Dark, another popular show during the poker boom era, aired.

But we’re still missing the reboot of one show that the poker community loved a decade ago — the National Heads-Up Poker Championship on NBC. The show aired from 2005-2013, and pitted 64 of the most famous poker players in the world in a $25,000 buy-in eight-round tournament.

Casinos in the Czech Republic have been forced to close again, just three days after the WSOP Main Event took place inside King’s Resort.

King’s Resort has been forced to close again just three days after hosting the international WSOP Main Event final. (Image: King’s Resort)

Another spike in COVID-19 cases has prompted Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš to close all non-essential businesses over the festive period.

The new lockdown rules came into effect today, which means King’s Resort has closed again barely two weeks after reopening.

Patrik Antonius, Antonio Esfandiari, and Chris Ferguson are among the biggest names released as finalists for the 2020 Poker Hall of Fame class.

Is Patrik Antonius a lock to make the Poker Hall of Fame? (Image: Reddit)

Antonius turned 40 years old just in the nick of time. Candidates must be 40 or above at the time of enshrinement to be eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame. The Finnish poker legend hit that age requirement just four days ago.

Fan voting for the Poker Hall of Fame class of 2020 began earlier this month. Nominations were made on the WSOP.com website, and a finalist list was made from those votes. It is now up to the 32 living members of the exclusive club to vote on a winner based on the finalist list.

The Venetian poker room earned the honor of being selected as the best poker room in Las Vegas according to a local publication. Silver and bronze medals went to The Orleans and Wynn, respectively.

Shout out to the Venetian poker room for being one of the best places in town to play. (Image: Twitter)

“Best of Las Vegas” has been handing out awards to local businesses each year since 2001. Among the categories voted on include casinos, restaurants, banks, entertainment, health and beauty, and also schools.

In the casino category, “best poker room” is the one that matters most to us here at CardsChat, for obvious reasons. That award went to Sheldon Adelson’s property. The Venetian poker room is one of the largest in town with over 30 card tables. Many poker pros refuse to play at this Las Vegas Strip casino due to its affiliation with Adelson, a proponent of banning online poker in the US.

Running the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event during a pandemic was never going to be easy. However, some railbirds are less than impressed with how things have played out so far.

Some players have criticized the way this year’s WSOP Main Event has played out online and in Europe. (Image: Twitter/WSOP)

The poker community’s reaction was largely positive when the WSOP announced it was going to trial a hybrid version of the Main Event.

Although it called into question the status of September’s $5,000 Main Event winner, no one was mad at getting another chance to win a bracelet. However, for certain critics, the end product hasn’t matched expectations of what a Main Event should be.

Doyle Brunson sung the praises of Phil Hellmuth on Twitter, touting the “Poker Brat” as the greatest no-limit hold’em player in the world.

Is Phil Hellmuth the best NLH player ever? Doyle Brunson sure seems to think so. (Image: YouTube)

It’s tough to find a more credible source when it comes to poker skills than “Texas Dolly.” After all, he’s a Poker Hall of Famer and 10-time World Series of Poker Main bracelet winner, one of just four players in history to reach that plateau. So, when he makes such a bold claim, the poker community listens.

I just saw Phil Helmuth has cashed 154times at the WSOP so he has probably entered 200 tournaments. He is the best NLH tournament player in the world, in my opinion. https://t.co/CJkPlO0y6I

Doyle Brunson sung the praises of Phil Hellmuth on Twitter, touting the “Poker Brat” as the greatest no-limit hold’em player in the world.

Is Phil Hellmuth the best NLH player ever? Doyle Brunson sure seems to think so. (Image: YouTube)

It’s tough to find a more credible source when it comes to poker skills than “Texas Dolly.” After all, he’s a Poker Hall of Famer and 10-time World Series of Poker Main bracelet winner, one of just four players in history to reach that plateau. So, when he makes such a bold claim, the poker community listens.

I just saw Phil Helmuth has cashed 154times at the WSOP so he has probably entered 200 tournaments. He is the best NLH tournament player in the world, in my opinion. https://t.co/CJkPlO0y6I

High Stakes Poker returned to the poker world on Wednesday on the PokerGo app, and the pots weren’t as monster as you may have expected.

(Note: spoiler alerts forthcoming)

Tom “durrrr” Dwan returned to High Stakes Poker on Wednesday. (Image: PokerGo)

High Stakes Poker was one of the most popular poker shows ever. From 2006 to 2011, the cash game show aired on the Game Show Network. Many of the game’s biggest stars competed regularly. Pros such as Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu battled for the highest stakes in front of a massive television audience.

High Stakes Poker returned to the poker world on Wednesday on the PokerGo app, and the pots weren’t as monster as you may have expected.

(Note: spoiler alerts forthcoming)

Tom “durrrr” Dwan returned to High Stakes Poker on Wednesday. (Image: PokerGo)

High Stakes Poker was one of the most popular poker shows ever. From 2006 to 2011, the cash game show aired on the Game Show Network. Many of the game’s biggest stars competed regularly. Pros such as Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu battled for the highest stakes in front of a massive television audience.

The international leg of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is over and Argentina’s Damian Salas is the new champion.

Argentinian lawyer Damian Salas is the international WSOP Main Event champion. (Image: GGPoker/Twitter)

As well as picking up $1.5 million and a WSOP title, Salas progressed to a heads-up showdown set to take place in Las Vegas on December 30.

Although the Argentinian’s victory stole the headlines, it’s not the only story from the Main Event’s unique final table. With the event switching from an online affair to a live one, Peiyuan Sun became an unexpected early casualty.