Joseph Hebert won the US version of the WSOP Main Event, and he now awaits a heads-up battle with Damian Salas for the world championship, and a shot at an extra $1 million.

Joseph Hebert is one step away from poker immortality. (Image: Twitter)

Salas won the final table, which began on GGPoker, in Rozvadov, Czech Republic earlier this month. He earned just over $1.5 million for his efforts along with the right to face the US Main Event champ. The heads-up match was originally scheduled for Dec. 30 at the Rio in Las Vegas. But Salas had some travel issues due to COVID-19. As such, the finale will take place Jan. 2.

We now know Salas’ opponent, and that individual is Joseph Hebert thanks to a cruel suck out on the final hand. Ron Jenkins, decked out in a MAGA hat, got his chips all-in pre-flop with pocket queens against A-Q. The board ran out K-7-A-4-8, a winning top pair for Hebert and a brutal bad beat for Jenkins, who received $1,002,340 for second place.

Doug Polk bluffed off a massive session lead on Day 22 against Daniel Negreanu, but still holds a sizable lead at exactly the midway point. That is, of course, assuming Negreanu doesn’t opt to quit.

Doug Polk lost again but still leads big overall. (Image: YouTube)

The poker stars played their shortest session to this point on Monday due to reaching the halfway mark (12,500 hands). They both agreed to cut the session short as this is the point in which the losing player (Negreanu) has the option to throw in the towel without penalty.

Negreanu, however, has made it clear he intends to see this thing through to the full 25,000-hand mark. But he did admit in the post-game interview on the GGPoker YouTube channel that he isn’t 100% committed to continuing. The long-time poker rivals will get back to the virtual felt on WSOP.com on Jan. 4, assuming Negreanu doesn’t end the match.

Damian Salas is having trouble entering the United States, so the heads-up match to determine the WSOP Main Event champion is being pushed back. The news comes just hours after Upeshka De Silva was disqualified from the US final table due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Damian Salas will have to wait a few days longer than expected to compete for a world title. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

De Silva was scheduled to compete at the Rio final table in Las Vegas on Monday. Instead, he’ll receive ninth place money ($98,813) and won’t be dealt a single hand. Those were the rules set forth prior to the start of the tournament earlier this month. Each player knew of the risks associated with traveling during a global health pandemic.

Monday’s final table will still go on, but with eight players instead of nine. One of those players will take home $1.5 million and a shot to face Salas, who won the international bracket of the tournament, heads-up for the bracelet and an extra $1 million. That heads-up finale was scheduled for Dec. 30 at the Rio. But the international winner is having a difficult time entering the United States.

Upeshka De Silva is out in ninth place from the WSOP Main Event automatically due to a positive COVID-19 test ahead of the final table in Las Vegas. The three-time bracelet winner receives $98,813, but won’t be dealt a single hand on Monday.

Upeshka De Silva is the ninth place finisher in the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event. (Image: bay101news.com)

De Silva is the most accomplished player at the final table. Although he sat in eighth position heading to the Rio, he had as good of a shot at becoming world champion as anyone. But the rules this year state that any player who tests positive when the online tournament switches to the live final table format would automatically be disqualified and paid ninth place money.

Eight other players will compete on Monday at the Rio for a shot to face Damian Salas heads-up for the world title and an extra $1 million. Salas won the GGPoker (international) version of the WSOP Main Event earlier this month. He received $1.5 million for his efforts and is now just one step away from poker immortality.

Mike Postle continued to make headlines around the poker world this past year. But those who hoped he would receive justice for allegedly cheating at the poker table were disappointed.

Mike Postle may have cheated, but the courts never held him accountable for his alleged act. (YouTube)

In September 2019, Veronica Brill made some bold accusations about Postle. She claims the Northern California poker pro cheated numerous times during Stones Live streams. The accused cheater instantly denied the allegations and has since maintained his innocence.

But the bulk of the poker community sides with Brill, a former friend of Postle’s who also appeared often on Stones Live.

Damian Salas has already done his part in reaching the heads-up portion of the WSOP Main Event. He now awaits his foe, as he shoots for a world title.

Damian Salas has an opportunity to avenge a past defeat. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Salas won the final table at King’s Casino in the Czech Republic on Dec. 15 for $1,550,969. He beat out a field of 674 players, all who paid $10,000 to enter (or won a satellite), in a tournament that began on GGPoker.

Despite having won the GGPoker WSOP Main Event portion, the Argentinian still isn’t poker’s world champion. Salas will await the winner of the WSOP.com Main Event final table, which is set to be played on Monday at the Rio in Las Vegas.

What does the upcoming year have in store for the poker world? After COVID-19 put us all on tilt in 2020, we can only hope for a more prosperous year, starting with the return of major live tournaments.

Will the 2021 WSOP in Las Vegas take place, or will COVID-19 win again? (Image: WSOP.com)

I made some predictions for 2020 a year ago, but I won’t spend much time revisiting them, simply because most of our picks were based on live tournament play. Given that only a few major tournaments ran in 2020 due to COVID-19, there’s really no point in rehashing the poker year that wasn’t.

Instead, we’ll move forward to what will hopefully be a better year for us all.

Daniel Negreanu is helping raise money for something other than Doug Polk’s retirement fund. The GGPoker ambassador, via his pal Eric “Barstool Nate” Nathan, will match up to $25,000 in donations towards The Barstool Fund, a charity drive raising money for small businesses struggling to survive during COVID-19.

“Barstool Nate” and Daniel Negreanu are raising money for a good cause. (Image: WSOP.com)

Billionaire entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis challenged Barstool founder Dave Portnoy to “put your money where your mouth is” and raise money for the small business owners he claims to support. Portnoy obliged and created a charity drive that has raised over $4.6 million this month.

The first recipient of the small business fund was Frank Borrelli, owner of Borrelli’s pizzeria in New York. If you follow Barstool Sports, that name may sound familiar. Borrelli’s son, Frankie, is a producer for Barstool. His family’s restaurant has been in business for 65 years but was struggling to make ends due to COVID-19. Portnoy jumped in and shipped the business owner a $500,000 check. An emotional Borrelli left a video message for the Barstool Sports founder.

Tom Dwan has given us a small but intriguing insight into how you can win $6 million+ pots with a complete bluff.

Tom Dwan has recounted his biggest ever bluff in a pot worth more than $6 million. (Image: PokerVIP)

The latest installment of Dwan’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) dissects his greatest bluff and, surprisingly, it’s not the infamous hand against Phil Ivey.

In this hand, the man known as Durrrr put it all on the line with air in a pot that sounds as though it was worth at least $6 million and, potentially, more than $10 million.

Doug Polk had to work for his money on Wednesday. He also had to withstand a furious rally by Daniel Negreanu. But after all was said and done, he ended one of the longest sessions of the challenge with yet another six-figure win.

Doug Polk battled for five hours to book a six-figure profit. (Image: YouTube)

Negreanu was coming off two straight winning sessions in which he profited over $260,000 total. He was looking to continue his winning ways, but couldn’t shrug off an early massive deficit.

Polk entered Day 21 of the $200/$400 heads-up no-limit hold’em competition on WSOP.com with a $696,000 lead. The long-time feuding poker pros had completed 11,318 hands of a 25,000-hand challenge. On Thursday, they nearly hit the midway point, and Negreanu is now down by a margin that will be difficult, but not impossible, to come back from.

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.