PokerStars revealed two new brand ambassadors at Resorts World Las Vegas last month, both with impeccable reputations within the poker community — Caitlin Comeskey and Jason Koon.
The newest Team Pro members for the most prominent brand in online poker history come from different backgrounds and have different roles within the industry. Koon is a high-stakes legend, arguably the top tournament player in the world. Comeskey is a low-stakes player known for her comedic light-hearted poker player parody videos. She captured the Best Short-Form Content Creator award at the 2023 Global Poker Awards.
Barak Oz opened to 60,000 from early position and Vidar Oie defended out of the big blind.
Oie check-called a bet of 65,000 from Oz on the Q♣8♥3♣ flop.
The 8♣ turn got checked through for the Q♠ to land on the river. Oie led out for 100,000 and was met by a raise to 375,000 from Oz. After doing some inventory, Oie three-bet jammed for roughly 1,000,000 and Oz snap-folded.
Danut Chisu opened the action with a raise to 60,000 from the cutoff, drawing calls from Paul Runcan in the small blind and Adrian Mack in the big blind.
The 10♥3♠A♠ flop saw both blinds check to Chisu, who continued with a bet of 80,000. Only Runcan called as Mack stepped aside.
On the 6♣ turn, Runcan checked again, and Chisu fired a second barrel of 120,000. Runcan stayed steady and made the call.
Both players opted to check the J♠ river. Runcan revealed A♣9♠ for a pair of aces, which was enough to take down the pot as Chisu sent his cards into the muck.
Christian Rudolph opened to 60,000 from middle position, and Tjenno Eskes responded with a three-bet to 185,000 from the small blind. Action folded back to Rudolph, who moved all in, and Eskes snap-called.
Christian Rudolph: A♠K♣
Tjenno Eskes: Q♥Q♦
Another classic race was underway, but the 4♥9♥Q♠ flop left Rudolph in a dire spot as Eskes improved to a set. The 7♥ on the turn sealed Rudolph's fate, and the 6♠ river confirmed his elimination in 23rd place.
Pawel Wojciechowski raised to 60,000 from early position with only Adrian Mack calling on the button.
The dealer put out a flop of 4♦K♣6♣ and Wojciechowski check-called a bet of 80,000 from Mack.
A board-pairing 4♣ came on the turn and both players checked to see the A♠ land on the river. Wojciechowski led out for 100,000 and Mack let go of his hand.
In the 869th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, sponsored by the free-to-play WSOP App, Chad Holloway hosts from down in The Bahamas at the 2024 World Series of Poker Paradise, while Kyna England is back at Level 9 Studio in Las Vegas. Mike Holtz is out with a broken ankle, so Nikki Limo was kind enough to once again fill in as a special co-host.
Together, they discuss happening at the WSOP Paradise, the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas, and the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague. That includes Phil Hellmuth making an appearance, the new stage at WSOP, and the Triton Million, which was won by Argentinean rapper Alejandro Lococo for $12 million.
Chad also had the honor of bringing the Women in Poker Hall of Fame trophy down with him to present to Kristen Foxen. In this episode, you can check out her acceptance speech, which PokerNews helped film. Speaking of the WiPHoF, Jeanne David was another inductee and she had a spot of luck drawing a Golden Passport into the ClubWPT Gold $5,000,000 Freeroll, which kicks off today!
At the EPT Prague, Thomas Santerne has already won two side event titles, while the 2022 WSOP Main Event champ, Espen Jorstad, took down the €25K Super High Roller Warm-Up for his first EPT title.
Oh, and we'll also let you know what Phil Ivey is up to as he's been seen double dipping at both the WSOP Paradise and WPT World Championship, including a planned holiday meet-up game (MUG) at the latter.