Alexandra Botez has won the 2026 Poker Champs heads-up tournament for $250,000. The chess star defeated PaymoneyWubby in the semifinal before beating Sodapoppin in the final of Doug Polk and ClubWPT Gold’s $500,000 streamer poker event.

PokerStars is transforming from a standalone poker brand into a network that outside operators can join. The new PokerStars Network offers shared liquidity, PokerStars software, game integrity tools and access to brands such as Sunday Million and Spin & Go. Here is what the change means for online poker players.

ClubWPT Gold is winding down operations in Nevada following state regulatory action. Purchases have stopped, sweepstakes poker ends September 28, and affected players are being encouraged to submit redemption requests by October 2. Here are the deadlines, redemption steps and what the change means for Nevada online poker.

Daniel Negreanu came within three players of another WSOP bracelet before a brutal pocket tens versus nine-eight bad beat ended his $25K WSOP Online High Roller run. He finished fourth for $415,699 as Casimir Seire went on to win the bracelet.

Ukraine’s Andrii Novak has won the 2026 WSOP Online Main Event on GGPoker for $3,931,259. Novak topped a massive 6,008-entry field, survived a nine-player final table and came back from a heads-up deficit against Simon Beckmann to capture the WSOP bracelet.

Daniel Negreanu entered the WSOP Online $10K GGMillion$ PLO final table second in chips and briefly took the lead. Less than 20 minutes later, a near-200-big-blind pot against Andreas Freund crushed his ninth-bracelet bid and sent him out in seventh place.

A $1/$2 cash-game hand involving Abby Merk and a player named Susan has exploded across poker social media. Merk shoved for more than $800, told Susan she did not really want a call, then reacted after Susan called with pocket sixes and won both runouts. The hand has opened a much bigger debate about table talk, friendship, soft play and live poker etiquette.

ClubGG and Ignition Poker offer US players two very different online poker experiences. ClubGG focuses on private clubs, unions and social poker, while Ignition uses anonymous public tables, a direct cashier and traditional real-money poker. Here is the complete 2026 comparison.

WSOP Paradise has added a new $250,000 Pro-Am bracelet event with a $10 million guarantee. Professionals can register directly, while amateur players must apply for approval and will compete separately from the pros until both fields reach the money.

A UK PokerStars player turned a $25 Spin & Go Max entry into a $500,000 first prize after landing the rare 26,000x multiplier. The six-player game created a $650,000 total prize pool, and PokerStars lists the jackpot odds at just one in a million.