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The World Series of Poker is just days away. As we grow closer to the start of the WSOP, poker action around the world has been heating up. Many of the world’s best poker players hit it big in major main events. The Triton Series Madrid, WPT Seminole Hard Rock, and season nine of High Stakes Poker all came to an end.

There has been plenty of other major poker news stories as well. One of the biggest news stories of the week involved the popular poker brand 888poker. The brand announced it has signed a new brand ambassador. We will cover all the latest poker stories in this week’s poker update.

We start off this week’s poker update with some major news from 888poker. The Gibraltar-based online poker cardroom announced that it has signed a new brand ambassador. At the 888poker LIVE Barcelona festival, it was revealed that Ian Simpson had signed with the company.

Simpson has been a fan favorite for most of his decade-long career. The British poker star first burst onto the scene in 2012 when he placed fourth in the Irish Open Main Event. In 2013, Simpson returned to Dublin and won the event. Simpson endeared himself to fans even more by proposing to his girlfriend after winning the final table.

Simpson is just the latest 888poker brand ambassador. In addition to the Simpson, 888poker also has Samantha Abernathy, Chris Eubank Jr, and nearly a dozen others. Simpson’s deal appears to include his Twitch streams. 888poker has other streamers, such as David “New Dave” Gibson, signed as brand ambassadors as part of its StreamTeam.

We had to wait six weeks for the conclusion of the World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. The $3,500 buy-in WPT Main Event started on April 8th. It attracted a total of 2,010 players. After five intense days of play, the final table was narrowed down to six finalists.

The event moved from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, to Las Vegas’s Luxor. On Wednesday, all six finalists met at the HyperX Esports Arena to resume play. Darren Elias entered the final day of play as the overall chip leader.

Competitors slowly but surely fell by the wayside until only two players were left. Elias squared off against Mark Davis. Davis entered the final table with the second-most chips. However, Elias had nearly twice as many chips when it came time for their head-to-head matchup.

The battle between Elias and Davis lasted almost 100 hands. A win for Elias would have extended his record number of WPT Championship wins. In the end, Davis was victorious over the four-time WPT champion Elias. Davis took home over $1 million as part of the first-place prize. Elias was also handsomely rewarded for his runner-up finish and claimed $660,000 in prize money.

Season 9 of High Stakes Poker was full of exciting moments. Last week, we recapped one of the best three-way poker hands in recent memory. This week’s episode did not provide quite the same level of fireworks. However, the season-finale still had plenty of exciting high stake poker action.

Episode 14 of High Stakes Poker Season 9 featured many familiar faces. Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and others all returned for the season finale. DoorDash Founder Stanley Tang was also in on the action. Tang and Dwan clashed in some of the best hands of the episode.

Dwan eventually was able to win his chips back. A few hands later, Dwan won a hand with nearly $390,000. By the end of the night, Dwan was the chip leader with $894,500. Tang finished a distant second with $589,500. Patrik Antonius rounded out the top three with $321,000.

We can add the Lodge Championship Series to the list of tournaments that came to an end this week. A total of 617 players entered the $3,000 buy-in LCS Main Event. Play spanned over four days, with only six players making it to the final table.

When it was all said and done, Alain Bauer was the last man standing. Bauer made a heads-up deal with Eric Afriat to more evenly split the remaining prize money. Afriat was at a significant chip disadvantage at the start of heads-up play. Both players took home sizeable paydays.

Afriat earned $320,000 for his runner-up finish. Meanwhile, Bauer claimed the top prize of $374,800. Bauer also took home the LCS Main Event trophy along with his cash winnings. Steven Rivero rounded out the top-three players and secured $194,400 in cash winnings.

Bauer has been extremely active as of late. The poker pro has competed at WPT Choctaw before joining the LCS last minute. He also competed in other events at the LCS. In total, Bauer raked in $426,000 throughout the tournament. The recent appearances were Bauer’s first since finishing 72nd in the WSOP last year. According to Bauer, he plans to remain active and try to win the WSOP Main Event next month.

Stephen Chidwick is no stranger to the winners’ circle. The British poker star has more than $40 million in career earnings. Chidwick added to that total this week. He won the 2022 Triton Series Madrid $100,000 buy-in short deck main event. The main event attracted a total of 60 participants.

The high buy-in amount for the main event resulted in a smaller field. However, Chidwick was still able to cash in with his victory. He took home €1,800,000, or roughly $1,890,000, in prize money. It was the second-largest cash win of Chidwick’s career to this point. Chidwick’s win was made even more impressive because he was not the chip leader when heads-up play started.

Chidwick was not the only player to get a major payday at the main event. Antanas “Tony G” Guoga earned $1,370,250 as the runner-up. Guoga was also awarded 600 POY points as well. Tony G was the chip leader when he and Chidwick entered heads-up play. Mikita Badziakouski, who placed third in the main event, received $882,000 and 480 POY points.

Another major story from the Triton Series Madrid was the performance of Jason Koon. A victory in the €150,000 short deck event gave Koon his fourth Triton title. Koon is now tied with Mikita Badziakouski for the most in the history of the Triton Series event.

Koon defeated a field of 36 players to claim the top spot in the event. For his efforts, Koon won €1,750,000, or approximately $1,837,500. Koon was also awarded 480 POY points for his first-place finish. That was enough to move Koon into sixth place POY standings.

The win also moved Koon close to another major poker milestone. He is now less than a million dollars away from the $40 million career earnings mark. The Las Vegas native could easily pass that threshold by the end of the year. Koon’s win moved him into seventh place on the all-time poker winnings list.

Koon was not the only player that had a sizeable payday. All six players that made the final table took home at least $378,000. Daniel Dvoress earned $1,249,500 in prize money for his second palace finish. Dvoress was also awarded 400 POY points. Isaac Haxton came in third, earning $798,000 and 320 POY points for his efforts.

Another great week of poker has sadly come to end. This week, many of poker’s best claimed top spots in tournaments across the globe. The WSOP begins next week and will bring plenty of exciting poker action with it. We will break down all the latest WSOP news in next week’s poker update. In the meantime, check out our list of the best online poker sites.

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