By Sean Chaffin Reaching the pinnacle of poker is one thing, doing it twice is another. Taylor Black already had one major score on his poker resumé. But he wanted more, a second big title to show that the first win wasn’t just a one-off. Black felt he needed another bullet point to stand out…
By Sean Chaffin and Will Butcher Many players around the world dream of winning a WPT title. After some big finishes in WPTDeepStacks events in Europe, Japan’s Yuri Ishida was looking for a breakthrough performance at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. After making it to late on Day 3, Ishida guaranteed herself the biggest…
By Sean Chaffin Action is underway on Day 4 of the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio and longtime pro George Wolff is making a deep run. He returned to the field with 410,000 in chips and would be looking to work his shorter stack up throughout the day. “It’s been…
By Sean Chaffin The last time Pat Lyons played in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the tour regular scored a massive win – just not exactly at the poker table. In 2019, Lyons made some huge wagers on the Chiefs-Chargers NFL game. The Chiefs entered the game 11-2 with their divisional foe at 10-3.…
By Sean Chaffin David Mock may be flying under the radar here a bit at the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker, and hopes that works to his advantage. The Boston grinder spends much of his time playing at casinos in the northeast. He has $684,000 in live tournament wins including a recent runner-up…
By Sean Chaffin A familiar face topped the chip counts at the end of Day 2 at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Champions Club member Ben Hamnett finished the day with 800,000 chips and entered the field after some time away from not only the WPT but also the American tournament poker scene.…
By Sean Chaffin The Season XIX World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic comes as the tour celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2022. The tournament was the first event in Season I when the television show debuted on the Travel Channel in 2003. Longtime professional gambler Steve Zolotow, 76, has been along for the ride…
Season XIX of the World Poker Tour kicked off with WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, the first time the venue has played host to the Main Tour of the WPT. The result was one that has happened twice before at Seminole Hard Rock properties, and that is with Brian Altman emerging victorious. Already with two…
By Sean Chaffin Life in lockup meant day after day of waiting for 32-year-old Ilyas Muradi. Would someone be able to help him? When would he get to see his wife and kids? Would he be shipped back halfway around the world, to a country his family fled two decades earlier. During those agonizing days…
By Sean Chaffin Pay a few bills or a shot at WPT glory? That’s the dilemma Keith Kozar faced in 2011 as the Legends of Poker approached at the Bicycle Casino. As a huge poker fan, his job as tour statistician meant the world to him. He also dreamed of adding his name to the…
By Sean Chaffin Maybe it was déjà vu, but mom just had a feeling. Tony Sinishtaj’s mother Lena recently relayed a dream to her poker-playing son. Her dreamland vision involved his father, who passed away in 2016, telling her that Sinishtaj (pictured) was going to win $100,000. The longtime poker pro shrugged the dream off.…
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