PokerNews Podcast

In the 936th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway , Mike Holtz , and Ben Ludlow are all in Las Vegas at Level 9 Studio to talk about a pair of big hands from the Super High Roller Cash Game on PokerGO. One saw Sameh Elamawy lay down the second nuts to Justin Gavri , and the other was Andrew Robl five-bet bluffing smack into the pocket aces of Eric Wasserson , which led to a discussion...

In the 936th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway , Mike Holtz , and Ben Ludlow are all in Las Vegas at Level 9 Studio to talk about the viral $2.4 million poker hand played between Antonio Esfandiari and Alan Keating . The hand, part of Super High Roller Cash Game on PokerGO, blew up fast and had the whole poker world talking. From there, the crew talks about the Daniel "Jungleman" Ca...

In the 935th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway , Mike Holtz , and Ben Ludlow talk about Linda "Granny" Hammons , an 88-year-old who discovered her favorite slot machines had been removed, so she decided to play her first-ever poker tournament. It took place at the Beau Rivage Million Dollar Heater down in Mississippi, and she did quite well while capturing the hearts of the poker co...

In the 934th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway , Mike Holtz , and Ben Ludlow talk about the two players who made it all the way to heads-up play and then agreed to play winner take all for the prize money . It was a wild story that saw one player walk away with a five-figure payday and the other leave empty-handed. The trio then discusses WPT Global's controversial signing of Ren Li...

In the 933rd episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway , Mike Holtz , and Ben Ludlow kick off Season 17 with some poker predictions for 2026 . Will the Big Beautiful Bill's gambling tax situation be resolved or lead to big ramifications in the industry? Will Phil Hellmuth win his 18th gold bracelet? Would the World Series of Poker (WSOP) ever raise the buy-in for the Main Event? The triumvi...

In the 932nd episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz recap the top 10 stories of 2025 according to PokerNews . They include: - Cheating Technology Fears Rise - Trump's Tax Bill Detrimental to Poker Industry - Benny Glaser's Summer for the Ages  - Twelve Months That Might Change Women's Poker Forever   - Attorney Tom Goldstein Indicted Over Million-Dollar Poker Games  - Ossi...

In the 931st episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz bring Christmas cheer to the poker world! The duo discusses the brutal slowroll from Eric Wasserson against Benny Glaser deep in the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise Super Main Event , bracelet winners from the Bahamas, and their thoughts on Ren Lin being allowed back to play without even missing a single stop d...

In the 930th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by 2024 World Poker Tour (WPT) World Champion Scott Stewart at Level 9 Studios in Las Vegas.  The trio offers an update regarding the home game fight between Maurice Hawkins and aggressor Eugene Castaneda , namely a warrant out for the latter. They then dissect the controversial hand played by Ryan Depaulo , An...

In the 929th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Hayley Hanna and Steven Jones , the latter having recently finished third place in Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 . He talks about that experience and what it's been like to become a reality TV show star. The crew then discusses recent developments in the home game fight between Maurice Hawkins and the a...

In the 928th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway is joined by Mike Holtz and Ben Ludlow at Level 9 Studios to talk about the SWAT team raid of a low-stakes poker game in Sweden. Find out what caused armed authorities, supported by drones and even a helicopter, to raise the $100 buy-in poker tournament.  The trio then discusses the physical altercation between Maurice Hawkins and a pla...

In the 927th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway is joined by Connor Richards at Level 9 Studios to talk about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) when it comes to poker content. The discussion stems from the recent controversy involving the World Series of Poker (WSOP) documentary No Limit , in which showrunner Dustin Iannotti admittedly used AI in edits involving Alan Keating...

In the 926th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway is joined by Mike Holtz and Connor Richards at Level 9 Studios to talk the latest stories in the poker world. That includes former WSOP Main Event runner-up Steven Jones making the top five in the finale of Netflix's popular Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 . Find out if the poker pro was able to win the $4.56 million top prize. They...

In the 925th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway is once again joined by Mike Holtz and Ben Ludlow at Level 9 Studios to talk the latest stories in the poker world. That includes the massive $1.3 million pot from a special episode of High Stakes Poker , one that saw Alan Keating try and execute a huge bluff. Was it a valiant effort or an ill-timed move?  The trio also offers their tho...

In the 924th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway is once again joined by Mike Holtz and  Ben Ludlow at Level 9 Studios to talk about the latest stories in the poker world. That includes a double murder that took place at a home game in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and poker pro Steven Jones , who finished runner-up to Daniel Wienman in the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, being...

In the 923rd episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway is once again joined by Mike Holtz and Ben Ludlow at Level 9 Studios to discuss the latest stories from the poker world. That includes the wild, mainstream poker cheating story involving NBA players and coach Chauncey Billups , the mafia, and more.  As if that wasn't controversial enough, well-known poker pro Ren Lin was disqualified fr...

In the 922nd episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway is down at the Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas for the 2nd Annual World Tournament of Slots (WTOS) . Reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is also there and agreed to serve as a special cohost for this episode. Mizrachi talks about life after his unprecedented summer, his son ge...

In the 921st episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway , Mike Holtz , and Ben Ludlow are all at Level 9 Studios in Las Vegas with high-stakes poker player Brian Okin for a special episode devoted to Okin's Game on Venetian Poker Live .  The live-streamed cash game has produced some wildly entertaining hands and offers lineups that regularly include poker stars like Jean-Robert Bellande, Eri...

In the 920th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway , Mike Holtz , and Ben Ludlow are all at Level 9 Studios in Las Vegas to talk a little but about WSOP champ and the most recent member of the Poker Hall of Fame Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi , who actually sat down with Chad at the Venetian to talk about his new "Grinder's Game" cash game and the upcoming World Tournament of Slots (WTO...

In the 919th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Connor Richards to talk about the latest stories from the poker world, including a discussion about the current poker content landscape on YouTube . If Brad Owen 's recent experience is any indication, things don't look good. The trio then discusses Martin Kabrhel's gold bracelet win at the 2025 World Series...

In the 918th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , the 100th of the revamped in-studio show, Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Ben Ludlow to talk about the latest stories from the poker world, including a discussion about GGPoker's Olive Branch Initiative . Do banned players and poker cheaters deserve a second chance? The trio then discusses Monarch's recent seven-figure heads-up matches tha...

In the 917th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Ben Ludlow to talk about the latest stories from the poker world, including a discussion on the future of poker following the failure of a provision that would've mitigated the concerning gambling tax implications of the Big Beautiful Bill . Is there still time to turn things around? The trio then discusses...

In the 916th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Jesse Fullen to talk about the latest stories from the poker world, including Martin Kabrhel and his website selling merchandise bearing his trademark catchphrases such as "Not like that" and "Casino Royale." From there, they recap the highly-publicized heads-up match between Barstool Nate and Dave Portnoy w...

In the 915th episode of the  PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are once again joined by Ben Ludlow to talk about the latest stories and highlights from the poker world. That includes back-to-back WSOP Ladies Event champ Shiina Okamoto , who was back to her winning ways after taking down the Women's Event at the recently-completed EPT Barcelona . Is it time to start mentioning her na...

In the 914th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Hayley Hanna (AKA Vegas Hayls), who is fresh off finishing fourth in the 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship . The trio discusses the sudden rise of Monarch , who is Finnish poker pro Ossi Ketola . While at the Onyx Cup in Cyprus, he challenged both Norway's Kayhan Mokri and Dan "Jungleman" Cates to high-s...

In the 913th episode of the PokerNews Podcast , Chad Holloway comes to you from the World Poker Tour (WPT) Cyprus Championship at Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino . He caught up with the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi to find out what he's been up to since his big win, his future plans, and his upcoming trip to the Bahamas for the World Tournament...