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For the second week in a row, major European poker festivals have been hit with significant overlays on their guarantees. GUKPT Blackpool, the penultimate event in the long-running UK Poker Tour, was hit with four big overlays over the weekend. The £900+£100 PLO High Roller had a £25,000 guarantee, but attracted just 16 entries and 6 re-entries, to lead to a £5,200 overlay. Read more below.

This Week in Gambling: Possible Wins for Expansion in US Midterms A blue wave swept the U.S. elections, with Democrats performing spectacularly, including winning elections in multiple traditionally Republican districts and states. One of the most significant developments came in Texas. One of the most ardent anti-gambling states, Texas voted out Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been the main obstacle standing in the way of even the discussion of gambling expansion. He and Gov. Greg Abbott will both be replaced by Democrats, and new Lt. Gov. Vikki Goodwin has said she supports putting casino gambling in front of voters. Read more below.

This Week in Prediction Markets: CFTC Demands Operators Stop Geofencing The CFTC issued a press release on Thursday that amounted to throwing down its gauntlet. "DCMs must cease domestic geographic restrictions that violate the Impartial Access Requirements within 30 days, or else submit to the Division of Market Oversight ('Division') an explanation for why such compliance is not feasible," the release said. Read more below.

While all the attention has been on the controversial Maurice Hawkins and his record 26 WSOP-C rings, another story has been emerging in the background. That is professional poker player Daniel Lowery, who has just jumped into the number two position. He has won six rings in the last two years to go ahead of Ari Engel with 22 rings to Engel's 21. Read more below.

The 2015 WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen took the title in the final event of the 2026 PGT Sprint series last night as the seven tournaments wrapped up the penultimate PokerGO Tour festival of the season. The action across all seven events was fast, with seven different winners all taking home a PGT trophy and mostly six-figure top prizes in the single-day events. Read more below.

The autumn edition of the Battle of Malta Main Event has just concluded with yet another bumper field. 5,368 entries in total for this €600 event. It's one of the must-play tournaments for poker players all over Europe, and eight different countries were represented at the final table. Read more below.

What can we do to reduce late registration? This is a question a lot of operators have been asking lately, since late registration has become much more popular. From an operator's perspective, reducing late registration has two advantages. It appeases recreational players who believe that professionals' late registering is somehow unfair (which is wrong, but believed by a significant cohort of players). It also helps guarantees. If a professional player chooses to register earlier, the chances of them re-entering are much greater. Read more below.

The American high roller regular Sam Soverel once again proved his tournament credentials in the latest PGT Sprint series event in Las Vegas. The penultimate series to take place as part of the 2026 PGT season features seven one-day events, each costing an escalating buy-in to be part of. Soverel's win was worth $195,200 in the fifth event of the series, which cost $10,500 to play. Read more below.

At odds of 1 in 3,200 hands, the bad beat jackpot was won at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois this week, with both players holding a straight flush. As stunned tablemates looked on, the bad beat jackpot of $659,941.70 was paid out in full, with everyone at the table earning five figures on the night. Read more below.