Billy Baxter arrived in Las Vegas in 1975 looking for a game. Baxter, an experienced gambler, was no stranger to this place. He was already, at the age of 35, a veteran high stakes gambler. He once ran his own underground casino in Augusta, Georgia, a club he won in a gin game from the previous owner. He spun that little club into gold, running table games and making book on sports until he had amassed a sizable bankroll for himself.

Dreams do come true. Every poker player knows that poker is full of highs and lows. For veteran tournament pro Shannon Shorr, Sunday night provided one of the highest highs of his career. Just after 2 a.m. PT, Shorr was heads-up for the bracelet against Maxx mc4chess Coleman in the WSOP Online $2,000 NLHE 6-Max Event and just needed to win a flip to win the tournament and what would be his first gold bracelet.

Big money has already been won in the opening few days of the Triton Poker Series in Monte-Carlo, with Dan Smith taking home $3.87 million in the opening $200,000 Invitational tournament. By the end of the night on Saturday, one fortunate player will take home an even larger prize in the Triton Monte-Carlo Main Event, with the champion set to take home $3,925,000. The overwhelming favorite heading into the final day of play is Adrian Mateos.

One of the more interesting stories playing out in the world of poker in 2023 has been the ever-shifting landscape at the top of the all-time WSOP Circuit rings list. In April, Josh Reichard tied Maurice Hawkins for No. 1 with his 14th career WSOPC victory. One month later, Hawkins regained the top spot with No. 15. At that point in time, Ari Engel was lingering slightly behind, having captured a 12th WSOPC ring of his own.

With Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in the building for Friday’s Hustler Casino Live $100/$200/$400 game, it was seemingly inevitable that Cates would battle his old friend Nikhil ‘NikAirball’ Arcot over the course of the night. It was also likely that the pair would exchange some “friendly” barbs along the way. It didn’t take long for the pair to get tangled up in a pot in which Cates cold four-bet from the big blind and NikAirball responded with a preflop five-bet.

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world. Actors, singers, dancers – people from every walk of life make the move to Southern California with dreams of making it big. L.A. also happens to be a mecca for poker. To that end, you can add poker pro Gary Blackwoods name to the list of people who are looking to find their fortune in the shadow of the Hollywood sign. However, Blackwood isnt here to break onto the big screen, hes here to break into the big games.

In the relatively short amount of time that Ethan Rampage Yau has been active in the poker world, hes accomplished more than most grinders will in a lifetime. The popular YouTube vlogger has amassed more than a quarter-million subscribers, hes played for seven figures in Hustler Casino Lives Million Dollar Game, hes won a WPT $25,000 World Championship High Roller, scored a WSOP bracelet, locked up a sponsorship with WPT Global, and racked up more than $2 million in life tournament earnings.

In July, the world of poker gathered together in the Jubilee Theater at Horseshoe Las Vegas to celebrate the life and legacy of Doyle Brunson. The memorial for Brunson brought out the icons of poker – players like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey, industry standouts like Mori Eskandani and Jack Binion, and the legendary Gabe Kaplan, a longtime friend of Brunson. On Doyle Brunson Day, that celebration of life – the speeches, video tributes and sentiments shared – is a reminder of the mark that Brunson left on the world.

Within the world of poker, there may never be a name that draws the kind of reverence and admiration as that of Doyle Brunson. The World Poker Tour champion and 10-time World Series of Poker bracelet-winner was around when Texas Holdem first rose to popularity in the 1970s, as Brunson became a back-to-back WSOP Main Event champion. Over the next 50-plus years, Brunson competed at the highest stakes poker had to offer, finding success wherever and whenever he played.

Youve very likely already heard: the award-winning WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas is returning this December. But heres the real headline – the 2023 edition is coming with a staggering $40,000,000 guarantee. Forty. Million. Dollars. World Poker Tour and Wynn are pushing the envelope once again, setting a new record for a live guarantee with promises of life-changing paydays to those who make it to the end. As WPT CEO Adam Pliska has said, the event is poised to reach new heights but in reality, its going to smash WPT records across the board.