Cheaters, Arrests and Poker Villains Among Top Stories of 2025
PokerNews Podcast
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 Ketola’s Record-Shattering Heads-Up Poker Matches - Return of Poker Villains - Millionaire Maker Controversy at 2025 WSOP - Poker Game Arrests Involving Basketball Stars Rock the...
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Was This Poker Player an A$$---e for Slowrolling with Pocket Aces?
PokerNews Podcast
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 during his "indefinite" suspension. From there, it's over to Las Vegas to recap the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship, including an interview with winner Schuyler Thornton, and other events like...
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Who F***ed Up in This Poker Hand Everyone is Talking About
PokerNews Podcast
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, Andre Moreira, and James Caputo in the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise $25K Super Main Event. Who was in the right? Who was in the wrong? Speaking of that tournament, Jesse Lonis made...
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Why Did This Poker Player Pull a Gun on His Opponent? Interview w/ Squid Game's Steven Jones
PokerNews Podcast
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 aggressor Eugene Castaneda. That includes surveillance footage that shows both men going to their respective cars, where Eugene admitted that he retrieved a firearm. From there, it's a recap of Hustler...
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SWAT Team Cracks Down on €100 Poker Tournament + Maurice Hawkins Fight
PokerNews Podcast
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 player known as "Eugene" in a Florida home game. Was Maurice running his mouth? Was it an unprovoked attack? Not only do you get to hear about what happened, but you can see some video clips of the...
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Is AI Killing Poker Content? And How Did PokerNews Piss Off Shaun Deeb?
PokerNews Podcast
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's quotes. The show was pulled from YouTube by the WSOP as a result, and opened up a whole can of worms. PokerNews also pissed off Shaun Deeb with an AI oopsie of our own, while ClubWPT Gold’s tweet...
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Poker Player Makes Squid Game Final with Shot at $4.56 Million!
PokerNews Podcast
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 also dive into the debate fueled by Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth on how many World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelets there should be each year, who won the WPT bestbet Jacksonville Bounty...
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Is this the Biggest Failed Bluff in Poker History? Should Tournaments Start Earlier?
PokerNews Podcast
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 thoughts on the topic of "Should poker tournaments start earlier?", which was being discussed on social media by Seth Davies and Jason Koon. Speaking of the latter, you'll get to see highlights from...
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Holy S#!%! Dude Allegedly Murdered Two Friends Over Poker Game; Poker Player on Squid Game
PokerNews Podcast
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 a contestant on Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2. From there, Chad reveals the charity fundraiser record he set with the help of the poker world, Elon Musk weighing in on the AI poker bot battle,...
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Poker Cheating Bombshell Involves Celebrities, NBA & the Mafia
PokerNews Podcast
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 from a live poker tournament for helping a friend in an online one. As a result, he was indefinitely banned from GGPoker and the WSOP. Find out what happened in this episode. Other stories include a...
info_outlineIn 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-stakes heads-up matches, and when all was said and done, Monarch was down eight figures!
From there, they talk about recent tournament winners, including Brandon Mitchell taking down the 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship for $525K, Jennifer Shahade winning the Women's Summer Festival, and both Jesse Lonis and Jeremy Ausmus winning over in Europe.
Other stories covered include the loss of Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland, a poker player robbed in Texas, Daniel Negreanu saying a Season 2 for Game of Gold is unlikely, and that goofball Nacho Barbero finishing another sponsorship opportunity.
Finally, remember PokerNews is giving away a seat in the World Tournament of Slots (WTOS). You could have an approximate one in 500 chance at a $1,000,000 top prize. Click here to learn more about the WToS.
A new PokerNews Podcast drops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!
Time Stamps
*Time | Topic*
00:00 Welcome to the show
00:15 Hayley Hanna joins the show
02:12 Who is Monarch?
07:14 Seven-figure heads-up matches against Jungleman
11:25 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship
18:57 Hayley’s bustout hand in 4th place
20:10 Brandon Mitchell wins title for $525K
21:45 Negreanu’s AMA; no Game of Gold S2?
25:45 Nacho Barbero finds new sponsorship
27:25 Texas poker player robbed after big score
30:30 World Tournament of Slots giveaway
33:52 Hyundong Lee wins WPT Prime Taiwan Championship
34:23 PokerStars Ambassador Jennifer Shahade wins Women’s Summer Festival
35:25 Marcus Dieleman wins Onyx SHRS PLO Championship
35:41 Daniel Rezaei wins $51K Onyx SHRS Championship
36:00 Jesse Lonis topples Phil Ivey en route to $1,745,625 payday
38:05 Jeremy Ausmus banks €318,606 at 2025 PokerStars EPT Barcelona Festival
40:05 Remembering Jack McClelland