In the 969th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow are at Level 9 Studio in Las Vegas for the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
To kick things off, they talk about a big hand played by Phil Ivey, one that left the usually stone-faced poker pro in shock. See the hand and learn what happened! From there, it's a discussion on why Jeremy Ausmus may have been denied a vlogger pass, big names falling just short of gold bracelets, and Alan Keating no-showing the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship.
Speaking of that tournament, Daniel Negreanu was cruising right along until he suffered a series of unfortunate events, including a river bad beat that you can see in this episode. Some other things you can see are the $1,000,000 bounty pull from the $550 Mini Mystery Millions tournament and highlights from the Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) Event #100 with Matt Stout.
Finally, the PokerNews Podcast has a new sponsor in Think Jerky, and as fate would have it, there's a poker connection between Chad and the brand's Pat's Cheesesteak stick that dates back more than a decade to a poker game in Philadelphia. Learn all about that, and while you're at it, be sure to check out Think Jerky!
A new PokerNews Podcast drops three times a week during the 2026 WSOP! You can expect a new episode every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!
Time Stamps
00:00 | Welcome to the show
01:33 | Phil Ivey shocked after big hand
05:17 | Jeremy Ausmus denied vlogger pass
11:00 | Big names fall short
12:52 | Alan Keating no-shows $25K HU
16:09 | Daniel Negreanu's bad beat
20:05 | Mini Mystery $1,000,000 winner
30:45 | CSOP's 100th event
32:15 | Think Jerky