PA Poker News November Update: Jen Shahade & Other Pennsylvania Players Thrive at NAPT
Table Of Contents
Hi! I'm Keith Becker, PokerNews Ambassador and Pennsylvania native, here with a PA poker update for November 2025. It's an exciting time in America for the game we all know and love, and I'm excited to be bringing you state highlights every month.
What are the big issues and stories on everyone's minds? Let’s get into it.
Live Poker in PA
Kicking things off with some live poker highlights, Pennsylvania players made serious waves at the inaugural NAPT Las Vegas.
First up, Cherish Andrews — a Pennsylvania native — took down the $10K Mystery Bounty event, defeating Nick Petrangelo heads up and banking a massive $331,300. That’s a trophy and a half.
Also representing the Keystone State, Troy Laypo from Levittown turned his PokerStars NAPT Silver Pass into a $20,000 win by taking down the Tournament of Stars at Resorts World. And just to flex a little more, he also finished runner-up in the $360 No Limit Hold’em (Event #25) for another $3,510.
PokerStars Ambassador Jen Shahade made a deep run in the $5,300 NAPT Main Event, finishing third for $291,800 — the biggest score of her poker career.
Closer to home, Brett Barber placed third in the Borgata Fall Poker Open’s Monster Mirror Mystery Bounty for $19K, including bounties, and Craig Gould snagged third in the Philly Live! Casino $250 “Road to Riches” tournament for a $10K payday.
Online Poker in PA
PokerStars PA is finally stirring the pot with their Fall Fest Series, running November 21 through December 1. The schedule features mostly hold’em, with buy-ins from $5 to $500, and introduces their new “Mimic Mystery” format — their take on the Mirror Mystery, a bounty structure where the mystery bounties mirror the payouts one-to-one. No merger yet, but movement is movement.
BetRivers Poker continues to go full throttle. Their Halloween-themed “Witching Hour” promo is still live until November 24, offering a $1 bonus for every $5 raked between midnight and 3 AM Eastern. Their weekly cash game leaderboards remain a hit across low, medium, and high stakes, and they’ve launched a new “Start Your Engines” promo for Sit-and-Go players — play five SNG Selects at the same stake, get a ticket at that stake.
They also wrapped up their anniversary series with reload bonuses, boosted MTTs, ticket drops, and a “Bust a Streamer” night where players could knock out me or "DrDadPoker" for prizes. And now they’re shifting gears into turkey mode with the Gobbleknocker Series, running November 28 through December 7. The series features 24 PKO events, 2–3 per night, with buy-ins from $20 to $200. Every winner gets a physical trophy, and the $200 buy-in, $30K GTD Gobbleknocker Main Event headlines the schedule.
BetMGM Poker is running their Big Shots series from November 9-19, with $750K in guarantees across three states. The series includes 40 tournaments with buy-ins between $25 and $500, and three big Sunday events — two Mains and a High Roller — each offering $70K–$75K guaranteed.
And finally, WSOP is back with another Circuit Series from November 6-23, featuring $2.3 Million in guarantees and 18 WSOP Gold Rings. Highlights include a $150K Mystery Bounty, $125K Lucky 7’s, and a $300K Main Event. November ring winners will also receive a $5,000 package to attend the 2025 WSOP Paradise Circuit Championship in the Bahamas.
Poker is surging in America, and I'm thrilled to be your ambassador here in Pennsylvania. For more information, check out our PokerNews Pennsylvania page here, and be sure to follow me on socials to stay in the know. I’ll be back next month with another update!
Keith Becker is an American poker player based out of Pennsylvania. A former member of PokerStars Team Pro Online, Becker is now a PokerNews Ambassador and Streamer. Becker has been streaming poker on Twitch since Day 1 of regulated poker in Pennsylvania and has led a grassroots movement for PA to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement.
