It was a dream round for PokerNews qualifier Jimmy Schmotzer as he posted a massive first-round score to take victory in his qualifying flight!
Jimmy's wife, Michele, also had a fantastic round and stands a great chance of joining her husband in the next round. While we won't officially know who's made it through until all the scores are posted later, the feeling here at the WTOS arena was that it was a pretty competitive total.
Congrats Jimmy!
Our PokerNews contest winner Jimmy Schmotzer has arrived and says he's "nerv-excited (nervous and excited)" ahead of his opening round at 12:20pm.
Jimmy is actually competing in the same round as his wife, who qualified via POP! Slots, and says "my number one goal is just to beat my wife!"
Irrespective of how his round goes Jimmy plans to hit up the lazy river later here at Atlantis and check out the dolphins, so it's going to be a good day regardless.
While we're not biased here at PokerNews you might forgive us for saying, good luck Jimmy!
Want to keep up to date on all the action at WTOS?
As well as the PokerNews blog, you can also watch Casino Kelly hosting a live stream of the action below:
There was a buzz around the WTOS Arena as reigning World Tournament of Slots champion Stephanie Hall took her seat to kick off her title defense.
Hall would finish around the middle of the pack in her group and told PokerNews "It was hard, I didn't do very well!"
However, she was still beaming as she said, "It was a blast being back up there, everyone seated around me was like, 'Is it good luck or bad luck being next to you?' I said I don't know, but I think it ended up being good luck for them!"
In one of the craziest events we've ever seen, Michael Mizrachi beat the reigning 2025 WTOS Champion Stephanie Hall in a heads-up slots battle.
Check out the event below:
And just like that, we have our very first round winner as Carol Bess from Green Bay, Wisconsin, takes the opening round of the 2025 WTOS.
Bess, who celebrated in front of an excited rail of supporters, told PokerNews "I was so nervous, I was shaking and I had goosebumps! I kept hearing my name, so I knew I was doing well, but I didn't expect this!"
It's a nervous wait for Carol now to see whether she progresses to the next round, but with her husband also playing in around 10 mins there's plenty to keep her occupied in the meantime.
The WTOS Arena is ready, the players are ready, the 2nd annual World Tournament of Slots gets underway in just 10 minutes!
Get those fingers warmed up...
It's a packed day here at the Atlantis as the 2nd annual WTOS gets underway with the first qualifying rounds. Check out the full schedule below:
| Event | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Late Tournament Registration | 8am-10am | Royal Hospitality |
| Qualifying Round | 10am-3:30pm | WTOS Arena |
| Rebuy Round Registration | 4pm-5:30pm | WTOS Arena |
| Rebuy Round | 5:30pm-7:30pm | WTOS Arena |
Stick with PokerNews for full coverage of the day's events here on our live blog!
Before the main action starts today, we wanted to get to grips with how the 2025 myVIP World Tournament of Slots will actually break down...
Chad Holloway caught up with David Pascal from Playstudios to get a rundown on the event, and how players can master the slots!
MIchael Mizrachi proved he doesn't just run good on the felt today, as the WSOP Main Event champ won a heads up slots battle vs. WTOS 2024 winner Stephanie Hall.
Billed the Drama in the Bahamas, both players would enter a packed arena here at Atlantis Paradise Island to boxing-style walk-ons, before playing 3 rounds of popular slot Cleopatra.
Mizrachi would emerge the winner, defeating Hall across the 3 rounds and adding yet another title to a stacked resume. Check it out below...
