The $400 T.O.R.S.E is well underway with the end of Level 2 approaching. This single-day event will see the first trophy of the Potomac Summer Poker Open awarded tonight!
The event has already smashed its $10,000 GTD, with a prize pool of $15,000+ and counting still building, with late reg open until the end of start of Level 9.
Players have around an hour to keep spinning up their stack before the first break of the day. Best of luck to all competing!
In the very special 1,000th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow are at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas in front of a live studio audience!
While there, they welcome guest Jeremy Ausmus to the show to talk about his life as a high-stakes poker pro, his picks for the Poker Hall of Fame, his decision to start vlogging, and much more. Here's your chance to hear from one of the best in the game.
They also welcome a pair of 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event finalists, who in the coming days will be competing for a $10,000,000 top prize! Greg "FBT" Mueller opens up about his life in poker and renewed excitement for the game, while BetMGM Poker Ambassador Michael "Gags" Gagliano shares what the past two weeks of downtime have been like, his famed poker schedule, and more.
Finally, the crew was honored to welcome several former hosts and caretakers of the PokerNews Podcast to the stage, including Sarah Herring, Donnie Peters, and Kyna England, while also catching up with the likes of Jeff Platt, Remko Rinkema, Jesse Fullen, Connor Richards, Matt Hansen, and Brent Harrington.
It's a celebratory episode, but also one that sets the stage for this week's 2026 WSOP finale! Don't miss it.
Be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
At the first break on Flight B of the $600 Opener, the field has grown to 93 entries and counting with late reg still open until the start of Level 11.
The field so far has built a near $50,000 prize pool as everyone looks to find a bag ahead of Sunday's Day 2. This one comes with a $500,000 GTD so if you're in the area, get yourself down to the MGM National Harbor and join the field.
The cards have been shuffled and dealt; Flight B of today's $600 Opener is now underway!
With 41 entries and counting, best of luck to everyone taking a shot at the early series' showpiece today...
Thursday offers players two more chances to bag a stack in the $600 NLH Opener, with Flights B and C taking place at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. respectively. Sandwiched between them is the festival's first mixed-game event, the $400 TORSE, while another $150 Milestone Satellite rounds out the day's action.
| Time | Event | Buy-In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00AM | $600 NLH Opener Flight B | $600 | $500,000 |
| 1:00PM | $400 TORSE | $400 | $10,000 |
| 4:00PM | $600 NLH Opener Flight C | $600 | $500,000 |
| 8:00PM | Event #1 Milestone Satellite | $150 | — |
The focus remains on the $600 NLH Opener, with players getting two more opportunities to secure a spot in Sunday's Day 2, while mixed-game fans can kick off their series in the inaugural TORSE event.
Follow along with PokerNews throughout the festival for daily highlights and updates from MGM National Harbor!
The remaining 22 players from Flight A of the $600 Opener have bagged on Day 1 at MGM National Harbor, and Kyle Dishongh leads the way.
The grinder from Alexandria, California has over $250,000 in live tournament earnings as per The Hendon Mob, and he'll be adding a minimum $1,000 to that total with the possibility for more when he returns on Sunday's Day 2 and final day.
Dishongh bagged 663,000, increasing his starting stack by over 22 times. To see how that number looks once all the flights of this multi-flight tournament are complete, we'll have to wait and see.
PokerNews will publish a full list of counts from the event in due course.
Jeffrey Najmi was the unfortunate bubble boy of Flight A of the $600 Opener.
Najmi told PokerNews "I jammed 5 big blinds on the button with king 10 of hearts. Small blind folded, so we got halfway there. Big blind woke up with ace queen of my suit — ace queen of hearts — and, yeah, turned an ace. Super dead."
The smiling Najmi took his exit in good spirits, though describing the tournament as "fun." GG's Jeffrey. You'll get 'em next time.
With that, the remaining 28 players have locked up a minimum $1,000 payday, with 22 progressing to Sunday's Day 2.
Nine players have won tournament tickets after emerging victorious in the Pride of the Lions invite-only freeroll tournament.
From a field of 232 entries, congratulations to the following players:
| # | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Fanzo | 1x $3,000 NLH Main Event entry |
| 2 | Simeon Lehmann | 1x $3,000 NLH Main Event entry |
| 3 | Yabetse Wedeneh | 1x $3,000 NLH Main Event entry |
| 4 | Clint Houck | 1x $1,100 NLH entry |
| 5 | Ulziibayar Uranchimeg | 1x $1,100 NLH entry |
| 6 | Harry Young | 1x $1,100 NLH entry |
| 7 | Shane Edwards | 1x $600 NLH Opener entry |
| 8 | Michael Demeza | 1x $600 NLH Opener entry |
| 9 | Terry Breeden | 1x $600 NLH Opener entry |
Best of luck to all, and make the most of those free tickets!
button in Safari
