In the 986th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway is joined by Mike Holtz and Ben Ludlow are joined at Level 9 Studio by poker pro Jordan Westmorland to talk the latest from the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

That includes the $10,000 Main Event being in full swing, albeit with slightly fewer players than in past years. Will the field crack 9,000 players? Also, how did Jordan, Mike, and Ben, who got to play at the feature table with Daniel Negreanu, do in poker's premier tournament? Along those lines, the WSOP is back on ESPN, or at least the app, and not everyone is happy about that.

In non-WSOP news, there was a big development in the Texas poker scene as Doug Polk unexpectedly announced that he would be stepping away from The Lodge's core business. What might this mean for Texas poker? The crew discusses.

In other news, Doron Ziony shared details on both the upcoming WSOP Circuit stop in Malta and the Battle of Malta, a look ahead to the Borgata Summer Poker Open, and River Rat merch!

Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and 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.