Hi! I’m Keith Becker, PokerNews Ambassador and Pennsylvania native, here with a PA poker update for July 2024. 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.
PA at the WSOP
I had a blast at my very first World Series of Poker (WSOP) this year where I got to see a lot of you out there! The 2024 series saw several strong performances by Pennsylvania poker players.
Pittsburgh resident James Chen dominated the field on his way to his first bracelet win in Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo for $209,350.
Later in the series, Philly native Charlie Hook (lead photo) took second Place in the $250K High Roller for over $1.2 million, and then Pennsylvania native David Eldridge won the $25,000 PLO High Roller for his second WSOP bracelet and over $2.2 Million.
And in the $10,000 Main Event, we saw a Pennsylvania player make a run in the record-setting field of 10,112 runners. Justin Vaysman finished in 25th place for a prize of $350,000. Vaysman, an active reg in the Pennsylvania poker community, went pro in poker earlier this year, so he’s having quite a debut. And on a personal note, he’s a really good dude. We got to see the community collectively rally behind him in his deep run, and that’s one of my favorite times in poker. Keep crushing, Justin.
PA Online Update
On the online poker side of things, WSOP PA concluded their bracelet offering on July 14th with seven pieces of golden wrist hardware being awarded. The final two bracelets were captured by William “mortyc137” Nunley and Kyle “BluffNTuff” Lorenz, both PA regs. Nunley snagged his first bracelet and a prize of almost $15K, while Lorenz secured his second and a score of almost $21K.
So the bracelet series has concluded on WSOP, and operator BetMGM recently wrapped up their Summer Classic Series, awarding over $250,000 in guarantees and some custom jerseys. So, what are players doing in the PA online streets right now? Well, players on PokerStars can battle in Path to NAPT, which gives them a chance to play in up to four ‘Steps’ tournaments for a chance to win a NAPT Las Vegas Gold Pass worth $10,000. The promotion is really cool, but it’s a little bit too much to lay out here, so I encourage you to go check out the info either in the client or in this NAPT hub.
Before we talk about the live poker world, some news on the future of online poker in Pennsylvania. PA players are disappointed that HB2078, the bill to clear the way for the state to join the Multi-State Agreement, was NOT included in the state budget signed by the Governor – one of the strong chances it had to be passed.
However, there remain two viable paths for Pennsylvania to become a member of the agreement – Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro could issue an executive order, or the bill could pass the General Assembly, at which point Shapiro is all but guaranteed to sign it into law. Poker players are patient, but we’ve all been waiting for this for a long time. Perhaps our best chance is to point out that Pennsylvania is now losing its title as the top US state for regulated real money online poker – to New Jersey. I’ve heard Shapiro is fiercely competitive.
Check out our Pennsylvania online tournament calendar here!
Live PA Poker Update
In the Live poker world, poker is FINALLY returning to two Central Pennsylvania casinos – Hollywood Casino Morgantown and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. Both poker rooms are offering a limited cash game offering from Friday through Sunday, with four and eleven tables respectively, but no tournaments, bad beat nor high hand promotions. But players in the middle of the Keystone State now won’t have to travel so far to buy into a game!
As mentioned in our previous video, this week marks the return of Parx Casino’s Big Stax, a once popular offering coming back with the return of the casino’s poker room. This year’s Big Stax 33 will include $750 and $1,500 events, as well as other tournament offerings.
Finally, Philadelphia Live! Casino hosted another Road to Riches, their $250 buy-in, multi-flight tournament. The competition concluded with Pennsylvania’s Nicholas Logue topping the field for a score of over $17,000 after a five-way deal.
Poker is surging in America, and I’m thrilled to be your ambassador here in PA. 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.
