On Saturday night, Resorts World Las Vegas played host to the PokerNewsPodcast & Life Outside PokerMeet-Up Game (MUG) inside the poker room. Not only were hosts Kyna England, Mike Holtz, Connor Richards, and Chad Holloway in attendance, but friends and fans joined them for an action-packed and highly entertaining $200 Nightly Tournament.
Among those to compete were 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year Jeff Madsen, poker personalities Joey Ingram and Jesse Fullen, and grinders Christina Gollins, Brandon Sunshine, Dave Oppenheim, Jake Mendelsohn, Tyler Saucin, and Lori Persinger. Additionally, poker pro Mark Seif and Women in Poker Hall of Famer Terry King both swung by to say hello.
Unfortunately, one participant was ousted from the tournament after becoming upset with a standard tournament ruling – a hand was declared dead when the player left the table to fetch a side table for a pair of drinks – and subsequently escalated what should’ve been a trivial situation by becoming increasingly argumentative. Perhaps most surprising was that the player was not Mike Holtz! Just kidding, Mike!
Participants were each given specially designed t-shirts to commemorate the occasion, as well as pizza generously provided Leon Wheeler, Director of Poker Operations Resorts World.
The event was held to bring awareness to a $10,000 Gold Pass giveaway to the upcoming PokerStars NAPT at Resorts World from Nov. 1-10. One lucky listener will win their way to Las Vegas to compete in the $5,300 NAPT Main Event and will be announced on the Friday, Oct. 18 episode of the PokerNews Podcast.
The PokerNews Podcast is Giving Away a $10,000 NAPT Gold Pass!
The 7 p.m. $200 Nightly Tournament attracted 57 entrants and awarded a $9,405 prize pool, more than triple the $3,000 guarantee. The tournament started players with 25,000 in chips and played 30-minute levels, meaning plenty of play was to be had.
What’s more, the PokerNewsPodcast added a special prize up top for the winner – a seat into the Oct. 19 Jeremy Renner Celebrity Poker Showdown as part of a "Heroes Fore Kids" Charity Weekend. The charity weekend runs Oct. 19-20 and will benefit the RennerVation Foundation, a non-profit that the Avengers star started in 2023 to serve northern Nevada's disadvantaged youth. The weekend kicks off with a $300 buy-in Celebrity Poker Showdown at the Venetian on Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. local time, followed by a celebrity golf tournament on Oct. 20.
The large turnout for the event meant that it spilled over into the early morning hours of Sunday. Sunshine, who relocated from New York to Las Vegas earlier this year and this summer won the Wynn Summer Classic $1,100 NLH for $30K, made it to the final table and was the first player to cash in sixth place for $677.
Madsen and England battled all evening long, and eventually the former exited in fifth place for $799 while the latter followed him out the door. The last PokerNews Podcast host standing earned $1,016 for her fourth-place finish.
Oppenheim’s elimination in third place for $1,430 left Daniel Kleinberg and Connor Woodland to battle heads-up, and just before the sun came up in Sin City the latter came out on top to win the tournament for $3,386 and a seat into the Jeremy Renner Celebrity Charity Event.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Woodland | $3,386 |
| 2 | Daniel Kleinberg | $2,097 |
| 3 | David Oppenheim | $1,430 |
| 4 | Kyna England | $1,016 |
| 5 | Jeff Madsen | $799 |
| 6 | Brandon Sunshine | $677 |
The PokerNewsPodcast is a weekly in-studio podcast that delves into the world of poker, featuring interviews with top players and industry experts. Hosted by WSOP bracelet winner Chad Holloway, MSPT player of the year Kyna England, and WSOP Online Player of the Year and bracelet winner Mike “Brock Lesnar” Holtz, the podcast covers the latest news and trends in the poker world and provides in-depth analysis of major tournament series around the globe.
Established in November 2010, the PokerNewsPodcast is one of the longest-running poker podcasts in the industry. With over 860 episodes, it is considered among the best poker podcasts in the world, with millions of views across all platforms every year.
New episodes of the PokerNewsPodcast – video available on YouTube and audio on all major podcast platforms – drop every Friday at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT. Click here to see all past episodes of the PokerNewsPodcast.
Life Outside Pokeris a new, in-depth poker podcast hosted by Connor Richards that launched in March 2024. The show features PokerNews' very own Connor going one-on-one with a wide array of guests for in-depth conversations about life in and outside of poker.
It seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them personally. A new Life Outside Pokeris released every other Tuesday at 8a PT / 4p UK time. Check out past episodes here.
Check out the PokerNews Podcast & Life Outside Poker Here!
