Welcome back, Poker Fam. As we ring in 2026, the WSOP Circuit is kicking off the year right where it belongs—on the Las Vegas Strip at Planet Hollywood, returning after a six-year hiatus with a freshly renovated Poker room and 18 ring events ready to crown champions.

This week, we're diving into what makes this Circuit stop special, remembering the legends we lost in 2025 who shaped this game into what it is today, and discovering what books actually influenced the pros you watch every week.

We're also covering John Racener's third bracelet win and why discipline still matters more than talent, the NBA betting scandal that's making sports leagues rethink prop bets entirely, and how the Mizrachi family continues to prove Poker greatness runs in the blood.

Also Today: We're exposing the leak that is costing you —checking behind with value on the river when you should be betting. Because most players leave their biggest profits on the table by being afraid of the check-raise that never comes.

This week's Poker landscape features the WSOP Circuit's return to the Strip, honoring the players and personalities we lost in 2025, the books that shaped the pros, consistent excellence rewarded with hardware, and how sports betting scandals are forcing leagues to rethink everything.

1. Planet Hollywood Kicks Off 2026 WSOP Circuit After Six-Year Hiatus — The WSOP Circuit returns to the Las Vegas Strip after six years, with Planet Hollywood hosting the very first Circuit series of 2026 featuring 18 ring events running January 1-12.

Planet Hollywood unveiled its newly renovated Poker room this past year, and now it's welcoming back Circuit grinders with a $1,700 Main Event offering a $750,000 guarantee (Day 1 flights January 8-10) and a $400 Mini Main Event with a $250,000 guarantee kicking off the series with five Day 1 flights January 1-3.

Mixed game players get their fix with a $600 TORSE event ($40K guarantee), $600 Omaha 8 or Better ($25K guarantee), and $600 HORSE ($40K guarantee) spread throughout the series.

Every ring winner receives a $5,000 package to attend the WSOP Circuit Championship at their choice of WSOP Europe 2026 in Prague (March 31-April 12 at King's Casino) or WSOP Paradise 2026, including Championship entry and free hotel accommodations.

The series also marks the continued rollout of WSOP+, the mobile app that's now the only way to register for Circuit events at Planet Hollywood. Players can view schedules, register for tournaments, and receive live updates—making it essential to download before arriving. After six years away, the Circuit is back where grinders want it: on the Strip, with guarantees worth chasing and rings worth winning. Source: WSOP

2. Remembering the Legends We Lost in 2025 — 2025 took too many people from the Poker community. Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland, the beloved tournament director who revolutionized events at the Bellagio and WPT, passed away in August after years of health challenges. "Miami John" Cernuto, the mixed game legend with 597 lifetime cashes—more than anyone in Hendon Mob history—lost his battle with colon cancer at 81. Famed WSOP photographer Ulvis Alberts, who captured iconic images from Binion's Horseshoe that still hang in casinos today, passed at 83.

John Strzemp, runner-up to Stu Ungar in the legendary 1997 WSOP Main Event played outdoors on Fremont Street, passed away at 73. The community also mourned Australian legend Graeme "Kiwi" Putt, 2001 WSOP finalist Stan Schrier, CSOP favorite Eric "Goldy" Goldstein, EPO champion Jordan Fishman, novelist Jane Hitchcock, Keith Hall, RGPS champ Mark Martin, Nebraska's Jeff Banghart, actor Kevyn Major Howard, MSPT champion Kevin Oswald, Midwest player Chris Roth, Mark "Doc" Toulouse, and David "AtomBomb" Hendrix—each of whom left their mark on this game. Source: Poker News

3. The Books That Shaped Poker's Best Players — Poker.org asked top players to share the books that shaped their careers, and the answers reveal what separates good players from great ones.

Jonathan Little credits Timothy Ferriss's The 4-Hour Workweek as having a "major influence on both my Poker career and my life," teaching him that success isn't about making maximum money—it's about creating freedom. David Lappin calls Harrington on Hold'em Volume 1 the "new Poker covenant" that taught a generation tournament fundamentals. Darren Elias chose Michael Craig's The Professor, The Banker & The Suicide King for its insider look at the largest cash games ever played. Ashley "PokerFace Ash" Frank credits Jared Tendler's The Mental Game of Poker with teaching her that "my biggest leaks were not in my ranges—they were in my head."

Others cited Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, James Clear's Atomic Habits, and Thich Nhat Hanh's The Miracle of Mindfulness. The common thread? The books that matter most aren't always strategy manuals—they're the ones that change how you think about discipline, process, and what success actually means. Source: Source: Poker.org

4. John Racener Wins Third Bracelet — John Racener added a third WSOP bracelet to his collection in 2025, winning the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty for $247,595. The 2010 Main Event runner-up has built a career on consistency rather than flash, with $13.2 million in lifetime earnings and 219 cashes across a professional career that's never included a "real" job outside Poker.

Racener's story started with a $50 deposit at age 18 that turned into $30,000 within a year. That discipline has paid off with 133 WSOP cashes, 30 final tables, and three bracelets. What separates him from players with more raw talent? The ability to show up consistently, make disciplined decisions under pressure, and grind profitably year after year without burnout. In a game where motivation stalls and players flame out after early success, Racener proves that discipline brings dollars—and longevity beats temporary brilliance every time. Source: Card Player

5. NBA Betting Scandal Forces Sports Leagues to Rethink Prop Bets — The NBA is proposing sweeping policy changes after multiple investigations exposed how insider information about injuries and player availability can be exploited for betting. Allegations included players informing co-conspirators they would exit games early with fake injuries, allowing massive bets on "under" prop markets before information became public.

The NBA's response includes requiring teams to update injury reports every 15 minutes instead of hourly, proposing bet limits on player prop "under" markets, and pushing sportsbooks to eliminate bets determined on a single play. MLB has already implemented a $200 bet limit on pitch-level markets after similar scandals. Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that "it's too easy to manipulate something which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score," adding that "there's nothing more important than the integrity of the competition."

For Poker players who understand how easily information advantages corrupt competition, the lesson is clear: when money flows toward manipulation, integrity protection can't be an afterthought. Source: Card Player

Most players leave their biggest profits on the river.

Not because they're making huge mistakes. Not because they're getting bluffed constantly. They're leaving money on the table by checking hands that should be betting for thin value—and they're doing it every single session without realizing the cumulative cost.

Here's the exact scenario: you're playing $2/$5, and you open to $15 from the cutoff with K♠Q♦. The button calls. Flop comes Q♥ 8♣ 3♦—you flop top pair, decent kicker. You bet $20 into the $35 pot, button calls. Turn is the 6♠, a complete blank. You bet $50 into the $75 pot, button calls again. River is the 2♥—another brick that changes nothing.

The pot is now $175. You have top pair with a Queen kicker. Your opponent has called two streets and shown no aggression. You check behind thinking "if I bet and get check-raised, I have to fold" or "they probably have AQ or a set and I'm beat."

Cards flip over. Your opponent has J♥8♥—middle pair. You win the pot.

Here's the problem: that opponent was calling with middle pair the entire way. They absolutely would have called a $75 or even $100 river value bet. Instead, you checked behind and won $175 when you could have won $250 to $275. That's $75 to $100 in pure profit you left on the table because you were afraid of the check-raise that wasn't coming.

That middle pair would have called a value bet, and you were too scared to find out.

In my book, I mention the effectivity of this strategy against small stakes players. This scenario plays out hundreds of times across your Poker career. Top pair checking behind against calling stations. Second pair checking behind on dry boards against passive opponents. Weak showdown value giving up on extracting the last bet because you're afraid of the worst-case scenario instead of calculating the most likely scenario.

The mental block is obvious: players hate getting raised more than they love making money. They'd rather check behind with the best hand than risk a check-raise turning their winner into a tough decision. That's not risk management—that's profit avoidance.

Look at your database. Filter for river decisions where you had top pair or better and checked behind in position. I guarantee you're checking behind far too often against opponents who would call with worse. These aren't huge pots—they're the medium-sized pots that add up to the difference between winning $15/hour and winning $25/hour at your stake.

The players crushing your games aren't making hero calls or spectacular bluffs more often than you. They're extracting thin value in spots where you're checking behind. They're betting $75 into $140 with second pair because they've identified their opponent as someone who calls too much. They're comfortable with uncertainty. You're comfortable with safety.

Safety doesn't pay the bills in Poker. Calculated aggression does.

Start identifying opponents who call too much—they're at every table. Against these players, your value betting range should expand dramatically. Top pair is always a bet. Good second pair is often a bet. Even weak top pair becomes a bet against the right opponent. Stop worrying about the times you get raised. Start collecting all the times they call with worse and quietly surrender their chips.

The Poker Accelerator teaches students to overcome "value phobia" through systematic hand review and probability analysis. We'll show you exactly how wide your value betting range should be against different opponent types, and more importantly, we'll train you to pull the trigger in spots where your instinct says check but the math says bet. That shift alone typically adds $5-$10/hour to your win rate.

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The WSOP Circuit is back on the Strip after six years, and Planet Hollywood's return signals that 2026 is starting strong for grinders looking for rings and guarantees worth chasing.

But 2025 taught us lessons beyond tournament schedules. We lost legends like Jack McClelland, Miami John Cernuto, and so many others who built this game. The books that shaped the pros revealed that mindset and discipline matter more than strategy manuals. John Racener's third bracelet proved consistency beats talent. The NBA betting scandal exposed how easily insider information corrupts competition.

The lesson? Show up consistently, respect the game, and remember that every decision we make either strengthens or weakens what we're building together.

Keep grinding, keep learning, and remember that every session is a chance to get better.

What's your first tournament goal for 2026? With the Circuit kicking off at Planet Hollywood and a full year of Poker ahead, now's the time to set your intentions. Are you chasing your first ring, targeting a specific series, or committing to a study schedule? Reply to this email and tell me. I read them all!

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Talk soon,
Lexy Gavin-Mather