Welcome to the first in what I hope will be a regular series of articles rounding up all the latest poker news that has taken place over the past week or so.

This week we have big news about the forthcoming High Stakes Duel 3 Round 5 match between Phil Hellmuth and Jason Koon, as well as big news on some of the stars set to participate in the WPT Premier Meet-Up Game in December.

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So let’s begin with an update to a piece of news we brought you earlier this week about the forthcoming WPT World Championships coming up in Las Vegas in December.

More Names Announced For WPT World Championships Premier Meet-Up Game

Earlier this week we brought you news that the Wynn Las Vegas will be the host of the World Poker Tour World Championships festival, with 22 tournaments taking place, including a $10,400 buy in Main Event that will feature a world record $15,000,000 guaranteed.

However, to kick off the event, a star-studded Premier Meet-Up Game is set to take place on the opening day of the tournament (December 1) which will allow poker regulars to play at a number of lower-priced cash tables alongside some of the great and good from the world of poker, sports, Hollywood and more.

Well, that game kicks off today and we already knew that WPT Ambassadors Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen were set to participate alongside the popular DJ Steve Aoki.

Doyle Brunson had also confirmed that he would be in attendance for the event, but the World of Poker is going to be represented by some other stellar names too.

Buy yourself into the Premier Meet-Up Game WPT Poker Icons Experience today in Sin City and you could be sitting at a table alongside the likes of:

• Phil Hellmuth
• Phil Ivey
• Patrick Antonius
• Matt Savage (WPT Tour Director)
• Vince Van Patten
• Tony Dunst
• Ashley “PokerFace Ash” Frank
• Lynn Gilmartin

Additionally, those mortals who do indeed ante up to take on the WPT stars and enter an all in and call with one of eight stars listed above (plus Doyle Brunson) will enter a raffle to win one of four seats at the record-breaking Main Event.

A further two special events have been announced for the festival this December which includes the WPT Steve Aoki Playhouse Game, which will be hosted by the DJ and which will feature a swimming pool, foam pit and Aoki’s own personalised poker table.

Then on the day of the $200,000 Guaranteed Ladies Event a special WPT Ladies Meet-Up game will take place with the likes of Xuan Liu, Ashley Sleeth, Lynn Gilmartin and Jamie Kerstetter set to participate.

• WPT Announces New Tournaments In Europe For 2023/24

In separate news from their Las Vegas World Championships, the WPT has announced that it has teamed up with French Poker site TexaPoker to run three tournaments each year in 2023 and 2024 across France and Italy.

French players won’t have to wait long for the first event with the first series of tournaments starting on the 22^nd January 2023 with the WPT Prime Paris at the Club Circuit in Paris, with a €1,100 WPT Prime Paris Main Event the big attraction, running from the 1^st to 5^th February.

Then in June 2023, the tour heads to the Casino di Sanremo in Italy for the WPT Prime Sanremo, which has previously hosted the WPTDeepStacks event in 2018.

Finally, in October 2023, the tour will conclude the year at the Pasino Grand in Aix-en-Provence in the South of France for the WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence from the 9^th to the 15^th October.

• Andy Wilson Lands WPT 2022 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open

The UK’s Andy Wilson took the top prize in the WPT’s final event before they move on to Las Vegas with a win at the 2022 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) $3,500 Main Event hosted at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida.

Despite facing one of the toughest and most talented final tables in the history of the WPT, Wilson managed to turn his chip lead at the start of the final table into the victory, but not without plenty of ups and downs along the way.

Wilson took home $785,800 and a$10,400 WPT World Championship seat for his win as he pipped Josh Kay into second spot. The full final table result is shown below:

• 1^st – Andy Wilson – $785,800 and $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
• 2^nd – Josh Jay – $525,000
• 3^rd – Chad Eveslage – $390,000
• 4^th – Brian Altman – $290,000
• 5^th – Gediminas Uselis – $219,000
• 6^th – Robel Andemichael – $167,000

Wilson conceded that he had been undecided whether to compete in the Florida event as he was watching England in the World Cup, but decided to play at the last minute.

It was a smart move as he has earned over ¾ of a million dollars plus a free entry into the World Championships in Las Vegas later this month.

Koon V Hellmuth High Stakes Duel 3 Round 5 Scheduled For December 7

It’s been a while since the last High Stakes Duel match was contested after the cancellation of the Scott Seiver v Phil Hellmuth rematch back in August.

Jason Koon was announced as Seiver’s replacement for the current Round 5 game, but as yet no date had been set for the two to go heads up for the largest High Stakes Duel prize pool of $1,600,000 is up for grabs.

However, the two will now clash on December 7^th with the action beginning at 8pm ET.

Hellmuth, with two wins behind him, could cash out for a seven-figure payday if he manages to beat Koons in the game, but for Koons, a win here would start him on the first of three victories he’d need to turn his $800,00 buy in into something considerably more valuable.

Hellmuth has a fantastic 9-1 record on High Stakes Duel, with only Tom Dwan beating him and he’s notched up three successive wins against both Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu before the current run.

The game is sure to be keenly watched by poker fans on Poker GO when it starts on the 7^th December.

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