2024 Maryland State Poker Championship
Maryland LIVE! Highlights
Day: all
After 16 levels of play, the 100 players who entered Day 1a of the Maryland State Poker Championship have been whittled down to just 13. Each has now bagged for Day 2 where they will all be in the money.
Michael Bills had the most successful start to the tournament after spinning his starting stack up to 844,000, well ahead of Nicholas Banyas in second, who returns with 583,000. A full recap of the day's play can be found here.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Day 1b of the Main Event gets underway at 11:15 a.m. local time. That is the only tournament taking place until Event #16: $400 Black Chip Turbo Bounty shuffles up and deals at 6:15 p.m. Coverage of the Main Event will continue on the live reporting page while highlights from both that tournament and Event 16 can be found on this feed.
Besides coverage of the action of the day, PokerNews will be sitting down with Justin Arnwine, the winner of Event 10, and his wife Caitlyn Arnwine to discuss their recent exploits in poker.
After the successful 2023 return of the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) in Las Vegas, PokerStars announced that the NAPT will be back at Resorts World Las Vegas this year for ten days of tournament poker action.
The 2024 NAPT Las Vegas festival will take place Nov. 1-10, culminating with a $5,300 buy-in NAPT Main Event — an increase from last year's $1,650 price tag — after a successful event with a strong turnout in 2023.
“Last year, the NAPT smashed all expectations, so this year, we’re going even bigger," PokerStars North America Vice President Steve Preiss said in a press release. "With a premier partner like Resorts World Las Vegas, we’re stepping up our game: bigger tournaments, buy-ins, and player-focused events.”
With the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) returning to Las Vegas this fall, PokerStars have released information about the new 'Path to NAPT', offering players the chance to win their way to Vegas for as little as $0.50.
Last year Sami Bechahed defeated Jonathan Borenstein heads-up to win the 2023 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event and $268,945. He topped a 1,095-player field to win the first NAPT Main Event title in 12 years.
Want to be part of the next one? Well here's your chance! PokerStars is planning on offering 100 chances to secure a Gold Pass worth $10,000 to the Las Vegas NAPT Main Event.
Late registration remains open for another three levels in the Maryland State Poker Championship Main Event so needless to say the tournament is still in its early stages, but right now the man to catch is Nicholas Banyas.
At the time of writing, Banyas was sitting on a stack of 208,000, comfortably ahead of his nearest competitor on 189,000. Banyas plays a good portion of his tournament poker here in Maryland, with his last eighteen recorded cashes all coming at Maryland Live! Casino. That includes the largest cash of his career, a $20,325 score for finishing 6th in the $2,200 Main Event at the 2024 Hannover Poker Classic.
Now, in an identically priced tournament in the same venue, Banyas will be looking to add a win to his resume. It would be a victory that would certainly eclipse his previous biggest cash.
Earlier today the poker world learned of the passing of mixed game enthusiast Mark Dickstein. A native of New York, Dickstein was a staple on the east coast poker scene with $775,000 in career tournament earnings that include a cash in an event here at Maryland Live! casino back in January.
Click here to read more about his life and how he is remembered by members of the poker community.
In the 851st episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by PokerStars, Chad Holloway and Kyna England are joined by "Loose Cannon" Lily Newhouse at Level 9 Studio in Las Vegas to talk about GGPoker purchasing the World Series of Poker (WSOP) brand for $500 million. What will it mean for the future of poker? It's too early to tell, but that doesn't stop the crew from offering their thoughts.
From there, Newhouse talked about her experience as the Loose Cannon on the PokerStars Big Game, which included playing a big pot early against Sam Grafton and battling against Dave Krosky, who proved to be a different sort of loose cannon! Oh, and did we mention the PokerStars Big Game is confirmed to return this Fall during the NAPT for a second season? Well, it is and you can get all the details here.
Kyna then talks about attending the grand opening of the brand-new Venetian Poker Room, now the largest room on the Strip, and you get to hear from other attendees including Joey Ingram, Maria Konnikova, and 2017 WSOP Main Event champ Scott Blumstein. Plus, rapper Nelly was in the house to play the room's first hand, but you'll have to watch to see how he did.
Additionally, hear about poker reporter Terrance "TJ" Reid winning the Destination: RunGood $2,500 Million Dollar Main Event for $192,755, Nick Kocman capturing a career-best score at Maryland State Poker Championship, and Daniel Bellis winning a NAPT Gold Pass in last longer contest. Speaking of which, you'll have a chance to qualify for NAPT Las Vegas at the upcoming Pennsylvania State Poker Championship.
Finally, learn about one Texas poker room's quest to appeal to the female demographic with a women-first concept, hear about Chad's experience competing on Survivor Angelica: Medieval Mayhem, and get a sneak peek at the new Life Outside Poker featuring Brazilian Vlogger Romulo "Poker Profit" Dorea.