This week the 2026 World Series of Poker has continued to give fans amazing moments.
Benny Glaser won his first $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
In other news, Joao Simao has become the first player from Brazil to exceed $20 million in tournament winnings after winning yet another WSOP bracelet.
The WSOP also announced a revised process for voting into the Poker Hall of Fame along with the names of eight new finalists.
In shocking news, tournament officials removed a player from the tournament after they caught him smoking at the table and taking chips from play.
Here is a recap of the biggest news stories in poker over the last week.
Benny Glaser Achieves Career Dream With Poker Players Championship Victory
Benny Glaser wins $50,000 Poker Players Championship (Image Courtesy of WSOP)
For a long time now, Benny Glaser was chasing the WSOP Poker Players Championship title.
After years of trying and hard work, he finally claimed the title he had long wanted.
The British Mixed Game specialist took down the $50,000 Poker Players Championship at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
He won his ninth bracelet and took home a $1,343,764 cash prize.
Following his victory, he reflected on his journey, especially years of effort and near misses that eventually paid off.
After winning his 9th WSOP bracelet, Glaser is now tied with legendary poker celebrity Johnny Moss for the 6th all-time in total bracelets won.
The 37-year-old British professional is the second youngest all-time player to have won 9 WSOP bracelets.
The tournament attracted a strong field, with prominent players in the lineup including Phil Ivey, Josh Arieh, Jason Mercier, Paul Volpe, Maxx Coleman, and Kristopher Tong.
Benny started the final day of the event as the chip leader, and he never relinquished his lead.
After eliminating Kristopher Tong in 6th position with 
against pocket sevens, he watched as both Maxx Coleman and Phil Ivey were eliminated before heads-up play.
He then executed a commanding come-from-behind victory against Josh Arieh, with Josh holding a chip lead to start the heads-up battle with Benny.
The tournament ended with Omaha 8-or-better.
Arieh held 
to Glaser 
.
The board fell 
, giving Glaser the winning two pair and one of the biggest wins of his career.
Joao Simao Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet and Passes $20 Million
Joao Simao Wins the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller Event (Image Courtesy of WSOP)
Joao Simao was the last man standing after the dust had settled in the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller event. He walked away with the title and a cash prize of $1,368,700.
Joao Simao has added yet another milestone to an outstanding career since it was Simao’s fourth WSOP bracelet and took his lifetime live tournament earnings to over $20.5 million, making him the all-time winningest Brazilian tournament poker player.
Simao celebrated his massive win in the same manner that Brazilian sports fans celebrate when their country won the World Cup for the fourth time: "Tetira", meaning "fourth".
This was a very special moment for Simao since it represents something that has a lot of meaning to the Brazilian people.
The High Roller attracted 110 entries and generated a prize pool of $5,225,000.
The field was full of talented players, including multiple WSOP Bracelet winners such as Santhosh Suvarna, Yuri Dzivielevski, Naoya Kihara, and Robert Cowen.
Throughout this event, Simao's chip stack kept on fluctuating because of back-and-forth action before advancing to heads-up play against Suvarna.
On the final hand of play, Simao held 
and Suvarna held 
.
The board ran out 
, leaving Simao with a Top Set of Aces earning him the championship, while Suvarna placed runner-up, winning $912,420.
WSOP Announces Eight Poker Hall of Fame Finalists
Eight Poker Hall of Fame Finalists (Image Courtesy of WSOP)
The World Series of Poker also announced the final eight candidates for the 2026 Poker Hall of Fame and created a new voting format that could lead to more than one winner in years.
Shaun Deeb, Jason Koon, Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Scott Seiver, Chris Moorman, Mike Matusow, and Isai Scheinberg will be on the final ballot.
In addition to having only one inductee allowed, all 33 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame can now vote for up to four players each.
To be inducted into this class, a player must receive two-thirds of the total votes cast.
The final ballot nominations are reflective of many eras in the game.
The six nominees include David O. Deeb, Jason Koon, Ike Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Scott Seiver, and Chris Moorman, all of whom built their brand during the online poker boom in the 2000s.
Isai Scheinberg has been nominated for the fourth consecutive time.
His nomination continues to validate his past contributions to the growth of the industry and reflects the expectation of good future contributions to the continued growth of the online poker industry, despite the current unresolved discussion pertaining to Black Friday.
Meanwhile, the Hall of Fame will close with 12 total nominations for four-time bracelet winner Matusow, who will attempt to achieve a long-awaited level of recognition for his career as a player and his efforts in advancing televised poker.
The new voting process is very similar to the system used by the Baseball Hall of Fame, which may produce one of the biggest classes ever.
Player Disqualified After Smoking During WSOP Event
Player Smoking During WSOP Event (Image Courtesy of WSOP)
Tournament officials acted quickly after they saw a player smoking during the $3,000 six-handed No-Limit Hold’em tournament at Paris Las Vegas.
A video released by the WSOP shows tournament staff and security requesting the player to extinguish his cigarette before extinguishing it.
Player REMOVED From $3,000 Tournament
— WSOP - World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 20, 2026
The use of smoking devices in the poker room is strictly prohibited and will result in disqualification from the tournament.
Here’s what happens when that line gets crossed. pic.twitter.com/Ha7CfOpuWi
Upon extinguishing it, officials later disqualified the player for placing tournament chips into his pocket as he left the table.
WSOP rules prohibit the use of tobacco products, including cigarettes, in the tournament area and removing tournament chips from play, including taking them off the table for any reason.
As reported by multiple witnesses, had the player simply put out his cigarette, he probably would have been allowed to remain in the event, but by taking tournament chips, he had left no other alternative for staff than to follow WSOP rules.
The incident indicates that today’s poker tournaments enforce health-related policies and regard to tournament integrity far more strictly than has ever been done before.
