Analysis
Long-form, weekly
Deep dives on prediction market dynamics, crypto-gambling moves, poker ecosystem shifts, and the regulatory landscape — written by our editorial team and AI desk.
What This Week's WSOP News Actually Means
The 2026 WSOP's most telling number isn't on the final table — it's the 59% drop in the $100K PLO field. Here's what four stories reveal.
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PokerJun 25The Three Structural Bets WSOP Is Making in 2026
The 2026 WSOP is running three parallel experiments simultaneously: an ESPN broadcast deal, crypto buy-ins via Solana, and a 20-day final table pause. Here is what each one actually means.
11 min read
PokerJun 18WSOP 2026: The Series Is Becoming a Media Property
42 bracelets in, the 2026 WSOP's structural moves — ESPN deal, crypto buy-ins, HCL at Paris — tell a more durable story than any individual result.
11 min read
PokerJun 14WSOP Week 3: What the Bracelet Surge Really Signals
Week 3 of the 2026 WSOP concentrated $19.2M in prizes into a single Friday. Here's what the bracelet surge, Hansen's comeback, and a five-high bluff actually mean.
10 min read
PokerJun 11WSOP Week 3: Crypto Rails, Online Talent, and a Rebrand
Week 3 of the 2026 WSOP delivered a landmark crypto payment deal, a media-player bracelet, and a Russian online grinder dominating the $50K High Roller. Here's what it means.
10 min read
PokerJun 7What This Week's WSOP News Actually Means
The Monster Stack broke 10,000 entries on the back of a re-entry rule change. That single shift explains most of this week's WSOP storylines.
10 min read
PokerJun 6WSOP 2026 Week 1: Anniversaries, Misdeals, and a Maturing Content Engine
The first 10 days of WSOP 2026 produced 17 bracelets and 44,381 entries — but the real signal is how the series now monetizes its archive as aggressively as its present.
10 min read
PokerMay 26State of online poker 2026 — the year in numbers
Online poker in 2026 looks structurally different from the post-Black-Friday era. The dominant networks (GGNetwork, PokerStars, WPN) account for the majority of global traffic, but crypto-native rooms (CoinPoker, BCPoker, SwC) and club-based apps (ClubGG, PPPoker, PokerBros) have captured meaningful share at the edges. State-licensed US online poker has expanded to six states; MSIGA pooling has matured. This analysis covers the year in traffic figures, the regulatory developments that mattered, and the market-shaping events.
PokerMay 26Crypto poker market analysis — Q1 2026
Crypto-native poker — rooms where the chips on the felt are cryptocurrency rather than fiat-equivalent — captured an estimated 1.5-2% of total online poker volume by end of Q1 2026, up from approximately 1% one year earlier. The growth concentrates at CoinPoker (the segment leader) and BCPoker (BC.Game's ecosystem-integrated product). SwC Poker holds its niche Bitcoin-purist position. This analysis covers the segment's Q1 2026 figures, the rakeback economics that drive player selection, and the structural differentiation from traditional rooms accepting crypto deposits.
PokerMay 26ClubGG vs traditional poker — where the market is going
Club-based poker — ClubGG, PokerBros, PPPoker — is growing faster than licensed online poker in most measurable markets through 2026. The growth is driven by regulatory dynamics rather than product superiority: club-based apps operate in market gaps where licensed alternatives are unavailable, expensive, or stigmatized. This analysis covers why the market direction favors club-based apps in the near term, what regulatory shifts could reverse the trajectory, and what the segment's growth means for the broader online poker industry.
PokerMay 26Why GTO tools changed modern poker
GTO solver tools have transformed modern poker strategy more fundamentally than any other development in the post-Black-Friday era. The trajectory from PioSolver (2015) through to current cloud-based tools like GTO Wizard (2021+) has shifted the population-level skill baseline at every stake level, compressed win-rate ceilings for previously dominant players, and redrawn the strategic landscape at higher stakes. This analysis covers the technical timeline, the impact on player skill distributions, and what the next phase of solver-driven strategy looks like.
PokerMay 26The return of US online poker — state-by-state in 2026
US online poker has expanded slowly but steadily since the post-Black-Friday era. As of 2026, six states have licensed online poker products: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, West Virginia, and Delaware. Four of these participate in the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which pools player liquidity across states for tournament events. Multiple additional states have introduced or considered licensing legislation. This analysis covers the state-by-state landscape, MSIGA's maturation, and the gap between licensed and offshore market access.
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