Can You Be "Player of the Year" Even if You Lose Millions of Dollars?

In the 988th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway is joined by Mike Holtz and Ben Ludlow at Level 9 Studio with special guest Ryan Depaulo to talk about the latest from the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

That includes the money bubble bursting and none other than 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker being a part of it. See what went down and the aftermath yourself. The crew then talks about the debate surrounding whether or not a player should have to be profitable in order to win WSOP Player of the Year. It's a heated debate between Shaun Deeb and Phil Hellmuth, with Daniel Negreanu and others weighing in.

Other stories include a streaker at the WSOP, Martin Kabrhel's antics, WSOP POY update, and a player who built up a big stack in the Main Event and then decided to abandon it while he went to South Point casino to play $1-$3 NLH and watch a movie.

Finally, Chad previews the upcoming $400 buy-in, $250K GTD PokerNews Cup at the RGPS Thunder Valley.

A new PokerNews Podcast drops four times a week in July during the 2026 WSOP! You can expect a new episode every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Time Stamps *Time Topic* 00:00 | Welcome to the show 00:17 | Ryan Depaulo joins the show 00:52 | The WSOP Streaker 02:28 | Player of the Year debate 03:54 | Hellmuth vs. Deeb 10:40 | WSOP POY Leaderboard 18:00 | Martin Kabrhel circus 23:10 | WSOP Main Event update 23:37 | Bubble Hands 26:13 | Chris Moneymaker bubble boy 30:00 | Player abandons stack 34:16 | RGPS Thunder Valley