Poker Champs returned in 2026 as a $500,000 ClubWPT Gold heads-up creator tournament, but the name reaches back more than two decades to a very different online poker business.
ClubWPT Gold’s version brought eight major content creators together in a heads-up knockout hosted by Doug Polk. The tournament ran in September and ended with Alex Botez beating Sodapoppin for the $250,000 first prize.
Botez also defeated Erobb221 and PaymoneyWubby on her route through the bracket. That gave the revival a clear modern identity built around creators, streaming and one-on-one poker.
The Poker Champs name, however, has a much older history.
More than 20 years ago, PokerChamps.com was an online poker room associated with Tony G, Gus Hansen and Swedish high-stakes player Erik Sagström. It was eventually acquired by Betfair during the original online poker boom.
There is no apparent connection between that poker room and the new ClubWPT Gold competition. But the revival of such a distinctive name provides an interesting link between two very different eras of online poker.
$500,000 Up for Grabs at Poker Champs
The 2026 Poker Champs was an eight-player heads-up knockout competition played on ClubWPT Gold.
Each match used a best-of-three format, reducing the eight creators to four semifinalists and eventually two finalists.
The $500,000 prize pool was split across the top four:
1st: $250,000
2nd: $125,000
3rd: $75,000
4th: $50,000
The creators did not put up the money themselves. There was no conventional buy-in, meaning half of the eight-player field left with at least $50,000.
The opening matches were followed by the semifinals and final on September 26, when Botez completed her three-match run to the title.
Participants were able to stream their own perspectives, while Polk hosted a separate broadcast showing both players’ hole cards and webcams.
Alexandra Botez and xQc Return to the Poker Table
At least two of the announced players already have history together at the poker table.
Alexandra Botez and xQc both appeared in Ludwig Ahgren’s huge creator poker game in 2022 alongside MrBeast, Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan.
Botez finished as the game’s biggest winner and has subsequently become a familiar presence in poker, appearing in major streamed cash games and tournaments.
Poker Champs continued a wider move toward putting creators at the center of poker broadcasts rather than simply inviting them along as celebrity guests.
Poker Type has followed the same trend through events such as the Celebrity Poker Tour, which has built poker events specifically around personalities from sport, entertainment and social media.
Poker Champs took that concept a step further. The eight-person field was built around creators rather than established professional poker players, making the personalities themselves the main event.
The Original PokerChamps Had Tony G and Gus Hansen Behind It
Anyone who played online poker during the original boom may recognize the name for a completely different reason.
PokerChamps.com launched in 2004.
Antanas Guoga, better known as Tony G, Gus Hansen and Swedish high-stakes player Erik Sagström were among the poker names associated with the operation.
It didn’t remain independent for long.
Betfair bought the Danish-based PokerChamps platform in October 2005 as it expanded its own online poker operation.
The acquisition is recorded in Betfair’s own 2006 Annual Review, which confirms the company acquired the Danish-based PokerChamps platform in October 2005.
PokerChamps ultimately disappeared as a standalone poker brand.
Tony G certainly didn’t.
He went on to build an unusually varied career across poker, business, politics and investment. Poker Type recently looked at what Tony G is doing now, including his move into quantum technology investment.
There is no indication that Tony G, Hansen, Sagström or the former PokerChamps business had any involvement with ClubWPT Gold’s 2026 tournament. The available information points to a new event using a very familiar name.
Doug Polk Is a Natural Fit for Poker Champs
Polk may be better known to a new generation as a creator, commentator and poker business owner, but his reputation was originally built at the highest levels of heads-up poker.
That makes him an obvious choice to host a tournament built entirely around one-on-one play.
His role came at an interesting point in his career. Polk had recently announced that he was stepping away from his role at The Lodge Card Club, the Texas poker room he became closely associated with after joining its ownership group. That left more attention on the other side of his poker career, including content, broadcasting and online poker activities.
Those different strands have long made Polk unusual among modern poker personalities. His playing résumé would have been enough to make him famous within poker, but his YouTube presence helped turn him into a creator capable of reaching audiences well beyond high-stakes players.
That combination is explored further on Poker Type’s Doug Polk creator profile.
Now he gets to sit between the two worlds.
The players provide the creator audiences.
Polk provides the poker expertise.
Heads-Up Poker Is Having Another Moment
Poker Champs arrived during something of a revival for heads-up poker as entertainment. Poker Type also covered the return of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, bringing one of televised poker’s most recognizable formats back to mainstream screens.
Poker Champs approached the same format from the opposite direction.
The National Heads-Up Poker Championship puts famous poker players in front of a broader television audience.
Poker Champs puts famous internet creators in front of a poker audience.
Polk is almost perfectly positioned in the middle.
He has the heads-up credentials of an elite professional and the audience-building experience of a major poker creator.
Poker Champs, 22 Years Apart
The coincidence of the name provides a neat snapshot of how online poker has changed.
The original PokerChamps arrived in 2004 when operators were racing to build poker rooms and capture players during the post-Moneymaker online boom.
The 2026 Poker Champs is about capturing audiences.
xQc and sodapoppin brought enormous followings from outside poker, while Botez built her audience primarily through chess and content creation. ClubWPT Gold was not asking those audiences simply to watch professional players. It put the creators themselves at the tables with $500,000 to play for.
More than two decades after PokerChamps appeared during online poker’s first great expansion, the name returned in a completely different form.
Same name. Completely different era.
