An author wins his first piece of hardware, a new poker room in Chicago, and a head-scratching decision by ClubWPT Gold are the short stacks CardsChat picked up in its latest orbit of poker news.

In what feels like a cash-grab marketed to true degenerates, ClubWPT Gold, the sweepstakes online poker wing of the World Poker Tour, has introduced a feature that allows players to see their opponent’s hole cards.

Yep, you read that right.

For $1.50 after every hand, players can choose to let their curiosity get the better of them and buck-up and pay to take a peak. The money goes to the site.

The reaction from many pros was harsh and absolute.

Matt Berkey called it “actually sick.” Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast called it “one of the worst ideas.” Alex Torelli called it “moronic on so many levels.”

Two-time World Series of Poker Player of the Year Shaun Deeb went farther than that, giving the online poker site a bunt warning, saying “the fact you haven’t canceled this yet is just awful awful marketing. You were crushing it, and long term, (it’s) going to kill your site.”

Doug Polk, who not only is an ambassador for the site, but also became a partner of ClubWPT Gold after selling his Upswing Poker training site to them, posted a video talking about the controversial move. He tempered his comments by saying he understands how this could help players if they think collusion is taking place.

“When players are at a table and something looks fishy, you now can instantly see the hands and know if it was collusion or not. That’s a good thing,” he said in his post, but ultimately concluded “I don’t like this whatsoever. I get that there are a couple of positives, but the cons greatly outweigh them.”

Move over Sun Tzu

David Apostolico, the author of several poker books including “The Art of War and Tournament Poker,” won his first World Series of Poker ring Monday, and it came with a career-best $16,977.

He won the event not far from his hometown of West Chester, Penn, and the 62-year-old whose day job is a corporate lawyer had his favorite person watching him beat Ryan McDonald heads-up — his son Ryan, who cashed twice at the Series at Harrah’s Atlantic City.

The $600 buy-in event attracted just 134.

New poker room in Waukegan

American Place Casino opened an “intimate” six-table poker room in Waukegan, Ill., earlier than expected on Monday. Located north of Chicago, the casino sits inside a temporary 75,000-square-foot facility that has been open since 2023.

The casino, owned by Full House Resorts of Las Vegas, in the home to 1,000 slot machines, 50 live-dealer table games, and a Circa Sportsbook.

A poker room is planned for the permanent location, a $500 million complex set to open in 2027.

“(Poker’s) not a huge part of what we do, but it was something we planned for the permanent (casino),” Jeff Baninksi, vice president and general manager of American Place, said. “We heard from our guests that it was something they would like to see. So, we decided not to wait.”