Lucky Mr Green

What is Lucky Mr Green?

Recent articles have been just important in bringing you, poker fans, the latest news, features that cut to the heart, diamond, spade and club of each issue and hopefully, entertaining you. While to some, the future of online poker is the most vital discussion point, others would like to know what it takes to quit their job and become a professional player.  

There have been many uplifting elements to writing about poker through a global pandemic, as odd as those words must feel to read and certainly are to write. From inspirational quotes to motivate players who are just joining or continue to love the game to what could help players turn pro as an alternative to more difficult careers to sustain (they do exist!), it has genuinely been a job I have treasured and I hope you have enjoyed the content that I and the incredible Calvin Ayre content team have been able to bring you during the past 18 months or so.  

Bringing you series of articles such as Poker on Screen and Poker in Print has been a massive source of pride for myself and the team and I even got the chance to discuss poker in the movies and on television on the recent episode of the award-winning podcast, The Chip Race.  

What is Lucky Mr Green?

This reliance places many high-value players at risk of “silent churn”, where VIP players become inactive without warning, posing a significant challenge for operators.

The report, titled The State of VIP Operations, was compiled by The Playa in collaboration with Gaming Operations Academy and WarriorLab.

Conducted in 2026, it surveyed 70 professionals actively engaged in VIP management, including VIP account managers, heads of VIP and consultants, with 64% employed directly by gambling operators. 

What is Lucky Mr Green?

The action will kick off with New Zealand’s David Yan in the lead, sitting as he does with 5.3 million chips, a good chunk more than his closest challengers Yuri Dzivielvski (3 million) and Niklas Astedt (2.6 million). Of those two, it is perhaps the Swede Astedt who will fancy their chances more than anyone, desperate to seal the deal having accumulated almost $2 million in winnings in the tournament series but never having closed one out to take the outright win.

Elsewhere, there are some superstars of the game who are taking their places lined up behind the leaders in pursuit of poker profit. Canadian poker legend Sam Greenwood comes into the final a little short-stack with 1.9 million chips, but he’s immediately followed by another luminary of the game in Mikita Badziakowski. The Belarussian only has 1.4 million but will be doing everything he can to get over the line. The final table betting prices are slightly different to the order in which the players find themselves in the chipcounts:

As you can see, David Yan has enjoyed the most money being places on him and goes into play as the 4.12 odds favourite. He may have the most money placed on him, but almost double the number of bettors rate the Swedish pro Astedt as a good shot to see out the win for the first time. Sam Greenwood is tempting plenty of punters at odds of 10 and 103 people have invested in the Canadian to upset the chipcounts.