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Las Vegas, Nevada (October 30, 2026) - Over the past few years, Liam Gannon has become a very recognizable face amongst poker players and members of the poker media at WSOP and WSOP Circuit events.

While he can be found grinding tournaments in Las Vegas and around the United States like any other poker player, his role as a poker live reporter for PokerNews and Poker.Org has made his presence felt at WSOP series, whether he is holding a notepad or pocket aces.

This past April, Gannon won his second WSOP Circuit ring at Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois, close to his hometown of LaGrange Park.

With every WSOP Circuit ring winner in 2026 receiving a $5,000 WSOP Paradise Package, by winning his second WSOP Circuit ring in his own backyard, Gannon punched his ticket to WSOP Paradise 2026, and plans on making the trip to compete in the $2,750 No-Limit Hold’em WSOP Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty, which features a $3,000,000 prize pool guarantee.

With WSOP Paradise 2026 nearly a month away, we sat down with Gannon to chat about becoming a poker live reporter, winning his second WSOP Circuit ring, and why he is making his first trip to the Bahamas.

Liam Gannon live reporting at the 2024 WSOP.

Poker Fan Turned Poker Live Reporter

A PokerGO subscriber in his teen years, Liam Gannon sought out whatever poker content he could find despite not yet being old enough to play in casinos.

“I was in my mid-teens when I found out about poker,” Gannon said. “I had heard of the game but wasn’t interested in it.”

Gannon’s first poker tournament was a $20 buy-in charity tournament he competed in at 18 years old. A 27th-place finish for $60 was enough to give him the poker tournament itch, setting the stage for not only his favorite pastime, but eventually a career.

“After that, I was very much invested in poker. I would continue to follow poker trends. I was subscribed to PokerGO, finding whatever I could on YouTube, finding all of the deep dives. I was consuming all of the poker media all while playing quite a bit.”

A few years later, when he was 22, Gannon would make his first trip to the casino to play poker, and a fateful introduction would help him dive deeper into the poker world.

Meeting PokerNews Public Relations and Media Manager and WSOP bracelet winner Chad Holloway, Gannon was invited to join the PokerNews team as a live reporter for the 2021 WSOP.

“It’s been a lot of fun. I love my time in the poker world; it’s very niche and a fun atmosphere in general.”

Since then, Gannon has had a regular presence at poker tournament series across the country as a live reporter, but with success on the felt, he slowly began playing more tournaments.

Winning a Pair of WSOP Circuit Rings

In between gigs live reporting for poker tournament series across the United States, Gannon can often be found firing poker tournaments, primarily in the Midwest.

Dedicated to the poker tournament grind, Gannon took down his first WSOP Circuit ring event in the $400 No-Limit Hold’em Mini Main at Horseshoe Council Bluffs in September 2025.

While securing his first WSOP Circuit ring was truly special for one of poker’s premier live reporters, it wasn’t until 2026 that Gannon would finally finish on top of the podium at what he considers his home casino.

Residing close to Grand Victoria Casino, despite being close to home, Gannon had historically ran poorly at the property.

Liam Gannon Finally Strikes WSOP Circuit Gold at Grand Victoria

During a deep run in a No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack event at Grand Victoria this past April, Gannon recalls the unlikely lead-up to what was one of his biggest poker tournament victories.

“I came into Day 2 of the Monster Stack with a very, very short stack,” Gannon recounted. “I joked with a friend of mine named Cody. We were both at the beginning of Day 2 and said, ‘Neither of us wants to go play that $600, do we? So let's see if we can do what we can to win this one.’”

“I got to the final two tables, and my buddy Ollie knocked me out in 18th place. I was a little disappointed. Obviously, it was one bullet; I came in really short. 18th place isn’t bad.”

“I saw that the $600 was running, but I decided I wasn’t really vibing with it, so I went to Chipotle. I came back and max late regged it.”

“Honestly, I played very tight. I was surprised, because I’m not usually that tight. I felt there were some people making big mistakes. I continued to play and got pretty lucky; with four tables left, I had a huge stack.”

Despite his chip stack eventually dwindling, Gannon would still make the final table and was set to face off with some familiar faces.

“There were some really good players at my table,” Gannon said. “Renato Spahiu was one of them, Lee Rzentkowski, and Matt Miller, who final tabled the Monster Stack over the summer.”

“These were the guys where I was like, ‘I’m familiar with their game; I know they are really, really solid.’”

“I didn’t really have any tough decisions until we were heads-up. I had very, very good cards; I can’t think of a spot that I was unsure of.”

“We get heads-up, and I have Matt outchipped, but not by a lot. He starts outplaying me heads-up, and I was like, ‘Ah, shoot, I’m gonna have to figure something out.’”

Luckily, Gannon would eventually catch Miller bluffing in a massive pot, rewarding him with the vast majority of the chips and his second WSOP Circuit ring.

Finally securing a win in his home casino, Gannon not only experienced success in an environment he had historically ran bad in, but also punched his ticket to WSOP Paradise 2026.

Liam Gannon posing with his first WSOP Circuit ring. (Photo courtesy of Poker.Org)

Why Liam Gannon is making the trip to WSOP Paradise 2026

Although Gannon won a WSOP Circuit Package for WSOP Paradise 2025, this will be the first year he attends what is shaping up to be this winter’s biggest poker tournament series.

“After last year, my sisters gave me a very well-deserved ribbing. They said, ‘What the hell are you doing?! You have a free seat to the Bahamas, and you’re not using it?’”

“So this year, I said, ‘Okay, if we win a ring, we’re going!’ I felt a little bit of FOMO the first time around, because I knew a lot of people who were down there. I want to see what I’m missing.”

Not only is Gannon looking forward to pursuing his first WSOP bracelet in the $2,750 WSOP Circuit World Championship Mystery Bounty at WSOP Paradise, but he also looks to bring his parents along to join him on the trip.

“I’m also trying to see if my parents can come down to,” Gannon said. “It would be nice if they could come, but if not, I’ll go stag. I’m looking forward to it.”

A special thank you to poker live reporter and WSOP Circuit ring winner Liam Gannon for taking the time to chat with the WSOP Team. On behalf of the WSOP, we wish Gannon and all of our WSOP Circuit ring winners attending WSOP Paradise 2026 the best of luck. We’ll see you in Paradise!