San Jose

San José, Costa Rica – October 02, 2026 -- Costa Rica has launched a free digital platform called "Discover Costa Rica," an interactive map letting students, teachers, researchers, and tourists explore the country's geography, oceans, and culture online.

The platform maps national parks, volcanoes, and ocean territory

Developed by the Country Brand essential COSTA RICA with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, the University of Costa Rica's Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology (CIMAR-UCR), and the UCR School of Geography, the tool covers national parks, islands, waterfalls, and volcanoes alongside ecosystems, protected areas, and biodiversity data. It is available in both Spanish and English.

San José, Costa Rica – October 02, 2026 -- Americas Cardroom has released a software update introducing Progressive Mystery Bounty tournaments, a Wild emoji collection, expanded Staking Tickets and broader mobile-table support.

Players choose between Mild and Wild emoji reactions

The Emoji Gallery now offers two collections: Mild (PG) and Wild (R). The Wild set adds more aggressive reactions and throwables, with each player's own setting controlling only what appears on their own screen. Emojis can be turned off entirely through Settings > Playing Experience > Gameplay.

Progressive Mystery Bounty spans multiple tournament days

The new format locks bounty play during Day 1. Once opening flights conclude, the bounty pool is randomly distributed among players advancing to Day 2. From that point, eliminating an opponent pays half of their bounty immediately, while the other half is added to the eliminator's own bounty.

Las Vegas – September 25, 2026 -- ULTRALOQ has launched a new smart lock collection that lets homeowners choose between hands-free entry using ultra-wideband sensing or tap-to-unlock digital keys stored in Apple Wallet or Samsung Wallet.

The lineup includes three models: Bolt Mission ($299.99 MSRP), Bolt Pro ($269.99 MSRP), and Latch 5 Pro ($249.99 MSRP). The collection is available now through ULTRALOQ's website and Amazon, with sales starting on The Home Depot's site in October.

Bolt Mission uses radar and UWB to detect true arrival, not just nearby phones

Billed as the industry's first UWB-enabled smart lock, Bolt Mission combines Bluetooth Low Energy discovery, UWB ranging, and radar-based presence sensing to distinguish someone approaching the door from someone simply moving inside the home. Users keep their phone in a pocket or bag while the Xthings Home app runs in the background, with no PIN entry or separate hub required.

San Jose, Costa Rica – September 22, 2026 -- Americas Cardroom's OSS XL tournament series posted another high-payout Sunday on September 20, with three Main Events still in progress as the series heads toward its close.

The $630 High Roller drew over 1,200 entries

OSS XL #215 pulled in 1,204 entries, building a $722,400 prize pool well above its $600,000 guarantee. Following a final-table deal, player slippy12 took first place for $119,923, while a6amKa4ePBb finished runner-up for $114,033.

Two smaller events also beat their guarantees

High Roller #213H generated $299,400 from 499 entries against a $250,000 guarantee, with G26 winning $59,536 after a deal. Mini Phil's Thrill #219 topped its $250,000 guarantee, reaching $260,000 from 104 entries; Infliponcio took the win for $58,500.

Seattle – September 18, 2026 -- Renters across the United States are paying $1,066 less per month than typical home buyers, according to Zillow's latest Rental Market Report, with the gap holding in all 50 largest U.S. metros.

Typical rent sits at $1,948 versus a $3,014 mortgage payment

The Zillow Observed Rent Index puts typical U.S. rent at $1,948 a month, while the typical new home buyer's monthly payment -- including taxes and insurance -- totals $3,014. That works out to $12,792 a year in savings for renters, a gap Zillow says has widened as mortgage costs rose $140 over the past six months, more than four times the $32 increase in typical rent over the same period.

San Jose, Costa Rica -- September 11, 2026 -- Americas Cardroom's Online Super Series XL generated $7,216,985 in prize pools and drew 62,847 entries during its opening four days, not counting entries from tournament flights.

From Sept. 6-9, 93 tournaments ran, completing the numbered schedule through OSS XL #70. Thirty-three of those events exceeded their guarantees by a combined $217,170.

The High Roller event delivered the series' largest prize pool so far

OSS XL #13, a $630 buy-in High Roller, drew 1,118 entries and turned its $600,000 guarantee into a $670,800 payout. Player BADGERING took first place for $130,210.

The $2,650 OSS XL #16 also surpassed its target, pulling in 203 entries for a $507,500 prize pool against a $500,000 guarantee. Following a final-table deal, NewYorkMidgets was listed as the official winner for $95,312, with KevinParCoeur taking $93,875 for second and Olivander1 earning $87,459 for third.

San Jose, Costa Rica – September 13, 2026 -- Americas Cardroom CEO Phil Nagy collected $88,800 across two tournaments on Sunday, September 6, while the site's new Final Table Replayer let players scrutinize every hand from the action.

Playing under the name Justsomefish72, Nagy finished second in the $10,300 Phil's Thrill for $78,000, drawn from a $260,000 prize pool. He also placed fifth in the $2,650 Mini Phil's Thrill for $10,800, from a $90,000 prize pool.

A new weekly PLO event drew 54 entries

Sunday marked the debut of Mini Phil's Thrill PLO, a $2,650 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament that attracted 54 entries and built a $135,000 prize pool. Americas Cardroom plans to run the event weekly. Nagy created the Phil's Thrill series so he could regularly compete against high-stakes players on the platform.

San Jose, Costa Rica – September 11, 2026 -- An online poker player known as "R88P" accidentally registered for the wrong tournament on Americas Cardroom and walked away with a $250,000 Mystery Bounty payout.

R88P intended to enter the $12 Million GTD No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Bounty Venom but instead confirmed registration for the separate $3 Million GTD Pot-Limit Omaha event. Both tournaments carried the same $2,650 buy-in and ran as distinct multi-day events.

The misclick locked the player into a different tournament

Unable to cancel the confirmed entry, R88P stayed in the PLO event and advanced to Day 2 last Monday. Mystery Bounties went active that day, with every remaining player already in the money and each knockout revealing the eliminated opponent's hidden bounty.

"Best part is I didn't mean to register PLO, misclicked only meant to play the no limit," R88P said.

San Jose, Costa Rica – September 11, 2026 -- Americas Cardroom kicks off its Online Super Series XL this Sunday, Sept. 6, running 336 tournaments through Sept. 29 with more than $50 million in combined guarantees.

Opening day alone offers six-figure guarantees across multiple buy-ins

Sunday's lineup includes a $600,000 guaranteed event at a $630 buy-in, two $500,000 guaranteed tournaments priced at $2,650 and $1,050, the $400,000 guaranteed Moneymaker at $109, and a $150,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty for $66. PKO, 6-max, PLO and PLO8 formats round out the day.

San Jose, Costa Rica – September 11, 2026 -- Americas Cardroom has crowned two champions in its Dual Mystery Bounty Venom series, with 6,030 combined entries generating $15.075 million in prize money and a $20,000 overlay pushing the total payout to $15.095 million.

Deltoid88 takes down the $12 million NLH event for $865,869.53

The No-Limit Hold'em tournament drew 4,792 entries, falling eight short of its guarantee and triggering the $20,000 overlay. Deltoid88 won $799,521.82 in regular prize money plus $66,347.71 in bounties. Runner-up Ivan Limeira, playing as chickenpastry, took home $779,154.41 after a heads-up deal adjusted the top two payouts. A total of 580 places were paid.

LavenderBrown lands the $500,000 top Mystery Bounty

Finishing 348th in the NLH event, LavenderBrown collected the tournament's largest bounty, ending with $508,220.48 overall.