When PokerStars announced last week the elimination of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and creation of the PokerStars Championship (the new home for most of the EPT tour stops) and PokerStars Festival, many assumed that the Aussie Millions was not going to be included in the new tours because the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT),… Read more »
Month: August 2016
2016 WPT Legends of Poker Main Event Day 3: William Vo is Happy
Just thirteen players remain from the original field of 687 as the World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event moves into its penultimate day. Day 3 moved along swiftly; the plan was to play through Level 24 or until there were eighteen players remaining, whichever was sooner – we can see how quickly… Read more »
ESPN Releases WSOP Broadcast Schedule
A week from today marks the beginning of ESPN’s fall coverage of the 2016 World Series of Poker; within the past week, the “Worldwide Leader” released the complete schedule for the weekly broadcasts. Oh, how times have changed. Whereas a decade ago, we might have seen a number of preliminary events in addition to the… Read more »
2016 WPT Legends of Poker Day 2: Money Bubble Bursts, Kottler Over a Million
The survivors of the two Day 1 flights came together on Monday (along with some late additions) for Day 2 of the 2016 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event. The field just made it into the money yesterday, so most of the 67 remaining players should have slept fairly peacefully, knowing that… Read more »
FanDuel, Yahoo Launch DFS Contests in Season-Long Wrappers
Following DraftKings’ launch of a new daily/season-long hybrid game, rivals FanDuel and Yahoo! have introduced their own versions of DFS with a season-long flavor. FanDuel’s is called “Friends Mode” while Yahoo’s is the “Yahoo Cup.” We’ll start with FanDuel’s Friends Mode, as it most closely mirror’s DraftKing’s Leagues. Really, it is just about the same… Read more »
WPT Legends of Poker Day 1A: James Woods Escapes Chip Leader Reuben Hoang
The World Poker Tour Legends of Poker Main Event got underway this weekend at the famed Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California (you thought I was going to double-dip and call it legendary, didn’t you?). Two Day 1 flights are in the books and leading the charge into Day 2 is Reuben Hoang with 232,300… Read more »
Sebastian Malec Wins EPT Barcelona Main Event Championship, Connor Drinan High Roller Victor
Wrapping up a successful start for their 13th season, the European Poker Tour crowned two champions on Sunday at the Casino Barcelona in Spain. In the €5000 Main Event, Sebastian Malec took the lead early on and wouldn’t let it go, while the €10,000 High Roller saw Connor Drinan emerge from a strong pack of… Read more »
Forbes Examines Similarities Between Esports and Poker
In the world of business, there is always that quest in finding the “next big thing.” With this point in mind, the business and finance magazine Forbes is looking into what many are saying will be the “next big thing” – Esports – and comparing it with what now appears to be “old news” –… Read more »
Antigua and Barbuda Prepare to Enact Their Revenge on the U. S. for its Stance on Internet Poker
After more than a decade of negotiations that have, to this point, proven fruitless, the Caribbean countries of Antigua and Barbuda are preparing to enact their rights to “even the playing field” with the United States over its stance regarding online poker and gaming. Earlier this summer, the governments of Antigua and Barbuda received an… Read more »
PokerStars to Re-brand EPT, Launch PokerStars Championship and PokerStars Festival
The thirteenth season of the European Poker Tour (EPT) has started and fans better enjoy it while it lasts, as starting next year, the EPT, at least in name, will be gone. PokerStars announced this morning the creation of two new poker tours, the PokerStars Championship and the PokerStars Festival. The EPT is not so… Read more »
2016 EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 1B: Huge Turnout Breaks Records
Yesterday, I made the understatement of the week when predicting the Day 1B turnout at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event: “The total field should climb well over 1,000 runners; the first starting flight is almost always the smallest.” AS IT TURNED OUT…Day 1B eclipsed the 1,000 player mark all by itself, drawing… Read more »
California Online Poker Bill Appears Dead for 2016
In some of the least surprising news ever, it appears that online poker legislation will not be going anywhere in California this year. There actually had been some solid headway made in the last several months, but as usual, different stakeholder groups could not come together on a final compromise, so Assemblyman Adam Gray’s AB… Read more »
EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 1A: Alex Brand First Main Event Leader of Season 13
The European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Barcelona Main Event kicked off Monday, the first Main Event of EPT Season 13. It was a healthy turnout for Day 1A, as 466 players paid the €5,300 to take a shot at the season’s first big title. The total field should climb well over 1,000 runners; the first starting… Read more »
888, Rank Quitting the William Hill Chase
As former President George W. Bush once so confidently said, “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” Or something like that. After two futile attempts to acquire… Read more »
EPT Season 13 Begins With New Payout Structure
The thirteenth season of the European Poker Tour (EPT) has started and today marked the opening of the season’s first Main Event, at EPT Barcelona. More on the tournament itself in a later article, but for now, one of the more interesting bits of news coming out of the EPT recently was that PokerStars, which… Read more »
World Poker Tour, FOX Sports Agree to Five-Year Extension of Contract
In what was an unprecedented length for renegotiating a deal, the World Poker Tour and FOX Sports reached agreement on what is essentially a five-year extension of the contract between the two entities. After previously having deals for two or three years, the five-year commitment from FOX Sports harkens back to the early years of… Read more »
DraftKings Launches Leagues
Love daily fantasy sports but aren’t thrilled with the “daily” part of it? Well DraftKings has just the thing for you. Kind of. It is still “daily” fantasy sports, but DraftKings’ new “Leagues” injects the added twist of being able to play all season long with your buddies! Traditional fantasy sports are great fun. You… Read more »
Jason Koon Wins 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event
I once played in a live poker tournament at the same table as my brother. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to take his money and I sure as hell didn’t want him to take mine. I once got seated at the same table as my BOSS and proceeded to take his buy-in and… Read more »
Sorel Mizzi Cheats Online Again, Gets Banned from PokerStars
According to a report from PokerFuse.com, professional poker player Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi has once again been banned from PokerStars, this time for playing on the site from the United States on other player’s account. The story of Mizzi’s rules violation dates back to February 2016, when a poster went on Two Plus Two and alleged… Read more »
888 & Rank Increase Offer to Buy William Hill, Rejected Once More
On Monday, 888 Holdings and The Rank Group announced that they made a second proposal to acquire William Hill. William Hill announced, in turn, that it has rejected the offer. The “Revised Proposal” comes just six days after the initial proposal from 888 and Rank. Both bids had two pieces: cash and stock. The new… Read more »
Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Final Table Set
It was a relatively short day at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) as it took fewer than eight hours for the Day 3 field of 38 players to be narrowed to the final table of nine. Yes, I know that normally, a… Read more »
Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event Day 2: Patrick Eskandar Nears 2 Million
The remaining players are already in the money after Day 2 of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) as just 38 still have chips and 150 of the original 847 runners were scheduled to cash. And as Earl Burton explained yesterday, those who participated had the added benefit of some sweet, sweet overlay; the… Read more »
Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event Fails to Meet Guarantee, Joe Serock Leads After Day 1
The 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event is off and running, breaking the post-World Series of Poker doldrums and kicking tournament poker back into action for the second half of the year. Although the tournament failed to meet its guarantee, a quality field still turned out for Day 1, ensuring an entertaining tournament… Read more »
Global Poker League Moves Playoffs, World Championship To Las Vegas
When it was conceived, the Alexandre Dreyfus-driven Global Poker League looked as if it would be “The One” attempt at making poker more “sport-like” that survived when others failed. A recent announcement has cast some doubt on that, however, as the GPL looks to end its inaugural season on a high note. According to Will… Read more »
Amaya Gaming Announces 2nd Quarter Financials, Appoints New CEO
In a press release on Friday morning, the powerhouse online gaming company Amaya Gaming – the owners of PokerStars, among other things – released their pertinent financial data for the second quarter of 2016. At the same time, the company quietly announced a change at the top of the company, removing the ‘interim’ title from… Read more »