Infiniti Poker goes live in February; Yoshitaka Okawa takes down Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon; Patrik Antonius returns to Full Tilt

infiniti to go live in feb use bitcoinsAfter months of playing their own version of whack-a-mole, Infiniti Poker is finally moving past its beta stage this February when it officially goes live after months of beta testing that initially began in November. Infiniti Poker’s launch is all the more important because it becomes one of the first online poker rooms to offer Bitcoin and other forms of currency to US-based poker players.

Infiniti’s decision to partner with Bitcoin comes in large part because of the latter’s capability to create an interface that makes it real friendly for players who are looking for a payment processor with quick payout times, thus paving the way for an alternative means of transaction that could potentially eschew certain payment processing issues. That’s always been an issue for US players so Inifiniti is using Bitcoin because, according to founder and CEO Michael Hajduk, this option is among the safest payment methods for US-based poker players.

“Because we’re using Bitcoin, we’re not using U.S. banks—it’s all peer-to-peer,” Hajduk told Business Week. “In the worst case scenarion, if [the DOJ] seize our domain name your Bitcoin will be safe because there’s no central authority controlling the currency and thus it cannot be frozen by any third party.”

There’s still a lot of work to be done to introduce Bitcoin, not just to US-based poker players, but the entire population for that matter. It’s already doing its part because its currently available now in a number of land-based stores, including Duane Reade, 7-Eleven, and Wal-Mart. Anybody from the US who wishes to play online poker will only be able to do so at Infiniti Poker using this alternative currency. At the very least, it’s worth looking into if you’re a US-based player looking to scratch that poker itch.

Yoshitaka Okawa wins Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon 2013

Over on the other side of the world, Japanese poker player Yoshitaka Okawa took down the prestigious Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon 2013, surviving 18 players who made up the two final tables of the tournament. Thanks to his conquest, Okawa not only lay claim to being a winner of the prestigious tournament, but also pocket a cool sum of HK$1,123,000. Not too bad for a guy who had to work doubly hard to beat out a field of 18 platers on his way to winning the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon 2013.

Patrik Antonius returns to Full Tilt Poker

Finally, one of the world’s biggest poker stars, and a one-time regular at Full Tilt tables, Patrik Antonius, has returned to the online felt looking to re-ingratiate himself to the reborn – and now PokerStars-owned – online poker room. Antonius joins a list of high-profile poker players that have returned to Full Tilt; it’s  list that includes Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Gus Hansen, Tom Dwan, and Phil Ivey. Antonius’ return to Full Tilt didn’t get off on the right foot after losing an estimated $300,000 in his first session back. But now that he’s had a chance to get his feet wet and re-climate himself to his remodeled surroundings, Antonius is back in the black after rebounding with a $485,000 winning session.

Now that Antonius is back in the fold, it’ll only be a matter of time before he and Blom resume their legendary showdowns on the site, including one hand wherein the former took down the latter for an astounding $1,356,947, still considered as the largest hand ever played on the Internet. Here’s to hoping the two’s paths cross at least one more time. That, in itself, is reason to sit down, watch, and grab the popcorn.