In the first part of this two part series focusing on the main topics of conversation throughout the poker world in 2013, I highlighted monumental events such as New Jersey paving the way for online gambling, Full Tilt Poker returning to business, a regulated online poker market opening up in Nevada and so much more.
To close off the series here are 10 of the top stories that dominated the headlines during 2013: July to December.
1# New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey
Within months of Gov. Chris Christie waving the green light for the beginning of online poker in the state of New Jersey, partnerships between online poker sites and the brick and mortar casinos of Atlantic City started to form in a bid to provide Christie with the $1bn in tax revenue he was telling the world his iGaming business would provide him with.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, in partnership with Bwin.Party, were the first to receive an Internet gambling permit and the rest soon followed, with the likes of 888, Ultimate Gaming, PokerStars and Betfair all lining up in the dance hall trying to get a partner.
The virtual doors opened in November and the signs have been positive that it will be a great success.
2# Delaware Launch Online Gambling
With the eyes of the global gambling media firmly set on New Jersey, the smallest state of the three: Delaware, became the first U.S state to launch a fully integrated online gambling operation through the Internet gambling licenses owned by Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway.
The platform included online poker, blackjack, roulette and slots and is being operated on software provided for by 888 Holdings, who became the only online gambling operator to have their fingers deeply embedded in all three pies: Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey.
3# A Third Tier Emerges in Poker
The launch of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Alpha8 $100,000 buy-in events proved once and for all that there is now a distinct three tier structure in the world of poker.
The elite class of the Super High Roller events now have their own playground as WPT CEO Adam Pliska announced events to be held in Florida, London, St Kitts and Johannesburg.
The show would be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 and Lynn Gilmartin was brought in to not only anchor the Alpha8 shows, but to also take the place of Kimberley Lansing on the show proper after she decided to step down from her position.
Steve Silverman won the first event in Florida, before Philipp Gruissem won back-to-back events in London and St Kitts.
4# Laptop Hacking Scandals
A series of high profile hacking scandals emerged through the portal of 2+2 to put a bitter taste into the mouths of those who earned their living playing high stakes online poker.
Interestingly, it was the PokerStars brand that got a little dirt slung onto the red spade despite not having any software breaches of their own kind.
Doug ‘WCGRider’ Polk, a high stakes cash game player, had $35,000 returned to him by PokerStars after an investigation revealed that Polk’s computer had been compromised at some point, thus allowing his opponent to see his hole cards during sessions played on the Stars site.
Polk took responsibility for the hacking of his personal equipment and in no way blamed Stars.
Then at the PokerStars sponsored European Poker Tour (EPT) event in Barcelona, numerous players complained of unusual activity surrounding laptops left in their hotel room at the Arts Hotel.
The Finnish duo Jen Kyllonen and Henri Jaakkola confirmed that their laptops had been tampered with, and a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) placed into their hardware to allow remote super user access.
Take care of those laptops players.
5# Tumultuous Ending to WSOP/WSOPE
It can’t be a top poker list without news of the winner of the biggest prize in the game.
That honor went to Ryan Riess, who took home $8.3m after defeating 6,352 souls on his way to victory in the WSOP Main Event, before angering some quarters of the poker world when he declared, “I am the best in the world.”
Riess may be getting a little above his station, but one man who could claim to hold that title is Daniel Negreanu. The Canadian entered the WSOPE €25,000 High Roller event needing a huge result to take the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) title from a young Matthew Ashton who was leading after the summer series ended.
Negreanu promptly won the event to become the first player to win two WSOP POY titles, his sixth bracelet (2 in 2013) and finished the year at the head of the Global Poker Index (GPI) rankings.
6# Chris Moorman Tops the $10m Mark in Online Tournament Earnings
As Daniel Negreanu was receiving all the plaudits for his amazing performances on the dirty green baize, Chris Moorman was receiving them in equal gusto for his exploits on the virtual felt.
Moorman became the first player to top $10m in online tournament earnings after winning a $215 event on PartyPoker for $9,500 in late September.
“I’m glad to make the mark in style with a victory taking me over the line rather than a bunch of min cashes,” Moorman told PokerNews after his amazing achievement.
His win puts him at least $2.5m ahead of his nearest rival, making him the most dominant online tournament player in the games history.
7# Sheldon Adelson Forms a Coalition Against Online Poker
At the start of the year he called it a ‘Trainwreck’ and ‘Cancer Waiting to Happen’, and at the back end of the year he decided to do something about it by creating the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG), in an attempt to use his influence (billions of green) to lobby at the state and federal level to prevent the expansion of online gambling in America.
Although Adelson does make some relevant points, his reputation as a man who has earned billions through gambling entertainment creates quite a pickle for the Octogenarian.
The world waits to see what influence the CSIG will have in 2014.
8# The First Card off the Deck Rule
2013 was the year that the divide between tournament officiating and player involvement seemed at its widest, as the Tournament Directors Association (TDA) created a rule change that led to furious bouts of complaints from it’s clientele.
Daniel Negreanu was the most vocal opposition to not only the new ‘First Card off the Deck Rule’, but also the way that it was introduced by the TDA, without player’s involvement.
To make matters even more confusing for the role of the TDA, the WSOP refused to implement the rule, despite their TD Jack Effel taking his place on the board of that TDA.
9# The DGE Suspends PokerStars New Jersey License For Two Years
Let’s hope that Gov. Chris Christie $1bn online gambling tax plan wasn’t relying on the world’s largest online poker room using all of it’s experience and creativity to bring the masses to it’s New Jersey tables, after the Department of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) suspended the review of PokerStars application for an online gambling license for two years.
The DGE have stated that PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg, who is still under federal indictment from Black Friday for violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and Illegal Gambling Business Act, as the main reason for the decision.
So far Scheinberg has avoided rusty wrists by refusing to travel to the U.S to face his charges.
10# Zynga Withdraws Plans to Join the U.S Online Market
With around 40,000 players enjoying the freedom of free play online poker on Zynga on a weekly basis, many industry experts were predicting big things when Zynga announced its intentions to monetize that following.
Unfortunately, their arrival has been more ‘damp squid’ than ‘shooting star’ as their UK offerings Zynga Plus Poker and Zynga Plus Casino failing to set the world alight, followed by the decision to pull out of the U.S market completely.
The struggling company cited a need to focus on its core business of free-to-play social games as the reason for their withdrawal.
Now it’s your turn. What do you think was the biggest poker story of this time period?
