PokerStars TV to return to US live streaming audience, politics and poker peeve some people, and New Jersey Assemblyman Ralph R. Caputo is not a PokerStars fan.
US fans of the PokerStars product are in for a treat, after the Red Spade inked a deal with the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO), to provide live stream coverage of both the $10 million guaranteed Main Event and the $100K Super High Roller.
It’s the couple’s second piece of business, this month, after their initial bear hug saw PokerStars agreeing to allow players to buy-in online through their Stars account for the live $10 million buy-in event.
It’s going to be the first time PokerStars has streamed coverage of a US event since 2010, and comes after the Amaya CEO, David Baazov, talked about the strategy to create more relationships with brick and mortar establishments to grow brand awareness in North America.
PokerStars TV are currently camped in the Catalan capital of Barcelona as EPT100 continues to break all kinds of records.
Politics & Poker Peeve Some People
One thing is for sure.
Players who make it to the final table of both those SHRPO events will not be wearing political propaganda on their t-shirts.
Eric Hollreiser, head of corporate communications, for the Rational Group, was forced to issue an apology after several viewers took to social media to complain about the ‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Save Palestine’ t-shirts that Olivier Busquet and Dan Colman wore at the final table of the €50K SHR at EPT Barcelona.
One of the complainants was the owner of the CardPlayer Lifestyle blog, Rob Strazynski, who tweeted, “Doesn’t matter what ‘side’ you’re on. #EPTLive is embarrassing itself by allowing @DanielColman_ & @Olivierbusquet to wear those t-shirts.”
Hollreiser responded: “In retrospect it was a mistake to allow them entry. Our tournaments are designed to promote poker and poker competition and not as a platform for political statements. Players have many channels to express their views on world politics, but our tournaments are not an appropriate place. We will refuse entry to any player displaying political statements of any kind.”
It’s not the first time that high profile poker players have gotten involved in the Gaza Strip conflict, and once again it was the PokerStars brand that was associated with the confab, after their main man, Daniel Negreanu, tweeted, “For the record I’m 100% pro-Israel defending themselves against terrorist groups like Hamas and you aren’t going to change my mind on twitter.”
Negreanu’s views received a lot of exposure due to his prominence within the poker industry, and Busquet and Colman also gained maximum exposure after the pair finished first and second in that event.
Ralph R. Caput is not a PokerStars Fan
Talking about conflict.
Ralph R. Caputo recently penned an opinion piece for NewJersey.com where he made it very clear that he is not a PokerStars fan.
The New Jersey General Assemblyman seems to be very angry that the Amaya Gaming acquisition looks likely to push PokerStars into the New Jersey iGaming space through the back door.
Caputo referred to PokerStars as ‘the disgraced online gambling giant’, called them a ‘questionable firm’ and said that they had a ‘checkered history.’
Perhaps, his research team failed to mention that the largest online poker room has over 65 million happy customers, with 11 licenses in locations such as Malta, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, and the land of their well guarded servers, the Isle of Man.
Now that’s what I call respect on a global scale.
Caputo’s angst seems to stem from the fact that Amaya Gaming won’t have to go through the stringent vetting approach that a brick and mortar casino would. Online casino’s need only be licensed as a vendor.
“But new ownership aside, of all the online gambling outfits hoping to get a piece of the New Jersey pie, PokerStars’ hands may be the dirtiest.”
Now, now Mr. Caputo.
