Lee Davy trawls through the weekly news to bring you a summarized version of events including the release of the Season 12 European Poker Tour schedule, details of the big winners from the Season 11 European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo; news of a Polish PokerStars player winning a million bucks and much more.
I will start the weekly round up with the European Poker Tour (EPT).
The 11th Season of John Duthie’s bath time daydream is currently eating away at its Grand Final in Monte Carlo. At the time of writing the winners of the two biggest events are Erik Seidel and Mustapha Kanit.
Seidel has added €2,015,000 to his bank account. The New York legend defeated 71 entrants to take the first prize in the €100,000 Super High Roller. Kanit added €936,500 to his bank account. The Italian defeated 66 entrants to take the first prize in the €50,000 High Roller.
Seidel’s victory prompted PokerNews to ask if he was the G.O.A.T. I would have pinned him down as more of a giraffe. If, like me, you are wondering what on earth a G.O.A.T is then don’t worry. I asked my son. He told me that it was a farm animal. Then I Googled it, and found out it means, “Greatest Of All Time.”
I’m not sure I would go that far, just yet, but he is certainly on his way. His victory in Monte Carlo saw him leapfrog over Phil Ivey and Dan Colman to third position in the all-time money list. He is one of the only old school players to regularly compete, and kick ass, in the biggest events in the world. The only thing that can stop him from being a G.O.A.T is retirement. I don’t see that happening.
Now, what does M.I.L.F mean?
The arrival of the EPT Grand Final always comes accompanied with the question: “what next?”
This week, PokerStars answered that question, when they revealed their Season 12 schedule. Six events are on it, with a seventh yet to step in from the wings and take a bow. Barcelona, Prague, PCA & Monte Carlo return to the fold. Malta makes its second consecutive appearance. London and Deauville are dropped like a bad smell. Dublin appears for the first time in a very long time.
The EPT isn’t the only poker tour heading to Dublin. The Microgaming Network Poker Tour (MPNPT) has also announced plans to set up shop in the Irish capital. The MPNPT will head to the Emerald Isle once they have finished their tour of Georgia. In other MPN news, construction officially begun on their new HQ on the Isle of Man, and SBOBET joined their online poker network.
One man we won’t be seeing on the MPNPT is Scott Seiver. The American picks and chooses his tournaments wisely these days. I suspect his rotation system rules out $500 Main Events in Tbilisi and Dublin.
But he arrived in Monte Carlo in time to celebrate becoming the ninth player to hit the top of the Global Poker Index (GPI) charts. The news that he was officially the best live tournament player in the world gave him a little kick. He made the final table of the €100,000 and €50,000 (finishing last in both), but recovered to win a €5k side event.
There are many ways to earn your coin in the poker world. Seiver has done it the hard way. It has taken years of dedication, hundreds of thousands of hours learning his craft, lots of folding. But there are easier ways. You can always sit in a $5 Spin & Go lottery on PokerStars, cross your fingers and pray.
That’s exactly what Polish online player: ‘bladsonpoker’ did this week. It worked as well. He won the $1m first prize after winning a three-way S&G against two other lucky blighters, each picking up $100,000 for not winning the million.
Lottery type S&G’s are proving to be rather popular. PokerStars may be doling out millions of dollars, left, right and center, but the idea was born in France. This week ARJEL released their Q1 online gambling revenue figures, and lottery S&G games were a big reason why tournament fees rose 5% to €426m in revenue.
Those ARJEL numbers may have painted a pretty picture for online tournament play. The same cannot be said of online cash games. Revenue slid 15%, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, as the regulator indicated the possibility of sharing liquidity with certain EU nations could happen in the near future.
Let’s move from online cash games to live cash games. Caesars Entertainment Corporation have advised their customers that physical cash will not be accepted in any of their live poker rooms. This enterprise wide roll out means WSOP cash game players will have to get those index fingers working out. The chip runners will be doing double time.
Last, but not least, Sheraz Nasir is the latest player to join the World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club. He stopped Lu Zhang from becoming the first female to win a WPT Main Event, when he beat her in a tough heads-up battle that lasted over three hours. Nasir picked up over $200,000 for the win.
Time, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Someone has just called the clock.
