In this week’s calling the clock we bring you the news that Aaron Paul has joined the Global Poker League, Tiger Woods has chosen Phil Hellmuth to manage his charity poker tournament, and much more.
He might be a Blowfish, but he’s our Blowfish.
Aaron Paul – AKA Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman, AKA The Path’s Eddie, AKA Hollywood superstar, has now become the most valuable asset in the Global Poker League (GPL).
After weeks of mystery, LA Sunset’s team manager, Maria Ho, finally selected her wildcard entries and alongside herself stood the handsome young man who climbed into all of our hearts when he started asking questions like, “Are we in the meth business or the money business?”
It was a great signing for the GPL. Not only does it add credibility, but it opens up the door for more celebrities to follow suit in the future. I am sure the GPL could have chosen any number of celebrity poker players. What I love about their choice is Paul obviously loves the game. His decision to rail his buddy in a Rio Deepstack is evidence of that. It’s that love that will make him such a great addition to the family.
If the GPL keeps on throwing the sharp straight jabs, then I have no doubt we will see Phil Hellmuth joining the fray when the opportunity arises. Like many other top tier pros, he decided to keep his powder dry in the first season, but this format is tailor made for the most celebrated player in WSOP history.
The man with the white magic is keeping busy, though. This week he agreed to MC for the 18th Annual Tiger Woods Charity poker tournament at the MGM Grand. David Williams, Vince Van Patten, and Lynn Gilmartin will also play, as will Woods. The winner of the charity event will get to play a round of golf with the great man.
The winner of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Tournament of Champions (TOC) will also get a seat into the Tiger Woods Charity Tournament, and this week we learned that they will also receive a brand spanking new Corvette.
That should make players happy.
You would think so, but not everyone was singing the praises of the WPT TOC this week, namely WPT Champions Club member, Jordan Cristos, who called them ‘an epic pile of shit’ after they decided to introduce the 30-second WPT Action Clock. Cristos is not the fastest of players on tour, and he has since vowed to make a mockery of the changes by deliberately making 30-seconds for every decision. The WPT have been put on notice.
PokerStars Inject Some Bounce Into New Jersey; Polk Breaks Twitch Record; SCOOP and EPT Grand Final Are Bigger Than Ever
PokerStars eagerly anticipated New Jersey launch has started in fine fettle after the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) released a set of March revenue numbers that came in 18% higher year-on-year for online gambling.
Revenue of $15.5m is $800,000 greater than the previous largest haul earned in February 2016. PokerStars didn’t set up shop until March 21, but they still managed to generate close to $598,000 in poker revenue, taking total poker revenue for the state to $2.46m, an increase of 10% year-on-year, and 25% month-on-month.
PokerStars also rolled out plans to host their first major festival in New Jersey. A draft schedule for a proposed Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) was released onto 2+2 for feedback, and the .com version of the primetime poker festival will smash a ton of records including 55 events, and a guaranteed prize pool of more than $40m. It will take some time before New Jersey clients will be able to get in on that kind of action.
The European Poker Tour (EPT), Grand Final in Monte Carlo, will also be bigger than ever. PokerStars plan to send a huge number of online qualifiers to the end of season finale. Over 300 players have already qualified online for the €5,300 Main Event, with 121 of them qualifying for just €10 playing EPT Spin & Go games.
Talking about record breakers, Doug Polk became one this week when he won $162,000 after topping the field in the $700 buy-in Kilimanjaro Mountain Series event on PokerStars while streaming live on Twitch. It’s the largest single prize a player has ever won while streaming, breaking the record of $124k previously held by Rupert Elder. Other notable victories on PokerStars came from Berlin Bears star Daniel ‘w00ki3z’ Cates, who took down the Sunday 500 for $64,798, and Marvin “Ron Jovi 7” Rettenmaier, who won the Bigger $162 for $30,051.94.
Wheeling and Dealing
Las Vegas Moneymakers star Jonathan Duhamel was in the news this week after becoming an ambassador for the Société des casinos du Québec (SCQ). The French-Canadian will represent the Quebec online gambling authority at the forthcoming World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event due to take place at the Casino de Montreal, and will also represent the brand in a series of online events.
888Poker were also dabbing ink on contracts this week. They made friends with Leon Tsoukernik over at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. The second largest online poker room in the world will sponsor the Deutsche Poker Tour (DPT) and German Championships of Poker (GCOP), as well as using the venue to host their 888Live Local events.
They also signed a deal with PokerEvent and the Swedish Poker Federation to act as partner with the online Swedish Poker Championships 2016/17. 888Poker will feature two tables per day leading up to the 29 May Main Event.
Poker And Deal or no Deal Have Sex
Poker and Deal or no Deal have had sex. The result is a new game created by the brains at Gamesys and launched on their online gambling site Virgin Games.
Wild Seat Poker is Gamesys first foray into the world of real money online poker. The game has been created with the recreational gambler in mind. The game is only available in the UK. The buy-ins are either £1 or £4. The action is 4-max. The format is winner takes all with players being allocated a mystery prize before they even sit down alas Deal or No Deal.
Well Done Son
Congratulations to Maurice Hawkins, who earlier this week predicted that he would win two titles this month before going on to win two WSOPC titles at Council Bluffs for a combined score of $140,000.
Travis Lauson won the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Main Event in Potawatomi for $129,000, after finishing second in the event the year prior. And Ruslan Dykshteyn and Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi have won side events at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown winning $185,000 and $32,899 a piece.
Time ladies & gentlemen please.
Somebody has just called the clock.
