Three little tales from the tables including the announcement of ESPN’s coverage of the 2016 World Series of Poker; your last chance to vote in the PokerListings Spirit of Poker Awards; and Gus Hansen returns to the online tables.
Fans of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) only have to wait a few more weeks to get their 2016 fill.
ESPN’s coverage of the 2016 WSOP begins Tuesday, September 6 at 10 pm ET on ESPN2 with highlights of the WSOPC Global Casino Championships. The WSOP Main Event action begins Sunday, September 11, and it will end with live coverage of the three-day November Nine clash.
A familiar cast returns to deliver the action including sideline reporter Kara Scott, the commentary team of Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, and pro analysis from good friends Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak.
ESPN has promised a shiny new set, new opening sequence, and special techno-jib cameras for unique table shots.
WSOP Main Event Chip Counts
Seat 1: Jerry Wong (10,175,000)
Seat 2: Griffin Benger (26,175,000)
Seat 3: Vojtech Ruzicka (27,300,000)
Seat 4: Fernando Pons (6,150,000)
Seat 5: Qui Nguyen (67,925,000)
Seat 6: Cliff Josephy (74,600,000)
Seat 7: Michael Ruane (31,600,000)
Seat 8: Gordon Vayo (49,375,000)
Seat 9: Kenny Hallaert (43,325,000)
WSOP Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetStars)
Cliff Josephy 15/8
Qui Nguyen 5/1
Kenny Hallaert 5/1
Gordon Vayo 9/2
Griffin Benger 9/1
Vojtech Ruzicka 9/1
Michael Ruane 10/1
Jerry Wong 33/1
Fernando Pons 50/1
Votes Set to Close on 2016 PokerListings Spirit of Poker Awards
PokerListings has announced their annual search for the players who ‘bring the joy, heart, imagination, innovation, and timelessness’ to poker.
The 2016 Spirit of Poker Awards consists of three categories, and voting remains open to the general public until the end of the month.
Here are the nominations:
2016 Most Inspiring Player
Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates
Hui Chen ‘Kitty’ Kuo
Mike Leah
Fatima Moreira de Melo
Dominik Nitsche
Luca Pagano
Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
2016 Rising Star
Samantha Abernathy
Rainer Kemper
Ivan Luca
Silje Nilsen
Walter Treccarichi
2016 Living Legend
Barny Boatman
John Gale
Donnacha O’Dea
Jan Bendik
Konstantin Puchkov
My vote for the ‘Most Inspiring Player’ award goes to the Jungleman. His appearances on the Global Poker League (GPL) has inspired hope that the game can become a broadcast hit. Rainer Kempe has had a sterling year and got my vote for the ‘Rising Star.’ And Barny Boatman got my vote for the ‘Living Legend’ award. The poker community often overlooks his graft in the old days to pave the way for future sponsorship opportunities; he has two shiny gold bracelets to back up his ability and is always available to do the dirty media work.
Previous winners include Luca Moschitta, Naoya Kihara, Pierre Neuville, Dominik Panka, Thor Hansen, Shannon Shorr, Humberto Brenes, Anatoly Filatov, and Charlie Carrel.
PokerListings will reveal the winners during the 2016 Battle of Malta.
Who would get your vote?
Click here and be quick.
Gus Hansen Returns to Online Cash Game Action on PokerStars
Gus Hansen was back playing online poker last week.
The Great Dane returned to the online felt a few weeks after Daniel Negreanu blogged about competing against the former Full Tilt sponsored pro in a $1,500-$3,000 Mixed Game at The Bellagio where Negreanu lost close to half a million in prop bets.
Hansen’s return to the online tables is sure to increase the saliva count of the high stakes grinders. The three-time World Poker Tour (WPT) Champion had lost $20,737,007 playing 1,572,615 hands over a period of eight years before Full Tilt went belly-up, making him either the worst or unluckiest online cash game player alive.
Hansen returned to the PokerStars tables, where he competes as ‘broksi’, winning approx. $5.5k playing $200/$400 Triple Draw, and around $50,000 playing $300/$600 Triple Draw and FLO8.
His losses on Stars also exceeds a million bucks.
Some porn star from the 70’s just sat down in the big game at Bellagio. Never seen him before. Anyone? pic.twitter.com/rUPHLd7oDb
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) August 6, 2016
