Calling the Clock: Sessions in session; Sexy studs and more

Calling the clock: sessions in session; sexy studs and more

We will begin this week’s poker news round-up, Stateside, and the possibility that online poker could be sent back to the dark ages.

Calling the clock: sessions in session; sexy studs and moreThis week, the Senate, grilled Donald Trump’s top pick for United States Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, and the Alabama man expressed his shock of the decision by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to allow online gambling to emerge post-2011.

Fortunately, Sessions suggestion that the new DOJ could revisit the 2011 Wire Act interpretation was hidden amongst other more heated topics such as his denial that he likes to dress in white and wear pointed hats with the words ‘KKK’ emblazoned in blood, that ‘waterboarding’ is a good idea and his views on same-sex marriage and abortion.

While all of that nonsense was ongoing there were a few other breaking news stories in the world of American poker. The World Poker Tour (WPT) acquired the assets of the WPTDeepStacks Poker Tour three years after the pair jumped into bed together, Kathy Leibert told Matt Savage that she thought his decision to make Will Kassouf a Shooting Star was ‘ridiculous,’ and Benjamin Gonzva and Andres Korn came out on top of the WPT National Main Events in Cambodia and Thailand.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) announced more key dates and events for the 48th Annual jaunt to the desert, including six flagship events for the six weekends in question. The world’s top poker forum TwoPlusTwo were on the end of a security breach when over 400,000 members had their personal data stolen during a hack. And a group of researchers from Universities in Alberta and Prague gazumped the University of Carnegie Mellon’s race to become the first creator of Artificial Intelligence to beat human competition in No-Limit Hold’em when an algorithm known as ‘Deepstack’ beat a group of players including the likes of Phil Laak, Fintan Gavin, and Luca Moschitta.

Partypoker News

Partypoker made a few waves this week when they announced plans to cut ties with the WPT and create an independent live global poker tour called partypoker LIVE. Each event will have the MILLIONS brand as the centrepiece. The first event takes place in Montreal in May with many more destinations planned in the future.

And Padraig Parkinson became the latest addition to the partypoker ambassadorial team when he was selected to become the face of partypoker in Ireland. Parkinson will wear the patch at The Northern Cup, Grand Prix Cork, and MILLIONS event in Dusk till Dawn.

Poker Ranking News

The Global Poker Index (GPI) confirmed that the trial algorithm used for the 2016 WSOP Player of the Year (POY) and GPI POY marathons would be rolled out across all GPI leaderboards including the GPI World Rankings. The new algorithm rewards players who run deep in large field events, and the minimum qualifying number for POY points increased to fields of 32 or more.

And 2016 GPI and Card Player POY, David Peters, is the new GPI world number one after knocking Fedor Holz off his perch for the first time in 30-successive weeks.

The World’s Sexiest Male Poker Players

 Peters also showed up in our poll to determine the world’s sexiest male poker players. Lee Davy decided to answer this all-important question after The Daily Star ran a piece carrying the headline is Melanie Weisner The Sexiest Poker Player on the Planet?

53 poker players gave their view; 67% of which were male, and 41 different super-studs received a wink and a wolf whistle. You can find out who is setting heart beats racing at live poker tournaments right here.

Paul Phua, PPIPoker and PokerStars

Finally, Paul Phua surprised everyone by opening an online poker training site this week. It’s not like he needs the money. The Poker Players International and Tain joined forces to launch a new real money online poker room called PPIPoker.net. And PokerStars busted out their new Championship live tournament series in the Bahamas.

Formerly known as the PCA, the PokerStars Championships in the Bahamas welcomed celebrities such as Kevin Hart, Aaron Paul, and Sergio Garcia. But the undisputed star of the show thus far has been Bryn Kenney.

The New York Rounders chief finished seventh in the $100k Super High Roller for $275,060, won the $50,000 High Roller for $969,075, and followed up with victory in the first-ever $25,500 High Roller with a Shot Clock for $392,876.

The $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha experiment looks to be over before it’s even begun after only four players showed up to play. Isaac Haxton and Ben Tollerene chopped the winning purse for a min-cash each.

And 16 players remain from a field of 738 entrants in the Main Event. There is $480,012 up top and Michael Gentili leads a field that contains the likes of Cliff Josephy, Ryan Riess, and Jason Mercier.

Time ladies & gentlemen,

Someone has just called the clock.