A week’s worth of poker news condensed into less than 700 words including partnerships between PokerStars and the World Poker Tour, 888Poker & Poker Central, and Poker Vision and the Canadian Poker Tour.
After working together behind the scenes for many years, PokerStars and the World Poker Tour (WPT) have emerged from behind the curtain and joined forces in a bid to increase attendance at two European-based festivals.
The PokerStars Championships WPT MonteDam Swing is a hit right out of the WPT California Swing jukebox, with prizes to be won for the people who accumulate the most points by cashing in events held at both the PokerStars Championships in Monte Carlo and the WPT festival in Amsterdam.
The partnership is a smart move. Attendances at the two previous PokerStars Championships have been less than stellar, and the WPT European events never pull in the crowds like the brand does Stateside.
To win a prize, you have to have cashed in both festivals and a particular number of high-level events. You can check out the guts of the promotion, here.
Live Tournament News
Season XVI of the WPT has begun in a brand spanking new venue after hosting an event in mainland China. WPT Beijing attracted 400 entrants, and Pete Yanhan Chen won the $299,485 first prize. Former PokerStars Team Pro Bryan Huang finished sixth.
888Poker and Poker Central have agreed to terms that will see the second largest online poker room this side of the moon installed as the premier sponsor of the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) for the second successive year.
It’s not the only link between 888Poker and the SHRB. 888Poker Ambassadors Kara Scott and Dominik Nitsche will also be at the Aria when the $300,000 buy-in event takes place. Scott will act as host, and Nitsche will be trying to win the $6m first prize.
The partypoker LIVE MILLIONS is underway at Dusk till Dawn (DTD) in Nottingham. The £5,300 buy-in Main Event attracted 2,705 Phase 1 Live Entrants, and 4,062 Phase 1 Online Entrants, of which 676 qualified for the £5,300 buy-in Day 1. Add that to the 564 players who bought directly on Day 1, and you get a field of 1,240 entrants and £6,017,395 in prize money (net). At the time of writing the action is midway through Day 2, and everyone who qualifies for Day 3 will be paid.
There is one partypoker LIVE MILLIONS event that is done and dusted, and that’s the £10,300 buy-in High Roller. The winner, and proud owner of £284,210 is Vojtech Ruzicka. The former Nov Niner defeated 110 entrants to take the title after carving out a deal with Bartlomiej Machon which saw the Pole taking home £220,790. Tom Hall (3rd), Joao Simao (5th), Jason Wheeler (6th), and Stefan Schillhabel (8th) also made the final table.
From the UK to Canada and PokerVision Media Inc were in the news this week after confirming their intention to produce and broadcast both the Canadian Open Poker Championship (COPC) and the Canadian Poker Tour National Poker Championships later this year.
And the most famous Canadian poker player in the world was earning a crust this week. Daniel Negreanu finished runner-up to Ben Lamb in the inaugural $25,400 Ten-Game Mix High Roller in the Bellagio for $175,000; Lamb picked up $281,250 for the win.
And finally, players owed money from the Player’s Poker Championships (PPC) were dealt a blow this week when co-founder Bryan Oulton filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Court filings showed that Oulton owed over $890,000 to creditors while only having $414k in assets. You can do the math. If the court sides with him a lot of people are going to be outraged.
Online Poker News
PokerStars launched Spin & Go Pot-Limit Omaha games this week. PLO enthusiasts can play the new derivative at the $1, $3, $7 and $15 buy-in levels. And Phil Ivey called time on the Ivey League. The online poker training site will shut on May 1 with the team citing the current state of online poker as the primary reason.
Time Ladies & Gentlemen, please.
Someone just called the clock.
