3: barrels of pure value including the outcome of Poker Night in America’s King of The Hill, 888Poker’s initial feedback on Flopomania, and a new poker room for the Microgaming Poker Network.
It’s been a great fortnight for Phil Hellmuth Jr.
Revealed as the newest host of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Raw Deal, Hellmuth added to his fame and fortune by defeating both Doug Polk and Daniel Cates to win the $200,000 first prize, and WWE style belt, in Poker Night in America’s (PNIA) King of the Hill tournament.
The action began on Tuesday when Cates beat Frank Kassela in under ten-minutes. The speediness of the game took PNIA by surprise and had to introduce some impromptu heads-up action between Cates and Doug Polk to prevent the stream from being a mockery.
The second match, between Polk and Hellmuth, lasted a lot longer, with the 14-time World Champion advancing to the final to face Cates, in a shock victory.
The final, saw both players begin with $100,000 in casino chips and blinds at $50/$100 with 20-minute blind levels. Hellmuth won the first game; Cates evened things up before the old bull beat the young bull in an epic third game that lasted over two hours.
Check out one of the highlights of Game 3, with Hellmuth forcing Cates to lay down trips, with a queen high bluff, during a 34:1 chip deficit fight back.
Speaking to the press after the tournament ended, Hellmuth, who received his belt from Polk, told the cameras that he “never, ever, gives up.”
And Cates?
Does he believe in the power of white magic?
“This match taught me that magic is not real and I don’t believe in that shit.” Said Cates.
You can watch the full match right here:
Flopomania Feedback
On Sunday, the world’s second largest online poker room continued to light a fire under the ass of poker #Buzzkills, by introducing a new game called Flopomania.
Was it a success?
Did it flop?
According to 888Poker, the launch was a huge success, with the new game breaking a series of records.
50% more players tried Flopomania than those who tried BLAST Poker when it was first released. There was an 11% increase in active players on launch day, with the cash game action being the busiest of the year. The average number of hands seen in an hour was 15% higher than normal, and as you would expect, it broke the record for most flops seen in a day.
Flopomania is a form of Texas No-Limit Hold’em poker that removes pre-flop play, and blinds. Instead, players post an ante, and the play begins on the flop.
888Poker Ambassador, Dominik Nitsche, said he had a blast playing the new game and praised his employers for the perfect launch.
888Poker accidentally leaked the game several weeks before the actual due date. Players got to play a few games before 888Poker noticed the error and the game pulled from the virtual shelf.
Mercury Poker Joins Microgaming Poker Network in India
If you keep your ears close to the ground, you learn something new every day, and today, I learned that Microgaming Poker Network (MPN), has a network in India.
The Indian Poker Network has been in play since 2015, and until yesterday consisted of two online poker rooms: Poker Nation and Khelplay.com.
Two has since become three after Mercury Poker joined the network. A group of poker players created the Kolkata registered online poker room. Microgaming’s Director of Network Games, Jean-Luc Ferriere said he was delighted with the progress of the Indian Poker League, and vowed to support Mercury’s vision to be a thrilling platform.
