In this week’s poker news round-up we remind you that Alex Dreyfus is going to be spending more time in India, the World Poker Tour reached a landmark moment at the Legends of Poker, and much more.
There is nothing monotheist about the Global Poker League (GPL). After Season One pulled in eight million viewers, Alex Dreyfus didn’t rest on his laurels and push out a half-baked Season Two.
First came GPL China.
This week, we had GPL India.
Presently, information is scarce, but we do know there will be six competing teams covering the vastness of the world’s second most populous country.
There is no word on franchise ownership, but we do know that the teams will fill with players from the India Global Poker Index (GPI) rankings, and amateurs will also get the opportunity to qualify for a place in the league.
Dreyfus also announced, for the first time I believe, that there will be a GPL World Championships. The winner of GPL India will represent the nation in that event.
How long before we have live GPL coverage on PokerGO, only a matter of time, surely?
But before the inevitable happens, PokerGO has more original programming to fill up the virtual shelf space with the launch of Major Wager.
The reality TV show runs for five episodes starting early September. Podcast prince, Joey Ingram, acts as host, but the stars of the show are Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Brian Rast, Jeff Gross, and Samantha Abernathy.
These poker porcupines will be facing off against each other in a series of challenges including pole dancing, street performing, and golf. Poker Central teamed up with New York’s finest Roundhead Creative on the project.
World Poker Tour Billionth Hand; Brazil, and Reno
Moving from one PokerGO act to another and the World Poker Tour (WPT) debuted on the digital media channel with live streaming of the final of the WPT Legends of Poker, and what a final table it was.
Double WPT Champions, JC Tran, and “Mad” Marvin Rettenmaier joined the new Raw Deal host, Phil Hellmuth Jr. 763 players entered the event making it the second largest in event history, at the time of writing, both Tran and Hellmuth are still in the mix with four players remaining in contention for the $668,692 first prize and a seat in the season-ending Tournament of Champions.
The event was also the hotspot for the one billionth dollar paid out in WPT history. The honour went to the rookie T.J.Shepherd who received $10,405 after Allen Le eliminated him in 47th place. Shepherd earns a seat in the 2018 WPT Legends of Poker as a show of appreciation.
In other WPT news, the first-ever WPT Brazil was a resounding success. Raphael Francisquetti defeated 3,386 entrants to win the R$781,546 first prize. And Tony Piscitelli beat 264 competitors to capture the $56,468 first prize in the WPTDeepstacks Reno Summer Main Event.
PokerStars Sponsors the StreamBoat, Amend Online Satellite Rules, And Launch Personalised Videos
PokerStars was also busy this week.
The largest online poker room this side of North Korea agreed to sponsor Bill Perkins’ StreamBoat 2, and give six lucky punters the opportunity to win a trip on board his luxury yacht through a series of online home games and a freeroll.
PokerStars employees Jeff Gross, Kevin Martin, Jaime Staples, and his brother Matt join Perkins on his maritime mission. All five of them will host online Home Games on PokerStars where you can win a berth on board the StreamBoat.
Check the article out for further details.
The PokerStars Championship Barcelona ended with a beautiful story after warehouse worker Sebastian Sorensson took down the Main Event for €987,043. The PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo winner, Raffaele Sorrentino came third. Andre Akkari was fifth. Pavel Plesuv won the €25k Single Re-Entry for €406,300, with Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique finishing fifth for €129,350. Ronny Kaiser won the €10k High Roller for €735,000, and Sylvian Loosli took down the €10k Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller for €236,400.
Sorensson secured his million dollar score after winning a seat in a $215 online satellite, and more are bound to follow after PokerStars changed the rules this week. With immediate effect, players can only win a single package and seat to a live event, meaning the pros won’t be able to edge out the recreational players as quickly as they have done in the past.
Finally, PokerStars partnered with Treepodia to launch PokerStars Winning Moments, a personalised video that helps you relive the memories of your virtual achievements. The videos will be handed out to select final table attendees during the World Championship of Poker (WCOOP). The ultimate goal is to provide them to anyone who records an ITM finish 100x buy-in level.
Check out the finer details, and get a look at an example video right here.
Partypoker Release Powerfest Schedule, Sponsor Charity Event, and Ambassador Leonard in Trouble
partypoker has released the finer details of the upcoming Powerfest festival.
The online poker room is offering $35m in guaranteed prize money, spread over 330 games, including 12 Championship events, with over $13m guaranteed. There are also four incredible promotions, and you can up on the nitty gritty, right here.
Charity will be at the forefront of people’s minds when they visit the Gleneagles Hotel in Killarney for the partypoker Grand Prix in early September. Spearheaded by partypoker Ambassador Padraig Parkinson, and working alongside the Cue Club, and Northern/Celtic Poker, the group will hold a €120 buy-in charity event with the proceeds earmarked for Dublin’s Capuchin Centre, and Pieta House, the Suicide and Self-Harm Crisis Centre.
And finally, partypoker Ambassador Patrick Leonard made a deep run in the PokerStars Championship Barcelona Main Event, finishing 40th, but perhaps he should stick to partypoker LIVE events.
Leonard hit the headlines after appearing to angle Luigi Shehadeh in a hand played around the time of the money bubble. PokerStars circulated a video of the clip, and PokerStars Team Pro Daniel Negreanu pinned a poll on the incident at the head of his Twitter account.
I write about the whole sorry mess, right here.
Bits and Bobs
888 was hit with a hefty $10m penalty from the UK Gambling Commission after it came to light that the online gambling company allowed 7,000 self-excluded players to continue depositing and playing. 888 denied the issue was revenue related, and instead stated it was a ‘technical glitch.’
The ‘technical glitch’ occurred between Oct 2015 & Sep 2016, and the money deposited was in the region of $3.5m. Those who dumped their cash on the site will see it returned.
Jeremy Meachem took down the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event in Foxwoods for $156,735. Hakim Zoufri won the WSOPC Rotterdam High Roller for €69,888. And Russell Betts won the Unibet Uk Poker Tour Nottingham Main Event for £8,966.
If you’re interested in playing poker using cryptocurrency, then check out the piece I wrote about Cash Poker Pro, and Dominik Nitsche was our guest on Poker Routines this week.
Time ladies & gentlemen, please.
Someone has just called the clock.
