Another round-up of weekly poker news including all of the winners from the World Series of Poker, a recap from 888Live Barcelona and much more.
Another’s weekly dose of poker news is about to drop on the floor with the same grace as bits and pieces that fall from a rhino’s foot caked
in mud, beginning at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Elio Fox leads the Player of the Year (POY) race with nine events resigned to history. Fox himself won the first one when he took down Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty for $393,693 before finishing runner-up to Nick Petrangelo in Event #5: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller for $1.8m; Petrangelo scooped $2.9m for the win.
Jordan Hufty was in tears when he took down Event #1: $565 Casino Employees Event No-Limit Hold’em for $61,909. Joe Cada won his third bracelet when he took down Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout for $226,218, and joining him on that number was Paul Volpe, beating Eli Elezra, heads-up, to win Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for $417,921.
Julien Martini hit the mark for the French when he won Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $239,771. Johannes Becker won his first bracelet after winning Event #8: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball and William “Twoopair” Reymond took down Event #10: $365 WSOP.com Online No-Limit Hold’em for $154,996.
Anyone walking through the Rio hallway knows that glancing sideways at the stalls is the wrong move, but this year there seems to be something more sinister going on.
Joey “Poker Policeman” Ingram released a video on his YouTube channel demanding that someone do something about cell phone salespeople sexually harassing female poker players and generally being a pain in the arse. Kristy Arnett backed up Ingram’s claims by claiming those in question made her feel ‘uncomfortable.’ The WSOP responded by saying they couldn’t do much about it except inform the company, which it did.
888Live Barcelona
I spent the week, not in Vegas, but in Barcelona.
The folks at 888Poker invited me to soak in the atmosphere in what was their most successful visit to Barcelona to date.
Players at 888Live Barcelona created more than $850,000 in prize money. The highlights included an 829 runner opening event won by Luka Cencelj who turned €220 into €24,650. Maria Lampropulos became the second female player to win an 888Live High Roller when she won the 113 entrant event for €63,000 and a WSOP Crazy Eights package (Ana Marquez took down the Bucharest title).
The €1,100 buy-in Main Event pulled in 709 entrants, beating the 2017 field by more than 100 entrants. Barcelona’s right back, Aleix Vidal even popped in for a game. The winner was Romania’s Adrian Costin Constantin who cut a deal with Joel Isla to bank €114,025 apiece. The defending champion Luigi Andrea Shehadeh finished seventh.
I talked about high roller politics with the former World Champion Martin Jacobson, learned about Sofia Lovgren’s new Singaporean start-up, and talked about all things Twitch with Cortney Gee.
Natalie Hof talked of the positive influence of Eckhart Tolle; Ana Marquez gave us a reminder that poker can burn you out, and Vivian Saliba took time out from her birthday celebrations to share her love for the game.
Fernando Pons joined the ambassadorial team, and I gave further insight into the 8-Team promotion after the online poker room announced Team Russia’s involvement spearheaded by Arseniy “Josef_Shvejk” Karmatskiy.
There will be more coverage next week.
Bits and Pieces
One 888Poker ambassador I didn’t manage to sit down, and sweat was Chris Moorman. The Brit was back home in Las Vegas taking down the Wynn Summer Classic for $55,805. And the double WSOP Main Event final tablist Antoine Saout also took down a biggie outside of the Rio when he won a $600 buy-in event at the Venetian for $137,504.
The Poker Masters will return for a second season in September. There will be seven events (6 * $10k and a $50k). A Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event has sneaked into the schedule, and players can re-enter the $10k, but not the $50k. The same cash equals points equal prizes rules are in situ. Last year’s winner Steffen Sontheimer took down the event after making four final tables, winning two, and collecting $2.7m.
Rapid Fire
Bill Perkins is writing a book on how to optimise your life. Cate Hall told her Twitter followers that she might be done with poker after the summer. Match Indian Poker League founder Raj Kundra was back in court, this time as a witness in a cryptocurrency scandal he said has nothing to do with him. India’s Poker Sports League (PSL) signed a deal with Discovery Asia-Pacific to broadcast the Season 2 finals on DSports. partypoker finally merged French and Spanish markets, and the voting has begun for the 2018 Poker Hall of Fame.
Time ladies and gentlemen.
Someone has called the clock.
