Since Governor Steve Sisolak closed the entirety of the Nevada casino industry in mid-March, the streets of Las Vegas have gone dark. No massive LED board entertaining the patrons at the Fremont Street Experience. None of the glitz or glamor of the Las Vegas Strip or the fountains spewing in all their grandeur at the… Read more »
The COVID-19 outbreak and resulting shutdown of society has resulted in changes across the board. Poker, on a live basis in a casino or card room, has been closed for the last two months. Now, as rooms and casinos are beginning to open, one segment of the game – tournament poker – is slowly beginning… Read more »
It is one of the great things to discuss around the bar or during a home game when the drinks and chips are flying. “Who is the greatest poker player of all-time? Who is the G.O.A.T. in poker?” There have been plenty of people who have tried to quantify that answer but, in all honesty,… Read more »
It seems that the COVID-19 pandemic has made a lot of professional poker players either A) very bored, or B) not very bright regarding the seriousness of the situation. The online “ghosting” sessions of Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates and other high stakes pros has once again put a black eye on the game. But it is… Read more »
I am not one to ride the gossip train, so while I read about Bill Perkins accusing some unnamed poker pro of cheating in an online home game and then Dan Bilzerian calling someone out by name, I decided not to write about it because the whole thing still felt very “rumory” to me. Just… Read more »
The second heads-up challenge went significantly more smoothly for Phil Galfond than did the first one. On Tuesday, Galfond wrapped up his challenge against Ioannis “ActionFreak” Kontonatsios, coming out on top with a €114,765.66 profit. It was a similar setup to the one against VeniVidi1993, just shortly and for higher stakes. The game was €150/€300… Read more »
$135,000 to charity The poker world is stepping for a good cause once again. On Thursday, May 28 at 8:00pm ET, the King’s Celebrity Poker Challenge on ClubWPT will premiere Twitch. Simulcast are multiple Twitch channels, including Budweiser and World Surf League, the two-hour special will feature six celebrities competing in a poker match to… Read more »
PokerStars released an interesting new mobile app today for iOS and Android called Poker DoJo. And even more interesting, it is actually for poker players in the United States (and the UK). Poker DoJo is a poker training app targeted to novice players. It focuses on understanding hand strength using three mini-games. Aside from the… Read more »
Long-awaited announcement has arrived Nevada locals and tourists yearning for a trip to Las Vegas can finally get excited. On Friday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak announced via a press release that “pending the evaluation of trends in Nevada’s COVID-19 data,” he will allow the state’s casinos to reopen on June 4. Casinos have been closed… Read more »
Fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues in the poker world, as the World Series of Poker announced on Saturday that the WSOP Circuit-ending Global Casino Championship has been moved entirely online. It was originally scheduled to be held at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina August 11-13. The Global Casino Championship will now take place… Read more »
There have been many activities, including major sporting events like the 2020 Olympics, the Kentucky Derby and the Indianapolis 500 that have been postponed until later in this year or 2021. There is a bigger list of events that have been canceled outright. Thus, it comes as little surprise that PokerStars announced this morning that… Read more »
Opening night for the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa was a huge success, especially if you look at just the poker room. Running at only half-capacity, the 46-seat poker room had a running list all night and apparently went off without a hitch. On the other end of the spectrum, however, is… Read more »
After two months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida’s poker rooms and, perhaps more importantly, the Seminole Indians casino system will begin the slow process of reopening their properties. In these reopenings, there is an extreme importance placed on the cleanliness of the properties and keeping the players distant from each other. For… Read more »
It’s a busy week in the online poker world with the Main Event of the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and the WPT Online Championship wrapping up and the GGPoker WSOP Super Circuit Online Series in full swing. PokerStars, in particular, has had a hell of a lot of action, setting records all… Read more »
MPN closes its doors Though online poker is booming right now, there is a bit of a dark cloud hanging over those of us who have been in the industry for a long time. Today, Wednesday, May 20, is the first day in over 17 years that MPN is not dealing any cards. MPN, a… Read more »
Casino jumped the gun A California casino was shut down by the governor for violating the state’s lockdown order just a day after it reopened. The Towers Casino in Grass Valley excitedly announced on its Facebook page that it was open on Monday after being closed for two months. Unfortunately for the casino, it was… Read more »
Governor believes tribes are jumping the gun As casinos around the United States are starting to reopen after two months of closure, California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to some Native American tribes to reconsider. On Friday, he asked the tribes that operate three casinos to think twice about getting back to business. Most tribal casinos… Read more »
If only he could go back From the “most of us missed this jaw-dropper” files, Doyle Brunson made it known late last week that he turned down a king’s ransom about a decade ago for his online poker room, Doyle’s Room. Responding to a tweet from Rounders and Billions co-creator Brian Koppleman, Brunson said he… Read more »
As the decision to “reopen the economy” during the COVID-19 pandemic is up to state governments largely because of the lack of a plan on the federal level, different states are naturally doing different things. Wise or not (mostly not, probably), many states are trying to return to some semblance of “normalcy.” For some, regular… Read more »
If there is one good thing that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, it is that plenty of people have found their way to online poker. For the second consecutive month, the state of New Jersey has set a record for the “take,” or revenues, in the month of April. As there… Read more »
If you really want to go back in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment (then known as the World Wrestling Federation before they changed their name so they wouldn’t be confused with a sanctioned sport), legendary wrestler “Hulk” Hogan had a catchphrase of “Hulkamania.” He would often state how “Hulkamania is RUNNING WILD!!” Today, the… Read more »
After over two months of complete shutdown in society from the COVID-19 pandemic, many places in the States of America are beginning to entertain the notion of opening themselves up and trying to reestablish “normal” life. For many, this might entail the casinos and card rooms across the country. But different casinos and poker rooms… Read more »
Nearly half a year after its intentions were announced, Ladbrokes Poker finally made the move from the iPoker Network to the partypoker Network this week. Players were told on Monday, May 11 that the move was imminent and the jump occurred on Tuesday. While player funds were transferred in the move, unfortunately loyalty points earned… Read more »
Online poker is one of the few industries that is doing well during this horrible COVID-19 pandemic. With everyone staying home the last couple months, more people have spent time playing poker on the internet. It makes sense. Naturally, there has also been concern that more opportunity to gamble online during the worldwide lockdowns could… Read more »
The heist A man who robbed the home of the World Series of Poker in 2011 has been arrested by the FBI’s L.A. Fugitive Task Force. FBI Los Angeles tweeted the news on Monday, saying that Steven Gao is now awaiting extradition to Las Vegas. Gao was a problem gambler and owed his friend Edward… Read more »
