Welcome to the January 14th edition of the Poker News Daily weekly news update. I’m your host Sean Gibson and I’ll be recapping the week in the world of poker.
This week, it was officially announced that two thousand ten World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel had joined Team PokerStars Pro. With the sponsorship from PokerStars, Duhamel is expected to be in attendance for many of the top tournaments in the world. Currently, he is in action at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.
Duhamel is the latest WSOP Main Event champion to join PokerStars’ formidable lineup. Over the past ten years, the number one site in the industry has been able to sign Main Event champions like Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, and Joe Cada.
Former UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth started last weekend off with a bang by meeting with Full Tilt Poker officials at the Wynn in Las Vegas. The get-together came a little over one week following his departure from UB.com, where he served as one of the main faces for nearly a decade.
Hellmuth announced his meeting with Full Tilt to the world by Tweeting…
“Now meeting w Full Tilt Poker! At SW Steakhouse bar at Wynn.”
While Annie Duke, who left UB.com on the same day as Hellmuth, told Poker News Daily that she would not be signing with another online poker site, Hellmuth could be finding a new home in the near future.
Last Saturday, the saga over the identity of mystery Swedish online poker pro Isildur1 came to an end when PokerStars announced that it was indeed Viktor Blom. Blom arrived at Full Tilt Poker in force in two thousand and battled players including Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, and Patrik Antonius. In November of that year, Isildur1 dropped the largest pot in online poker history, worth one point three million dollars to Antonius. That December, Blom faced off against former CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings and was taken for more than four million dollars.
Since joining Team PokerStars, Blom has taken on Isaac Haxton and Tony G in SuperStar Showdown matches, with the next one soon to be announced
This week, PokerStars launched Home Games on their play money site. Players with a PokerStars account can get their own Home Games set up pretty easily. First, they’ll pick a name and assign an invitation code. After that, the player becomes the manager for the club and is charged with creating its lobby, table designs, stakes, tournaments, and cash games.
Once a club is created, the manager can invite players to the party. This is done through e-mailing potential members the club’s name and the invitation code. After the club is created, a manager can assign other members “Administrator” status, which will allow them to set up games also. You can visit PokerStars for more details.
We have even more sponsorship news for you. This week, Canadian poker pro Peter Jetten announced that he had signed a sponsorship deal with Full Tilt Poker.
The news came on Sunday prior to Jetten taking the felt at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event through his Twitter feed…
“I’m proud to announce I have signed a deal with Full Tilt Poker. Wearing the patch for the first time today.”
While not a full-fledged Team Full Tilt member, Jetten will be one of the Red Pros on the site, joining players like Michael Mizrachi and Matthew Jarvis.
Jetten has been featured televised poker shows like the PokerStars “Big Game” and now should become part of the action on the Full Tilt sponsored “Poker After Dark.” In his short tournament poker career, Jetten has earned slightly over one point eight million dollars according to the Hendon Mob database.
Monday marked a historic day for the internet gambling industry in the United States. A bill introduced by State Senator Raymond Lesniak cleared the New Jersey Assembly by a comfortable sixty three to eleven margin, with three lawmakers abstaining. Now, it heads to the desk of Republican Governor Chris Christie.
Christie now has three options. He could sign the bill into law and create the first intrastate internet gambling framework in the United States. Alternately, perhaps fearful that the measure won’t stand up to a challenge from the U.S. Department of Justice, Christie could veto it. Then, a two-thirds majority of the legislature is required to overturn the veto. Christie’s final option is not to act on the bill for forty five days, at which point it would become law.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from New Jersey.
That does it for this week in the Poker World. Stay tuned right here to Poker News Daily for the latest news and features. I’m Sean Gibson and I’ll be seeing you next week, and until then, best of luck at the tables!