Main Headlines
The Global Poker Index Newsmakers: February 3, 2014
AMATEUR MERULLA WINS WPT TITLE AT BORGATA
- A summary of the recent accomplishments of players ranked on the Global Poker Index.
Garden City Group Updates Full Tilt Claims Process
Affiliates, FTP Pros and anyone with a government debt should check the GCG site.
- The Garden City Group (GCG) has posted new details regarding Full Tilt Pros, affiliates and those in debt to the US government.
- Notices have been sent to affiliates explaining how to participate in the claims process.
- A review of the situation regarding FTP Pros is underway and when completed, notices will be sent out and former Pros given 30 days to petition for repayments.
- Any players entitled to repayments who have a qualifying debt with the US government will have their repayments reduced by the amount of the debt.
Myroslaw Woroch, New Jersey’s Next Poker Millionaire
The biggest promotion yet in the New Jersey market ends in an extravaganza.
- Myroslaw Woroch has won the BorgataPoker and partypoker New Jersey tournament to become New Jersey’s “Next Poker Millionaire”.
- The Cedar Knolls resident takes home a $1m package of cash and tournament entries.
- Second place finisher Steven Edwards won $25k and a Borgata tournament package, and was back at the online tables the next day.
Cheaters to Get Up To Ten Years in Jail Under New UK Amendments
Amendments proposed by Lord Moyniham likely to be accepted.
- Lord Moyniham has proposed amendments to expand the section on cheating in the UK’s pending gambling bill.
- Under the amendments the maximum sentence for cheating, which would include collusion in poker tournaments, rises from two to ten years.
- The amendments are likely to be accepted before the bill becomes law later this year.
This Week in Poker Podcasts: Vanessa Selbst, FTP Remissions and Ryan van Sanford
The latest from the Pokerfuse Poker Podcast Directory.
Picks from F5 Poker:
Top 10 All-Time Money Winners Get Broken Down
The Richest turns the Hendon Mob stats into a full blown article. There are two ways you can find out who is on the top of the All Time Money list. Of course, you can go to the Hendon Mob and click a link which is constantly updated or you can check out the latest poker offering from TheRichest which helps neophytes get to know a little bit about each of the players and how they made their money.
Hands Down — Check Out These Pro Level Chip Tricks
Not that you need to perform any of these chip tricks at the table, but this bizarre video is still a pretty cool display of dexterity when it comes to manipulating a chip. There are some pro players out there that can subconsciously twirl a chip any which way, but we bet many of you would be hard pressed to recreate some of the acrobatics seen here.
Anthony Merulla — Humble In Victory At WPT Borgata Winter Open
Late blooming internet “kid” scores live championship. Little is known about the most recent World Poker Tour Champion, Anthony Merulla, but he sure gives off a good first impression in his winner’s interview with tournament director Matt Savage. Humble and gracious in victory, a content Merulla talks about his start in poker, his days as an internet “kid” and what it took to seal the deal at Borgata.
Pokernews’ Felicia Field Can’t Do Anything Right
New PokerNews personality plays up to the camera. EPT Deauville brought us the debut of new Pokernews personality Felicia Field. While by most accounts she hit home runs on a number of interviews, not everything at an event can go an interviewer’s way.
Jennifer Tilly & Phil Laak Rock The Writers Guild Red Carpet
Tilly helps to honor writer, philanthropist, poker enthusiast – Sam Simon. Poker power couple Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly were on hand at the 2014 Writers Guild Awards this weekend so Tilly could present her ex-husband, Sam Simon, co-creator of The Simpsons and well-known poker enthusiast, with the 2014 Valentine Davies Award. The award is in recognition of “humanitarian efforts and community service on behalf of writers.”
Annette Obrestad Likes To Go Wild, Just Not In Tournaments
“Go to the zoo.” Another Pokernews video from Kristy Arnett, another bit of advice being dished out by WSOPE Champ Annette Obrestad. In this video Arnett talks to one time (and maybe still?) Lock Poker Pro Annette_15 about how her Aussie Millions Main Event is going. We find that while she may have one time had an aggro beast image, she actually takes a more measured approach to big field tournaments.
Online Legend James 'Andy McLEOD’ Obst Joins Triple COOP Club
Australian professional joins Buchanan in online greatness. Just a few days ago American online professional Shawn 'buck21’ Buchanan became the first online player to score the triple COOP: a victory in all three of PokerStars’ signature series. Now, less than a week later, Australian online legend James 'Andy McLEOD’ Obst has joined him, turning the lone feat into a two person club.
Sorel Mizzi Bombs At The Aussie Millions
World Poker Tour’s Alpha8 host Lynn Gilmartin simply wanted a sweet couples photo from the Aussie Millions player party.
Negreanu, Mercier and more Work It Out While On The Road
Apparently we’re focusing on fitness this Monday. There’s a theme going on today and it’s how to stay healthy in the game of poker. Now, for most of the grinders out there, traveling to play poker may be a small part of their poker experience but still it never hurt to be a little healthier because you can’t be in the game…if you’re dead.
Team 888’s Shane Warne Finally Becomes A True Poker Player
Team 888 Captain complains about cards and waiting on players. You may know Australian Team 888 Poker captain Shane Warne as one of history’s most famous cricketeers. If you are from the US, you probably don’t know him at all. That’s ok, after seeing this video you’ll think of him as just another poker player, a real one-of-the-guys, as Warne has his off-the-felt poker talk as good as any seasoned grinder.
Proof: God Loves Poker
All the preaching goes in pre-flop. The next time you are at a family gathering and your judgmental older sibling cracks a joke about how you should get out and see the world instead of wasting your time playing poker all the time – show them this video.
Poker Podcasts and Training Vids:
Training Video: TPE Theory: Bluffing with Andrew Brokos Tournament Poker Edge
Andrew Brokos is back with another outstanding Theory series. This time Andrew covers “Bluffing.” Ready to learn when to bluff and when to call them down? We’ve got the series for you. This is a five part series.
Training Video: Getting Slaughtered Drag The Bar
In this video nothing goes right and we consistently find ourselves running into the top of our opponents ranges and making a couple of mistakes. I talk about how difficult it is to play well when you are getting smoked
Training Video: Ghost: BalugaWhale – 2014 MSNL Live Play – Part 5 Deuces Cracked
Join along as Andrew 'BalugaWhale’ Seidman queues up 4-tables of NLHE, mixing $3/6 and $2/4, as he discusses common situations vs. loose-aggressive players and adaptations you can quickly made to improve your default strategies in loose-aggressive games.
Exclusive Articles on pokerfuse PRO:
William Hill’s Poker Coach
Software Snapshots reviews William Hill’s rebranded and stripped down Magic Hold’em odds calculator and HUD. Earlier in January William Hill, one of the top-tier brands on the iPoker network, launched Poker Coach, an odds calculator and simple HUD, free for its players.
WSOP, 888 Make Ground on PartyPoker in New Jersey
Cash game market share drops to below 50% as competitors find unseasonable January growth. PartyPoker’s lead in the New Jersey market declined in January, down to only 42% of the cash game market, due to gains by its two closest competitors.
Winamax Sends a Player to PokerStars’ EPT Deauville
First prize on the monthly leaderboard is a buyin to its competitor’s live tournament. In a curious display of partnership between the two big competitors, the top prize for Winamax’s Grand Prix challenge for January was a €5300 buyin to PokerStars’ EPT Main Event in Deauville, France.
Poker in 888’s Q4: Players Up 16%, Revenues Up 2%
The rise in poker revenues is a substantial achievement given the state of the global online poker market in 2013. Poker revenues at 888poker have increased 2% year on year, according to the fourth quarter trading update from 888 Holdings plc. While the gain may appear small, it bucks a trend of declining revenues reported by other poker operators.
