Main Headlines

Exclusive Series: The Global Poker Index Newsmakers of the Week

This premiere edition of our new weekly series takes you around the world of tournament poker.

  • The people over at the Global Poker Index provide an update of the happening in the world of tournament poker over the last week.

Rounders Sequel Gets its Backer

Matt Damon and Edward Norton to star in Rounders 2, to be set in Paris and Las Vegas.

  • A new partnership with investment group Qatar Holding and Miramax will bring Rounders 2 and other sequels to life.
  • “I’ve discussed making Rounders 2 with Matt Damon and I would say that’s going to be instantaneous,” said American film producer Harvey Weinstein.
  • “There might be a certain beautiful Parisian actress involved in it, and then we’re off to the racetrack and Vegas with [Matt Damon] and Edward Norton, and a new super-villain to replace John Malkovich.”

PokerStars to Trial Zoom-Only Games at $50/$100 Next Month

Fast-fold only trial to commence January 1 in a bid to reduce “seating and angle-shooting meta-games” at high stakes.

  • The $50/$100 stake will be removed, with a new Zoom pool added in replacement.
  • The switch is a “trial”—rollouts to other high stakes can be expected if deemed successful.
  • “Our biggest motivation for making this change is to reduce the seating and angle-shooting meta-games that surround our current High Stakes offerings.”
  • The early response has been mixed to negative, with many concerned over the changes it will have to games.

Golden Nugget Completes Soft Launch, Approved for New Jersey Online Gaming

For now the focus is casino only with online poker expected in January 2014.

  • After voluntarily continuing to test while other New Jersey casinos opted to proceed with a full launch of internet gaming} last month, Golden Nugget looked to improve the customer experience.
  • The Golden Nugget becomes New Jersey’s seventh casino to offer online gaming
  • However, the Golden Nugget will not launch online poker until 2014.

Arizona Authorities Raid Phoenix Poker Clubs

Equipment and $5k in cash was seized, but no poker related charges have yet been brought.

  • Police and agents from the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) raided private poker clubs in Phoenix last Thursday.
  • Poker equipment, chips, eleven tables and a total of $5k in cash was confiscated. The police collected personal details from players and staff with a view to possible prosecutions.
  • The clubs have become attractive venues for players dissatisfied with the alternatives which involve playing at licensed casinos on tribal lands.

Over 1000 Entrants Break Records at EPT Prague Main Event

Less than 300 players remain in day 2 to fight over the €4,800,000 prize pool.

  • In total 1007 players bought in for €5300, making for a total prize pool of €4,883,950 and a first place prize of €889,000.
  • Players will need to last until the final 127 to squeak into the money and min-cash for €8600.
  • The six-day event plays down to the final nine on Tuesday, and a champion will be crowned from the final table on Wednesday.

Picks from F5 Poker:

WPT’s Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten: Rise and Shine it’s Workout Time

Get in shape with the Burt and Ernie of poker! Watch as Poker Hall of Fame member, Mike Sexton and his World Poker Tour broadcasting partner-in-crime, Vince Van Patten (VVP), take to the streets of the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, to get get the blood pumping and shed a few pounds.

Jeff Gross Wants to Party All The Time

Though his real birthday was last week, poker bro Antonio Esfandiari held his massive birthday bash at Marquee Nightclub in Las Vegas last night. The recently tattooed poker pro, perhaps most well known for palling around with Gold Medal Olympian Michael Phelps, looks like he had a crazy amount of fun.

Asian Poker Tour Shatters World Record

“Iron Man Challenge” keeps players in their seats. This weekend, a new Guinness World Record has been achieved by the Asian Poker Tour (APT) – Resorts World Manilla (RWM) for the longest continuous poker tournament. The $700 buy-in Iron Man Challenge had 115 sickos take their seat and play, without a single break, until a winner was crowned a full 48 hours, 55 minutes and 58.5 seconds later.

Jason Mercier: “I Am A Golden God”

Team PokerStars Pro ditches EPT Prague for warmer weather. Jason Mercier does what Jason Mercier wants. Instead of heading over to the near arctic temperatures they have in Prague right now, Jason opted to stay in Florida and root on his beloved Miami Dolphins.

Betfair New Jersey Online Slots Will Eat You Alive

New “Siberian Storm” offers “intensity & uncertainty.” There’s a lot to hope for when playing slots. Loose payouts. Double jackpots. But “The intensity & uncertainty of the Siberian wilderness” is rarely one of them. It only takes one second to realize that no one in their right mind would want that. In fact, if you were in the Siberian wilderness, the only thing you’d be gambling with: your life.

Do You Hear What I Hear? Daniel, Liv, Duhamel and more sing Xmas hits.

Check out this smart segment from PokerNews’ Sarah Grant as she baits a variety of poker personalities, including Daniel Negreanu, Liv Boeree, David Williams, David Vamplew, Dominik Nitsche, Mickey Petersen and Jonathan Duhamel (who looks like he had a little too much “egg nog”), into singing their favorite Xmas tunes on camera.

Dan “Jungleman” Cates: Takes a high-stakes beating, goes ballistic

Berates online opponent after dropping 6-figures. This news item comes from last week when high-stakes heads-up specialist Daniel “Jungleman” Cates went toe-to-toe with NLHE pro “bajskorven87” on PokerStars in a 2100 hand, three-tabling match that, according to HighStakesDB, lasted over 5 hours and found the emotionally volatile Cates a loser to the tune of roughly $130,000.

Daniel Negreanu Talks Happiness, Poker and “American Sayings”

Daniel Negreanu is unfiltered. That’s why he is loved and, on occasion, loathed. Sometimes though, even the most popular poker player on the planet needs to check himself before he wrecks himself.

Poker Podcasts and Training Vids:

Podcast: #194 – The Itsawinner Poker Podcast The Itsawinner Poker Podcast

Much laughter over the gambling rats and sugar pellets story from pokerfuse. We also give WPT results from Doyle Brunson classic. Music from Driven Serious, May Arcade and the Young Hegelians.

Podcast: Episode 59: Borgata Trip Report with Carlos Welch and Sean Lango Thinking Poker

Andrew, Carlos, and Sean share stories from their recent trip to Atlantic City. There’s plenty of strategy, from small-stakes cash game hands to big decisions in a six-handed bounty tournament and the $2700 Fall Poker Open Main Event. Plus the Nitcast Meetup, Andrew and Carlos are mistaken for bank robbers, and more!

Podcast: Mark Hoke Show on Roguewire.com #6 – 12/15/13 – The Mark Hoke Show

It’s The Mark Hoke Show live on Roguewire.com!  Guests include Matt Savage, Dutch Boyd and Double Digit Covers sports handicapper Fred Davis.

Training Video: Leatherass9’s 6-table MSNL Review Bluefire Poker

Dusty reviews a 6-table MSNL session that he recently played.

Training Video: Rivermen123 Merge/Bovada Live Sweat Tournament Poker Edge

Rivermen123 is back with a live sweat on Merge and Bovada. He makes a few deep runs and records for a long time. We’ll break this up into two series. Parts 1-6 will run now.

Training Video: QTip Replayer Video 12: Big Folds Drag The Bar

I review four hands from December where I make big folds.

Training Video: Beating Live SSNL: Deep Stacked Play Deuces Cracked

Danzasmack approaches the game with a deep stack and how this affects our play and how others perceive us.

Training Video: Final Table Part 2 By lilman2636 MoreEV

Final table part 2Play it down to heads up/ Chipping up in certain spots, playing more flops , inducing bets from worse hands setting up heads up which is a great watch!

Exclusive Articles on pokerfuse PRO:

ARJEL Conducts Ethno-Sociological Study to “Meet the Players”

French players are being interviewed to help ARJEL understand their gambling activities. French players have reported receiving emails and having interviews from researchers working for French regulator ARJEL. An academic study aims to “meet the players” to better understand their “experience.”

Portugal Takes New Gambling Laws Out of a Controversial Budget

The new laws justify their own stand-alone bill according to a government spokesperson. The latest Portuguese budget was expected to include laws to liberalize the online gaming market, but the government has now decided that they should be included in a stand-alone bill.

New Estimate for Dutch Gaming Legislation: Mid to Late 2015

Detailed secondary legislation will delay attempts to establish regulated online gambling in the Netherlands. An article in GamingLaw.eu by Dutch lawyer Younes Moussaoui now puts the implementation date for the new Netherlands gaming legislation back as far as the third quarter of 2015.

Latest UK Treasury Guidance: No Change to 15% Tax Rate

Address requirements will require operators to reconfirm players’ personal details every six months. The UK Treasury has published an information document on forthcoming remote gambling taxation reform.

Two Dutch Deals for TAIN

TAIN will provide the online gaming platform for land-based casinos when regulated market opens in 2015. Platform provider TAIN has announced two deals this month with Dutch companies to bring online gaming to the regulated Netherlands market when it opens in 2015.