Main Headlines
Supernova Elite Numbers Get December Boost
PokerStars Supernova Elite Status was achieved by 371 Players in 2013.
- PokerStars Supernova Elite Status was achieved by 371 Players in 2013, four short of the 375 who got there in 2012.
- Just two months ago only 175 players were on pace to hit the 1m VPP target suggesting that the elite were getting smaller.
- A December surge more than doubled the number who finally crossed the threshold.
- The VIP status brings benefits worth in excess of $100k.
Borgata Boss: Online Poker is No Threat to B&M Casinos
A month’s data has already shown that the customer base for online and live casino operations is different.
- The President and COO of the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City has told CNBC that online gaming is not a threat to land based casinos: “It’s a different customer.”
- Tom Ballance told reporters that the online casino had more controls than the brick and mortar equivalent, not less—a position that is the opposite of that maintained by online opponent Sheldon Adelson.
- He made the company’s position on market share absolutely clear: “Poker is all about having enough players.”
Oklahoma Tribe Sues Federal Agency for Right to Offer Online Poker
Tribe files suit after US Department of Interior disapproved of its plan to offer online gambling to international players.
- The Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma have filed a law suit against United States Department of the Interior after the Department disapproved the tribes plan to offer online gaming including poker to customers outside the US.
- The tribe operates the Lucky Star Casino in Concho and Clinton Oklahoma.
- The Department ruled that the state “cannot control, nor can it offer, exclusive access to a market of patrons located exclusively outside the United States and its territories.”
This Week in Poker Podcasts: 2013 in Review, Selling the Atlantic Club and Achieving Poker Goals
The latest from the Pokerfuse Poker Podcast Directory.
Poker Training Videos This Week: Deep Stacked Mistakes, Over-Betting and River Play
Improve your poker game with our top picks from the pokerfuse poker video directory.
Picks from F5 Poker:
Matt Affleck Bad Beats The Internet
Gives his blessing for all to see this photo. Dear Tournament Director Matt Savage,
Jens “Jeans” Kyllonen Hacking Suspect Identified?
PokerStars update indicates more than one perp. For those of you following the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona laptop scandal where Finnish poker pro Jens Kyllonen had his laptop abducted, infected and returned…all without the guilty parties ever having been found or brought to justice, there is, what looks to be, one final update.
Justin Bonomo Addresses $300k Taxi Cab Rumors
Bonomo just maxin’ and relaxin’ at the PCA. Bluff Magazine’s Thomas Keeling caught up with 28 year old poker phenom Justin Bonomo on break from Day 1 of the PokerStars PCA $100k Super High Roller. In the short video Bonomo talks about what he’s been up to since his runner-up finish at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $10 Million Guarantee (for which he made over $1.1 million) and what it takes to stack someone when you start with 250,000 in chips.
SrslySirius Stalks Durrrr and Jungleman in new video: “Dan”
It’s been about a year since Bluff Magazine’s Thomas Keeling’s alter ego SrslySirius released a new poker parody video. Today, he dropped his latest and it looks to be another instant classic. Here’s “Dan.”
Poker In NJ: While It’s Cold Outside, Online Poker’s On A Heater
Legalized online gaming sees a surge in accounts created. As reported by the bros over at Online Gaming Report, it looks like the talk of slow growth in the legalized New Jersey market didn’t account for just how cold it was going to get outside! During the week of December 30- January 5 over 22k new accounts (not necessarily new users) were created so people could check raise from the comfort of their own space heater.
Vanessa Selbst Takes Aim At Bad Cops
She hopes video technology brings power to the people. She’s got the chip lead at the dinner break in the $100k Super High Roller at the 2014 PCA, but in this short video she talks with Bluff Magazine about how she’s putting her winnings to work.
Poker Podcasts and Training Vids:
Podcast: Rabbit Hunt: 175 Rabbit Hunt
It's a new year but some things never change, and that includes how Chris and Mark discuss the week's poker news. This week they discuss the Atlantic Club sale to Caesar's and Pokerstars' reaction to it, then discuss New Jersey online gambling and the prospects of California becoming the next state to open its doors to online poker.
Podcast: PokerNews Podcast Episode #195: Who Let the Dogs Out? PokerNews Podcast
On the first PokerNews Podcast of 2014, the crew previews the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, plays a game of Know Your Circuit Stop, and discusses the color of the year – radiant orchid.
Podcast: Episode 62: Happy New Year! Thinking Poker
Andrew and Nate ring in the new year with a discussion of goal-setting and their own resolutions, both in poker and in life. Plus how to take notes in live poker, first impressions of the (relatively) new poker room at the Maryland Live!, how to take advantage of weak players trying to play well, and more.
Training Video: WCOOP 6max Shootout Hand History Review with Chris Moon Tournament Poker Edge
Chris Moon takes us on his deep run in the $320 6-max WCOOP Shootout. Each table is two parts and will be run as short, independent series leading up to a review of the final table with Jamie Kerstetter. This is the second table.
Training Video: Live at NL5 Part 3 Drag The Bar
A short mini-series detailing my approach to both full ring and 6max NL5 cash games at the end of 2013. Bad players are everywhere in these games still, even the regs. The keys to success are patience and timing.
Training Video: Ghost: BalugaWhale – 2014 MSNL Live Play – Part 1 Deuces Cracked
Andrew 'BalugaWhale’ Seidman is back playing 4-tables of Midstakes on WPT/Party. Follow along as he discusses adjustments to make in loose-aggressive games.
Exclusive Articles on pokerfuse PRO:
888poker Solidifies Lead over iPoker
Another 4% gain in traffic puts clear blue water between the two competitors. 888poker has seen cash game traffic rise 4% in the last week putting it further ahead of the iPoker network. 888poker displaced iPoker from the number two spot over two weeks ago, and shows no signs of giving up its new status.
Betfair Poker Revenues Fall 60%
Estimates of the impact of the UK POC tax bolster Betfair’s case for the UK Treasury to lower rate. A month ago Betfair’s latest financial announcement listed underlying profits at £32.5m, 56% higher than the same period last year. The detailed accounts recently released show that within these overall figures, revenues from online poker fell 60%.
New Jersey Market Reaches New Traffic High
Combined traffic reaches 500 cash game players for the first time. The New Year saw a new peak for online poker traffic in the nascent New Jersey market, with an average of over 500 players observed playing online poker at real money cash games concurrently over the last week.
NordicBet Refocuses on Key Markets
Online sportsbook, casino and poker operator will close to customers in all but Nordic countries. Malta-based NordicBet has closed to customers in all countries except key Nordic regions, it was announced late last month.
Traffic Watch: 2013 in Review
In this special edition of Traffic Watch, 2013 in Review focusing on old and new segregated markets and the year’s clear dot-com victor. The Global Market in 2013
