- A look at 12 top stories—one each month—from Poker Industry PRO in 2019.
Dream Result for PokerStars as Platinum Pass Hopeful Wins PSPC (January 2019)
Top line: “Outside the ultimate winner Ramon Colillas, an aspiring poker professional from Spain who won the PSPC Trophy and more than $5 million yesterday, perhaps the biggest winner was PokerStars itself.”
Key takeaways:
- In total 1039 players took their seats in the Atlantis Resort and Casino, Bahamas, to participate in history’s largest ever highroller tournament.
- Colillas won his way to the Bahamas by winning the leaderboard in the 2018 Campeonato de España de Poker, a small poker circuit in Spain.
- The story for PokerStars is near perfect: Plucky aspiring poker player seeking to go professional wins via grinding a small local tournament in his home country.
Run It Once Launches for Real Money Online Poker (February 2019)
Top line: “Around midday GMT on Wednesday, February 6, Run It Once Poker finally opened its doors to the public.”
Key takeaways:
- Run it Once cash-game only launch is seen as a success.
- The site is now open to international real money play at NL and PLO games.
- Splash The Pot, StreamR, Dynamic Avatars and other unique features are on display.
- There are still known issues with the software, and the site will remain in “public beta” until the platform is “nearly flawless.”
888 Takes Important Step Forward with New Poker 8 Client (March 2019)
Top line: “The long-delayed update to 888’s online poker client, dubbed Poker 8, has finally begun a global roll-out.”
Key takeaways:
- Consumers have reported issues downloading and installing the latest version.
- Currently, it is only the table that has been changed, but over the course of 2019, the company plans to make similar improvements to the lobby and other parts of the client.
- The new table design is not going to correct all of 888’s poker woes, but at first blush it is a clear step in the right direction and might keep it competitive.
Short Deck Proliferates Online: Aconcagua, Chico and PokerStars India Roll Out Stripped Version of Hold’em (April 2019)
Top line: “In a span of just seven days, three online poker operators worldwide have launched Short Deck Hold’em, an online poker variant popular in Asia that has proliferated online over the last six months.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars launched 6+ in India, following its deployment in the dot-com market and Italy earlier this year.
- The US-facing offshore Chico Poker Network and Latin American-based Aconcagua Poker Network jumped on the bandwagon.
- Other operators to spread it include partypoker, iPoker, PokerDom, The Spartan Poker, and WPN.
After a Twelve-Year Ambassadorship, Daniel Negreanu and PokerStars Part Ways (May 2019)
Top line: “Daniel Negreanu, one of the most successful live poker tournament players of all time, has announced that he and PokerStars have cut ties after a twelve-year partnership.”
Key takeaways:
- The Canadian-born poker pro, twice named WSOP Player of the Year and with almost $40 million in live tournament earnings, was certainly PokerStars’ highest profile ambassador.
- Negreanu intimated that a change in life circumstances played a part in the decision.
- The lack of concrete plans and details leaves one to speculate as to the negotiations that went on behind the departure.
Partypoker Officially Adopts HUD Ban, Plans Fixed Buy-in Change (June 2019)
Top line: “GVC’s online poker room partypoker has finally rolled out long-awaited ecology changes that the company first began implementing nearly four years ago.”
Key takeaways:
- On June 17, partypoker deployed a major software platform upgrade forcing players to set a new player alias.
- Almost all third-party tools are prohibited, including tracking software and HUDs.
- Partypoker also plans to introduce a 100bb fixed buy-in by the end of this month.
Exclusive: All-In Cashout, Throwable Virtual Objects, Stacks in Big Blinds—PokerStars is Believed to Be Readying Major Product Upgrade (July 2019)
Top line: “Online poker giant PokerStars is set to continue its trend of developing and innovating its core online poker product in its effort to remain the front-runner in the online poker industry.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars is set to introduce some innovative game features that could be soon launched.
- It includes a popular feature that show stack sizes and bet amounts in terms of big blinds, and the ability to throw virtual items at other players.
- But perhaps the most intriguing feature of all—an option to cash out when all-in.
PokerStars’ Half Price Sunday Million: How Poker’s Iconic Weekly Tournament is Performing, Six Months On (August 2019)
Top line: “The Sunday Million, PokerStars’ iconic weekly tournament, has undergone various tweaks in its ten-year history, but none more significant than the change six months ago: The reduction of the buy-in to $109 from the usual $215.”
Key takeaways:
- Six months ago, the Sunday Million buy-in was reduced to $109 from the usual $215.
- As summer approached, the numbers started to decline with some weeks barely managing to avoid an overlay.
- The switch to three re-entries led to a 32% increase in numbers, attracting 11,863 total entries in its first week.
- Although the participation did drop in the following weeks, numbers have steadied.
In Depth: Microgaming to Close its Online Poker Network MPN (September 2019)
Top line: “Online gaming developer Microgaming has announced that the Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) will close next year.”
Key takeaways:
- “For poker to be as successful as possible, we had to adopt a very different strategy and business model.”
- Dozens of skins on the network will be looking for a new home.
- UCOP is still running for another week; Battle of Malta is still set for October.
- “It’s a tough day for us all here, and it’s difficult for me to announce this.”
- What this future might bring for poker at both Microgaming and its skins is not immediately clear.
Fall Online Tournament Series 2019 Wrap Up: A Record $250 Million Paid Out in Prize Money in September (October 2019)
Top line: “Almost $200 million was guaranteed across nearly a dozen online tournament series globally to make September the biggest month in poker history. Over $155 million was guaranteed in the dot-com market and €32 million in the segregated European markets.”
Key takeaways:
- $210 million in the dot-com market and over €40 million in the segregated European markets was paid out across 1641 tournaments.
- PokerStars alone generated over $130 million across its regulated markets.
- Good Game Series 3 by GGNetwork awarded $60 million; partypoker generated over $37 million in the KO Series.
Exclusive: Giant Blinds, Variable Antes and All-in or Fold—PokerStars’ Unique Tempest and Deep Water Games Go Live (November 2019)
Top line: “PokerStars is today unveiling two new games, Deep Water and Tempest, in the UK and dot-net client, PRO can reveal.”
Key takeaways:
- In both games, there are three blinds and an ante that increases each time a hand doesn’t go to showdown.
- Deep Water is played deep-stacked.
- Tempest is played short-stacked in an All In or Fold format.
Strong Start for Online Poker in Pennsylvania as PokerStars’ First MTT Series Gets Underway (December 2019)
Top line: “PokerStars’ first ever Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP) tournament series in Pennsylvania got underway on Saturday, and initial numbers suggest the series will smash guarantees and exceed expectations.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars’ first-ever tournament series in Pennsylvania gets off to a flying start.
- Runs for over two weeks through to December 16 with a total of 50 tournaments on the schedule.
- The Sunday Special attracted 341 total entries to amass a prize pool of $63,426.
