In a year which had more ups and downs than a RotoTracker graph, it is no wonder that most people are happy to see the back of 2016. But before we look to 2017 without a final backwards glance, we round up some of the top poker stories from the holiday period that you might have missed.
Global Poker Index: Player of the Year
David Peters stole the GPI Player of the Year title from the now retired Fedor Holz who clawed his way to the top of rankings earlier in the year, thanks to his astonishing summer run.
However, it wasn’t enough to keep Peters at bay as he squeezed into the lead following his third-place finish in the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event as well as winning the Aria $25k High Roller for $293K.
Holz finished the year in second place with Justin Bonomo in third.
The End of the European Poker Tour
We said goodbye to the European Poker Tour in December as PokerStars now shelves the much-loved brand. In a fitting end, everyone’s favourite table-talker, William Kassouf, took the EPT High Roller title in Prague after chopping a deal with Patrick Serda.
With the EPT now behind us, we say hello to the PokerStars Championship series that kicks off in the Bahamas on January 6.
Phil Ivey Has To Repay $10 million
Phil Ivey got one hell of a dud Christmas present when it was announced that he would have to repay $10 million to Borgata in his now famous edge sorting case — but it could have been worse, as the Borgata was seeking as much as $15.5 million to be repaid including “expectation damages.”
The $10 million payment is for the $9.6 million Ivey won at Baccarat and a further $504,000 Ivey won at craps while betting with the money he had made from Baccarat.
That’s got to hurt, even if you have won as much at poker as Ivey.
Earlier in 2016 Ivey also lost lost his UK Court appeal over his £7.7 million in winnings against Genting Casinos UK (who owns Crockfords Club in Mayfair). Ivey stated at the time that “this decision makes no sense to me.”
Poker Central Ends TV Channel
Although its web programming will continue, Poker Central dealt the blow to fans that it was to end its 24/7 TV channel – the final episodes airing on December 31, 2016.
Poker Central president Joe Kakaty said in a statement via Multichannel News that “instead, viewers will continue to see a playlist of Poker Central programs (like Inside Poker With Matt Savage) available as free, ad-supported video on demand. TV is not going away — it’s just how we’ll work with TV that is going to change.”
Kakaty also alluded to the fact they we were likely to see Poker Central content and events syndicated via partnerships with the likes of NBC Sports Network and CBS Sports Network, but details are still a bit thin on the ground.
