Poker in the News — Weekly Round-up for April 27, 2018

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Apr 27, 2018

Fourth Edition Of Super High Roller Bowl Names More Players

Another fifteen top names in the game chosen by lottery to take part in $300,000 buy-in game

Poker Central and the Aria have unveiled another fifteen top international poker players chosen by lottery to participate in the $300,000 buy-in 2018 Super High Roller Bowl, where the prize pool is expected to top $14 million, ensuring big rewards for the top finishers.

With just 48 seats available, prospective players have to put down a $30,000 non-refundable deposit in order to take part in the lottery for seats…and there has been no shortage of demand.

30 seats were awarded to many of the top players in the world last month from an application list of 61, and that has been followed by a further lottery draw to identify the latest 15 entrants. The lists read like a who’s who of international poker, full of stellar professional players from around the globe.

The event takes place at the Aria in Las Vegas between May 27-30, and winners are handsomely rewarded; defending champion Christoph Vogelsang took home $6,000,000 last year, and Rainer Kempe’s pay day in 2016 was $5,000,000, whilst Brian Rast (2015) added $7,525,000 to his bank balance.

Just three seats are now left and will be allocated by Poker Central and Aria, with one seat reserved for the winner of the inaugural Super Satellite Series, which features two progressive satellite tournaments played in the days leading up to the Super High Roller Bowl.

Vice President of Content at Poker Central Sam Simmons said in a press release this week:

“We welcome the 15 VIPs to the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl field who are comprised of some of the most notable names in high stakes tournament poker. These names are sure to make for the most star-studded tournament field of the year.”

The 2018 Super High Roller Bowl will be streaming live on PokerGO, Poker Central’s live streaming video subscription service. Original episodes of the event will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network, NBCSports.com, and the NBCSports app.

GPL India Partner With Pokerstars India For First Long-Run Poker League

Exclusive partnership agreed

Confirming earlier rumour and speculation (see previous IfoPowa reports) GPL India announced this week that PokerStars India (Sachiko Gaming Private Limited) will be its exclusive skill game partner for the country’s first long-run poker league, held over a two month period.

Free online qualification for the first season of GPL India will be open from May through to the end of August directly on PokerStars India, where enthusiasts can compete in the ‘mind sport’ for the chance to join one of GPL India’s 6 first-year teams.

GPL India’s six city-based teams will compete over a 4 week long ‘regular season’, with the top 4 scoring teams moving on to the GPL India finals to play for the title and 5 Platinum Passes – each valued at roughly Rs. 20 Lac (US$ 30,000) – to the PokerStars Championship in the Bahamas in January 2019, where the prize pool features Rs. 65 crores additional prize money.

GPL India teams will each be comprised of 5 players led by one of GPL India’s superstar managers: Vikram Kumar – manager of the Chennai Sharks; Muskan Sethi – top GPI-ranked female player in India and new Pokerstars India Team Pro member, who leads the Delhi Diehards; Abhishek Rathod – Pokerbaazi Pro, elite poker coach and manager of the Alphas; Kavinn Shah – high stakes cash game boss and manager of the Mumbai Jetsetters; Aditya Agarwal – PokerStars’ first Indian Pro and Manager of the Kolkata Creators; and Vidwath Shetty – one of the top players in India and manager of the Bengaluru Hackers.

Two players from each city – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi – will qualify directly via PokerStars India, with the remaining 3 team members chosen by the team managers from a pool of qualifying Global Poker Index (GPI) ranked players during GPL India’s Draft Day – tentatively set for early to mid September 2018.

GPL India’s regular season will begin right after the draftees are announced, with all 6 teams competing against one another in the 6-Max and Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Poker variants online and live in GPL’s India Studio to decide weekly winners, based on their skills.

The GPL India Finals are set to happen in November – a live-streamed, 2-day finale that will see the leagues top 4 scoring teams compete to decide who will be GPL India’s first National Champions.

In December 2017, Alex Dreyfus’ Mediarex confirmed a multi-year strategic partnership with Kwan Entertainment, to bring the Global Player League to India. The GPL is a competitive gaming, poker and eSports league with 30 teams all over the world.

Eldridge Takes The Honours In Party Poker Millions North America

Collects $235,197 after winning the $10,300 High Roller

US poker pro David Eldridge has emerged the winner in the $10,300 buy-in Party Poker Millions North America High Roller competition after a tough 10-hour final day of play and a heads up confrontation with Victor Ramdin.

The win boosted Eldridge’s bank balance by $235,197 – his second largest career win so far – and added the PartyPoker Live trophy to his silverware.

80 entries in all were recorded for the event, bringing the prize pool to $970,000 and making just ten cashes available.

There was an impressive turnout of big names among the entries, including Kristen Bicknell, Parker Talbot, Viktor Blom, Niall Farrell, Chris Moorman, Victor Ramdin, Anthony Zinno, Martin Jacobson, Roberto Romanello, Alex Foxen, Brian Yoon and Jonathan Duhamel.

Eldridge held a commanding lead when the final table formed, but was challenged by Victor Ramdin and the two ended up in a short but intense heads up with roughly equal chip stacks. However, it was Elderidge’s day and he made short work of his last opponent, sending Ramdin home with a well-earned $141.116 pay check.

Other final table pay-outs included:

• Kevin Hobbs $94,077
• Jon Van Fleet $70,558
• Viktor Blom $56,838
• Parker Talbot $45,075
• Ami Alibay $35,276
• Chris Moorman $27,437

Canadian Victory In Partypoker Super High Roller Event

Chris Kruk bests a stellar field to claim the Cdn$ 375,000 main prize

Canadian online poker pro Christopher Kruk bested a stellar field of professional players Tuesday to claim the Cdn$ 375,000 main prize in the Cdn$ 25,500 buy-in PartyPoker Millions North America Super High Roller.

It was Kruk’s second biggest pay day in a live tourney, eclipsed only by his $836,350 victory in a PCA event earlier this year.

The final table formed on the second and last day of action with US player Darren Elias holding the lead, but he was unable to maintain it and was eliminated at third for Cdn$ 165,000. That set up the heads up between Kruk and US pro Anthony Zinno, with the duo holding similar chip stacks.

With blind levels reduced to 20-minutes, the pace picked up until the two finalists tangled over a major pot, which Kruk won to take the honours. Zinno’s consolation runner up prize was Cdn$ 234,750.

Other final table cashes included:

• Chance Kornuth Cdn$ 125,000
• Niall Farrell Cdn$ 100,000
• Victor Ramdin Cdn $80,000
• John Krpan Cdn$60,000

MPN Anticipates Upcoming Launch Of UCOP: Full Throttle Series

Packed schedule begins in May with a Euro 500,000 guarantee across the series

The Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) will host its 2018 Universal Championship of Poker (UCOP) series from May 6 to May 20, 2018.

The series offers a packed schedule with over 60 tournaments and a series guarantee of Euro 500,000.

The UCOP: Full Throttle leaderboard will run across all events with Euro 5,000 in cash prizes as well as a “dream experience” for motorsport enthusiasts in London.

“Our unique Universal Championship of Poker continues to deliver thrills both on and off the felt, and with the addition of Adjarabet players to the mix once again, this edition of UCOP promises to be the most exciting yet,” Alex Scott, Head of Product (Network Games) at Microgaming, said.

Full details of the series can be found here.

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