Poker in the News — Weekly Round-up for August 25, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Aug 25, 2017

Pokerstars Gives Firm Date On Australian Exit (Update)

New Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill gives online poker operator no choice but to cease real-money operations

Online poker operator Pokerstars, which has for weeks warned that changes to Australian law will compel it to withdraw from real-money operations, has set a firm date of September 11 2017 for its exit.

In a communication to players, the company advised:

“The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill (2016), which was passed earlier this month and effectively bans all online gambling sites not locally licensed under Australian State or Territory law, has now been granted Royal assent.

“It’s been some time in coming, but sadly we can now confirm that PokerStars will be withdrawing real money services from Australia on September 11, 2017.

“Any funds that you have in your Stars Account are, and will continue to be, safe and available for withdrawal. Please remember to open any unopened Stars Rewards Chests. You can continue to spend your StarsCoin in the Rewards Store, and a $1 Cash Rebate has been added to facilitate converting your StarsCoin to cash. Any tournament tickets and tournament money will be converted to cash for withdrawal, effective from the market exit date.

“PokerStars will continue to offer the best play money poker action around through the main PokerStars client on desktop, web and mobile, and also through the brand new PokerStars Play app on iOS and Android.

“As supporters of sensible online gaming regulation and the most licensed poker brand in the world we hope that future legislation will be considered that will allow PokerStars to return to Australia.”

The communication ends with a plug for the Australian Online Poker Alliance action group, urging players to join the organisation.

Kurganov Bests The Best In Pokerstars Barcelona Euro 50,000 Super High Roller

Even with a heads up chop, Igor takes home Euro 1,078,106

Russian poker pro Igor Kurganov faced some of the best players in the world on the final table of the PokerStars Championship Barcelona Euro 50,000 buy-in Super High Roller this week – every one of them intent on winning the biggest slice of a massive prize pool from which just 11 players would cash.

Competing for the big money were players like Daniel Negreanu, Koray Aldemir, Bryn Kenney, Dan Colman and Isaac Haxton, but it was Poland’s Bartlomiej Machon who Kurganov faced in the heads up after taking out six of his opponents at the final table.

The heads up started with Kurganov holding a 2 to 1 chip advantage but the duo paused to successfully negotiate a deal. When play resumed the action all went Kurganov’s way and he took a mere 20 minutes to send Machon to the exit and a runner-up prize of Euro 864,694.

Kuganov’s Euro 1,078,106 main prize was the fourth seven-figure cash of a sparkling career that has seen him amass some $14 million in live tourney earnings.

Other cashes in the event were:

Koray Aldemir Euro 528,500
Dietrich Fast Euro 406,790
Ivan Luca Euro 322,100
Christopher Kruk Euro 251,900
Bryn Kenney Euro 198,200
Stanley Choi Euro 154,900
Daniel Negreanu Euro117,700
Daniel Colman Euro 103,200
Isaac Haxton Euro 103,200

Chidwick Takes Pokerstars Barcelona High Roller

For a Euro 690,400 pay day

British poker pro Stephen Chidwick outplayed a field of 112 to win the 2017 PokerStars Championship Barcelona Euro 25,500 Single Day High Roller event for a Euro 690,400 pay day.

The win marks Chidwick’s biggest live career cash bringing total live career winnings to just over the GBP 6.9 million mark.

Final results were:

1 Stephen Chidwick – Euro 690,400
2 Bryn Kenney – Euro 466,500
3 Igor Yaroshevskyy – Euro 303,200
4 Isaac Haxton – Euro 251,100
5 Quan Zhou – Euro 202,500
6 Jan Eric Schwippert – Euro 159,700
7 Adrian Mateos – Euro 122,100
8 Vladimir Troyanovskiy – Euro 91,940

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