Poker in the News — Weekly Round-up for October 27, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Oct 27, 2017

Pokerstars Championship To Return To Sochi In 2018

RUB 150,000,000 guaranteed Main Event prize pool

Russia‘s luxury holiday resort, Sochi, will once again play host to the PokerStars Championship as the 10-day poker spectacular returns from March 20-29, next year.

The championship looks set to be one of the largest international poker events in Russian history. It follows on from PokerStars Festival Sochi in October and the inaugural PokerStars Championship event in Sochi, held in May 2017.

The stop will bring a number of tournaments including the RUB 66,000 buy-in (approx. US$1,142) PokerStars National Championship and the RUB 192,000 buy-in (approx. US$ 3,322) PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event, which will carry a RUB 150,000,000 (approx. US$ 2,500,000) guarantee.

“It’s great to see PokerStars return to Sochi for a third time. It shows that there’s a real appetite from players for a world-class event in the area,” said Team PokerStars pro Igor Kurganov. “The venue is beautiful and there’s plenty to do away from the felt.”

The tournament includes the following highlights:

PokerStars National Championship: March 20-23, RUB 66,000 (approx. US$1,142)
PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event: March 23-29, RUB 192,000 (approx. US$ 3,322) Guarantee RUB 150,000,000 ( approx. US$ 2,500,000 )
High Roller: March 27-29 RUB 617,000 (approx. $10,674)
Sochi Cup: March 27-29 RUB 19,000 (approx. US$329)

Players can start qualifying online in satellites now.

New Online Poker Site Set For U.K. Launch

GGPoker.co.uk offering a range of launch promos

Ireland-based GG Network has announced the upcoming launch of its GGPoker site in the UK market having acquired a Gambling Commission licence.

The new poker room uses GG Network’s popular proprietary software, and the launch is being supported by an array of player promotions and incentives.

GG Network has a distinctly oriental feel to it, and network member skins include All New Poker.com, Best Poker.com, Daka Poker.com, Lotus Poker.com, Natural8.com, Pokamania.com, PPI Poker.net, Tian Long Poker.com, TiltKing.com, W88.com and You Le Poker.com.

As at October 19 the network boasted 1,637 players at peak, and a 950 average player count.

Battle Of The Giants In Macau’s Triton Poker Main Event

Juanda and Fedor fight it out in 4.5 hour heads up

The HK $1,000,000 buy-in Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event in Macau concluded in a HK $22,410,400 (US $2,872,300) victory for poker ace John Juanda Friday after a taxing four-and-a-half-hour heads up against one of the best high stakes players currently in the game, Fedor Holz.

The event was hosted by the Galaxy Macau Hotel in Taipa, Macau, and saw Juanda survive a star-studded final table to enter the heads up against Holz with a 2 to 1 chip advantage, He rapidly extended this to 5 to 1 before a dramatic reversal of roles occurred when Holz scored two major double ups to take the lead.

Three hands later Juanda recaptured the lead, illustrating the volatile and exciting nature of the hard fought finale as he continued to build on his success and eventually eliminate Holz for US $2,101,674.

Juanda’s first prize reward of US $2,872,300, brings his career live tourney earnings to just under US$ 24 million.

Other final table cashes included:

Kahle Burns US $1,301,018
Adrian Mateos US $890,757
Dietrich Fast US $590,425
Stephen Chidwick US $440,380
Timothy Adams US $360,257
Isaac Haxton US $310,271

The competition attracted 57 unique entries and 26 re-entries, generating a prize pool US $10,008,703.

Big Poker Pay Day For German Ace

Dietrich Fast bests 79 to claim main prize of HK$16,690,000 (US$2,169,700)

The US$102,500 buy-in Asia Championship of Poker shot-clock super high roller tournament has concluded in Macau with German poker pro Dietrich Fast taking home the main prize of US$2.16 million after besting a stellar field of 79 that included notable names like Jason Koon, Bryn Kenney, Tim Adams, Daniel Dvoress and Steve O’Dwyer.

It is Fast’s biggest career win yet, taking his live tournament career earnings to $6.2 million.

Fast, holding a 5 to 1 chip advantage, faced off against Steve O’Dwyer in the heads up and whilst the two top players generated plenty of excitement it was too big a hill for O’Dwyer to climb, and he fell in second place for a pay-out of $1.54 million.

Other final table cashes included:

Tim Adams $1,009,965
Daniel Dvoress $777,140
Felix Bleiker $615,420
Bryn Kenney $481,260
Jason Koon $378,690
Huang Shan $295,880
Paul Newey $224,900

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