Poker Tournaments in the News — Weekly Round-up for May 26, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated May 26, 2017

888Poker Adds More International Flavour To W.S.O.P.

Online poker provider to send eight international teams to this year’s tournament

Online poker operator 888Poker is adding to the international flavour of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this year by sending a total of 27 players in eight national teams to compete in the tournament.

The company’s 8-Team project will comprise teams drawn from the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Sweden consisting of a team captain, a wing man and an online qualifier…and the qualifier who lasts the longest out of the five qualifiers will win a package to the 2018 WSOP Main Event.

888 has already announced the five captains as Chris Moorman (UK), Bruno Politano (Brazil), Parker Talbot (Canada), Sofia Lovgren (Sweden) and Dominik Nitsche (Germany).

Details on how to compete for a qualifier seat are on the 888Poker websites.

Pokerstars Pro Wins Canadian Big Brother Show

Second time lucky for Kevin Martin, who goes home with Cdn$100,000

Pokerstars pro Kevin Martin has taken home Cdn$100,000, a $30,000 home furnishing voucher and a new 2017 Toyota car after being unanimously elected the winner in the just-concluded Big Brother Canada Season 5 television show.

It was Martin’s second run at the show; back in season 3 he delivered a strong performance but was the victim of an unprecedented triple-eviction and departed as the first player in the show’s history to exit without receiving any eviction votes.

Offered the opportunity to appear again, Martin, who also streams his action on Twitch, focused on preparing himself with the sort of thoroughness he applies to poker, and it paid off after two months in the house with a mixed bag of 16 new and former contestants.

Martin revealed that his preparations had included developing a personal strategy and studying statistics and footage from previous seasons.

In the finale Martin and fellow finalist Karen Singbell faced a nine-person jury to decide the winner…all nine voted for Martin.

Pokerstars Smashes Online Poker Tourney Record

Biggest day in online poker history, poker giant claims

Amaya Inc’s PokerStars reported a new online poker tournament high this past Sunday, achieving record-breaking total prize pools of more than $39 million in a single day, almost 40 percent more than the $28 million guarantee.

The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) events delivered more than $29.5 million in prize pools and the High Stake Main Event crushed its $5 million guarantee to reach a $6,930,000 prize pool, equating to a first place prize of $1.3 million and $960,000 for the runner up on conclusion of the tournament which plays out Tuesday.

“Thank you to all our players who participated in our tournaments making it possible for us to break these records,” Severin Rasset, director of poker innovations and operations at PokerStars, said in a press statement. “Being able to offer the biggest day in the online poker history is a victory for everyone in poker and we’re delighted that so many of our players joined us to make this a reality.

“We are proud to have been able to provide so many winning moments to so many of our players and we’re looking forward to providing even more for a long time to come.”

New Subscription Service From Poker Central

PokerGO offers broad range of programming for poker enthusiasts

On the back of its acquisition of the global and television and digital media rights to the World Series of Poker (see previous InfoPowa report), Poker Central has announced the launch of PokerGO.

InfoPowa readers will recall in addition to the WSOP rights acquisition, a further agreement provides Poker Central the exclusive rights to stream any coverage not aired by ESPN through its digital distribution channels.

PokerGO is a subscription-based service featuring “many of poker’s biggest live events,, such as the Super High Roller Bowl and the World Series of Poker this summer,” Poker Central revealed, including on-demand original programming throughout the year.

PokerGO anticipates multiple events premiering every month, beginning with the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl and the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop, along with other WSOP bracelet events throughout the summer.

In addition, PokerGO will offer classic programming such as “Poker After Dark,” “Face the Ace” and “Doubles Poker Championship” along with episodes of “Pokerography” and “Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story,” featuring Matt Berkey.

“PokerGO offers the best live and on-demand poker tournaments and content for the fiercely passionate poker fan and the casual enthusiast alike – whenever and wherever you want them,” JR McCabe, chief digital officer of Poker Central, said in a presser. “By pairing PokerGO with our existing television partnerships, we will offer unique and original programming to the largest potential global audience.”

PokerGO’s monthly and annual subscription will cost $10 and $99, respectively through PokerGO.com.

Sexton Leaves WPT To Chair Partypoker

Broad scope of responsibility centers on player experience

GVC Holdings Plc have announced the appointment of professional poker player, WPT commentator and partypoker co-founder Mike Sexton as Chairman of partypoker.

Well known, Sexton has spent the past 15 years with the World Poker Tour while also serving as a partypoker ambassador.

As Chairman, Sexton will represent the global poker community and guide partypoker in investing in software development, customer service improvements, oversee loyalty rewards and value-added promotions for smaller bankroll players, invest marketing budgets within the poker community and fight against the use of third party software that provide unfair advantage.

He will also develop partypoker LIVE in a bid to become the largest live poker tournament.

“This is an emotional time for me because I have decided to leave the World Poker Tour to focus on this new role,” Sexton said.

“I was at partypoker from the start, before there was even a name or a single virtual card was dealt. I experienced the crazy times of the poker boom when we became the number one site in the world, I remember people sleeping on the office floor when we were all working 24-7 to get the software launched and I remember the first partypoker Million on a cruise ship which overlaid $500K.”

“I am really looking forward to working with people that love the game like I do. We are not aiming for second place. We are all in. Shuffle up and deal!”

“I am absolutely delighted that Mike has decided to come on board as our Chairman,” Tom Waters, managing director of partypoker, added.  “We are all dedicated to make partypoker the site for the players and having his support to make this happen gets us one step closer.”

Larachiche Takes Down Winamax Sismix Main Event

For Euro 88,000

Frenchman Hugo Larachiche has taken down the 2017 Winamax SISMIX Main Event, despatching four players in just 90 minutes and defeating Japan’s Kazuma Fujiyama in under ten hands of heads up play.

Outlasting a field of 1078, 18 players went into the final day in a bid to win the MAD 1 million (Euro 88,000) first prize.

The main event table finished up:

1    Hugo Larachiche    MAD 1,000,000
2    Kazuma Fujiyama    MAD 720,000
3    Hector Gonzales    MAD 500,000
4    Said Haho    MAD 350,000
5    Paul Guichard    MAD 250,000
6    Rakesh Lalwani    MAD 175,000
7    Florent Vaz Martin    MAD 130,000

Carrel On A Heater

Takes second title in the series

UK poker pro Charlie “Epiphany77” Carrel has walked away with a $1,200,899.97  prize having won the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) – $10,300 NLHE Main Event.

Defeating a field of 574 entries and 119 re-entries that generated a prize pool of $6,930,000, Carrel entered the main event final the lowest in chips but emerged victorious after three days of poker.  He clinched his second title in this year’s SCOOP series after negotiating a two-way deal with Harrison “gibler321” Gimbel that left $100,000 to play for.

Final table results were:

1.     Charlie “Epiphany77” Carrel    $1,200,899.97
2.     Harrison “gibler321” Gimbel    $1,122,873.99
3.     th’Kick    $690,348.58
4.     Garrin4e    $492,542.82
5.     Ola “Odd_Oddsen” Amundsgaard    $351,414.75
6.     Connor “blanconegro” Drinan    $250,723.93
7.     Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattson    $178,863.39
8.     Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden    $127,628.42
9.     Emil “Maroonlime” Patel    $91,058.81

= denotes a two-way deal leaving $100,000 for the winner.

Key Take Aways From Pokerstars’ SCOOP 2017

Records smashed and tales of bonhomie…

Amaya Inc.’s PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) has reached a series of all-time-highs with the total prize pool of $93.8 million surpassing its original $55 million series guarantee.

Interesting takeaways as the 2017 series winds down include:

Total prize pool of $93.8 million exceeded last year’s $91 million prize pool.

The Main Event High smashed its $5 million guarantee to reach a $6.93 million prize pool, making both the winner and second place runner-up millionaires.

Event-01-H Phase 2 also had a million dollar first prize with an overall prize pool of $5,821,000. This event saw an unusual five-way deal play out with the five players all taking home a prize of over $400,000.

Charlie Carrel and Thomas Herlofsen “Gigaloff” both won two SCOOP events during the series.

“cal42688” won the $530 Event 13-H Zoom Progressive KO bringing his total SCOOP titles to date to eight, the first player to do so.

NJSCOOP’s Main Event High was the biggest ever tournament in New Jersey, with a prize pool of $204,450. The total prize pool of $1,448,707 made NJSCOOP the biggest online poker series ever seen in New Jersey.

A tale of bonhomie saw Charlie Carell’s  $1,050 PL Omaha H/L Event 16 High final table competitors agree to delay the tournament by thirty minutes to enable Carell, who was in Mexico at the time and beset with connectivity issues, to find a stable internet connection to continue play.

“I actually feel super happy,” Carell said after the win.  “I never usually get much of an emotional reaction, but this one really felt like it had a real story behind it. The structure and the field were so good, it was kind of perfect.

“It was cool sitting and high-fiving and arriba-ing loudly every time I got a pay jump.”

“With more unique players, bigger prize pools and exciting SCOOP tournaments for two weeks — what a great period for all poker lovers,” Severin Rasset, director of poker innovation and operations for PokerStars, said. “Thanks to our faithful community, we have beaten our own record one more time to reach $93.8 million in prize pools, the biggest series in the online world. It is a moment of celebration before challenging ourselves with the incoming WCOOP!”

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