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Poker News Digest 5/23/2009 – 5/26/2009
By Dan
Published: Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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- It may require poker fans in many time zones to be up during the wee hours of the morning, but thanks to live streaming of final tables, people around the world will be able to follow the action during this summer’s World Series of Poker without having to wait for text updates. Two official partners of the WSOP, BluffMagazine and ESPN, will present twenty-four live final tables free of charge (ESPN via its site, ESPN360.com). The highlight of the package is the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, which has quickly become one of the top two most coveted bracelets, along with the $10,000 Main Event. Online poker room PKR.com will also broadcast twenty-four live tournaments, many of which will be the same as those streamed by Bluff and ESPN. PKR.com, the fourteenth most popular site for cash games, has also been named the official non-U.S. sponsor of the World Series of Poker.
- In April Harrah’s Entertainment, owner of the World Series of Poker, hired ex-PartyGaming CEO, Mitch Garber, for what at the time was an unspecified role. The rumors that Garber was to head some sort of internet gambling division have basically come true, as Harrah’s announced on Friday the creation of Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment (HIE), of which Garber will be the leader. HIE will be used to grow the World Series of Poker brand and “…explore the use of interactive gaming technologies to expand the reach of Harrah's brands globally, starting in Europe.” Many in the poker community read this as the beginning of Harrah’s entry into the online gaming world, not only to grab European revenues, but also to position itself for future legalization and regulation of online gambling in the United States.
- This past weekend, Full Tilt Poker hosted another edition of its $25,000 Heads-Up World Championship, seeing 63 players (almost perfect for a heads-up bracket) plunk down a chunk of change and take to the felts in pursuit of the more than half a million dollar first prize. “THEASHMAN103” was the last man standing, defeating poker pro David Benefield in the finals when he flopped trip nines to beat Benefield’s two pair. “THEASHMAN103” saw $551,250 deposited into his Full Tilt Poker account for the win, while Benefield pocketed $315,000 for his efforts. Also playing, though not making the money, were John Juanda, Erick Lindgren, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, Dani “Ansky451” Stern, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies.
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