7 Nov
€534,330
The top prize won by Scottish poker pro Niall Farrell at the EPT Malta Main Event last week.
The Scotsman overcame 650 other contenders to lift the title, and a heads-up chop of the big money, at the Portomaso Casino in a fast-paced final table.
Six players fought out the final day, and Sam Greenwood was first to go when a flopped ace hit Farrell’s hand. Greenwood added €125,660 to his €110,590 from the High-Roller 6th place earlier in the week.
Rainer Kempe was next to hit the rails when he ran into Farrell’s pocket aces, but his second final table –and second 5th spot – in successive EPT Main Event’s have boosted his earnings by close to €500,000.
Italian Giulio Spampinato left next when his small blind squeeze saw Alen Bilic call with pocket tens in the big blind against the qualifiers Ace-eight. The board bricked and the Italian was gone, his €265,840 being 15-times his previous biggest cash.
When Jaroslaw Skora ran his ace-ten into Farrell’s ace-jack, the heads-up battle was ready to commence –the players struck a deal leaving 90,000 and the trophy up for grabs, which Farrell took down a while later after Bilic bluffed after his flush missed. Bilic left with €440,000.
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2%
The percentage of players PokerStars say will be affected adversely by their newly-announced changes to loyalty programs and 3rd-party software.
The market-leaders announced that they have a “responsibility to make sure that every player at PokerStars — advanced, recreational or new – can enjoy this game as much as we do,” and have decided to introduce a new StarsCoin system to replace the FPP’s, and as reported by PokerTube earlier this week:
The players most likely to see fewer dollars in their pockets are the high stakes and high volume players. Supernova and SupernovaElite will see their rewards capped at 30%, PlatinumStar level players can expect their rewards to be reduced by 10%.”
The reasoning for targeting the “2%” were described by Eric Hollreiser as being that:
The rewards for those players have become so enticing that we have inadvertently altered why some people play and how they play.”
This ethos has also spilled over into the 3rd-party software changes, with the plans to “level the playing field” meaning that most HUD stats and seating scripts, hand histories etc. will now be disallowed on the site.
We want to make clear that the line will be drawn to preserve poker as a battle of wits and a test of heart,” Hollreiser stated. “This [getting rid of third-party software] will only have a direct effect on a small proportion of players and builds upon our responsibility to provide a level playing field for all players.”
The ‘2-percenters’, at least on the 2plus2 forum, are none too happy about the changes, however as Charles Retmuller points out, PokerStars sees the changes as necessary in order to “enhance the playing experience and to re-emphasize the fun and social aspects of online poker while attracting and retaining more players to the game.”
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£150,000
The 1st prize picked up by Welshman Richard Harris in the Party Poker WPT500 UK this week at Dusk ‘til Dawn in Nottingham.
The unique event, with a guaranteed £2.5million up for grabs over 16 days, had seen online and live qualifiers for the Main Event taking place all week in 2 venues – Nottingham’s Dusk’tilDawn and London’s Aspers Casino.
The 1616 hopefuls had been whittled down to just 9 players at the final table by Tuesday, and the winner of the WPT National in Prague was first to fall when his pocket queens fell victim to turn and river aces matching the AJ of Florian Duta.
The table quickly reduced to just 3, Harris being joined by Yani Yanev and Chin Chai ‘Chinese Frankie’ Koh. Koh had to settle for 3rd place and £60,000 when his big slick failed to improve against Harris’ queens, and this left Harris holding a dominant 3.5-1 chip lead.
The big hand to finish saw the players all in on a flop of 9♣7♠10♠, Harris holding the J♠J♥ against Yanev’s middle pair and gutshot hand of 7♦6♣.
A 4♥ on the turn and J♦ on the river saw Welshman Harris triumphiant, leaving Yanev with a very tidy £90,000 as runner-up.
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$54,545
The amount in prize-money which suspected card-marking cheat Valeriu Coca will receive after a long investigation by WSOP officials found in his favour.
Coca finished 5th in the $10K Heads-Up event this summer, defeating notables such as Byron Kaverman and Connor Drinan along the way, only to find himself suspected of marking the cards during his games.
His opponents all claimed that his very strange behaviour at the board indicated something untoward, the Moldovan pro moving the cards in weird ways, looking at them from different angles and changing his style at important moments in each match.
A statement from WSOP spokesperson Seth Palansky read:
Once issues were brought to our attention, we immediately commenced an investigation and worked cooperatively with the Nevada Gaming Control Board,” adding that “The investigation that was performed has now been completed by all parties. At this time, the matter is considered closed and the 5th place finisher in Event #10 will now have his funds released for payment.”
Coca denied the allegations, which surfaced after the defeated players compared notes on the suspect behaviour – and which were also supported by claims that the eastern European pro had been banned from several casinos in the Czech Republic for similar offences.
At the time of the WSOP claims, Tournament Director Jack Effel stated:
We are aware, monitoring very closely with all resources at our disposal. Those include surveillance, security, and forensic examination of cards. We take integrity very seriously, as evidenced by our lifetime bans, and would enjoy nothing more than catching a cheater in our midst.”
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2
The number of years probation which Seals with Clubs poker founder Bryan Micon was sentenced to by a Nevada court after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed poker site in the state.
The probationary period was accompanied by a $25,000 fine after the court heard of investigations into Micon’s BitCoin financial transactions – a revolutionary method of operating a poker site which avoided the need for real currency, thereby potentially freeing him from the gambling regulations.
Prosecutors took a different view. However, and raids on his Las Vegas home earlier this year led to Micon leaving the country and setting up a similar site based in Antigua. His somewhat unexpected return to Nevada this summer to face the charges made it apparent that the ’10 years plus $50,000 fine’ maximum sentence was unlikely to be imposed.
The financial implications of defending his position – BitCoin being unregulated and therefore a grey area in the gambling and legal sense – may have led to his pleas and reduced sentence, but Micon already has a job in place back in Antigua once his sentence is served. The probabtionary period completed successfully will see his charge dropped to a misdemeanour.
According to reports, the successor to Seals with Clubs – SwCPoker – has failed to attract the same level of player traffic but still maintains a solid following by those “attracted to the anonymous nature of Bitcoin transactions and a much lower rake in comparison to industry standards.”
