Friday August 12, 2016 at 8:33 pm
Breaking News
SCOOP

Amaya Gaming, parent company of PokerStars, announced that Rafi Ashkenazi will be their permanent CEO. In March 2016, Rafi Ashkenazi was tapped to become the interim CEO of Amaya after former CEO David Baazov resigned amidst an insider trading scandal. The news about the permanent CEO was made in conjunction with Amaya's quarterly earnings report and an announcement about a special PokerStars tournament series hosted at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey in late October. In case you own any Amaya stock, PokerStars had a very good fiscal quarter. Overall revenue is up 10% and online-gaming revenue is up 11%.

Amaya Stars

In today's poker business news… Amaya made a splash with a special announcement regarding their leadership. Looks like the former part-time CEO Rafi Ashkenazi is now currently a full-time CEO. Following the resignation of former CEO David Baazov, Amaya had installed Rafi Ashkenazi as the interim CEO in late March 2016. After holding the position for serval months, Amaya officially handed over the keys to the castle to Rafi Ashkenazi full-time. It's official! Rafi Ashkenazi is the permanent CEO of Amaya Gaming.

This announcement coincided with a quarterly earnings report. I know what you're thinking… when were the frozen concentrated orange juice report is not due until the end of the month! But Amaya Gaming used this opportunity to tell the world about its new head honcho and how they've been killing it at the tables.

According to a report by Seeking Alpha (h/t @KevMath), total revenues for Amaya increased by 10.2% and real-money online revenue is up 11.2% over the year. Meanwhile, according to the report, "Real-money online poker revenues for the quarter were virtually flat year-over-year at $215.6 million." Read the full report here.

Amaya's new CEO also held a quarterly conference call. CEO Rafi Ashkenazi began the meeting by stating: “I am pleased with our second quarter performance and with a continued focus on strong execution of our operations and management teams. The successful execution of our strategy so far this year is fueling positive trends in our core poker business and continued growth in our newer product offerings, casino and sportsbook. Q2 showed strong year-over-year increases in revenue, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net earnings per share in our key customer metrics as we continue to attract new customers and retain them longer. In particular, Q2 revenue increased 10% to $286 million.”

PokerStars used the press conference to also announce that they will also host a tournament in Atlantic City in conjunction with PokerStars NJ. This will be the first PokerStars branded event on U.S. Soil since Black Friday 2011 and the NAPT went defunct. The event will be hosted at Resorts Casino in AC at the end of October. The tentative dates are October 29 thru November 6.

You can read the full transcript here.

Latest news
Wednesday March 13, 2024 at 5:11 pm
Max Hoffman wins PGT Mixed Games championship

The PokerGo Tour concluded their fun mixed-games high roller series over the weekend at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Even though Max Hoffman did not win any of the ten events on the PGT Mixed Games schedule, his two runner-up finishes and five overall cashes propelled him to the top of the leaderboard. Hoffman was crowned the 2024 PGT Mixed Games Champion.

Tuesday March 5, 2024 at 9:51 pm
2024 Asian Poker Tour: Elky, Isaac Haxton ship events at APT Taipei

The 2024 Asian Poker Tour completed two big events in Tawain over the weekend. American pro Isaac Haxton shipped the APT Taipei Super High Roller for a score worth nearly $291K USD. Meanwhile, French pro Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier was the last player standing in the APT Taipei Superstar Challenge when he outlasted 49 runners to win $367K.

Sunday February 25, 2024 at 10:52 pm
Barny Boatman wins 2024 EPT Paris for €1.28M

Barny Boatman, an English pro and one of the original members of the Hendon Mob, shipped the 2024 EPT Paris Main Event Championship for a score worth €1,287,800. The 68-year-old Boatman became the oldest player to win an EPT event when he outlasted a field of 1,224 entries in Paris. Boatman edged out a final table that included German pro David Kaufmann, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Owen Dodd, Eric Afriat, and Peter Jorgne who was last year's runner-up in Paris.

Friday February 16, 2024 at 7:17 pm
2024 WSOP schedule finally released

The 2024 World Series of Poker returns to the Horseshoe Casino and Paris Casino in Las Vegas for the 55th running of the most prestigious tournament series in the world. The schedule is out and the 2024 WSOP has 99 events which begins May 28 and will run through July 17. The $10,000 buy-in Main Event Championship has four opening days beginning on July 3 through July 6. The final table will take place on July 16 and 17 at the Horseshoe.

Wednesday January 31, 2024 at 8:59 pm
2024 PokerGo Cup: David Peters, Dylan Weidman, Cary Katz early winners

The 2024 PokerGo Cup, the latest high-roller stop on the PokerGo Tour, is underway at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Cary Katz is the latest champion after his victory in Event #4 $10K NL. Other winners so far include David Peters, Dylan Weisman, and Jonathan Little. Little currently sits atop of the leaderboard with four events to go.

Tuesday January 9, 2024 at 4:47 pm
Artur Martirosyan ships two PGT Last Chance titles

Artur Martirosyan finished in first place on the PGT Last Chance Leaderboard after he shipped two events on the final series of the PokerGo Tour season at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Daniel Negreanu, Samuel Laskowitz, Dylan DeStefano, and Nick Schulman also won titles in the six-event high roller series at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. This is the last series before the season-ending PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll which begins this week.

Friday December 22, 2023 at 9:20 pm
Dan Sepiol wins 2023 WPT Championship for $5.28 million

The record-setting 2023 World Poker Tour Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas is over. Dan Sepiol outlasted a field of 3,835 runners to win the $10,400 buy-in WPT Championship for a score worth $5,282,954. He edged out Georgios Sotiropoulos heads-up to win the title, and survived a tough final table that included Andrew 'LuckyChewy' Lichtenberger, Chris Moorman, Ben Heath, and Artur Martirosian.

Tuesday December 19, 2023 at 8:44 pm
2023 EPT Prague: Ireland Padraig O'Neill wins Main Event with sick comeback

Even though he was on the brink of elimination, Ireland's Padraig O'Neill never panicked, and he overcome a massive chip deficit to upset Norway's Jon Kyte to win the €5,300 buy-in 2023 PT Prague Main Event. The final stop on the EPT attracted a record-setting 1,285 runners and O'Neill bagged a first place payday worth a cool million Euros.

Monday December 11, 2023 at 5:15 pm
2023 WSOP Paradise: Erik Seidel wins tenth bracelet

American pro Erik Seidel won his tenth bracelet in the Bahamas, and he joined an exclusive club of double-digit bracelet winners including Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Phil Hellmuth. Seidel banked $1.7 million for outlasting a stacked final table in 2023 WSOP Paradise Event #7 $50,000 Super High Roller NL. Siedel edged out Seth Gottlieb heads-up for the victory and he tied Chan, Brunson, and Ivey with 10 bracelets each.

Friday December 8, 2023 at 9:25 pm
2023 WSOP Paradise: Jin Hoon Lee, Allan Mello win bracelets in Bahamas

The 2023 World Series of Poker Paradise kicked off in the Bahamas this week in Atlantis, and two events are already in the books. South Korea's Jin Hoon Lee faded 3,446 runners to win WSOP Paradise Event #1 $1,500 Mystery Millions, and he outlasted a final table that included Maria Ho. Brazil's Allan Mello banked a cool million as the last player standing in WSOP Paradise Event #2 $1,500 Millionaire Maker, which attracted 3,496 runners.

Friday December 1, 2023 at 4:49 pm
Hungary's Istvan Briski wins 2023 WPT Seminole Rock N Roll Poker Open

The World Poker Tour crowned a new champion during their latest stop in Hollywood, Florida at the 2023 WPT Seminole Rock N Roll Poker Open. When the dust settled, Istvan Briski from Hungary outlasted 1,447 runners to win the $3,500 Main Event for a score worth $647,300. Darryll Fish missed out on another title when he busted in sixth place.

Monday November 13, 2023 at 11:20 pm
Sami Bechahed wins 2023 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event

The PokerStars-branded North American Poker Tour made its triumphant return, and Sami Bechahed shipped the NAPT Las Vegas Main Event at Resorts World. The $1,650 buy-in NAPT Main Event attracted 1,095 runners and a prize pool worth $1.6 million. Bechahed -- a poker dealer -- banked $268,945 for first place when he outlasted a final table that included Jonathan Borenstein, David Coleman, Ping Liu, Sergio Aido, and Nick Schulman.

Saturday October 21, 2023 at 8:46 pm
Jared Bleznick ships $1.3 million at Super High Roller Bowl PLO

Jared Bleznick was the last player standing at the first-ever Super High Roller Bowl PLO $100,000 buy-in event at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Bleznick outlasted 38 runners and won $1,292,000 in the record-setting high roller PLO affair. Meanwhile, Isaac Haxton finished in second place but he moved into first place on the PokerGo Tour Leaderboard after his deep run.

Tuesday October 10, 2023 at 3:09 am
RIP Anthony Holden, ‘Big Deal' poker author passes away at 76

The poker world lost one of its finest authors when Anthony Holden passed away at age 76. Holden penned, translated, and edited nearly 40 books during his illustrious career as a journalist and writer. “Big Deal: A Year as a Professional Poker Player” is considered one of the best books ever written about poker, and it chronicled Holden's journey into the gambling underworld in Las Vegas in the late 1980s.

Free tournaments and added prizes

The Club Poker organizes freerolls and special tournaments with added prizes.
To qualify for free, register on our poker partners websites: