It was a crazy wager, but American poker pro Rich Altai won the $100,000 prop bet where he had to live in complete isolation and seclusion for 30 days. After 20 days, Australian poker pro Rory Young realized Altai was going to all the way for the win, so he negotiated a buy-out worth $62,000. Altai agreed, and he exited the sequestered room where he lived in total darkness and silence for 20 days.
One of the last remaining characters in poker, Minneapolis Jim Meehan, passed away at the age of 66. The attorney and poker pro from Minnesota won a WSOP bracelet in 2003, made a couple of televised final tables during the poker boom, and banked over $1.4 million in career earnings.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are hitting lows for the year. Current prices are similar to August 2017 levels, shortly after the 2017 World Series of Poker ended and numerous poker pros were heavily vested in crypto. Will the drastic drop see a significant number of crypto-vested poker players return to the daily grind? Which notables will come out of retirement after stepping away? Or is it time to borrow money from Timex or Johnny Bax and buy as much BTC as you can?
The largest and richest online poker tournament is finally over. The 2018 partypoker MILLIONS Online is complete. The $5,000 buy-in event attracted 4,367 runners and a prize pool in excess of $21.8 million. Tthe top four place paid out at least $1 million. With two remaining, Manuel 'Sheparentao' Ruivo and Pim 'ForMatherRussia' de Goede were almost even stacked and agreed for a chop. Sheparentao held more chips and was awarded first place and $2,329,943 in cash. ForMatherRussia locked up $2,309,994 for second place.
Another historic moment in the online poker world. partypoker pulled off their epic feat with a successful partypoker MILLIONS Online event. It had a $20 million guarantee, but it never kicked in because 4,367 entrants took a shot at the MILLIONS Online, which boosted the prize pool in excess of $21.8 million. First place will pay out $2,729,376. Currently, 29 players are remaining with wheatforsheep the big stack (566M) and they'll play down to a champion today. Chris Kruk and Chance Kornuth are in the top ten.
Thor Hansen passed away at the age of 71 after a prolonged battle with terminal cancer. The Olso-born Hansen is regarded as both the Godfather of Norwegian Poker as well as the Godfather of Scandinavian Poker. Hansen won two WSOP bracelets with his first occurring back in 1988 in Seven-card Stud. Hansen finished his illustrious career as third on the all time Norwegian money list.
