PokerStars announced specifics for two stops on the upcoming Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) with the circuit coming to the Philippines and South Korea. The APPT Korea kicks off on April 5 with a Main Event starting on April 11. The APPT Manila will kick off at the end of the July and running the first week of August at the swanky new Okada Manila.
The 2019 World Series of Poker at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas is currently at 74 events and counting. The final schedule has yet to be released, but the WSOP announced a couple of additions including a special Bracelet Winners Only. There will also be larger starting stacks and Big Blind Ante format for any ante events.
Phil Hellmuth defeated six players in heads-up matches to win the Borgata Winter Poker Open heads-up title in Atlantic City, NJ. Hellmuth outlasted 64 players in Event #16 $1,590 NL Heads-Up to win $37,248. Olivier Busquet went deep but he finished in fourth place. Hellmuth is closing in on $23 million in career earnings.
PokerStars launched 6+ Hold'em or their version of short-deck hold'em. The favorite format among high-stakes cash game players now comes to the online tables. All the cards between deuces and fives have been removed in 6+ Hold'em. Flushes beat full houses and Aces can be used as a high and low. There's as a button blind, which speeds up the action even more.
In an effort to make the Sunday Million more affordable to everyday players, PokerStars dropped the buy-in of the Sunday Million from $215 to $109. The guarantee stays the same and $1 million guaranteed prize pool will be at stake every Sunday. The $109 by-in is effective starting January 29, 2018.
The 2019 PCA Main Event Championship is in the books and American pro Chino Rheem survived a field of 865 runners to win $1.5 million. Rheem came into the final table with the lead and knocked out all five opponents en route to a quick and efficient victory in the Bahamas. Rheem picked off Daniel Strelitz heads-up for the trophy. Rheem has officially passed $10 million in career earnings.
The 2019 PCA Main Event Championship is down to its final table and Chino Rheem is the big stack with six remaining. This year's $10K Main Event attracted 865 players. First place pays out $1,567,100. The runner up banks $951K. Canada's Scott Wellenbach is second in chips, followed by two Americans -- Brian Altman and Dan Strelitz. Vicent Bosca is repping Spain at the final table and Pavel Veksler is the short stack.
Canadian poker pro Gavin Smith passed away in his sleep at the age of 50. Smith won a WPT title at the Mirage in 2005 and won his first WSOP bracelet in 2010. Smith banked over $6.3 million in tournaments. The magnanimous Smith was an integral part of Poker Road Radio during the peak of the online poker boom. Smith is currently ranked #11 on the all-time Canada money list.
The 2019 PCA is in its home stretch and Chino Rheem still has chips in the Main Event. After the third day of action, the $10K Main Event went from 79 to 20 players. Tommy Nguyen bagged up the big stack with Jeff Hakim, Dan Strelitz, Matthias Eibinger, and Brian Altman round out the Top 5. First place pays out a juicy $1.5 million. Only two more days remain before they crown a champion in the Bahamas.
After five glorious day of action at the Atlantis Casino and Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, PokerStars crowned a winner in the largest $25,000 tournament in history. Ramon Colillas from Spain banked $5.1 million for outlasting a field of 1.039 hopefuls at the PokerStars Players Championship. He defeated French pro Julien Martini heads-up for the victory Martini took home a little less than $3 million for a runner up share.
The first-ever PokerStars Players Championship played down from 38 players to the final eight on Day 4 of action. On Day 5, they will be playing down to a champion. The top six places pay out at least $1 million with the winner banking $5.1 million. American pro Scott Baumstein is the big stack with 10.7M, followed by Marc Rivera, Julien Martini, Farid Jattin, Roman, Colillas, Jason Koonce, Talal Shakerchi, and Marc Perrault.
After three days of action, the $25K PSPC saw the money bubble burst. Although 215 players returned for Day 3, only 181 places were paid out. By the end of Day 3, only 38 players were remaining. American pro Scott Baumstein is the big stack. France's Julien Martini finished in the Top 5 along with Yiannis Liperis, Louis Boutin, and Ramon Colilas.
PokerStars threw the largest tournament in history with the $25,000 buy-in PokerStars Players Championship attracting 1,039 unique runners. The top 181 places will pay out with first place winning $5.1 million. Only 215 players remain after two full days of action. Farrid Jattin fromColombia is the chipleader. Italian pro Mustapha Kanit bagged up the second-biggest stack. Other big stacks included Brandon Adams, Griffin Benger, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Julien Martini, Kristen Bicknell, and Talal Shakerchi.
The PokerStars Player Championship got off to a sensational start when it passed 1,000 entries. The total is 1,014 runners. First place will pay out over $5 million and that includes an extra $1 million bonus on top. It was a Who's Who of poker at Atlantis Casino in the Bahamas for the start of the inaugural PSPC. After the first complete day of action, only 756 players remaining and The U.K.'s Talal Shakerchi is the big stack with over 420K. Registration is still open.
The 2019 PCA is officially underway at Atlantis Casino and Resort in the Bahamas. The PokerStars Players Championship kicks off today. PokerStars gave away Platinum Passes and prize packages worth several million over the last twelve months. At least 850 players will be taking a shot at PSPC glory. Registration is still open.
Republican governor Rick Snyder decided to veto a bill that would have allowed Michigan gamblers to gamble online and play online poker. Michigan missed a chance to become the fifth state in America to legalize online poker joining Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Snyder cited that Michigan needed to study the data more before making a decision to authorize online gambling.
