More than a year after PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel 4 ended with Daniel Negreanu defeating Doug Polk in Round 2, the competition has returned. On Tuesday, Jared Bleznick bested new Poker Hall of Famer Patrik Antonius heads-up in Round 1 of High Stakes Duel 5. Antonius has already called for a rematch, so the stakes will double and the two will go at it again.

The format is slightly different than last year’s (and High Stakes Duel 4 was a bit different than previous iterations), but the buy-in still starts at $50,000 per player and doubles each round.

Each player can also call on the dealer to “Run It Twice” once during the contest.

Rather than playing No-Limit Hold’em the whole way, the match alternates between No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha every ten hands. Each player can also call on the dealer to “Run It Twice” once during the contest.

Early entries in the popular poker series went on for months because of a consecutive wins requirement. To try to cut down on the delays, that requirement is gone.

Instead, the loser of the round has the option to call for a rematch (again, at double the stakes). If the loser decides he or she is done, then the round’s winner is declared the High Stakes Duel champion. Gone are the days of the loser not asking for a rematch and then waiting to see if someone else would step in to take their place.

The rematch between Bleznick and Antonius for $100,000 a piece will be on Tuesday, November 19 at 8pm ET/5pm PT, streamed live on the PokerGO subscription service.

Past High Stakes Duel champs include Phil Hellmuth (Seasons 1 and 2), Jason Koon (Season 3), and Daniel Negreanu (Season 4).

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Baby-faced poker assassin

It would be easy to underestimate Nick Marchington. His innocent complexion and happy-go-lucky demeanour immediately put you at ease, but the man from Romford, England is a ferocious competitor and ruthless opponent. Softly spoken and affable off the table, a paragon of concentration and perceptiveness on it, he is a modern-day baby-faced poker assassin.?

he dominated proceedings from two tables out, getting his nose in front and then pulling away

On Sunday night, Marchington took down the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas Main Event for $765,200 after putting on an endgame clinic. Reminiscent of Joe McKeehan in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event or Steve O’Dwyer’s virtuoso performance at The Irish Open, he dominated proceedings from two tables out, getting his nose in front and then pulling away. Sure, the deck was kind in a few spots but what was always in evidence was his composure and deep understanding of table dynamics.?

Marchington did what great front-runners do, leveraging the ICM pressure on his tablemates, whittling them down before delivering the fatal blows. At his celebratory dinner, he was gracious in victory, acknowledging his good fortune and simply referring to the final table as ‘smooth.’ Smoothest of all was how he ended the tournament, cold-decking Joel Micka on the very first hand of heads-up play.?

The Final Table

Starting the final day with just shy of 10 million chips, roughly 37% of the chips in play, Marchington was selectively aggressive, pressing his advantage but less than he anticipated his opponents would think. Having been the proverbial wrecking ball the previous night, he came into the final six with a game plan to be slightly less maniacal, sensing that his opponents were primed to presume larceny.  

Marchington’s progress was fairly steady en route to a stack of 13 million chips as he sent Japan’s Masato Yokosawa to the rail in sixth. Curt Kohlberg bust in fifth after losing a race to Micka and then it was the turn of Marco Johnson to be sent packing, also at the hands of Micka. All the while, however, Marchington was stretching his lead over the field, successfully 5-betting his Ace-King versus Micka’s Ace-Jack, winning a chunky one versus Jeff Madsen with two pair and just generally leaning on his opponents with light opens and well-timed bluffs.

the Poker Gods chose immediate violence, ending the contest in the blink of an eye

Three-handed, the chips moved back and forth but despite some minor setbacks, Marchington continued to dominate. Madsen was eventually given his marching orders in a pocket Queens versus Ace-Ten collision, an unlikely river ace bringing delight to the enthusiastic railbirds, of which I was one. The stage was set for what could have been a war of attrition but the Poker Gods chose immediate violence, ending the contest in the blink of an eye.?

Grateful and gracious

Back in 2019, Marchington made the WSOP Main Event final table, an extraordinary run which culminated in an impressive seventh place finish for $1,525,000. At just 21 years of age, it was a baptism of fire on poker’s biggest stage. In the years since, he has focused mainly on cash games but the allure of big tournaments does tempt him into the arena occasionally. He took down the Grosvenor Poker Tour Open in Coventry earlier this year but last week’s NAPT result was on another level.?

“Honestly, this is some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing poker,” Marchington told Joe Stapleton in his post-match interview. It was a sentiment he echoed just a few hours later both on social media and over champagne and Mexican food, declaring it his “favourite poker experience.”?

Marchington had just navigated his way through a field of 895 players to earn the biggest title of his young career but as we all raised our glasses to him, it was clear that he already very self-aware, cognisant of the achievement yet both grateful and gracious in victory.

NAPT Main Event Final Table Results

1st: Nick Marchington, UK – $765,200

2nd: Joel Micka, USA – $478,450

3rd: Jeff Madsen, USA – $341,750

4th: Marco Johnson, USA – $262,900

5th: Curt Kohlberg, USA – $202,250

6th: Masato Yokosawa, Japan – $155,550

7th: Brock Wilson, USA – $119,650

8th: Matt Affleck, USA – $92,000

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Poker pro gets scammed

Ethan Yau, otherwise known as Rampage, is an American poker pro with total live earnings of nearly $3m. He’s not just interested in poker though, the gambler likes to have a flutter on sports betting too, but his recent decision to use an unofficial bookmaker has supposedly cost him more than $100,000.

naming Neema Khazaie of Sherman Oaks, California as the perpetrator

He took to X on Tuesday this week to share details of the alleged scam, naming Neema Khazaie of Sherman Oaks, California as the perpetrator.

Yau explained that he lost more than $600,000 sports betting over the course of the year, making most of his bets through Khazaie, an agent for a bookmaker. When he did ultimately secure some profit, mainly through a bet on Donald Trump winning the Presidential election, he encountered difficulty trying to withdraw any funds.

According to Rampage, the bookie now owes him $138,969.89 in total, $80,000 of which is his deposit.

Text messages revealed

Despite losing a significant amount over the course of the year, Rampage claimed that the bookmaker immediately limited his account once he had a slight upswing. “Not only are they not paying my account balance but they’re claiming “sharp” action AFTER I’M DOWN 600K and GO ON A 30K UPSWING,” he wrote.

He then provided evidence of his interactions with Khazaie in the form of text messages in which the agent claimed that he would receive some of his money soon, cash that has yet to materialize:

As seen in the messages, Rampage requests 50K at first from the agent before eventually asking for just 10K. Ultimately, the agent says that he will deliver 30K – 40K in the next few days, but he has supposedly still not received any money. The poker pro asked for anyone who “knows this family” to “help progress this situation along.”

Support and criticism

Rampage’s posts have received both support and criticism.

In the latter column, X user Tafo said that “the minor benefits in whatever discount you’re getting yourself into can’t possibly be worth the risk.” Meanwhile, Ken chastised Rampage for not using a trustworthy “agent/advisor/lawyer,” adding that “scams are easily avoided” when the right actions are taken.

Why tf would you post with a bookie lol?”

Many urged Rampage to use online sportsbooks rather than betting through unofficial bookmakers. “Bruh why aren’t you using an online sportsbook?” Tam Thai asked. Another user said: “Why tf would you post with a bookie lol? That’s insane. The network you have, your track record of paying debts, and you end up with the only bookie in America who makes you post.”

In the more supportive category, Jason Edwards said: “Wow, sorry brother. Keep your head up, hopefully some good luck/ karma on its way…”

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Mystery Bounty to Main Event

After a full week at the Irish Poker Open when I played every day, there was no rest for the wicked with the Irish Poker Festival starting the following day. First up was the Mystery Bounty. I never really got going in this, busting late in both flights that I played.

the poker equivalent of a slow bicycle race with the next shortest Niall “Firaldo” Farrell

The Main Event was a bit of a slog for me, but I was very happy to bag up an above average stack on the first bullet. I got very little to play with on Day Two and it was mostly a case of just surviving. It’s a testament to the structure that I was able to do so even though I ran pretty bad on Day Two (twice I had Aces cracked by under pairs). I found myself very short on the bubble with less than a starting stack much to the amusement of my neighbour and friend Pargos, who amused me by telling me he dreamt vividly that we got heads up in the Main. At this point, I was the shortest in the tournament but I took comfort in the fact that the next shortest was last year‘s champion Michel Molenaar. Shortly after live poker came back after the pandemic, I found myself in a similar situation on the bubble of a UK & Ireland Poker Tour highroller, in the poker equivalent of a slow bicycle race with the next shortest Niall “Firaldo” Farrell. Firaldo, the subject of a recent BBC documentary , made it perfectly clear he was more than happy to wait me out. On that occasion, the bubble lasted four 1/2 hours. For most of that time, I had three big blinds or less.

For whatever reason, I had a feeling this would be a very different bubble with Michel less willing to hang around and so it proved. His Ace-Jack failed to outdraw the Ace-Queen of Sam Dobbins to burst the bubble. A few hands later, I got the remains of my stack in with Ace-Queen but was out drawn by 9-6.

In the run-up to the event there was a lot of speculation about the guarantee. Many feared or  hoped, depending on their perspective, that there would be an overlay but in the end the numbers were more or less the same as last year.

Mark Buckley

Back at the start of my career, there were lots of poker clubs in Dublin each with their own monthly tournament. One of these was a small club in Malahide called the Westbury. Located as it was on the outskirts of Dublin, it had its own ecosystem. Every time I played it, I saw the same group of players who I rarely if ever saw anywhere else. Most of the players had a very similar loose aggressive style that was easy to exploit just by playing tight. There was however one player who stood out as considerably more difficult to play against than the others. His name was Mark Buckley and he was affectionately known as Bucko. If anything, Bucko was the most aggressive player in the club, but he also seemed to have a sixth sense for when to put the foot on the brakes. Even more importantly, he was completely fearless deep in the tournament, unlike most of his competitors who were only happy to splash around at the start but as soon as the money started to get serious, they turned into scared nits.

Calvin won the arm wrestling match, which most considered a bigger shock than Bucko’s win in the poker

Bucko’s fearlessness was never more evident than at the 2014 Irish Open. Sponsor Paddy power optimistically put 10K buyin higher roller on the schedule. When the time came only one player had registered: online phenomenon Calvin Anderson, almost certainly the best player at the event. That fact dissuaded anyone else who might have been considering entering, but it didn’t stop Bucko. He not only forked over the €10,000 ($10,645) entry fee but went on to defeat Calvin heads up. Things took a surreal turn when Calvin challenged Bucko to an arm wrestling match. Nobody in Ireland would bet against the muscular Bucko in such a match, and locals piled money on him to win. The fact that Calvin associates were willing to take any amount of bets should perhaps have tipped people off to them knowing something we didn’t. In the event Calvin won the arm wrestling match, which most considered a bigger shock than Bucko’s win in the poker.

By now Bucko had branched out into playing PLO. In 2017, he took down the PLO side event at the Irish Open. The following year he took second place in the highroller at the Irish Open, and in 2023 won the PLO event at EPT Barcelona, an event he final tabled again the following year.

It is likely however that his exploits at this year’s Irish Poker Festival are what will live in the memory for a long time. After taking down the Dublin poker cup on Friday night, he entered both all in or fold satellites to the Main Event the following morning and won both. He quickly ran up a stock in the Main Event and made it all the way to the final table as chip leader. Facing stiff competition from Conor O’Rourke (one of Ireland’s brightest young talents), Niall Farrell and recent Eureka Cyprus winner Leo Worthington Leese, It was never going to be easy. But betting against Mark to close out a tournament from such a position is as foolhardy as betting against Calvin Anderson in an arm wrestling match. Mark is one of the most popular figures on the Irish Poker scene, so there were many only too happy to celebrate his victory. Has anyone ever won four tournaments on 48 hours before? I don’t know, but seriously doubt it.

Milestones

In late 2015, I became the first Irish player to reach a century of cashes on the Hendon mob. A couple of years later I cashed in 23 live tournaments in the same calendar year, a new record for an Irish player. My cash in the Main Event at the Irish Poker festival was my 37th of this year. which I also believe is a new record for an Irish player. Of course, it’s a lot easier to notch up cashes in the current environment where most tournaments are multiple rebuy than in the early days of my career when everything was a freeze out. Nevertheless, it’s heartening to still be consistently getting results at this stage of my career, and the year isn’t over yet. Next week, I travel to Nottingham for the UKIPT, and in December will travel to Las Vegas for the World Poker Tour world championship.

Between the Irish Poker festival and Nottingham, my focus shifts to coaching, writing, content creation, online poker, and the launch of my new AI learning tool on the EIDO app. More on that in a forthcoming article. I’ll end by saying that Pargos’ soothsaying abilities need some work: we didn’t get headsup in the Main Event, but did end up collecting our min cashes at the same time!

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PokerStars has made two new additions to its PokerStars Team Pro roster, signing Jason Koon and Caitlin Comeskey.

Jason Koon is one of the most recognizable players in the game in 2024, renowned for his success in high stakes tournaments and cash games.

the 39-year-old is indisputably one of the greatest players in the world

Koon sits in 4th position on the all-time money list, with $58,018,908 in career tournament winnings. A regular at illustrious events like the Triton Series and also a frequent participant in high-stakes cash games, the 39-year-old is indisputably one of the greatest players in the world.

“I started my poker journey playing at PokerStars and it’s always had a special place in my heart,” said Koon. “I’m looking forward to bringing the PokerStars experience to players here in the US and across the world.”

Caitlin Comeskey, meanwhile, has been steadily building a following and making a name for herself as a content creator, comedian, and podcaster alongside her burgeoning poker career.

After winning the?“Rising Star in Content Creation”award at the 2023 Global Poker Awards, Comeskey also won the “Best Short-Form Content Creator” award in 2024.

“I strongly believe that fun is the beating heart of our poker economy,” Comeskey said. “PokerStars is committed to producing fun, quality poker entertainment – such as the Big Game on Tour – and it’s humbling and thrilling to join the squad. I feel like I’m a part of something special and I can’t wait to share more of what we do with our community.”

Speaking on the double signing, PokerStars Director of North America Steve Preiss said: “PokerStars has always been, and continues to be, about the biggest names in poker, and the best in poker entertainment. Jason and Caitlin bring relevance, authenticity, expertise and humour and their addition to the PokerStars team reinforces our commitment to bringing poker back to the big stage.”

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IPO

Back at the very start of my career, one of the first live multi-day tournaments I played was the inaugural International Poker Open. It was held not in the nice part of the RDS that hosts the Irish Open these days, but in one of the cow sheds at the back, complete with big sliding doors that took considerable force to open and close. For that reason, the doors remained open all day, exposing the tables nearer the door to the elements.

the IPO broke the mold coming in at a much more affordable price point for grassroots players

At the time, there were no smaller buy-in events of this nature in Ireland. Everything was a 1k or higher, so the IPO broke the mold coming in at a much more affordable price point for grassroots players. It quickly earned the unofficial nickname name of “the people’s Irish Open,” leading to a confusion among international visitors that IPO stands for Irish Poker Open that persists to this day.

The irony, of course, is that nowadays nearly all the higher buy-ins have disappeared from the Irish poker calendar, but there’s any number of events at a similar price point to the IPO.

Chuffty’ opponent not feeling chuffed

The IPO moved to the Bonnington hotel (then called the Regency) in its second year and has stayed there since. Boyle Poker came on board as sponsor and elevated the event to new levels. My main memories from the second year are that then-Boyle sponsored pro Marty Smyth was crippled late on day one right on the bubble, so they stopped the tournament then and there as they wanted to wait for the cameras to arrive so they could film him bubbling the next day. It’s not all fun and sunshine being a sponsored pro!

treating the event with the seriousness most of us reserve for the WSOP Main Event

My other memory is that on Day 2, my neighbor to the left was Richard “Chuffty” Ashby, then and now one of the best mixed cash game players in the world. Chuffty had apparently been up all night grinding high stakes online cash and was continuing to do so at the table.

He was playing a high variance approach designed to either get a stack worth his time or get him out of there, much to the chagrin of his neighbor to the left, a French player in sunglasses treating the event with the seriousness most of us reserve for the WSOP Main Event. He was getting tilted by Chuffty’s aggression and muttering away to himself in French. I was happy to oblige when Chuffty asked for a translator:

“He called you an English fish….now he mentioned something about Dunkirk….Joan of Arc….”

A few years later, the sponsors hosted the short-lived Irish Poker Awards at the event. Much to my delight, I won the popular vote for Best Blogger, and much to my amusement, my close friend and colleague David Lappin wasn’t even nominated, much to his chagrin. I won a second award for Best Social Media, given to me by my good friend Neil Channing with the words: “Isn’t this basically the same thing as your other award?”

Put the past in the past

After BoylePoker, the event bounced around different sponsors, this year passing from Unibet to Stars. It has suffered a decline in numbers in recent years, but this year reversed that trend, and there are plans to go even bigger next year, moving to a €500 buy-in and €500k guarantee.

my focus is always just to show up in as good mental and physical shape as possible

I went into this year’s event on the back of something of a dry spell, having bricked the entire Killarney festival. I told my friend Ray I don’t really track or believe in downswings, as they’re only identifiable if you look back, and you should always look forward in poker. My focus is always just to show up in as good mental and physical shape as possible, make the best decisions that I can, and not worry about outcomes or anything else I can’t control.

That said, it worked out well for me this event. My first bullet was fruitless. I came in the second day to play the Super High Roller, but there was only one person registered, so I decided to late reg the Main Event flight that was running instead, figuring I could hop into the Super High Roller if and when I busted. I was short-stacked almost the whole way, including when I got moved onto the feature table, but some late heat saw me chip up toward the end of the day.

On Day 2, I successfully navigated well into the money, ultimately losing a standard flip to bust in 33rd, just in time to late register the high roller. I also ran up a stack in that late in the day.

A couple deep runs

I came back to Day 2 in fifth place out of 13 players remaining. Only nine were paid, but I told Ray that the goal wasn’t just to get into the money, but to get to the final table with a big stack. An early rush of cards helped to achieve this, and we got to the final table much quicker than expected with me as chip leader. I maintained my chip lead until we got four-handed when I lost a 60/40 against Neil O’Reilly. Neil busted on the next hand semi-bluffing his stack against Paul Carr and not getting there.

That left Paul as the new chip leader with not much more than myself and Paul Leckey, who had expertly navigated from the short stack at the start of the final table. When Leckey proposed a deal, an equal chop was quickly agreed upon, with Paul Carr getting the trophy as the chip leader.

After some dinner with the two Pauls, I left for the last small side event and ended up getting heads-up in that one. I started as a big chip underdog but clawed my way back into the lead. I lost a 70/30 to win, and then a flip to bust.

the Stars live event staff and dealers were impeccable as ever

It was good to see the Main Event reverse the decline in numbers in recent years. Although the venue leaves much to be desired, there is also much to admire about the IPO. It boasts a phenomenal structure for that level of buy-in, and the live stream helmed by the Tower and aided ably by Thomas Murphy and Aidan Quinlan added greatly to the sense of occasion.

The Stars live event staff and dealers were impeccable as ever, but it would have been nice to see a bit more (or even any) attendance from Stars ambassadors at the event. The organizers announced that next year‘s event will feature a bigger buy-in of €500 and a guaranteed prize of half a million.

On a personal level, it was nice to go into the IPF in some sort of form. My next article will cover how I got on at that festival.

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BetMGM is third interstate network in US

A new interstate online poker network has launched in the United States, as BetMGM Poker has connected its player pools in New Jersey and Michigan.

now players in both New Jersey and Michigan are sitting at the same tables

BetMGM took its servers down Wednesday morning, letting players know that it was necessary to push the upgrade to allow for shared liquidity. The servers came back online shortly thereafter, and now players in both New Jersey and Michigan are sitting at the same tables.

This gives the US its long-awaited third interstate poker network. WSOP Online connects New Jersey, Michigan, and Nevada (and used to include Delaware – more on that later). PokerStars links New Jersey and Michigan, just like BetMGM. WSOP Online is the only online poker room available in Nevada.

An active fall for US online poker

Though only a few states have legalized online poker and fewer actually have active internet poker rooms, the US online poker industry has been busy lately.

In mid-October, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro instructed the state’s Gaming Control Board to begin negotiations with the members of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) to join the group. The deal is not done, but the target is before the end of the year.

When it happens (and it will – Pennsylvania would be a huge addition), WSOP, PokerStars, and BetMGM will all likely expand their networks in the Keystone State. In fact, that BetMGM decided to create its interstate network today is probably a good indication that Pennsylvania is joining MSIGA soon.

And just a week ago, BetRivers went live in Pennsylvania, the first new US online poker room to come along in a while. Part of the excitement of the launch is that BetRivers is the rebranded, revived Run It Once Poker, founded by Phil Galfond several years ago.

Additionally, DraftKings has launched its lottery (or jackpot) sit-and-go product, Electric Poker, in both Michigan and Pennsylvania.

More online poker expansion could be coming

As we have already discussed, the most exciting, seemingly imminent US online poker development should be Pennsylvania becoming a MSIGA member and WSOP, PokerStars, and BetMGM quickly expanding their interstate poker networks.

Nevada online poker is probably about a year out

Beyond that, though, BetMGM has indicated its intent to finally bring a second online poker room to Nevada, as it has an interactive license there. In April of this year, MGM Resorts International told the Nevada Gaming Commission that it has “everything lined up” to launch online poker in the state, but was focused on sports betting first. The company said that Nevada online poker is probably about a year out, which would put it in the spring of 2025.

BetMGM also offers online casino gaming in West Virginia, so poker could be a possibility there. No operator has gone live with online poker in West Virginia because of the market’s size, but it is a MSIGA member, so perhaps when Pennsylvania comes on board, operators might expand there.

And BetRivers’ launch in Pennsylvania could be good news for poker players in Delaware. Delaware’s three racinos used to have online poker rooms running on 888poker’s platform. It is the same software employed by WSOP and thus Delaware players could play on the WSOP Online network.

But at the beginning of 2024, the Delaware Lottery changed iGaming providers from 888 to Rush Street Interactive, the parent of BetRivers. Since then, Delaware has not had online poker, but now that BetRivers Poker is up and running and interstate networks are expanding, it’s possible poker could return to the state.

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$1m champion disqualified

The first-place finisher of a $25k World Series of Poker Online high roller event has been disqualified from the event and permanently banned by GGPoker.

The user,?“forzaitalia,” prevailed over a final table in September featuring illustrious names such as Adrian Mateos, Bryn Kenney, and Chris Brewer, defeating the latter heads up for a bracelet and the?$1,122,201 top prize.

players were contacted by GGPoker informing them that the player had been disqualified

However, this week, players were contacted by GGPoker informing them that the player had been disqualified and permanently banned, and that his prize money would be redistributed among the other players.

Bracelet not awarded

The identity of the user was a mystery to the other players at the table; the account had just $36k in cashes on GGPoker before playing the event.

Players believed the account belonged to someone named Francesco Garofalo and quickly began to speculate on the precise reason for the decision to disqualify the player.

Multi-accounting, playing on more than one account in the tournament, was chief among the suspicions, although the use of real-time assistance or other tools also remains a possibility. So far, GGPoker has not clarified the reason for its decision.

I got the difference between 2nd to 1st. But I don’t get the bracelet”

It also appears that Brewer will not be receiving the bracelet in addition to his share of the winnings. Posting on X, Brewer said: “I got the difference between 2nd to 1st. But I don’t get the bracelet, quite happy either way.”

Third biggest refund

The refund will go down as the third biggest in online poker history. The largest, which occurred during the poker boom era, saw the then-biggest online prize of all time of $1.37m denied to the winner of the 2007 PokerStars WCOOP Main Event.

The account was registered to Natalie Teltscher, sister of pro player Mark Teltscher. Natalie would attempt to retrieve her winnings through the courts, but the case was dropped after she confessed to not playing the event herself.

Meanwhile, in second place, Dutch player “wann2play,” who also won the WCOOP Main Event in 2018 for $1.35m, was disqualified, again for multi-accounting.

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Nearly three years in the making

More than five and a half years ago, poker pro Phil Galfond took the bold step and launched a new online poker room, Run It Once Poker. Built from the ground up, it was very well-regarded, but good reviews don’t pay the bills, and it closed at the beginning of 2022.

On Wednesday, Run It Once rose from the grave, this time as BetRivers Poker and perhaps best of all (depending on who you speak to, I suppose), it launched in Pennsylvania.

finely tuned to meet the needs of poker players at every level”

From the moment Run It Once shutdown, this was the goal. Rush Street Interactive, the owner of the BetRivers brand, bought the poker room in March 2022 with its eyes on the US market. And Galfond is still there, bringing his “invaluable insight into the game, ensuring the platform is finely tuned to meet the needs of poker players at every level.”

Applying lessons learned

In a press release celebrating the BetRivers Poker launch, Galfond said: “From the amateur playing their very first hand to the sophisticated pro, everyone was kept in mind as we focused on fairness, excitement, and generous rewards that truly benefit the player. I’ve been heavily involved in the game design, promotions, and policy decisions, and, more importantly, in building an incredible team that sees online poker the way I do.”

At the end of 2021, when Galfond announced that Run It Once was closing its “rest of world” site, he said: “The hill was too steep.”

The road to success won’t necessarily be any flatter in the US, especially with only a few states having legal online poker, but Galfond has the lessons he learned with Run It Once and the experience and muscle of Rush Street Interactive, so it should be interesting to see where it goes.

US interstate poker landscape could change

The timing of the BetRivers Poker launch in Pennsylvania may potentially indicate that the state will soon join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) and that Rush Street is ready to flip the switch in other jurisdictions.

BetRivers would likely not want to be a single-state site

After all, while Pennsylvania is a big market, it has yet to share player liquidity with other states. It started negotiations with the MSIGA members in October to join the group, so we know it is coming. And BetRivers would likely not want to be a single-state site, especially since as soon as Pennsylvania does join MSIGA, both PokerStars (Michigan, New Jersey) and WSOP Online (Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada) will be able to add Pennsylvania to their interstate poker networks.

This is also likely a great sign for poker players in Delaware. The three racinos in the state used to employ 888’s platform for online poker, allowing them to network with WSOP in New Jersey and Nevada, as WSOP also used the 888 software.

But in January of this year, the Delaware Lottery switched its iGaming provider to Rush Street Interactive, thus shutting down online poker. Rush Street does still have its BetRivers online casino and sportsbook in the Blue Hen State.

Now that BetRivers has a poker product in the US, it very well could launch it in Delaware. And because Delaware is a MSIGA member, it could then share player pools with Pennsylvania and any other state in which BetRivers Poker goes live.

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High-stakes restrictions

GGPoker may be about to make another major controversial move by making all high stakes cash game tables invite-only.

GG will make all cash games with $25/$50 blinds and above closed to the public

According to a Russian blog post, high stakes players began receiving emails warning them of the upcoming changes over the last few days. With the new rules, GG will make all cash games with $25/$50 blinds and above closed to the public, with only invited players able to participate.

The change is slated to happen on November 8, when the high stakes tables will officially be cordoned off from the rest of the player pool.

Players blast changes

In general, the move has been seen by most players as a betrayal of the “poker dream” – the idea of a skillful player grinding their way from small stakes to nosebleed games.

That criticism is a common one levelled at GG, which has often been accused of turning poker into a casino game in which there are no winners.

may become a case of sucking up to the host and exchanging favors and kickbacks

Exactly how to get an invite to the games is not quite clear, with an email translated from Russian stating: “The opportunity to join the exclusive service is provided by hosts approved by the network administration,” which sounds like it may become a case of sucking up to the host and exchanging favors and kickbacks with which live poker players will be all too familiar.

The Russian users who were interviewed over the changes were universal in their criticism of the move. “My income will drop significantly. I will start streaming and playing tournaments. I will probably have to spend my retirement in a mental hospital,” said high-stakes pro Daniel Vasiliev.

Ethical concerns

While GGPoker hasn’t attempted to justify the changes yet, noted poker YouTuber Joe Ingram was a lone voice in defending the move, pointing out that such changes may be necessary to protect players against collusion, real-time assistance, and other forms of cheating which are becoming rife in online poker.

“GGpoker seems to be trying to balance the traditional model with a winner-limiting approach,” said Ingram, writing on the TwoPlusTwo forum. “Some sites are offering poker that seems more like a ‘chop house’ of AI agents rather than a genuine poker environment.”

several users brought up the possibility for cheating and corruption

In general, however, opposition to the move was near-unanimous. In addition to bemoaning the perceived death of the poker dream and introducing politics into the online environment, several users brought up the possibility of cheating and corruption that the changes would allow.

“Whoever is going to be deciding who gets to play and who doesn’t will very likely just do what private games do where that entity gets a piece directly from the game while also getting to make deals with regs,” said TwoPlusTwo user “The Standard Station.”

“Rahm brought up a good point about fish selling accounts too… you’re going to have ppl ghosting accounts. This will 100% happen.”

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Caesars Entertainment has completed the $500m sale of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) brand. GGPoker’s parent company and prominent investment group NSUS Group Inc. announced in August it was buying the intellectual property (IP) rights for $250m in promissory notes and the other half in cash.

Caesars plans to use this money to renovate its New Orleans casino and develop its new permanent casino in Virginia.

will still run the iconic WSOP summer series of events for the next 20 years

The casino company will still run the iconic WSOP summer series of events for the next 20 years and continue operating its online poker platforms in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, and Nevada. Any Caesars-run poker rooms can also continue showcasing WSOP branding, and its properties will remain in prime position for hosting events in the WSOP Circuit calendar.

Caesars announced the finalization of the WSOP deal on Tuesday when releasing its Q3 2024 financial results. Total revenue fell 2.6% year-on-year, and the company posted a $9m net loss. Caesars’ share price dropped 5% in pre-market trading on Wednesday morning.

In addition to the news about the WSOP deal, the company also revealed it is selling the Linq Promenade shopping mall in Las Vegas for $275m.

The post Caesars to Use Money From $500m WSOP Sale for Work on New Orleans and Virginia Casinos appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.

The preflop almost all in

At the recent European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona, I was at the same table as Jennifer Shahade in one of the evening hypers. These are fast and frenetic affairs where unless you make a very good start, you’ll find yourself short stacked pretty soon more often than not. Jen found herself short, and as you’d expect, waited patiently for a good spot, then moved all-in with an Ace, except for one big blind.

complimented her on the play, which seemed to confuse at least some of our table mates

She was called by a player in position, and they both checked the flop. She also checked the turn, at which point her opponent bet, and she flicked in her last big blind with Ace high, and lost. As she left, I complimented her on the play, which seemed to confuse at least some of our table mates.

In my last article, I talked about the advantages of leaving one big blind behind on the river. All of these advantages also apply to leaving one big blind behind preflop, but there’s even more! In this article, I’m going to talk about these additional advantages this play has over simply moving all in.

It sometimes gets checked down

Sometimes when you leave one big blind behind, you get called preflop, it gets checked down and you lose. This is a massive win for you, as you get to preserve that extra big blind, and potentially spin it as described in my last article.

This is such a big win that it barely even matters if occasionally you win when it gets checked down and your opponent had a hand that would have called: winning one extra big blind in those spots is worth only a fraction of what preserving the big blind when you lose is worth.

Of course, most of the time it makes no difference: your opponent simply puts you all in at some point and you call and whoever wins wins. But it’s such a big plus when you do preserve that final big blind that even if it only happens rarely, it’s still a big advantage overall to the play.

You can sometimes fold

You might think you can never fold, leaving yourself with one big blind if there’s even the slightest possibility you could win the pot. But you’d be wrong.

If you fold, there will almost certainly be one elimination

Consider this example. You’re the shortest by far with four players left with six big blinds. Everyone else has well over 30 big blinds. You raise to five big blinds, and everyone behind you goes all in! Can you fold now? Of course you can. If you fold, there will almost certainly be one elimination, and if you’re really lucky and the chip leader scoops, you could be headsup, with second place locked up!

That’s an extreme example, but there are others less extreme. You’re shortest on the bubble with, say, three big blinds. You min raise, get min raised, and a bunch of people?call, hoping to eliminate you. Meanwhile you hear “all in and a call” on several other tables. Now, irrespective of how strong your hand is, you’re almost certainly better off folding and hoping there’s a bust out on another table (or even your own) than taking your chances multiway.

The confusion factor

When you leave a blind behind, it confuses people. At the very least it slows them down (which can be useful in itself) if you’re on a pay jump.

“Is that all in?”

“How much behind?”

“Can I raise?”

“What are you doing, old man?”

Some will spend some time trying to read something into the almost but not quite all in, and they may even read something to your advantage into it. I had a guy fold Kings face up to me once saying “your bet size gave away the fact you had Aces” (he was only half right). On another occasion I had a chip leader attempt to fold his big blind to my almost-all-in min raise, on the perfectly sound strategic grounds that it was to his advantage to prolong the bubble (one in which he was torturing everyone else on the table). He was not allowed to do so by the tournament director, who forced him to act against his own self interest and call. On another occasion, I was called by several players before the chip leader gleefully shoved 83o sure nobody else would call, and he’d either win a 15 big blind pot for an investment of 3, or the very profitable (for him) bubble would be prolonged.

The unobservant boost

Sometimes players won’t notice that you’re almost all-in. This can end up benefiting you in a couple of ways. A friend of mine once opened to four big blinds under the gun first hand of Day 2 in a UK & Ireland Poker Tour, and sat there stoically with his hands interlocked in front of his stack as almost the whole table gave the spot some thought, before deciding their hand was a fold against an under-the-gun 4x. It was only when the big blind folded that he opened his hands and smiled, impishly revealing he had only one chip behind, less than a big blind. Had he simply moved all in, I’m pretty sure he was getting called.

it feels too much like an angle if it induces someone to inadvertently expose their hand to me

It can go the other way too: players can think you’re already all in and announce call, and only then realise the truth, when informed either by the dealer or the opponent. Whether there’s any onus on the almost-all-in player to alert other players to the fact they aren’t quite all in is up to each player to decide for themselves. I generally do so if I think there’s any danger someone hasn’t spotted it, as it feels too much like an angle if it induces someone to inadvertently expose their hand to me. Others take a different view though, and argue it’s up to every player to pay attention to such fine details.

Two examples

I’ll finish with two examples from my recent trip to Barcelona. In one I found myself very short near a bubble, and moved almost all in with King Queen in early position. It folded to the small blind who announced call. The big blind then called, at which point the small blind went to table his hand. I immediately averted my eyes, and informed him nobody was all in yet, at which point he covered his exposed hand with his hands so I didn’t see it. I believe the big blind also didn’t see the hand, as they occupied the seats either side of the dealer so his view was impeded, and his eyes moved to look at me when I exclaimed “Nobody is all in yet!” I put the remaining big blind in on a raggy flop hoping at least one of my King or Queen were live, only to get the bad news I was virtually drawing dead as he had Kings. If my personal ethics allowed me to look at his hand and profit from the knowledge he had Kings, I could obviously have folded, even with one big blind (which by now I hope you realise is a much more powerful stack size than it might appear).

The second example is probably the strangest hand I’ve ever played. Again I had King Queen, and moved almost all in. The small blind called, and the big blind folded. Not wanting a repeat of the earlier hand, I immediately pointed out to my opponent that I wasn’t all in yet, and had one big blind behind.

we might check it down, and I might get to survive with that magical one big blind

The flop came Ace 10 3 rainbow. My opponent checked, and I saw no reason to put my remaining blind in. My opponent is unlikely to fold anything, but if he has, say, pocket 2s or a 3, he might not bet, we might check it down, and I might get to survive with that magical one big blind.

What actually happened was downright bizarre. The turn was a 2, and at this point my opponent for reasons best known to himself decided to expose his hand anyway, before moving all in. This time I saw his hand, 8 6 offsuit for no pair no draw 8 high, so I called knowing I was ahead. He hit a 6 on the river but that’s not the point of the story. I’ll go to my grave completely clueless as to why you’d expose your hand in that spot! Maybe it’s just the confusion factor.

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