3-Bet: Tsoukernik Buys Hilton Casino, Galfond Announces New Rewards Program ‘Legends’ on RIO & partypoker’s New Mobile Update Out

High-stakes cash game player and entrepreneur Leon Tsoukernik, who owns and operates Europe’s biggest casino resort, King’s Resort and Casino, has acquired Casino Atrium located at the Hilton Hotel in Prague. The Hilton Hotel happens to be the venue for the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague and Tsoukernik has significant changes up his sleeves in the run-up to the series that starts on December 5.

Phil Galfond’s online poker site Run It Once (RIO) has undergone more changes in its rake and rewards system. In his recent blog post, Galfond detailed the changes, including the introduction of a new Rewards Program called ‘Legends.’

There’s good news for all who play on partypoker from their smartphone devices. The online poker site has rolled out the first phase of its planned mobile software update. The site announced this on November 25, and the updated app is already available for download on iOS and Android.

King’s Casino Owner Leon Tsoukernik Buys Casino Atrium at the Hilton in Prague

High stakes cash game pro and owner of King’s Resort and Casino, Leon Tsoukernik has expanded his business interests. Tsoukernik recently purchased the Casino Atrium at the Prague-located Hilton Hotel. Casino Atrium has been the venue for European Poker Tour (EPT) since two years and Tsoukernik will take over the operations in time for the next EPT Prague stop that starts on December 5.

In an exclusive interview with PokerStars, Tsoukernik, who had set up the King’s Resort in 2003 turning it into Europe’s biggest casino, said, “I’m very excited. “I will be working full-time here in Prague.”

Tsoukernik, it seems, had been offered the Atrium several times in the past, but he passed on the offers since he was hesitant to do the deal while not living in Prague. Now that his children are studying in Prague, he is spending a lot of time in the city.

Tsoukernik has already made sweeping changes in the casino immediately after taking over. He has, for starters, changed the currency used by players from Czech Koruna to Euros. This will be implemented at the upcoming EPT Prague. Tsoukernik also plans to change the way cash games are being conducted at the casino and plans to bring in his own team for organizing cash games during stops like EPT.

“We’ll be bringing in our own team—an incredibly skilled, trained team of cash game operators, while the tournaments will continue to be run by PokerStars. Cash games will be much easier to access, it will be much easier to change tables, much easier to find limits, there will be much easier cage procedures, and so on.”

Refurbishment of the casino is also in the offing since Tsoukernik plans to “bring the Kings Casino look and atmosphere to Prague.”

Phil Galfond Announces Rake Changes on RIO, Introduces New Rewards Program’ Legends’

Run It Once (RIO) founder Phil Galfond was in the news recently for throwing open his own ‘Durrrr Challenge’ to one and all. He has now announced several crucial rake changes on his poker site. In his latest blog post titled ‘Become a Legend’ Galfond has also introduced a weekly rewards program called ‘Legends.’

Galfond had in February, unveiled an entire gamut of Rake and Rewards plans for his site and elaborated on RIO’s Rakeback system. He had divulged RIO’s Reward system – Splash The Pot’ and had assured all that each player would receive 51% rakeback regardless of the type of player or number of hands played.

This time, Galfond has announced that player feedback has prompted the site to make several changes to its rewards system. “We have always intended to have a secondary rewards system. We launched with just Splash The Pot because we were very excited about it and we felt it was a very strong rewards offering, even on its own. Since we loved STP and we had plenty of other things to work on, we kept the planned rewards changes low in our ever-growing development queue,” Galfond wrote.

Galfond also specified the rakeback rates for all RIO players and has announced that to commemorate the launch of the Legends program, the site will run the Legends Kick-Start promotion from November 25 to December 8.

Also, those who play between November 25 and December 1 will receive a ‘Four Week Streak’ bonus in a single week instead of four weeks.

The New Changes on RIO

Splash The Pot

> Rakeback from Splash The Pot is being lowered from 51% to 30%.

> Players will be able to compete for a splash of 100 big blinds or more, without risking their chips. In case of a splash of 100 big blinds, all players dealt into the hand will automatically be all-in for nothing. The best hand at showdown would win 70% of the splash, with the remaining 30% going to other players in the hand.

> Players will be able to see how much money they have won from Splash The Pot in the lobby and keep track of how much free cash they have.

Legends

> While ‘Splash The Pot’ is still the RIO Reward system, there is now a new Rewards Program called ‘Legends’.

> This is a weekly Rewards Program that awards more than 45% rakeback, so players can secure up to 75% rakeback, including the Splash The Pot payments.

> Legends has five tiers – Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, and Legend, each comprising a maximum of five levels.

> Players can earn points at the rate of 1 point per €0.05 in gross rake paid. They also get bonus points for their first login of the week, starting news tables, etc.

> Players who achieve Legend status for four weeks in a row get an additional 15% rakeback.

> Users playing short-handed cash games are rewarded 1.5 times the points when play is three-handed and twice the points in games playing out heads-up.

partypoker Launches 1st Phase in Major Mobile App Overhaul

Online poker site partypoker has been on a warpath when it comes to sprucing up its software system and making the site ‘bots and collusion-free.’ Last year the company brought out a significant software update that revved up its functionality for better player experience. This was followed by another software revamp this year in June. The upheaval involved all partypoker players having to change their screen names or ‘aliases’ and a ban on downloadable hand histories and Heads-Up Displays (HUD`s).

Going a step further, the brand has now announced a major mobile app update. On November 25, partypoker rolled out the first phase of a revolutionary new mobile update. The brand labeled it as a move that will create the ‘best-in-class’ mobile poker experience and said more changes are in the offing.

The latest mobile app update has brought in a set of innovative changes, including a new portrait layout that supports one-handed gameplay and a new SPINS interface. The brand has also introduced a new social currency called Diamonds and a new feature called Rabbits.

partypoker Team Pro Joao Simao, who tried out the new mobile app, was gung-ho about the latest update. “It was a great surprise when I got to test, and I’m sure that you will all love it. I saw the team working hard to create an app that gives the best experience for our customers, and I’m confident that it will be the result. I hope you guys enjoy,” Simao said.

One-Handed Gameplay

The partypoker mobile app now has a new portrait layout option that allows one-handed gameplay. The one-hand play allows players to play with one finger simply, and so players can multi-table up to four tables simultaneously.

Redesigned SPINS Interface

> A redesigned lobby, improvement in search functions, and multiplier animation enhancements are all part of the latest mobile update.

> Richer graphics, animations, and sounds.

> Players can select up to four games of the same buy-in at once and register immediately.

> Players can now switch between a tiled view or a carousel view.

Talking about the revamp in SPINs, partypoker Head of Product, RossMcQuater said, “The new SPINS product shows our commitment to improving the mobile experience for our customers. The new lobby and portrait table for SPINS with new and exciting features, such as the ability to throw things at opponents and view rabbit cards, aims to provide our customers with a more fun and engaging playing experience”.

Diamonds & Rabbits

Diamonds are a popular concept in social apps like PPPoker, where they are commonly used as a virtual currency that can be exchanged for additional chips of in-app features. Similar is the case in partypoker’s new mobile app. Diamonds have been introduced as a new in-game currency that can be earned by completing tasks and can be used to buy ‘in-game’ benefits. It’s a fun feature that allows players to do things like throw items like fish and sharks at their opponents. The virtual currency also lets players indulge in ‘rabbit-hunting.’