3-Bet: Paypal Again Available, 888 Poker Increases Prizes By $100K & Vanessa Ruosso Makes Big Brother Elite Eight

It’s been a weeks since our last 3-Bet and in these days, poker world has not halted for a minute, bringing forth many more stories that we have today for your reading.

This time around, we have Paypal and its increasing significance in the world of gaming. There is also 888 Poker, which has upped its guarantees and finally, Vanessa Rousso, who has made in the Elite Eight in Big Brother.

PayPal Resurgence

In the mid-2000s, Paypal was the most popularly used safe and convenient payment service at poker sites in the US. However, after the site faced allegations of indulging in illegal and offshore gambling practices and it was taken over by eBay, the newly joint companies paid $10 Million in fines to the US govt. The site stopped transactions in 2003 and when it did restart by 2010, it put several restrictions on working with poker sites.

Last Aug, Paypal had announced its intention to acquire licenses to re-enter the US market, where currently Skrill and Neteller are in use by most online gaming companies.

A latest report states that once again, Paypal services will be available at Ceasars Interactive product WSOP.com Poker in Nevada. The service is expected to be extended to New Jersey shortly.

Currently, Paypal is available at CaesarsCasino.com, HarrahsCasino.com and WSOP.com websites in Nevada.

888 Poker Tournament Guarantees Increase By $100K

July saw players at 888 Poker face immense connectivity issues and the site even added a ’pause’ button to resolve it. Now, the site has finally overcome these and decided to celebrate it by increasing certain tournament guarantees by an accumulative $100,000.

The increase is set to affect eight different tournaments across the board, including the $55 buy-in Sunday Breeze, $160 buy-in Tuesday Crocodile and the $1 buy-in Snap.

The $1 Snap will be getting a full 50% increase in its prize pool, while many others will see $5000 extra in their prize kitties.

List of Increased-Prize Tournaments:

1. $55 Buy-in Sunday Breeze – 33.3% increase
2. $55 Buy-in Midweek Breeze – 13.3% increase
3. $160 Buy-in Tuesday Crocodile – 33.3% increase
4. $109 Buy-in Lightning 6-Max – 20% increase
5. $215 Buy-in The Quarterback – 20% increase
6. $22 Buy-in Deepstack – 25% increase
7. $1 Buy-in Snap – 50% increase
8. $5 Buy-in Deepstack – 25% increase

Recently, 888 Poker had cut its Sunday Challenge guarantee from $100K to $75K. It looks as that cash is now being used to plump up these other tournaments.

Vanessa Ruosso Makes Big Brother Elite 8

Reality shows can be a bitch and Big Brother is right there among the most cut-throat shows possible. Over the weeks, Vanessa Ruosso has not only displayed her poker-skills, but also learnt the art of manipulation to survive the House.

After a terrible time the past two weeks, Ruosso has now made it to the Elite Eight of the show. The lady is now leading the finalists in the charts of winner predictions, with a 30% advantage over other inmates. The odds in her favor are 23/10, all this despite being almost thrown out a couple of weeks ago. Should she win, Ruosso stands to claim the winning prize of $1 Million.

Ruosso has managed to reach this spot, even after drawing the producer’s ire for offering others $10,000 to support her ideas, typical of a poker player, that!

She has also bagged the ‘Head of Household’ position for the coming week and Jonathan Dornbush of EW says of her, “…with Vanessa in the seat of power, she’s a wildcard—is this going to be a Vanessa who uses her HoH to wisely help her sail through the next few weeks, or will this be a week of distraught, confused, and tearful Vanessa?”

Rouss, 32, ranks fifth all time in total money won by a woman on the live circuit and has been recently pushing her career as a DJ, besides her existing poker career.

That’s it for now, but knowing poker players and the world they inhabit, we should be back again soon, with more news.