PokerGuru Top 5: Poker Stories of 2014

Looking back, 2014 was highlighted by several significant moments that either directly affected the poker world or added an amazing assortment of stories to relate in coming years. These happenings, no matter whether individual or organizational will certainly be remembered as defining moments of poker history.

Here, we highlight the most important stories, which range from serious ramifications, to the absurd to graceless wins, cheating cases and humongous victories.

Amaya – Rational Takeover And Subsequent Changes

The takeover of the Rational Group with its flagship sites, PokerStars and Full Tilt for $4.9 Billion by Canadian firm Amaya’s David Baazov is undoubtedly the biggest poker development of 2014. The acquisition, by the fledgling Quebec-based company specializing in “B2B technology-based gaming solutions” was in itself an awe-inspiring tale of entrepreneurship displayed by Baazov, which made Amaya the world’s largest publicly traded online gambling company.

For poker players, the move triggered hope of the return of PokerStars to the US, but few anticipated the major upheavals in store, as Baazov went on a ruthless spree of policy changes in order to implement his expansion plans.

The changes at Amaya began by acquiring 2 licenses to offer Blackjack and Roulette in the regulated online Spanish market, through its Spanish subsidiary REEL Spain, Plc in June 2014. Baazov then stated that casino games would be incorporated to improve revenue streams.

In July, Amaya reiterated this by applying for a license to operate in Italy’s online regulated gaming market and Baazov emphasized his intentions to explore new markets, such as online gambling, betting and social gaming.

Continuing its expansion mode, in August, PokerStars became the 1^st legal online website in Bulgaria, offering players newly updated software PokerStars 7.

Post Aug, Amaya citing cost cutting, axed a number of its long-standing brand partners and pros. Among the first to go were Humberto Brenes, Angel Guillen and Jose ‘Nacho’ Burberro reducing the pro team to half. In Sept 2014, Joe Cada, Marcel Luske and Alex Kravchenko were also dropped.

Clearly, PokerStars’ functioning had changed and Amaya felt no need to deploy its budget by retaining expensive poker pros to bring in profits.

The first blow for players came on Oct 1, when “Black Tuesday” struck. Without warning, PokerStars blocked all its real money games in a number of countries, mostly in the Far East, Middle East and Africa, including Vatican City.

Angry and shocked players resorted to posting their ire on forums, only to receive platitudes from the site’s officials, which admitted new restrictions, had led to the move. To date no clear explanation has been given, but speculation reports that Amaya had gone into a house-cleaning act, gearing up for its UK online foray and its crucial re-entry into the US market, by strictly adhering to international gambling regulations.

The only consolation for devastated poker players in these barred countries was the fact that unlike “Black Friday” victims, their money was safe. In a surprise move, the new owner’s host country – Canada was left untouched, and so was India!

Black Tuesday, notwithstanding, the next day, PokerStars announced two new offerings. In Spain, the company launched online real money casino games, such as blackjack and roulette, with a range of stakes and single and multi-player formats. This move raised expectations of the same happening in Italy. In fact, Marco Trucco, earlier Gaming Director of Eurobet took over from Barbara Beltrami, PokerStars.it Country Manager at the same time.

Simultaneously, PokerStars also launched a new lottery style Spin n Go offering, which became an unprecedented hit among casual players. Hard core poker players voiced their disapproval, but Amaya unabashedly claimed that they were targeting new customers, who were not interested in long-span games and wanted quick fun.

Days later, Amaya dropped its next bomb on players by increasing the rake commission for many of it`s offerings, including the latest Spin n Go`s to tournaments and cash games. Besides this, PokerStars also levied a 2.5% foreign exchange margin on all transactions taking place outside a player’s origin of country account, affecting players in Europe, Canada and Australia. The site also ended its association with a number of nonprofitable affiliates and withdrew its reward of $5,200 in WCOOP/TCOOP/SCOOP entries for winners, pending a review in 2016.

Though the company kept issuing statements that all these were in the interest of the game, it was a clear case of its takeover costs, being transferred to the end consumer.

In Nov, the site barred players from UK, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia and Belgium from buying into live tournaments via their PokerStars account. In Dec, PokerStars made another change, this time at its multi-table tournament (MTT) Leaderboards, restructuring the rewards system.

Surrounded by controversy, rumors hit a high note in Dec, when the Federal Canadian Mounted Police and Autorité des Marchés Financiers raided Amaya’s Montreal headquarters, besides two of its banking associates. It was believed that the investigation pertained to its acquisition of the Rational Group and its subsequent rise of share prices. A number of personalities gave contradicting opinions, but the truth is yet to emerge.

A bird’s eye view of 2014 shows that Amaya has a clear and definite path planned for its acquisition, which it initiated immediately after taking control. The company is certainly not going to be swayed by existing player sentiment, though faithfuls like Daniel Negreanu tried to defend its actions, even as notables like Vicky Coren-Mitchell ended association in protest of the latest casino offerings.

However, Baazov is least bothered, he has a goal and he is steamrolling towards it. A lot remains tough for Baazov though, with US millionaire Adelson Sheldon standing hard against the re-entry of PokerStars in the US and several countries putting up tough regulations for online gaming sites. Baazov has come through unscathed so far, will his luck hold out and even if it does, what that will mean for players at PokerStars and Full Tilt is a secret that perhaps 2015 may reveal, as the Tsar is certainly not ready to share his plans.

Daniel Colman`s Trailblazing 2014

2014 belonged to 24-year-old Daniel Colman, who moved gears from a successful online sojourn to bomb the live circuit, not only with his impressive scores, but also with his shockingly unfriendly behavior against the very game that bestowed him success.

Operating under the moniker of “mrGR33N13” Colman started 2014 with $504,699 in lifetime tournament earnings, earned mostly at high-limit hyper-turbo sit-and-gos. He began his dream run at the live felts in April 2014, when he won the Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller, clinching the title for €1,539,300, after beating a player field of 62. Colman himself re-entered the event thrice, investing €300,000 and overcame online legend, Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates in a heads up finale to take the title.

Colman came under the public eye after his next win at poker world’s most popular tournament WSOP. In the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, Colman beat one of poker world’s most notable names, Daniel Negreanu in a heads up game to claim the winning clip of more than $15.3 million.

More than the actual win, Colman made news when he refused to pose for the media, as is the norm. A wave of criticism rose, with even Negreanu commenting on his surly attitude. Instead of expected apologies, Colman went on to stoke the fire by adding, “First off, I don’t owe poker a single thing.I get it if someone wants to go and play poker on their own free will, but I don’t agree with gambling being advertised just like I don’t agree with cigarettes and alcohol being advertised. As for promoting myself, I feel that individual achievements should rarely be celebrated. I am not going to take part in it for others and I wouldn’t want it for myself.”

Colman continued this twin streak of wins and controversies throughout the year. He next made a 2^nd place finish, with his mentor, Olivier Busquet taking the title at the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller. Colman pocketed more than $1 million at this event.

Colman once again courted controversy, when he and Busquet both wore T-shirts with “Save Gaza” political statements, which had the organizers in an uproar.

Two weeks later, Colman conquered another major tournament, besting a bunch of notables at the final table, including Joe Kuether, Shawn Cunix, John Dolan, and the eventual runner-up Mike Leah. The event was the $5,300 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, where Colman beat an entry field of 1,499 to claim the winning prize of $1,446,710.

With this win, Colman overtook Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Antonio Esfandiari to reach 3^rd spot on the poker’s All Time Winnings List.

Colman’s list of impressive scores went on through the year, with another win in Oct at the £60,000 WPT Alpha8 London, where he won £600,000 ($957,396) after beating 23 players. In Nov, he made 7^th place at the APPT 2014 Asia Championship of Poker Super High Roller collecting HK$ 2,900,000 ($373,932). At this point, he took the lead position in the GPI ‘Player of the Year’ rankings.

Colman completed the year in his inimitable style, by courting controversy once again, this time with comments on none other than the reigning Monarch of 13 WSOP Bracelets, Phil Hellmuth.

Colman said that, “It’s embarrassing that we have to share our profession with whores like this guy,It is truly pathetic that a 40-year-old would behave the way he does at the table, not to mention how spineless he is, just willing to take any sponsorship regardless of the company’s integrity. ‘Hey, anything for a payday!’ Really makes me sad to think there’s a chance some people may look up to this charlatan. People of his attitude and character are a cancer to this world.”

Though Colman later issued a clarification, the deed had created enough mischief.

Colman with all his amazing poker money collections and the drama he churned up will remain one of 2014’s most highlighted stories.

Phil Ivey’s Controversial Year: Highs and Lows

2014 has been an Ivey-packed year. Ever since the debacle of Black Friday, Phil Ivey had taken a dive below the radars of poker newsmakers. 2014 saw him make a return to the active circuits and create a magnificent history with some amazing wins. Ivey also made news for wrong reasons with his cheating cases, not to mention his generosity in helping fellow-player Paul Phua with bail money.

Ivey started his incredible poker scores for 2014 in February, where he took down the Aussie Millions LK Boutique A$ 250,000 Challenge for 1^st place with A$ 4,000,000 – US $3,582,753 (the largest single cash of his career.) The event had a prize pool of A$ 11,270,000, created by 30 unique entries and 16 rebuys.

Ivey’s highest career points were at the 45^th WSOP in June, where he won his 10^th bracelet at Event #50 – $ 1,500 Eight Game Mix. Ivey made it to a list that includes Johnny Chan (10 wins), and Doyle Brunson (10 wins), with this bracelet. The event had 485 entries and an accumulated prize pool of $654,750. The final table consisted of well-known names like Stephen Chidwick, Dan Heimiller and Daniel Negreanu. In the ensuing heads up play, Ivey beat Bruce Yamron to collect $167,332 for the title.

October was a bad month for Ivey, as he faced two disappointments.

The first was the closure of his case, against the Casino Crockfords. Ivey had filed the case in 2012, where he had won £7.7 million ($12.4 million) at baccarat, after playing for 2 days. However, the casino alleged cheating through “edge-sorting” by Ivey and withheld the winnings.

Unfortunately, High Court Judge John Mitting agreed with the casino lawyers’ argument that Ivey had used illegitimate means of “edge sorting” to win fraudulently. It was stated that Ivey and his accomplice Chen Yin Sun had insisted on certain cards be used and indulged in a visual form of cheating. In spite of declaring the cheating accusation valid, the Judge gave a clean chit to Ivey by stating, ‘I am entirely convinced that Mr. Ivey did not consider that what he was doing was cheating.’ Ivey, though, was not appeased.

Moreover, the result of the above case held negative ramifications for Ivey in another legal issue, where the Borgata Casino in New Jersey had filed a $9.6 million case against him. It is to be seen, if Ivey will get through or face the music in this case.

Ivey faced another setback in Oct, when Ivey Poker, Ivey’s free Facebook app was shut down with the announcement that it was evolving to a larger and better format to be released in 2015. Ivey had begun the year with the launch of his poker-training website, Ivey League on Jan 28, 2014. The site had skilled pros, such as Jennifer Harman, Cole South and Patrik Antonius providing poker strategies to members.

The “cheating” Ivey displayed his generosity by providing $1 Million bail for Chinese high stakes gamer Paul Phua and his son in July. Phua was caught red-handed at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for running an illegal racket of betting, with high-tech computers in luxury villas. In Aug, Ivey posted another $500,000 bail for Wai Kin Yong and another half-million towards the $1.5 million bail of Wai Kin’s father, Seng Chen “Richard” Yong, co-defendants in the same case. Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates was another player, who sponsored the remaining bail.

With his entwined string of victories and controversies, 2014 will also be remembered for all things Ivey.

Daniel ‘Jungleman12’ Cates – Year’s Biggest Online Winner

Dan Cates made the highest sum in online earnings this 2014, with $2,805,751 at Full Tilt. His total winnings were more than that as he collected another $631,288 on PokerStars to notch up $3,437,039. Cates raced ahead of Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz, who made a last minute sprint, but ended up as the year’s second-biggest online winner with $2,572,989 in profit.

In Aug, Cates posted a major milestone, when he played a marathon session of 26 hours at Full Tilt’s high stakes tables with a $677,400 profit, which dropped to $563,800 at the end of the session. At this point, Cates had made more than $10 million in online high stakes winnings on Full Tilt.

Cates’ biggest pot of $197,819 came on Aug 16 from Gus Hansen, who was the year’s biggest loser. Hansen had the ignominy of becoming the biggest loser for a second year in a row, after he lost $8,461,472 in 2013. In April 2014, he desperately announced, “I can’t keep losing… At some point, I have to quit.” But quitting was something he did not do and ended up the biggest loser once again with $5,864,263 lost in 200,904 hands spread over 1,604 sessions in 2014.

Cates began playing poker at 17 and dropped out of economic studies at the University of Maryland to become a pro. The 25-year-old has seen some major ups and downs in his career. In 2014, besides amassing online wins, Cates has been active at live tournaments and won the 2014 WPT Alpaha8 – Johannesburg in Feb for $500,000. He followed it up with a 2^nd place finish at the EPT Season X – Monte Carlo Grand Final in April collecting $1,776,127. In July he finished 4^th at the 2014 $100,000 Aria Super High Roller for $297,000.

Cates defines the sheer grit of a winner in 2014.

Daniel Negreanu Youngest Inductee to Poker Hall of Fame

Daniel Negreanu turned 40 this year and therein lies a tale. The fact is that 40 is the lowest cutoff age to be eligible for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame! Negreanu achieved the feat courtesy his remarkable poker accomplishments at this age.

In Sep, Negreanu became the 47^th member to be nominated by public vote and selected by the 41-member committee for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Negreanu stated, “It’s an honor to be inducted alongside so many great players that have come before me. An even bigger honor to be recognized at age 40, the same age as the legend Chip Reese. Thank you to the living members of the Poker Hall of Fame and those on the Blue Ribbon Media Panel that voted for me.”

“Kid Poker”, as the Canadian-born poker wiz of Romanian decent is called came to Las Vegas at 22 and in 18 years accomplished more than anyone else in the game. At 40, he holds the distinction of the youngest inductee to the ‘Poker Hall of Fame’, along with David “Chip” Reese.

Negreanu has six WSOP gold bracelets and is the only two-time WSOP Player of the Year, with the titles taken in 2013 and 2004. He also has two WPT titles, is second on the all-time WPT money list and third on the WSOP all-time money list.

Negreanu is the face of the PokerStars and appeared countless times on televised poker shows around the globe, since the late 90`s. He has contributed to charities, besides being extremely accessible to fans.

However, Negreanu is also known for his foot-in-the-mouth comments and created many a stir all throughout 2014.

He shook up the world of online players in Aug, when he stated, “I believe it would take two weeks of work and I would be a winner.” Negreanu said this in response to a question if he could be a winner at the six-max $25/$50 no-limit Hold’em cash games online. As expected, his arrogant comment drew the ire of Doug “WCGRider” Polk, one of the top online cash-game players in the world. Polk retaliated to Negreanu’s comment by challenging him to a game. Negreanu took up the challenge, though is yet to set a date.

Not one to mince words, Negreanu also castigated Colman for ignoring the media after his Big One for One Drop win. He told Colman, “You don’t owe poker anything, sure, but poker has given you a lot. You have the potential at a very young age to make a positive impact on the world, both with your money and intelligence. Don’t waste the gifts you’ve been given, and be grateful for the kind of life you are able to create as a result of those gifts.”

For all his achievements that took him to the Poker Hall of Fame, for his candid outspeak, 2014 will always be remembered for Negreanu and his feats.

Some Other Highlights

2014 will also be remembered for Victoria Coren-Mitchell who became the only player to bag the European Poker Tour Championship twice. Her first win was at 16th-ever EPT Season 3 in 2006 at London. Coren-Mitchell repeated the victory at the PokerStars.it EPT Sanremo Main Event in April 2014, defeating 556 players.

Coren-Mitchell took home the title and its win of €476,100 and a designer watch worth more than €5,000 from luxury Swiss brand SLYDE.

Coren-Mitchell made further news, when she parted ways with her long-time partners PokerStars, stating that she could not continue, in lieu of their recent decision to offer casino games.

Nor can 2014 be complete without the mention of Darren Elias, who made back-to-back wins at WPT. New Jersey resident, the 28-year-old Darren, until then a reputed online player claimed his first victory at the WPT Borgata Poker Open in Sep, beating Kane Kalas heads-up to win $843,744 — Darren’s biggest score ever.

In Nov, Darren repeated the feat at the WPT Caribbean, where he overcame a 5-1 chip deficit and beat Christophe Rosso, collecting $127,680 for his efforts. Darren beats Marvin Rettenmaier, who also won back-to-back WPT titles, but Rettenmaier’s two events took place in two different seasons, while Darren managed the feat in a single season.

Well that`s it for our round-up of the top stories for 2014 and here is to a promising 2015.