This Week in Poker: December 30 – January 5

This Week in Poker: December 30th - January 5th
  • Profile picture
  • PG News January 6, 2014
  • 5 Minutes Read

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring to you the weekly round up of the biggest online scores by Indian MTT players along with the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit.

Here are this week`s top stories

Online Railbird Report

It’s been a good start to the year for the Indian online regs with several big scores in the first week of the New Year itself. Following up on the success of Amit ‘bblacklegend’ Jain last week, team mentor Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal wrapped up a fantastic Sunday. Aditya finished third in the PokerStars ‘The Bigger $109, 160K GTD” after a 3-way deal to pocket $39,000 in prize money. This win couldn’t have come at a better time and will surely be a big confidence booster for Team India as they gear up to take on the upcoming Macau Poker Cup 20.

Aditya Agarwal
Aditya Agarwal

Talking about online scores, Full Tilt Poker’s Mini FTOPS ($3 Million guaranteed) hit the online felts last Sunday and with a great schedule and reasonable buy-in`s the timing is right for everyone to join in on the action for a shot at big money.

 

Other notable scores this week include:

– Delhi based Preeti ‘preiin’ Saini bagged a total of $4,890 by a 5th place finish in the PokerStars ‘The Hotter $109 [Turbo], $20K GTD’ and a 3rd place finish in the PokerStars ‘The Hot $109 [Turbo], $10K GTD’.

– Last week’s champion, Amit ‘bblacklegend’ Jain added another $4,739 to his winnings after placing 5th in the PokerStars ‘$162 Nightly Fifty Grand, $50K GTD’ and 12th in the 888 Poker ‘The $125,000 Mega Deep’.

– Another Delhiite – Karan Jain made a runner-up finish in the PokerStars ‘The Big $5.50, $20K GTD’ for $5,401.

Young gun Sahil ‘antilog’ Agarwal collected a total of $3,705 from his 2 final table finishes i.e. 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$5.40 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Knockout], $7.5K GTD’ and 10th place in the PokerStars ‘$320 Wednesday Hundred Grand, $100K GTD’.

Jasven Saigal won $3,626.25 from his 2nd place finish in the PokerStars ‘$5.50+R NL Hold’em [2x-Turbo], $20K GTD’.

– Goa based Jai ‘jdsaz’ won $2,538.30 for placing runner-up in the PokerStars $5.40 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Knockout], $10K GTD’.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Gets Underway at Bahamas, Aditya ‘Donkab0mber’ Sushant to Join the Main Event

Like every year, this year too the New Year begins with a bang at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Atlantis Resort, Bahamas. The incredible poker festival carries forward the legacy of ten seasons with the 2014 PCA being the eleventh edition. The nine day schedule began this Sunday with the action packed $100,000 Super High Roller event. The three-day event has currently concluded its day 1 and saw a total of 52 players ponying up the $100,000 buy-in. Every year the world’s top poker talent plus hundreds of PokerStars qualifiers from all over the globe attend the world-famous poker festival and this year has been no different. Notables in attendance include Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Dan Smith, Jonathan Duhamel, Sorel Mizzi, Vanessa Selbst, Steve O’Dwyer, Chris Klodnicki, Mike Watson, Matt Glantz, Igor Kurganov, Timothy Adams, Jason Koon, 2013 WSOP reigning champion Ryan Riess and Cirque Du Soleil founder, philanthropist and recreational poker player, Guy Laliberté. Last year at PCA Super High Roller, Scott Seiver defeated David “Doc” Sands heads-up to capture the biggest score of his career ($2,003,480).

Apart from the grand opening, the highlight of the series will be the $10 million guaranteed Main Event starting on 7th January. The main event will feature two entry flights and five days of poker action before crowning the PCA champion on 13th January.

“This is the first time we’ve put a guarantee on the Main Event, and we’re hoping the $10 million purse will help smash last year’s field of 987 players,” said David Carrion, Director of Live Operations for the PCA and Latin America. “But it wasn’t just about the Main Event in 2013 — the festival generated more than 6,000 total entries and more than $28 million in prize pools across all events, with over 200 runners in the $25,000 High Roller. With even more ways to win a PCA package this year in online and live qualifiers, we’re predicting the 2014 PCA to be one of the biggest and most accessible ever.”

Indian poker player and our young gun of poker – Aditya Sushant will be playing the PCA main event and is the only notable Indian confirmed in the series so far. Stay tuned to get the updates as the series proceeds.

Aditya Sushant
Aditya Sushant

Read Aditya Sushant at the 2014 PCA on the PokerGuru forum.

 

Locals to be banned from Entering Casinos in Goa

Last week we reported that Goa’s chief minister Manohar Parrikar has made the announcement of setting up a Goa Gaming Act by February 28th. The most important clause included in the act is the entry ban for the locals domiciled in Goa. The rules governing Goa public gambling act that cover the functioning of casinos in Goa, appointment of a gaming commissioner, areas of casino operation, ban of entry of Goans into casinos, etc. is already in place and will come into force soon. The rules of the act would make it mandatory for those entering the casinos to show their government issued identified documents such as passport, driving license, etc. This will ensure that no person domiciled in Goa can enter the casinos.

Read the complete story here.

 

Daniel Negreanu is the Global Poker Index ‘Player of the Decade’

Earlier this month, the Global Poker Index announced its list of the top poker players of the decade. The player who has topped the list with his outstanding performance is none other than Team PokerStars pro Daniel ‘kidpoker’ Negreanu. The Canadian poker pro has been one of the most consistent performers on the live circuit with 2004 and 2013 being breakout years for him. Starting from being the first player to grab the WSOP POY two times to capturing the Bluff Magazine and Card Player Poker ‘Player of the Year’ titles, Negreanu has had a host of other achievements and the honor of this prestigious title seems to be a perfect fit for him. The Canadian pro has a lifetime winnings from live poker tournaments of over $19.5 million that places him third on the all-time money list.

Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu

Read the complete story here.

 

Taiwan to have its First Casino by the Year 2019

2014 may turn out to be a big year for Taiwan as its “Casino Management Act” could take off in the beginning of the year and allow offshore islands under Taipei’s authority to accept bids for Las Vegas-style casinos. “Given that the act could be successfully passed in the beginning of year 2014, we optimistically expect that the earliest time the casino could open to public in Matsu is around 2019,” said Lin Kuo-Shian, director-general of Taiwan’s transportation ministry department in charge of gaming.

There have been efforts in the past to authorize such business activities but nothing has come out of it. The fact that the country has a population of 23.34 million shows that it could be a top gambling market. The other big markets in the region, the Philippines and Macau are doing their bit for the Asian business and it has also been reported that world’s biggest names in casinos are already interested in Taiwan.

 

Jason Mercier Announces $100K No Drinking Prop Bet

We finally have a prop bet worth talking about this year and it’s just been one week into 2014. Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier has recently announced on Twitter his plans for taking up a prop bet for the year 2014. “Anyone want to do a no alcohol bet for 2014? Minimum 100k please,” he Tweeted to his 80,000+ followers just days before New Year’s Eve.

Seems like Mercier is really keen on fulfilling his New Year’s resolution by betting big money on it. His tweet has generated quite a lot of interest from his fellow poker players like Mike McDonald, Brett Richey, and Andrew Chen, all interested in knowing more about the bet’s terms.

While McDonald asked Mercier, “how often do you drink,” Richey responded, “you gotta lay me odds.”

Poker player Shaun ‘shaundeeb’ Deeb put an interesting spin on the bet by commented on the tweet, “I rather do a who drinks more alcohol bet”.

With the PokerStars Carribean Adventure up and running, Mercier’s bet can gain a lot of interest, as a huge poker fraternity would be present there with a great chance for him to propagate his agenda. As poker player and actress Tiffany Michelle already made public her intention of discussing the terms of the bet during the upcoming PCA by tweeting, “@JasonMercier I might be seriously interested this… lets discuss at PCA?”

2013 was a great year for Mercier in terms of winning live tournaments. The poker pro scored his biggest tournament cash to date i.e. taking second at the EPT Grand Final Super High Roller Event in Monte Carlo for $1.4 million.

Other poker players who in the past have wagered big money for the prop bets include Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, etc. While the terms of Mercier’s bet are unknown, but going by his tweets and blogs one can make out that the poker pro is serious and is looking to make big bucks on his path to self-improvement.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru