The Weekly Turbo: Dwyte Pilgrim Wins World Poker Tour Borgata, PokerStars' 50 Billionth Hand, and More
There was plenty going on this week, and in case you missed any of it, we're here to fill you in. Dwyte Pilgrim won his first major title, by taking down the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open, PokerStars dealt its 50 billionth hand, and more.
50 Billion Hands
It happened. After weeks of buildup and handing out cash prizes for every millionth hand since 49.7 billion, PokerStars has dealt its 50 billionth hand. It happened at 10:37 a.m. EDT Wednesday. There were 220,000 players logged on to the site and playing on 33,000 tables, hoping to be at the one that would be dealt the milestone hand.
The $.02/$.05 table named Ornamenta was the place and the winner of the hand was "tbvle." What will winning the 50 billionth hand get you, you might ask. Oh, just $56,140. The other players at the table received between $2,990 and $3,070, an amount based on the number of VIP points they had earned over the previous 50 hands. Not too shabby a bankroll boost for any of the players at the table. Oh! And to add to it, all the players at Ornamenta also received a $5,200 WCOOP Main Event ticket.
We've given you the long and short of it, the PokerStars Blog has the rest.
Pilgrim's Victory
The World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open Final Table played down to a winner Thursday. When play began at 4:00 p.m. EDT, Ofir Mor was the chip leader. The final six players were all playing for the title and the $733,802 first-place prize, but it seemed that none of them had more to prove than Dwyte Pilgrim.
Pilgrim was chasing the one thing that was eluding him — a major title. Pilgrim has been a staple on the small circuit, winning three World Series of Poker Circuit gold rings, and numerous other events. His lifetime cashes before this event were over $800,000.
The first player to exit the table was Ben Klier who took home $148,427 for his efforts. In fifth place, Pilgrim took out Daniel Makowsky and then Pilgrim finished off Brandon Novena in fourth place. Mor's third-place elimination left Pilgrim heads-up with Kia Mohajeri, held the chip lead going into heads-up play.
On the final hand, all the chips went in the middle on the turn with the board showing K♥10♠9♠7♦. Mohajeri showed K♠9♣ for two pair, but Pilgrim turned over Q♥J♠ for the straight. The river brought the 5♦ sealing the deal for Pilgrim, who for the first time during the final table, was speechless.
Final Table Results
1. Dwyte Pilgrim - $733,802
2. Kia Mohajeri - $440,945
3. Ofir Mor - $266,835
4. Brandon Novena - $223,475
5. Daniel Makowsky - $183,449
6. Ben Klier - $148,427
Check out all the action from the World Poker Tour and where Mike, Vince, and Kimberly are headed next at WPT.com.
Britain's Best
PKR has been named the U.K.'s most successful technology company in the 2010 Sunday Times Tech Track 100. Tech Track 100 ranks Britain's private tech companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years. From 2006 to 2009, PKR's sales had a yearly growth of 356.44 percent, with revenues increasing from £347,000 to over £33,000,000.
“We’re absolutely delighted to be ranked number one in the 2010 Sunday Times Tech Track 100, it’s a hugely prestigious award. To come out ahead of some truly world class technology companies is a testament to the hard work that our talented team have put in over the past three years," PKR CEO Malcolm Graham said.
Find out more at FastTrack.co.uk, and sign up for a PKR account today to take advantage of exclusive freerolls and more.
Watch it Live
If you're looking for coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe, you know you can find it on PokerNews. If you're looking for a visual, you can find it on ESPN3. ESPN's 24/7 sports broadband network will be streaming the final two days of the WSOP-E Main Event next Monday and Tuesday. Coverage gets under way at 12:00 p.m. EDT from the Casino at the Empire in London and will be hosted by Dave Tuchman. This coverage marks the first time that WSOP-E coverage will be seen in the U.S. with same-day timing and another first, ESPN3 will show the players' hole cards with a five-hour delay.
"ESPN is committed to delivering the best Poker content to fans, and ESPN3 is the ideal format to showcase this great event as it happens," senior director of programming at ESPN Doug White said.
Head on over to ESPN3.com for more.
Settling Up
British company Sportingbet recently reached a settlement with the U.S. government to keep from being prosecuted for accepting online bets by U.S. residents on sports events, casino, and poker between 1998 and 2006. The £33 million deal was finally reached after three years of negotiations. U.S. prosecutors also said that Sportingbet would cooperate with its online gambling probe and would maintain "a permanent restriction on providing internet gambling services to US customers."
The settlement will be paid over an 18 months and is in the "best interests of our shareholders," said chief executive Andrew McIver.
For more check out the article on Interactive Investor.
Ruling in Washington
The Washington Supreme Court released its decision Thursday on whether the state's ban on Internet gambling violated the U.S. Constitution. On Wednesday, the Court unanimously ruled that that the state was not violating the U.S. Constitution. Attorney and poker player Lee Rousso filed the lawsuit in 2007, following the 2006 law that banned Internet poker in the state. Rousso claimed that the state law violated the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause.
In the Court's opinion, Justice Richard B. Sanders wrote, "The Legislature chose the advantages and disadvantages of a ban over the advantages and disadvantages of regulation. The evidence is not conclusive....Many may disagree with the outcome. But the court has no authority to replace the Legislature's choice with its own."
Read more at SeattlePI.com.
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