The Weekly Turbo: WSOP Same-Day Coverage, Seidel in the Top Spot, and More
If you missed any of the week's Nightly Turbos this week, then you may have missed news on the WSOP's same day coverage, and the new rankings from ESPN's The Nuts. You can find those stories and more in this edition of the Weekly Turbo.
Double Your Fun
The World Series of Poker wants to double your pleasure when it comes to WSOP coverage on ESPN. It was recently announced that for six consecutive days spanning from July 14 to 19, ESPN will offer daily coverage of the WSOP Main Event.
“This is a historic milestone for ESPN and the WSOP. The addition of live event-style coverage with hole cards in July, and primetime shows leading up to the crowning of a champion in November, provide our fans more access than ever before, and we are extremely proud to be with a company dedicated to realizing the potential of the game," said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart.
The coverage, that will be on a 30-minute delay, will switch back and forth between two feature tables approximately every 30 minutes. Every hand will be shown unedited, along with hole cards, and all "all-in" and "call" situations will be shown from both tables.
“For the first time viewers at home will have the best seats in the house for the World Series of Poker, poker’s premier event. Fans will see hole cards post-flop and get an inside look at all of the strategy, angst and competition of the world’s best players vying for a seat at the most prestigious final table in the sport,” Matthew Volk, ESPN manager of programming and acquisitions said.
WSOP Live Schedule
ESPN2: A total of 32 hours
- Thursday, July 14: 3.5 hours: 8-11:30 p.m. PDT (Footage gathered from 7:30-11 p.m.)
- Friday, July 15: 3.5 hours: 8-11:30 p.m. PDT (Footage gathered from 7:30-11 p.m.)
- Saturday, July 16: 9 hours: 12:30-7 p.m. PDT; 9-11:30 pm PT (Footage gathered 12-6:30 p.m. and 8:30-11 p.m.)
- Sunday, July 17: 4.5 hours: 7-11:30 p.m. PDT (Footage gathered from 6:30-11 p.m.)
- Monday, July 18: 5.5 hours: 4-7 p.m. PDT; 9-11:30 p.m. PDT (Footage gathered from 3:30-6:30 p.m. and 8:30-11 p.m.)
- Tuesday, July 19: 6 hours: 9 p.m. to conclusion [3 a.m. PDT max] (Footage gathered from 8:30 p.m. until reaching November Nine)
ESPN: A total of 2 hours
- Tuesday, July 19: 2 hours: 5-7 p.m. PDT (Footage gathered from 4:30-6:30 p.m.)
For more, check out the press release on WSOP.com.
A New Number One
The latest installment of ESPN's The Nuts is back. The monthly blog post ranks the best players in poker at the moment. The Panel this month included PokerNews' Managing Editor Elaine Chaivarlis, PokerNews' Tournament Reporting Manager Don Peters, ESPN's Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, among others.
Most of us thought we'd see Phil Ivey in the number one spot on The Nuts rankings for a while, but in stepped the U.S. Department of Justice, and shutting down online poker in the U.S., as well as a certain someone finishing second in the WPT's Hollywood Poker Open, and boom - a new player in the No. 1 spot. It really shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it's Erik Seidel. Mr. Ivey sits just under him in the second spot and Jason Mercier hasn't given up third. Vanessa Selbst moved up to fourth with her back-to-back win at NAPT Mohegan, leaving Tom Dwan to fill her spot in sixth.
Newcomer to the rankings this month is last month's bubble boy, Eugene Katchalov. Andrew Feldman wrote, "I think that Katchalov's jump to seventh is a make-up attempt by some who have omitted him in the past few months. He's been deserving of a spot on the list, but No. 7 might be a little too high."
Want to know who else made it on the list? Head on over to ESPN.com.
Get Your Vote On
In April, we told you about the World Series of Poker Rematches that would be taking place this summer at the WSOP. Two of the rematches have already been decided: Chris Moneymaker vs. Sammy Farha and Johnny Chan vs. Phil Hellmuth. The third rematch will be voted on by the fans, and voting began Monday, May 2.
- 1988 WSOP Main Event: Johnny Chan vs. Erik Seidel
- 2004 WSOP Main Event: Greg Raymer vs. David Williams
- 2006 WSOP Main Event: Jamie Gold vs. Paul Wasicka
- 2010 WSOP Main Event: Jonathan Duhamel vs. John Racener
The above list shows the match-ups that are up for a vote, but that's not stopping fans on the WSOP's Facebook page from writing their own recommendations in the comments box. We personally liked Matt Decker's "Online players vs Department of Injustice. Make it a team event" comment.
Voting takes place on the WSOP Facebook Page, so head on over there and pick your favorite rematch and maybe you'll see it in a two-hour special on ESPN on July 26.
Cheating Scandal
Just days after winning the Bluff Magazine Lock Pro Challenge, PokerNews can confirm that Jose "Girah" Macedo has been disqualified for multi-accounting. After the competition, audits of all participants' accounts were made and it was discovered that Macedo had violated BPC rules, as well as Merge Gaming network rules.
"Jose is young and he has made a big mistake here. We wanted to make sure that regardless of being a LockPRO he won this fair and square. After doing an audit of his account we have found that he broke some rules and that will not be tolerated by Lock," Jennifer Larson CEO/Owner of Lock Poker said. "We pride ourselves in standing for trust, legitimacy and loyalty. The truth is sometimes hard to stand by but it is the only way we can move forward. Although José won enough money from his own IP to have legitimately won the challenge, the unfortunate fact remains that breaking the rules is strictly disallowed. The fact remains Jose is an exceptional player and I firmly believe that mistakes only lead to greatness if learned from."
Second place finisher Michael "bigguylegend22" Drummond will take the first-place prize. Drummond earned over $90,000 in profit during the challenge.
"I'm deeply sorry for having broken the rules," Macedo said, "but I truly had no intention of circumventing the rules in any way. Though it is no excuse, I want to be fully transparent at this point to let the poker world know what has happened and why. The computer in question was my backer, who logged into my account to check my balance and ended up playing some $25/$50 PLO while I was asleep and lost some money."
"Though on the merit of my own legitimate play I had enough winnings to win the Bluff Challenge, in light of the way things appear, I fully support and respect Lock's decision to disqualify me and hand over the challenge to the second place winner," he continued. "Once again, I truly regret that all of this has happened the way it has, and I hope that I can win back the generous support and understanding of the players who have believed in me so far. I will be issuing a more comprehensive explanation of what happened on my blog. Thank you."
*Photo courtesy of Lock Poker
Feds Seize Homes
On Thursday, federal prosecutors filed a supplemental forfeiture in Manhattan's federal court. Prosecutors are moving to seize five homes that are connected to defendants of the online poker indictments. Of the five houses, one is owned by former Playboy Playmate Destiny Davis who married defendant Chad Elie. Davis' home was purchased last year in Las Vegas for $1.5 million.
The four other homes that prosecutors are looking to seize are owned or connected to Full Tilt's Ray Bitar. All are in Glendora, California.
Forbes.com has more.
OIJ Knocks
Friday morning, reports started flying that the PokerStars offices in Costa Rica had been raided by the Department of Justice. Soon after, the reports were confirmed by PokerStars Steve on TwoPlusTwo, but we found out that it wasn't in fact the DOJ, it was the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ), Costa Rica's version of the FBI.
"PokerStars continues to operate the world's largest poker room, business as usual. It is true that the OIJ is currently at the PokerStars Costa Rican office and has sent employees home temporarily, but employees will be able to return in a few hours. PokerStars expects the office to return to business as usual in short order as this action was most likely taken as a response to problems experienced by other local companies in the same industry."
Twenty minutes later, Steve gave the all clear, saying that PokerStars employees were already returning to the office.
According to Costa Rican news outlet Teletica six offices and residential homes were raided. The outlet also has a video of the OIJ actually barging through the doors of the offices.
World Poker Tour Premier Legaue Poker
The World Poker Tour has partnered with Matchroom Sport to bring you the upcoming season of Premier League Poker. The event will be renamed the World Poker Tour Premier League Poker and will be presented by PartyPoker.
"WPT and Premier League Poker both represent top class poker competition and high quality television," Steve Heller, CEO of World Poker Tour said. "The Premier League structure is one of the most unique in the world. WPT has always been an innovator, and this is a perfect fit."
The dates of the event have not been released, but the buy-in will be $125,000. Sixteen players will be in the field, and along with the added $250,000 and $25,000, a seat to the WPT World Championship, the total prize pool will be $2,275,000.
"I'm delighted that Premier League Poker is now a World Poker Tour special event. This association not only gives Premier League Poker extra credibility amongst players and guarantees them extensive global coverage, it also cements the winner as one of poker’s true greats when he or she joins the ranks of WPT Champions," Managing Director of Matchroom Sport Eddie Hearn said.
Head on over to WorldPokerTour.com for more.
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