The Nightly Turbo: Bodog Leaves U.S. Market, Andy Bloch Wins Epic Pro/Am, and More
The U.S. said goodbye to another online poker brand on Wednesday. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we bring you the details of Bodog's decision to leave the States, the winners of the Epic Poker League Pro/Am, and more.
In Case You Missed It
Are you planning a trip to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January? Lynn Gilmartin tells you everything you need to know about the Atlantis Resort in the latest PokerNews Jet Set.
A proposed bill by Japanese legislators could lead to the construction of a Macau-style casino in Japan. More on that story can be found in the latest Inside Gaming.
The World Poker Tour is back in action this week. Andrea Dato led the Day 1a field in Venice when play ended on Tuesday.
Former PokerNews reporter Anthony Yeh recently took ninth place at the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Yeh joined the PokerNews Podcast this week to talk about his deep run at Bellagio.
Bodog Rebrands to Bovada
As was planned in July, Bodog has left the U.S. market as of Wednesday, Dec. 14, and its licensee has rebranded the online gambling website under a new name. The new site, Bovada.lv, went live Wednesday morning and will be operated by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group going forward.
According to a Bodog press release, U.S. residents are no longer able to access Bodog.eu or any other Bodog branded website. Accounts for existing players were automatically transferred to the new website and player can log in to the site using their existing account details and password.
"The Bodog brand is confident MMGG’s customer account information and funds will continue to remain safe and secure, as it has done since MMGG entered its original agreement with the Bodog Brand in 2006 and we would like to wish MMGG the greatest success in its new venture," Bodog said in a statement.
Read more at PokerNews.com.
Andy Bloch Wins Epic Poker League Pro/Am
Andy Bloch was one of nine players to win a seat into this week's Epic Poker League (EPL) $20,000 Main Event via the EPL Pro/Am on Tuesday. The $1,500 event serves as a satellite and an avenue for nonmembership players to compete in the televised EPL Main Event.
After three days of play, Bloch was the last man standing from a field of 187 players to claim a Main Event seat and an additional $24,000. Among the other players to win a $20,000 entry into the Main Event were Chris DeMaci, Tony Gargano, Ben Palmer and Dwyte Pilgrim.
Here's a look at the final results:
Epic Poker League Pro/Am Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy Bloch | $24,085 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 2 | Ryan Schmidt | $12,040 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 3 | Marina Baroco | $7,150 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 4 | Chris DeMaci | $4,890 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 5 | Chris Woodbury | $3,390 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 6 | Tony Gargano | $2,630 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 7 | Ben Palmer | $1,880 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 8 | Joe Parille | $1,130 (Plus Main Event Seat) |
| 9 | Dwyte Pilgrim | Main Event Seat |
The third Epic Poker League Main Event kicked off Wednesday at the Palms Report and Casino in Las Vegas. PokerNews will be providing daily recaps with all the action.
Read more about the EPL Pro/Am at EpicPoker.com.
LAPT Heads Back to Brazil in Season 4
On Wednesday, PokerStars announced the destination for the Season 4 Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final. The final stop on the tour will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from Feb. 17 through 20, 2012, at the Sheraton World Trade Center Sao Paulo. Coincidentally The dates conveniently coincide with Carnival. We're sure that has nothing to do with the fact that PokerStars loves throwing parties.
The R$4,000 buy-in LAPT Grand Final will attempt to break yet another attendance record on the LAPT in Season 4. The season began in Sao Paulo in February and has since made stops in Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Colombia. The first stop in Sao Paulo attracted the largest LAPT field, 536 players, but that record was broken in Chile and then again in Colombia in October when 681 players participated in the Main Event in Medellin.
In addition to the 2012 LAPT Grand Final Main Event, there will be a variety of side events to take part in. Take a look at the schedule at PokerNews.com.
Online Poker Traffic Report
The online poker traffic numbers from last week have been released. PokerScout.com reported a worldwide increase of 3.8 percent, mostly because of the huge rise at PokerStars during its 10th Anniversary celebration.
Traffic at PokerStars climbed 9.3 percent over the previous week. The site was running its 72 billionth hand promotion with more than 1,000 winners receiving cash prizes leading up the Mega Milestone hand. The 72 billionth hand was dealt on Sunday, with more than 84,000 real-money cash game players logged in for a chance at their share of $100,000 in prizes. The traffic peak was roughly double the normal amount on a Sunday.
The biggest story in the rankings was the decline of Bodog, which unveiled its anonymous tables and saw a subsequent decline of 9.5 percent in traffic. The drop could be a result of multiple security issues revealed by HHSmithy.com last week, however, Bodog has assured players that their account information is secure. Bodog had climbed all the way to 11th in the rankings, but last week's falloff dropped the site to 14th.
As for year-over-year numbers, PokerScout's ACES indicator reports that online poker traffic (with the exception of Italy) has decreased by 26 percent over last year. Among the biggest decliners (aside from the defunct Full tilt Poker and CEREUS Network) were the Entraction Network (down 50 percent) and the International Poker Network (down 41 percent). The biggest climbers in the past year were 888poker (up 76 percent) and the Merge Gaming Network (up 67 percent).
Get the full report at PokerScout.com.
The King of Trash Talk
Tony G qualified to be part of Team Europe at the 2011 Caesars Cup in Cannes, France, which means he'll be among the many pros featured in Sunday's ESPN2 broadcast of the World Series of Poker Europe. Poker's favorite antagonist faced off against Phil Hellmuth's Team Americas in the Caesars Cup, so we can only imagine the entertaining banter that took place between the two at the felt in October.
ESPN.com gave viewers a glimpse of what to expect when theESPN2 coverage kicks off on Sunday at 1800 EST. Have a look:
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