The Nightly Turbo: WSOP $1 Million Buy-in Attracts Whales, UKIPT Nottingham, and More
The World Series of Poker is still seven weeks away, but the field for the inaugural Big One for One Drop is coming together nicely. Which players were confirmed for the event on Thursday? We'll cover that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
The 2012 World Poker Tour Vienna continued on Wednesday with Day 1b. Darko Stojanovic took the overall chip lead heading into Day 2, bagging 320,000 chips.
Steve O'Dwyer continued his climb up the Global Poker Index this week. Mickey Doft takes a look at the biggest movers and shakers on the GPI.
Need a new book to read at the tables? Check out our review of Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume II by Jonathan Little.
Good nutrition should be taken seriously by every poker player, but it's not easy to come by when you're traveling around the world. In the latest from the Stay Stacked series, Lynn Gilmartin takes a look at juicing for health.
30 Players Confirmed for $1 Million Buy-in at WSOP
It appears the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop at this year's World Series of Poker will be crammed with amateurs.
WSOP media director Seth Palansky said Thursday 30 players are committed to playing in the prestigious event, but only 10 are professional poker players. Among the poker pros already confirming their participation are Erik Seidel, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, Justin Smith, Jonathan Duhamel, and Tom Dwan. They'll be rubbing elbows with at least 20 wealthy businessmen when the tournament begins on July 1.
The field will include Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, casino owner Phil Ruffin, and businessmen Sean O'Donnell, Andy Beal, Richard Yong, Paul Phua, Paul Newey, Arnaud Mimran, Cary Katz and Bob Bright, among others.
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart told PokerNews in March that it's "very possible" the event will hit its cap of 48 players. Last week, the WSOP announced a satellite program that could allow players to win a seat into the tournament for as little as $65.
For more, check out the story at PokerNews.com.
UKIPT Nottingham Reaches £1 Million Guarantee
The second of three long Day 1 starting flights took place at the £770 buy-in PokerStars U.K. & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Nottingham Main Event on Thursday.
The event, which was tagged with a £1 million guaranteed prize pool, drew 558 players on Day 1b, increasing the total field to 1,090 with one Day 1 flight still to go on Friday. Registration for Day 1c has already sold out, so the £1 million guarantee has already been met.
Marcin Milde led the way after Day 1a with 278,800 chips. Others taking healthy stacks into Day 2 will be Sean Byrne (218,800), Phil Long (193,200), Shean Smith (175,900) and Timothy Chung (159,900).
Day 1b will still in action at press time, but we'll have a rundown of the action in Friday's Nightly Turbo. Follow the live updates from UKIPT Nottingham at the PokerStars Blog.
Online Gaming Gets Real
Online gambling giant William Hill has launched a revolutionary new gaming platform for residents of Italy to turn online gaming into a real-life experience.
The website will now offer Roulette Live and Blackjack Live, games featuring real dealers who are video-streamed in high resolution to your computer. Players can interact with the dealers and other players at the table via chat, enjoying the feeling of being in a real casino without even leaving home.
"We are excited to present a new offering dedicated to live games," said William Hill Country Manager Roby Salvadori. "Thanks to the Live Casino everybody can experience the emotion of a real casino, simply connecting from its sofa at any time. It's fun and easy to use and we believe it will be a big hit with Italian players."
Find out more at iGamingBusiness.
Online Poker Traffic Rankings
On Monday, PokerScout.com released its online poker traffic rankings for the previous week. The tracking site reported an increase of 2.8 percent, ending an eight-week stretch of losses at online poker rooms worldwide.
PokerStars continued to occupy the top spot in the rankings by a wide margin. The iPoker Network jumped past PartyPoker to land in the No. 2 position for the first time since January. PartyPoker slipped to third, and 888poker and the Ongame Network rounded out the top five, respectively,
As for year-over-year traffic numbers, online poker has seen a worldwide decline of 32 percent since this time last year. Along with the falloff at Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network, the International Poker Network (down 46 percent) and Ongame (down 24 percent) have seen a significant decline.
The biggest movers over the past year were the Merge Gaming Network (up 72 percent), 888poker (up 54 percent) and Bodog (up 39 percent).
Those numbers will see a significant change next week as Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of Black Friday.
Get the full report at PokerScout.com.
Antigua and Barbuda Fights Back
Online gambling is the second-largest industry in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda. So when the United States made it illegal for offshore online gambling operators to do business in the U.S., the small nation fought back. And the fight hasn't stopped.
PokerWorks.com recently published an article about the uphill battle facing Antigua and Barbuda to protect its interests against the controversial laws on what constitutes legal gambling in the U.S. The nation has long argued that U.S. laws are illegal and protectionist because the U.S. allows gambling for money in casinos, as well as state-regulated horse racing, but not online gaming.
If you want to read more about the ongoing battle, check out the article at PokerWorks.com.
PartyPoker Big Game VI Going Strong
By now, you probably know that we're live streaming the PartyPoker Big Game VI right here at PokerNews.com. Many of poker's biggest names were mixing it up in the first 24 hours, including Sam Trickett, Dan "Jungleman" Cates, Phil Laak, Tony G, and Mike Sexton. We also got to see former world champ Jonathan Duhamel, who made his Big Game debut on Thursday:
Watch the action live at PokerNews.com!
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