The Nightly Turbo: Nate Silver Talks Online Poker, DeepStacks Poker Tour Grows, & More
Miss any of the day's biggest poker stories? You've come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're covering Nate Silver's take on federal online poker legislation, the newest stop on the DeepStacks Poker Tour, and more.
In Case You Missed It
On Thursday, MGM Resorts International received a license to offer real-money online poker in Nevada. Get the full story here at PokerNews.com.
2012 is coming to a close, but there are still some big tournaments coming up before the holidays. Chad Holloway takes a look at six premier poker tournaments that PokerNews will cover before the end of the year.
Jonathan Karamalikis made a big jump in the Global Poker Index following his High Roller score in Macau last week. Mickey Doft takes a look at the biggest movers and shakers in this week's GPI rankings.
DeepStacks Heads to Pennsylvania
DeepStacks Poker Tour, the nationally televised international tournament series, has partnered with Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs (MSPD) for the 2013 Northeast Pennsylvania Poker Open.
The inaugural nine-day tournament series will run April 6 through 14. The series will feature a $1,100 buy-in Main Event with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool hosted by Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Tristan Wade, and Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh. The entire event will also be streamed live on Deepstacks.com, Deepstacks360.com, and Mohegansunpocono.com.
The winner of the event will earn a seat to the $2,500 buy-in, $500,000 Guarantee DSPT World Championship at Mohegan Sun later in the year.
"Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has been a focus of ours since we joined forces with their Connecticut property earlier this year,” said DeepStacks CEO Chris Torina. "They are the premier gaming destination in that region and bringing the DeepStacks Poker Tour there will only add more excitement to their world-class casino.”
As DeepStacks' newest member, Mohegan Sun-Pocono Downs joins a team of partners that includes Mohegan Sun (Connecticut), Westin (Aruba), The Isle of Pompano (Florida), Chinook Winds Casino Resort (Oregon), and Turlock Poker Room (California).
“We are excited to be partnering with DeepStacks on the Northeast PA Poker Open this coming April,” said Jeff Walker, vice president of table games for Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. “Our sister property, Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, has an established relationship with DeepStacks so we have seen the energy they have brought and are excited to be able to share that with our customers here in Pennsylvania."
For more, visit DeepStacks.com.
Silver on Poker
Election forecaster Nate Silver is unstoppable right now. After going a perfect 50 for 50 in his state-by-state predictions (plus the District of Columbia) for the 2012 presidential election this month, the 30-year-old statistician and journalist has become a pop culture icon and political oracle. His blog at FiveThirtyEight.com recently made its way to the New York Times and is must-read for any numbers geek (plenty of those in the poker world).
Lately, everyone has tried to dig into Silver's mind, asking for his predictions about anything from the Major League Baseball MVP races to the Oscars. And during a live chat session at DeadSpin.com on Wednesday, he was even asked about the odds of online poker federal legislation:
Silver also added that he spoke with poker player and famous NBA bettor Haralabos Voulgaris for his latest book, The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't. Silver and Voulgaris have a similar feel for their respective trades, both using extensive data to form a well-informed hypothesis.
Read the full chat log at DeadSpin.com.
ESPN's The Nuts
The latest edition of ESPN's The Nuts was released on Thursday. The monthly blog post ranks the best poker players in the world at the moment. The 10-person panel includes Elaine Chaivarlis, PokerNews' editor in chief; Don Peters, PokerNews' tournament reporting manager; and ESPN's Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, among others.
Phil Ivey maintained the top spot again this month despite a quiet second half of the year. In June, Ivey took the World Series of Poker by storm when he made five final tables in two weeks. His only cash since then was an eighth-place finish in the Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller for $822,941. Lately, Ivey's focus has been on his new training site at IveyPoker.com.
Phil Hellmuth moved up one spot to No. 2 in the rankings. Hellmuth won the WSOP Europe Main Event, which scooted him up many of the Player of the Year charts. Hellmuth only received on first-place vote from the panel (Ivey got the other nine), but everyone has taken notice of Hellmuth's talents after his incredible success in the past two years.
The biggest change in this month's rankings was the emergence of WSOP Main Event champ Greg Merson. The 24-year-old won two WSOP bracelets in 2012 — both for seven figures — but his true abilities are best showcased at a cash game table. Merson has said time and time again that he doesn't like tournaments, so it will be interesting to see how long he stays on this list.
Said ESPN Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, "Looking at the big picture, we have an online cash game star who doesn't like playing tournaments, yet won two bracelets in 2012, including the biggest one of all. Welcome to stardom, Greg."
Here's a look at the top 10 for November:
| Rank | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Ivey |
| 2 | Phil Hellmuth |
| 3 | Jason Mercier |
| 4 | Michael Mizrachi |
| 5 | Greg Merson |
| 6 | Dan Smith |
| 7 | Vanessa Selbst |
| 8 | Marvin Rettenmaier |
| 9 | Antonio Esfandiari |
| 10 | John Juanda |
For more analysis on The Nuts rankings, check out ESPN.com.
Somerville Featured in OUT Magazine
On Thursday, poker pro Jason Somerville announced via Twitter that he will be featured in an upcoming issue of OUT Magazine describing his decision to come out as a professional poker player.
Exactly one year and one month ago i went on my first date ever with a guy. Today i somehow am on the out100 list with elton john #reallife
— Jason Somerville (@JasonSomerville)
On Feb. 14, 2012, Somerville took to his blog and entered an extensive well-written piece about coming out as an openly gay man to his friends, family, and the poker world. Fearing he would receive mixed reviews, Somerville was relieved to find the opposite. “Instead, I got a strong reaction of acceptance from both the poker world and the gay community," he said.
With a line of final table finishes, Somerville has succeeded in earning his first bracelet in a $1,000 Texas No-Limit Hold’em event in 2011. Just this year, Somerville was named “One to Watch” by the World Poker Tour, and cashed three events at the WSOP for $124,683, with his best run coming in the Main Event (69th place). He even took part in commentating for the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop on ESPN.
With a successful poker career, Somerville is now content with his personal life, as well, saying, “I have been in an amazing relationship this entire year, and I don’t know where I would be without him. He’s my biggest supporter, my most passionate motivator, my inspiration, and my best friend.”
Read more at OUT.com.
MicroMillions Kicks Off
The third edition of the PokerStars MicroMillions tournament series began Thursday with the first of 100 tournaments over the next 11 days. Earlier this year, Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki played 89 of the 100 tournaments in MicroMillions II and claimed the title of Player of the Series. Lynn Gilmartin recently chatted with Horecki to find out how he pulled it off.
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