The Nightly Turbo: U.S. Poker Players Receive Bad News, Jake Cody Leaves PKR, and More
Poker players in the U.S. received some bad news this week. We'll cover that story, plus Jake Cody parting ways with an online poker room, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
Many of poker's best online players never get a chance to shine in the spotlight. We're here to change that. In the latest edition of Online Chat, Katie "katie75013" Stone discusses her move abroad, the return of Full Tilt Poker, and more.
What's your favorite televised poker bluff of all time? The PokerNews staff put together a list of our Top 10.
Noah Schwartz won the 2012 World Poker Tour bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble on Tuesday. Read about how he dominated the final table in our WPT Jacksonville recap.
While the WPT was closing in Jacksonville, another event was getting under way in Copenhagen. Take a look at the action from the two Day 1 flights in our WPT Copenhagen recap.
2012 October Niner Jake Balsiger joined the PokerNews Podcast on Wednesday. The crew asked Balsiger about his decision to remain in school, his future plans for poker, and more.
On Wednesday, the dates were announced for the 2013 World Series of Poker. Find out when the series kicks off right here at PokerNews.com.
Don't believe Tony Resort is a real place? Check out Tony G's personal tour over at The Muck.
Delay at the DOJ
We're more than three months past the deal that allowed for repayment of all Full Tilt Poker players, but it appears that U.S.-based customers will be waiting much longer to recoup more than $200 million in funds that were frozen last April.
On Tuesday, the Poker Players Alliance met with the Department of Justice to discuss the remission process taken on by the DOJ after its deal with PokerStars in July. After the hearing, the PPA reported that the DOJ is still "a long way away" from completing reimbursement to players. In fact, PPA Executive Director John Pappas said that "no decisions have been made at the DOJ regarding the manner of repayment of player balances."
Pappas added that there is no date set for selecting a third-party claims administrator, even though the DOJ posted an employment notice for the position three months ago. According to the PPA, the process is being delayed by a lack of resources and a long list of forfeiture cases that need to be taken care of.
Tuesday's news wasn't met well by U.S. players, who sat idly by last week while Full Tilt Poker's "Rest of World" players were given access to their funds. Blair Hinkle, a Missouri-based poker pro with more than $1 million stuck on Full Tilt Poker, responded via Twitter by saying, "What a joke."
For more, read the full story here at PokerNews.com.
Jake Cody on the Market
Triple Crown winner Jake Cody has parted ways with online poker room PKR.com one year after signing a deal to represent the company online and at tournaments around the globe.
Cody, 24, joined PKR last November, just months after winning the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up event at the 2011 World Series of Poker to complete his Triple Crown (he also has major wins on the EPT and WPT). He immediately became the biggest name on the seven-member Team PKR Pro and was excited to make PKR his first sponsorship opportunity in poker.
Now, the talented Brit is back on the free-agent market.
"PKR’s one year association with Jake Cody has now come to its conclusion," PKR Media Manager Dan Grant told UK & Ireland PokerNews on Tuesday. "We are proud to have worked with Jake over the last year and wish him the best of luck for the future both at and away from the felt. He is a huge talent, a class act and a pleasure to deal with.”
Cody is the second member of Team PKR Pro to leave the site this year. In March, James “james666” Sudworth left PKR to pursue other endeavors. With Cody and Sudworth departing, only four members of Team PKR Pro remain: Vladimir “Beyne” Geshkenbein, Sofia "welllbet” Lövgren, Scott Shelley and Marc “Waswini” Bariller.
Read more at UK & Ireland PokerNews.
Smith Leads GPI Player of the Year
The Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings were released on Wednesday with Dan Smith leading the way for the 12th consecutive week.
Smith hasn't cashed in a live tournament in more than a month, but his current lead over the rest of the field may already be enough to secure the GPI POY honor. Smith (1098.79 GPI POY points) has six wins in 2012 and holds a sizable lead over his next closest competitor, Marvin Rettenmaier (966.63). The rest of the top five is rounded out by Kyle Julius (906.02), Phil Hellmuth (846.83) and Joseph Cheong (829.47), respectively.
Cheong was the only new face in the top 10 this week. His rise up the charts was jolted by a recent third-place finish in the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) Warm-Up event for HKD$731,000 ($93,718). Cheong's biggest score of the year came at the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event where he took fourth place for €292,320. That event was won by Hellmuth, who leaped into the GPI POY top 10 as a result.
Here's a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:
| Place | Player | Total Score | Change in Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Smith | 1098.79 | -- |
| 2 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 966.63 | -- |
| 3 | Kyle Julius | 906.02 | -- |
| 4 | Phil Hellmuth | 846.83 | -- |
| 5 | Joseph Cheong | 829.47 | +6 |
| 6 | Andrew Lichtenberger | 819.75 | -1 |
| 7 | Justin Bonomo | 798.33 | -1 |
| 8 | David Baker | 790.71 | -1 |
| 9 | Daniel Negreanu | 768.40 | -1 |
| 10 | Jason Mercier | 766.71 | -1 |
The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, presented by PokerNews, honors the player who has the strongest performance in live tournaments during the calendar year, according to the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.
For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, head on over to GlobalPokerIndex.com.
MicroMillions Returns
The third edition of PokerStars' popular MicroMillions series kicks off Thursday at 10:00 ET with the first of 100 tournaments over 11 days. The online poker festival takes place from Nov. 15 through 25 and features affordable buy-ins from 11 cents up to $22 with $5 million in guaranteed prize pools.
Events will run around the clock during the 11-day series, which will culminate with a $22 MicroMillions Main Event with a $1 million prize pool — with $150,000 guaranteed to the winner — on Sunday, Nov. 25. The series will feature all of your favorite poker variants, plus a wide variety of formats like turbos, rebuys, shootouts, knockouts, and big-ante events.
The most recent MicroMillions series in July was extremely popular with low-stakes recreational players and online grinders alike, generating a staggering 1,288,221 entries and total prize pools adding up to $7,966,209.85. The $22 buy-in Main Event was won by SoyDelGlobo who walked away with $157,218.68.
For a complete look at the MicroMillions III schedule, visit PokerStars.com.
ElkY Jumps From Macau Tower
What's more exhilarating than playing in the biggest poker games in the world? How about jumping off the world's largest bungee jump? Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier dared to attempt just that during a break from the Asian Championship of Poker in Macau.
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