The Nightly Turbo: Boyd Selling Bracelet, Boeken Joins MyPokerSquad, and More
Dutch Boyd has become the latest player to auction off poker hardware online. Unlike Peter Eastgate however, this money doesn't appear to be going to charity. Check out how much Boyd is looking for and more in this edition of The Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It:
Viktor Blom dropped $224,000 online this week. Find out who prospered and who didn't on the virtual felt in this week's edition of The Online Railbird Report.
Joseph Cheong sat down with our own Pamela Maldonado in our latest edition of Off the Felt. Find out the most ridiculous prop bet Cheong has ever made and more here.
PokerStars was granted a license from the German State of Schleswig-Holstein. Find out what that means for the world's largest poker site here.
The Hollywood Poker Open will run regional events at the M Resort in January. Find out how you can qualify for their $500,000 guarantee championship event in June here.
Galen Cranston brings you the latest CardRunners-sponsored video. Find out how to play against tough players and unknowns alike in pot-limit Omaha.
Sarah Grant and Kristy Arnett bring you the latest PokerNews Weekly. See what the two ladies have to say about the week's news here.
Boyd Selling Bracelet on eBay
Just in time for the Holiday Season, eBay user jacknames222 has listed item number 181047204908, which is a 14k gold bracelet from a preliminary event in the 2008 Five Diamond poker series at the Bellagio.
According to the user, "I won this bracelet from a Bellagio NL Holdem poker tournament in 2008. I don't believe the Bellagio awards gold bracelets for their tournaments any more, so these aren't being made again. It's a nice looking bracelet, but I've never worn it. So I'm selling it to raise some Christmas cash."
On Thursday, Dutch Boyd confirmed that he's the seller, tweeting the following:
My Bellagio bracelet is almost at its reserve of $2400.. $200 less than meltdown value. Buy some gold & help a player. http://t.co/2z4jjAz0
— Dutch Boyd (@DutchBoyd)
The highest bid is currently $2,661.74, and best of all, shipping is free.
According to Hendon Mob, Boyd has amassed over $2.1 million in career live tournament earnings. He and "The Crew" broke out during the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, and Boyd went on to win two bracelets — one in 2006, the other in 2010.
In 2011, "jacknames222" sold a "WSOP: World Series of Poker Tournament Chip $25." The 2012 WSOP rulebook states:
"Non-value Tournament chips are used for the Tournament and are the exclusive property of Rio and may not be removed from the Tournament area or the assigned event. Participants found to be transferring chips from one event to another or from one Participant to another will be subject to penalty in accordance with Rules 39, 102, and 103."
Rules 102 and 103 focus on penalties and disqualification.
Boeken Joins MyPokerSquad
Recently, Noah Boeken joined MyPokerSquad. According to their website, MyPokerSquad is, "the first website of participative funding dedicated to poker players and enthusiasts. We allow everyone to become the associate of the best ones during the greatest Live and Online tournaments."
The staking site is available for players in France, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom, and the site offers deals for both tournaments and cash games.
Boeken joins a handful of pros, including David Benyamine, Roger Hairabedian, Vanessa Hellebuyck, Steven Moreau, Nicolas Dervaux and Francisco Costa.
Boeken has massed over $1.2 million in career tournament earnings, with his largest score coming in the 2007 Masters Classics of Poker Main Event.
California to Re-Assess Online Poker Legislation
It was just a few days ago that California State Senator Roderick Wright promised to reintroduce online poker bill SB 1463 to legislation.
True to his word, SB51 — the Internet Gambling Consumer Protection and Public-Private Partnership Act of 2013 — was introduced to the California Senate on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Senate will not convene again until Jan. 7, and the bill is not expected to reach hearings before March.
A poker-only bill, SB51 is the same at SB 1463, which was introduced and shot down during the last legislative session. With a few changes, the bill will be reviewed as “urgency statute,” which means if passed by two-thirds majority vote, it would take effect immediately.
The California Online Poker Association, which represents 31 poker rooms and 29 Indian gaming tribes, pledged support of the bill and reportedly spent more than $1.2 million in lobbying efforts to legalize online poker. However, the group folded after the efforts made little headway.
While Wright is the sole sponsor, he does have encouragement from Sen. Darrel Steinberg, who, although is no longer a co-sponsor, is still supportive of his efforts.
The Sacramento Business Journal has more.
The Global Poker Index Adjusts Scoring Model
On Thursday, the Global Poker Index released its annual scoring model adjustments. The GPI is committed to being the best live tournament poker ranking system in the world, and in order to do so, they will address their own process each year.
The most notable change for 2013 is that the the minimum buy-in has been reduced from $1,500 to $1,000. This will make all of the $1,000 events at the WSOP GPI-eligible, and will make smaller tours like the WSOP Circuit, UKIPT, FPS, WPT National, etc. more relevant on the global scale.
The GPI will also increase the number of cashes a player can accumulate to 26 — the maximum amount of cashes allowed in 2012 was 21.
“By making this change, the GPI continues to be the true measure of the performance of poker players across the globe”, said Alex Dreyfus, CEO of Zokay Entertainment.
Atop the GPI 300 rankings is American Dan Smith, who's amassed 3,118.56 points over the last 36 months. Directly trailing him are Marvin Rettenmaier (2,952.72), Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (2,730.56) and Jason Mercier (2,699.88). Smith is expected to win the 2012 GPI Player of the Year award.
For more information about the GPI, check out the "About" section of the GPI website.
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