The Nightly Turbo: Dan Smith's GPI POY Odds, Negreanu Headlines PCA Super High Roller
The Player of the Year race between Dan Smith and Marvin Rettenmaier has been fun to watch this month. Has Smith done enough to become the award's first recipient? We're bringing you that story, plus the early confirmations for the $100,000 buy-in PCA Super High Roller, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
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On Tuesday, Howard Lederer settled his civil case with the Southern District of New York. Get the full story here at PokerNews.com.
Calvin "cal42688" Anderson is one of the world's top-ranked online tournament players, but he has also had plenty of success on the live circuit. Chad Holloway caught up with Anderson to talk about his first live tournament abroad.
Is the Race Over?
Dan Smith and Marvin Rettenmaier had a close race to the finish line, but it appears that Smith will stake his claim as the first Global Poker Index Player of the Year.
Smith leads the rankings for the 17th consecutive week despite a late charge from Rettenmaier, who won the PokerStars.net Season 9 European Poker Tour Prague €10,000 High Roller last week for €365,300. With the score, Rettenmaier jumped from 966.63 GPI POY points to 1,077.09, leaving him about 20 points short of Smith's total. Not to be outdone, Smith then cushioned his lead a day later by winning a €5,000 buy-in turbo side event, his fifth victory on the EPT this year.
The two-man race was a major topic of discussion in Prague last week. PokerNews' Sarah Grant even caught up with Smith and Rettenmaier to discuss the award.
With the holidays approaching and the tournament circuit drying up, Smith has a virtual lock on the 2012 GPI Player of the Year honor. The 23-year-old took the tournament world by storm this year by winning six events, including the $100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship for $1,012,000. His five victories in EPT side events accounted for another $1,960,625 in winnings. In total, Smith has earned $3,739,797 on the live circuit in 2012.
Alex Dreyfus, CEO of Zokay Entertainment (which owns the GPI), said the following about Rettenmaier's chances of catching Smith: "There are still a few GPI qualifying events to be played before year end. If the field sizes were large enough it is possible he could collect the points he needs. But it would be very difficult; he would need to do well in multiple events."
Here's a look at the top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race as of Wednesday:
| Place | Player | Total Score | Change in Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Smith | 1158.26 | -- |
| 2 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 1077.08 | -- |
| 3 | Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier | 913.34 | +5 |
| 4 | Kyle Julius | 906.02 | -1 |
| 5 | Andrew Lichtenberger | 889.56 | +1 |
| 6 | Joseph Cheong | 848.90 | -2 |
| 7 | Phil Hellmuth | 846.83 | -2 |
| 8 | Jonathan Duhamel | 812.46 | +6 |
| 9 | Jason Mercier | 810.88 | +3 |
| 10 | Stephen O'Dwyer | 800.00 | +3 |
The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, presented by PokerNews, honors the player who has a strong performance as calculated by the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.
For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, head on over to GlobalPokerIndex.com.
High Rollers Heading to Atlantis
The 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller event kicks off Jan. 5 and is guaranteed to be a big one. Thirty players have already registered for the $100,000 buy-in tournament. With more than two weeks remaining, the 2013 version could break the 2011 record of 38 entrants.
Several members of Team PokerStars Pro are confirmed for the 2013 PCA Super High Roller, including former champion Eugene Katchalov, who battled heads-up with Daniel Negreanu in 2011, pulling a win for the trophy and cash prize. Negreanu, who will also be in attendance next month, will be joined by fellow Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Jason Mercier, and Isaac Haxton.
Last year, it was Viktor "Isildur1" Blom who took down the PCA Super High Roller event for $1.25 million. It was the first live tournament victory for Blom, who defeated Dan Shak heads-up for the title.
Also registered for the upcoming event are regular high rollers Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Tom Marchese, and venture capitalist Bill Perkins.
All players who enter the $100,000 buy-in event will receive some nice perks, including four complimentary nights at The Cove in Atlantis, $1,000 to spend on food and drinks, and a limo from the airport.
As policy, PokerStars cannot release the entrants’ names without player consent. With that said, 14 have given the okay to release their information:
• Jonathan Duhamel
• Anthony Gregg
• Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
• Philipp Gruissem
• Isaac Haxton
• Phil Hellmuth
• John Juanda
• Eugene Kachalov
• Tom Marchese
• Jim McCrink
• Jason Mercier
• Daniel Negreanu
• Bill Perkins
• Scott Seiver
Who are the other 16 players registered? You’ll have to wait and see. The Super High Roller, which kicks off the 2013 PCA festivities on Jan. 5, will run for three days with live coverage being provided right here at PokerNews.com.
More information on the tournament can be found at the PokerStars Blog.
Spain Targets Poker Players for Unpaid Taxes
According to Poker-Red.com, the Spanish Treasury is using a popular online database to crack down on unpaid taxes from live poker-tournament players.
Poker-Red reported that the Treasury has already cited at least three Spanish players listed on the Hendon Mob poker database. Those players will be required to report on their economic activities dating to 2010, while the Treasury uses Hendon Mob to compare the information they have found with what is listed on the site.
The Hendon Mob database lists players’ reported earnings for Spain’s All-Time Money List, providing nearly 3,000 names. Atop that list is two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Carlos Mortensen, who reportedly has over $10 million in tournament winnings.
In addition to Mortensen, Raul Paez Corral and Juan Maceiras Lapido Jr. are the only players with more than $1 million in cashes. Also on the list are Poker-Red co-owner Raul Mestre and Lock Pro player Leo Margets.
According to Spanish law, poker winnings are subject to income tax requiring players to report all earnings whether for cash games, live tournament wins or online play. Clarified just this September, players can also report losses that can be deducted against wins when reporting annual winnings for tax purposes. This means that if the losses are lower than the earnings themselves, then they can be considered property losses, and therefore deductible. According to the laws, the government has decided that prizes exceeding €2,500 will be taxed at 20 percent.
Get the full story at Poker-Red.com.
PokerStars, 888 Receive Online Gaming Licenses in Germany
On Wednesday, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein granted online gaming licenses to 12 operators including PokerStars, Ladbrokes, 888, and Betfair. A press release explained that the licenses are good for six years and allow operators to offer a wide variety of casino games, including poker.
Schleswig-Holstein is the only German state to legalize online poker and did so in September 2011. The legislation allows sports betting and poker sites to operate in the state as long as they are established in the European Union.
The other 15 German states recently approved legislation that permits small number of sports gambling licenses but prohibits online poker. Germany's online gaming stance has been blurry since the European Union's high court ruled that Germany's national monopoly on gambling violated the Union's free trade laws.
Schleswig-Holstein said that 18 other companies have submitted online gaming applications with the Interior Ministry. All companies are tested to ensure that they meet regulatory standards in areas like security, payments and reliability.
Read the full announcement at the Schleswig-Holstein website.
Ask The Pros: How To Play a Turbo?
The PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker is returning next month. What's the formula for going deep in turbo tournaments? Our very own Kristy Arnett asked of the game's top pros for some advice.
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