The Weekly Turbo: PokerStars, GPL, Ivey and Gift Guide: Hello, Holidays
Hello, December. fancy meeting you here. The holidays are now in full swing, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails still making their way into the inboxes of millions. With this bombardment of emails and family gatherings, you can miss a lot.
No fear, the Weekly Turbo is here to get you in the holiday spirit and to give you some gift ideas of your own!
The Winner’s Circle
Montreal Nationals win the first GPL Championship for $100,000. The Nationals beat the Berlin Bears in 11 games to claim the inaugural GPL Championship title. Looking back, consider these river decisions from the match.
Patrick Mahoney won Rock 'N Roll Poker Open at Seminole Hard Rock for $564,227 in a field over 700.
Travis Hartshorn won the $2,700 Borgata Fall Poker Open Championship for $302,978, defeating a field of 489 entries after an approximately six-hour heads-up battle with David Johnston.
Daniel "centrfieldr" Lupo snagged the $13,500 first-place prize of the $50,000 Ultimate Warrior! This and more in the New Jersey Online Poker Briefing.
Marc Wright won the 2016 GUKPT Grand Final, turning £2,125 into £132,380.
“josef_shvejk” won the fifth anniversary edition of the $500,000 guaranteed Mega Deep tournament at 888poker this weekend for $95,333.55.
Ole "wizowizo" Schemion was one of online poker's big winners Nov. 27. Here’s the rest of the Sunday Briefing.
The Game Changers
PokerStars raked in the news this week. David Baazov secures an alternative investor to fund his bid to purchase and privatize Amaya, former PokerStars employee [Removed:441] avoids prison in Black Friday case by forfeiting $119,000, and PokerStars collected its third 'Poker Operator of the Year' award at the EGR Operator Awards 2016.
The world's largest online poker room PokerStars, under an Amaya Inc. subsidiary REEL Europe Limited, was recently granted the first gaming license by the Portuguese gaming regulator Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) to offer online poker games in Portugal.
Alibaba Sports Group announced its new International Poker Tour, promising over $7 million in prize money.
You don't know gifting until you've seen our 2016 PokerNews Holiday Gift Guide.
Getting bored of your typical fiction selections? Here are three that were inspired by America’s favorite card game and depict it well.
Bribes were not enough to secure the release of 1,318 Chinese online gaming workers in the Philippines.
The gambling industry in Great Britain is booming with total Gross Gambling Yield topping £13.6 billion.
Potentially some big news from Japan: The country's governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) once again began Nov. 30 the on-again, off-again discussions to legalize land-based casinos in a lower house committee of the country’s parliament, the Diet.
Phil Ivey formally contested the Borgata Casino’s request for the $9.6 million in baccarat winnings Ivey won from the casino in 2012, leading to a series of court sessions on edge-sorting.
Fedor continues his strangle-Holz on the top spot in the latest update of the GPI rankings. Erik Seidel joins the top 5.
Inside Gaming: There's a new casino opening in Maryland next week as the MGM National Harbor opens its doors; Nevada casinos enjoy a big October; and Caesars are going to to start charging for parking in Las Vegas (but not at the Rio).
TheEuropean Poker Tour closes its books with EPT Prague kicking off Dec. 8. We trace it back.
Take Matters Into Your Own Hands
Think you can't consider percentages playing live? Think again, says Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald.
Earlier this month, PokerStars launched a new Sit & Go game known as Beat the Clock, a style that is now proven to be popular with players around the world. Now if you’re in the United Kingdom, you can play these tournaments for free on PokerStars.
The profitability of a poker game is directly proportionate to how often players say “I had to call.” Robert Wooley discusses how explaining your actions to your opponents never benefits you or your profit.
Jonathan Little analyzes an EPT hand in which he flops two pair then gets creative on the river.Do you ever make this type of play, where you shove almost all in, save a few chips?
Several sites on the iPoker Network are getting into the Christmas spirit by running the €100K Winter Wonder promotion, which as the name suggests, is giving away €100,000 worth of prizes.
Can one game help you win a summer cruise? (Spoiler Alert: Yes, it can.)
Calling raises from the small blind may seem like a small thing, but it can lead to big problems. Here is how to play (or not to play) from the small blind.
"Did you flop the nuts?" asked Jonathan Jaffe of Mike McDonald after his call in a GPL Playoff hand. Read more about this entertainment hand at the Americas conference.
The next $5,000 PokerNews-exclusive freeroll runs at PokerStars on Dec. 4. Will you be playing it?
Learn the tools available within the PokerStars client and use them to gain an edge at the tables.
Head to TigerGaming every Saturday and Sunday for your chance to win a share of a massive $100,000.
There's an urge when flopping sets to check, but sometimes betting can be a better way to build pots. Check out this hand review of Matt Affleck leading the flop with a set at the PokerStars Festival New Jersey Main Event.
Check Tape
The entire Unibet Open Bucharest Tournament performs the Mannequin Challenge. No, we’re not kidding.
Two minutes with Shaun Deeb sponsored by KO Watches in a PokerNews Podcast Calling the Clock and this is one of the questions: What is your spirit animal?
Doug Polk discusses how much money poker players make and how much they have after tournaments on YouTube.
Here are some hilarious bloopers from poker journalist, Sarah Herring, at the European Poker Tour Season 12 stop in Prague. #throwback
Nick Petrangelo answers one minute of random rapid fire questions.
Doug Polk and Joe Ingram discuss the latest poker news in a rapid-fire format in Table Talk's second episode. They cover Brian Hasting's announced retirement from poker and much more for about five minutes each. Watch it here!
Anatoly Filatov bluffs in this GPL playoff hand, but Brian Rast has reasons to be suspicious. Check it out!
This week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast features Jessica Dawley discussing hometown roots and poker beginnings.
