David Yan outlasted a tough field in Event #14 $50,000 6-Handed to take the title after almost 14 hours of play. Yan defeated Orpen Kisacikoglu after reaching a deal during heads-up play, claiming the largest piece of the prize pool and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure trophy at the Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas.
The field of 31 entries created a total prize pool of $1,509,948, with the final five players earning a return on their investment. Chris Hunichen took third place ($245,400), followed by Ben Heath in fourth ($177,400) and David Peters earning the minimum cash ($143,400) in fifth.
$50,000 PCA Single Day High Roller (6 Handed) Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1st
David Yan
New Zealand
$485,690*
2nd
Orpen Kisacikoglu
Turkey
$458,058*
3rd
Chris Hunichen
United States
$245,400
4th
Ben Heath
United Kingdom
$177,400
5th
David Peters
United States
$143,400
*Denotes a heads-up ICM deal
“I’m pretty grateful for the experience,” Yan told PokerNews after his victory. “When you play such a little amount, it’s just basically anything can happen. Today I just ran insane; the field was one of the tougher ones we’ve seen”.
Early Day Eliminations
Justin Bonomo
Yan kick-started his day with an early elimination of Justin Bonomo. The good fortune continued by knocking out Christoph Vogelsang as the field moved closer to the money.
Mikita Badziakouski was among the players to enter a second time, only to see his run cut short against Nick Petrangelo shortly after the late registration period closed.
Cary Katz was also among those using a second entry, but saw his run end on the bubble of the final table.
Final Table Action
Yan took a commanding chip lead into the unofficial final table of seven players, and scored the first elimination against Petrangelo.
That left the field on the direct money bubble, where Fedor Holz fell at the hands of Hunichen after the American flopped a set of nines.
Fedor Holz
In the Money
Once the field reached the money, the eliminations happened rather quickly. Peters was the first to go, losing to Kisacikoglu’s pocket pair to finish fifth.
Then came perhaps the hand of the night, when Yan’s kings scored a double elimination to reach heads up play. Heath’s short stack left him in fourth place, while Hunichen earned the pay jump and the podium finish.
From there, Kisacikoglu and Yan traded the chip lead a few times before reaching a deal. Yan was all-in twice during heads-up play, but was never at risk as Kisacikoglu folded both times. In the end, Yan’s pocket pair finished the job against Kisacikoglu to take down the title.
Yan said that his victory has not really impacted his plans to play a busier schedule. “I think I’ll probably spend quite a bit of time at home with family, maybe play some but didn’t really plan too much”.
That closes out PokerNews live reporting team’s coverage of the $50,000 PCA Single Day High Roller (6 Handed) in The Bahamas. Be sure to check out all of the action as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure continues.
The Canadian province of Saskatchewan recently launched its first government-sanctioned online gaming platform on PlayNow.com. In two months of operations, the website turned over $31.8 million in wagers with the vast majority of action happening in the online casino and only about 5% on sports betting..
Saskatchewan has a total population of about 1.2 million. According to 2021 Census data, Saskatchewan’s median income in 2020 was the second highest among all provinces. There were 844,920 income earners in 2020 – 427,895 of them were women, and 417,025 were men.
The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) was granted exclusive rights to offer online gambling in the province. In early November, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) launched an online casino and single-event sports book in the province with the Playnow URL. The website uses geolocation data from web browsers to determine where a player is located and delivers the proper site for their locale.
Over 8,000 New Customers in 2 Months
According to a report from the public broadcasting corporation CBC.ca, SIGA saw betting rise from about $14.8m in November to $17m in December. By the end of last year, the site had 8,015 registered users in the province.
Doing the numbers shows the average player turned over just under $4,000 in bets over the first two months of operations. This number includes not only the churn of rebetting wins or parts of wins but also free bets, bonus funds, and other promotional considerations.
Michael Bellegarde, director of iGaming at SIGA broke the numbers down further to reveal that the average player deposited about $460 over the course of November and December with the average deposit being $67 at a time.
So, all told, over two months there were about 55,000 individual deposits for total incoming transactions of $3.7 million.
The hold was impressive at $1.6m or about 43.2% after winnings were paid out.
“A lot of our players, when it’s a small amount, $50, $75, they’re just going to keep cycling that money through the system and it just gets bet again,” said Bellegarde.
“Typically, people cash out when they have a substantial win.”
First Nations communities are entitled to 50% of the winnings with the balance going to the government in Regina. The provincial take is also used for good causes.
Bellegarde was happy with the results as nobody quite knew what to expect from the nascent online gambling site.
“We’re quite pleased,” he said. “We weren’t exactly sure what to expect, being a new product to the province. So we’re very happy.”
Sports Betting Accounted for 1/20th of the Gambling Turnover
Sportsbetting accounted for only about $1.2m of the $31.8m turnover on the betting site with the lion’s share attributed mostly to slots and table games – which are the two biggest drivers for online casinos worldwide.
“One of the things that surprised me a little bit is that sports is not as big of a driver for net win as the slot machines,” Bellegarde said.
“When you see all the money that’s being invested by other companies into sports advertising, you would think that there’s a lot of money there. The reality is that sports makes up less than five percent of our net win.”
SIGA’s research shows that online sports betting all across Canada experience similar returns to those noted by Bellegarde.
He told CBC journalist, Kelly Provost: “Sports betting is kind of the betting that doesn’t have a stigma to it, right?” But he indicated that slot machines and other online casino gambling still have “a bit of a social stigma” around them.
“People are more comfortable with the idea of betting on sports,” Bellegarde said. “So you acquire people through sports betting promotions and then hope that they try out the eCasino and enjoy that.”
He mentioned ‘gray market sites’, which usually refer to casinos licensed offshore for international play in markets that don’t outlaw consumer choice in online game providers. He noted that a lot of them offer sports betting but that they really want people to stay for the casino even if they first visit for the sports.
Sports betting has virtually exploded across the American internet landscape with each state that allows it regulating its own action. While there are nearly 40 states that now allow sports betting, only a few yet offer online casino gambling – and as it is in Canada, each state (province) licenses and regulates gambling within its own borders.
Canadian Gaming Association president and CEO, Paul Burns said that single-event sports betting doesn’t usually make much money for online platforms.
After years of false starts nationally at the provincial and territorial level, in 2021 single-event sports betting was finally legalized. Authorities reasoned that it would divert billions of dollars in the annual flight of capital back from gray markets and outright illegal offshore sports betting sites to regional caretakers; if captured, the money could be put to good use by supporting communities and bolstering government revenues.
The average sports bet in Saskatchewan at Playnow was $30 over the last two months ending December 31 and nearly 50% of bets were placed on live games, as the action was happening rather than as predictive bets.
Most Bets Placed on Hockey
In descending order of net win for the casino, bets were made on NFL football, soccer, tennis, and basketball. However, the average hockey bet must have been smaller or the gamblers were more capable because the greatest number of bets were on the national game followed by NFL football, basketball, and finally soccer.
NFL betting was leading the volume wars until Connor Bedard captured the nation’s attention at the World Junior Hockey Championship. The race was a barn burner with Team Canada (hockey) finally amassing about 15,500 individual bets versus about 15,000 placed on American football games.
Source: Sask. residents bet almost $32M in first 2 months of regulated gaming website, CBC.ca, January 23, 2023
The post Saskatchewanians Warm up Quickly to SIGA-Licensed Online Casino appeared first on Casino News Daily.
The new slot game, called Horror Hotel, complements the company’s portfolio expansion and brings exciting experiences for online players. The latest title further boosts the positive momentum gained by Relax Gaming in 2023 and sees the return of the famous Mystery Symbol feature.
Relax Gaming’s new 6×6 high-volatility slot has a spooky graveyard theme. On the left side of the screen, a cartoony graveyard is portrayed with a full moon above headstones, while on the right side, there’s a gloomy castle on a mountain. The reel of the game stands right in the center of the screen. The game itself features different symbols such as potions, Frankenstein, a werewolf, a vampire and a mummy.
Horror Hotel Metrics Overview
Reels: 6
Rows: 6
Paylines: Cluster
RTP: 96.18%
Hit Freq: –
Max Win: 20,000x
Volatility: High
Min/Max Bet: €0.10/€50
Release date: January 25, 2023
The New Slot Offers Mystery Symbol Feature and Free Spins
Horror Hotel offers quality graphics and sound effects. When it comes to functionality, the game marks the return of the Mystery Symbol feature. This feature was introduced with the developer’s Santa’s Stack game. What’s unique about the Mystery Symbol feature is that it is activated on any win. Relax Gaming explained that once the feature is active, the winning cluster “will convert into mystery symbols and a re-spin is awarded – and the grimmer the cluster, the bigger the win.”
Besides the Mystery Symbol feature, Horror Hotel offers a cluster payout mechanic, buying feature and free spins. Whenever an online player lands three or more bonus symbols, they unlock a special bonus round with free spins. Additional bonus symbols during the round bring extra spins.
On the other hand, Horror Hotel also provides players with the chance to buy free spins. “The Buying Feature, allows players the option to purchase free spins, costing 100x the reference bet size, and starts a round with a guaranteed free spins trigger,” explains the game developer.
Another Good Addition to Relax Gaming’s Growing Portfolio
Shelley Hannah, Relax Gaming’s director of casino products, said that the company is excited to introduce its latest slot game. She explained that the combination of the Mystery Symbol feature with the cluster payout mechanic bring unique experiences for the customers online.
“We’re delighted to be generating some real momentum with our 2023 content roll-out following the launch of our latest title, Horror Hotel.“
Shelley Hannah, director of casino products at Relax Gaming
Hannah added that the recent launch comes after the release of Grim the Splitter earlier in January. In conclusion, she explained that Relax Gaming’s new slot delivers once again a spooky-themed game that offers engaging experiences and exciting features.
The $1,100 Brazilian Series of Poker(BSOP) Bahamas Main Event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has come to an end and Canada’s Allan Barnes is the champion after he defeated Vicente Delgado in heads-up play.
Barnes outlasted 460 entries to take home $86,650 for the victory from a total prize pool of $446,200. Delgado won $54,550 for second, while Christian Rudolph took home $38,950 for the third place finish. Jonathan Little and Brunno Botteon rounded out the top five with $29,950 and $23,050, respectively.
2023 BSOP Bahamas Main Event Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Country
Prize
1
Allan Barnes
Canada
$86,650
2
Vicente Delgado
Spain
$54,550
3
Christian Rudolph
Germany
$38,950
4
Jonathan Little
United States
$29,950
5
Brunno Botteon
Brazil
$23,050
6
Steven Fandozzi
United States
$17,750
7
Maria Konnikova
United States
$13,650
8
Mateusz Moolhuizen
France
$11,200
9
Sriharsha Doddapaneni
India
$9,300
Winner’s Reaction
Barnes is no stranger to The Bahamas, in fact, he had his first recorded cash in the Turbo Edition of the PCA Main Event back in 2015. Since then, he’s cashed a total of seven times in the Caribbean, most recently in 2018. This is his biggest score to date.
“First of all, me and my wife absolutely love The Bahamas,” Barnes said in his post-win interview with PokerNews. “That’s a bonus, and PokerStars does a great job with these tournaments. They’re a lot of fun to play. For whatever reason, I have a lot of success down here.”
This is the first win for Barnes, and a long time coming after a few deep runs in the shallow seas.
“It feels very, very good. It’s a monkey off my back. I’ve had some cashes down here and I’ve gone deep in some tournaments where I busted out before it really got exciting. This one here is a nice victory.”
The opening event of the 2023 PCA attracted a wide-ranging field of notable poker professionals from all over the world. Barnes, however, was in his element.
“I wasn’t intimidated by the professionals. I’ve played enough poker and I understand the game, so I know that if you’re patient enough the cards will come to you, and tonight was the perfect example of that. At one point there I was at 400,000 in chips, and I climbed back to win the thing. It was all about patience and getting the money in at the right time.”
Follow all of the 2023 PCA live updates right here
Barnes reflected on the turning point of the evening, when he got his dwindling stack in on the flop with two pair against a flush draw, only to see the flush come in on the turn. The river, however, brought a full house and a path to victory.
“When he turned the flush on me, I was sickened. I couldn’t believe it, and I knew he was on the draw, so that’s the worst part. And then it came in, but the ace came on the river. Obviously, I was ecstatic. It was really exciting to spike the ace for the win.”
Familiar Day 3 Faces
Day 3 got underway with the 37 surviving players from Monday’s Day 2, and each of the returnees was guaranteed $2,350 for their efforts. Maria Ho was one of many notable players that qualified for Day 3, and she got it in good with Big Slick, but Botteon caught up with a suited ace-jack to make a Broadway straight and eliminate her in 20th place.
Maria Ho
Among the other players that made it to Day 3 and fell short of the final table were Katie Lindsay (22nd, $3,550), Andy Wilson (15th, $5,400), and Paul Dewald (11th, $7,750).
Final Table Action
With ten players remaining, Sebastian Toro got it in with pocket tens and Steven Fandozzi flushed him with the ace of spades on a four-space board to bring the tournament to its final table.
Fandozzi entered the final table with the top stack, and he was trailed by Little and Konnikova in the second and third spots on the leaderboard. Day 2 chip leader was the first to go of the final nine when his jammed with a suited ace-king and ran into the pocket kings of Botteon. Mateusz Moolhuizen soon followed when his ace-king couldn’t catch up to Maria Konnikova’s pocket fives.
Play stretched out for the final seven players, and it was nearly three hours before Konnikova was the next to go in seventh place. Konnikova returned for Day 3 with a big stack and a shot to repeat her win in the 2018 edition of this event, but her run came up short when she tried to bluff a missed straight draw, only to be called by Rudolph and his two pair.
Maria Konnikova
It was more than 90 minutes before the next elimination, and it was Fandozzi who got it in with ace-king and could not improve against the pocket jacks of Delgado. Next to go was Botteon in fifth after he surrendered a double when Little made two pair. Botteon was out a few moments later when Delgado took the last of his small stack with ace-ten.
The game broke open for the final four players, and Little was the next one up for elimination after he found himself in a cooler with Barnes. Little shoved with pocket kings, but Barnes was waiting with pocket aces to send Little home in fourth place. He will return for the PCA Main Event on Wednesday after he registered on dinner break and bagged 30 big blinds before coming back to finish this event.
Soon after, Rudolph took his shot with a suited ace-nine and lost to the king-queen of Barnes. The run gave Barnes the chip lead at the start of heads-up play, but Delgado wasn’t too far behind.
Delgado closed the gap early, and the two players settled in for the endgame. At one point, Delgado took the lead, but Barnes came storming back. The big moment came when Delgado shoved with a turned pair of aces, only to see that Barnes had flopped queens and jacks. The river was no help for Delgado, and Barnes sealed the victory.
That concludes coverage of the $1,100 BSOP Bahamas Main Event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in at the Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas. Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team for live updates from your favorite events.
The advert begins in a small hockey arena. Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid sticks around after practice to take multiple shots on a nameless goaltender. Every shot finds the back of the net, naturally. Behind the glass nearby, hockey great Wayne Gretzky approaches a man who tells him, “Connor’s just finishing up, he’s going to be pumped you’re here.” No rush, Gretzky replies, glancing down at his phone, and seeing the New York Knicks have just taken the lead in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. “Come on!” Gretzky shouts in frustration, throwing McDavid off. “Trying to practice here, Wayne,” McDavid tells him. “You need it,” Gretzky replies.
Two of the biggest ever stars of ice hockey are together to promote what’s on that little screen: BETMGM, one of the latest in a plethora of sports betting sites that have, since the US and Canadian governments opened the door to single-game betting, flooded NHL broadcasts with advertising – relying on big names to do it. McDavid and Gretzky aren’t alone. Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews has his own spot, for Bet99.net, a Canadian sportsbook. They are inescapable, relentless, and for many, extremely annoying. “These gambling ads are out of hand,” one Reddit user posted in October. “We’re not even finished the first period of the Leafs game and there have already been around 10 DraftKings ads. This is ridiculous.”
As part of a recent investigation into the impacts of sports betting, using the UK as an example, the CBC asked Matthews why he’d chosen to partner with Bet99.net. “I appreciate the question, but I don’t think I’m going to get into it much, honestly,” Matthews replied, asking the reporters for “more hockey-related questions”.
Before the US legalized single-event sports betting in 2018, the NHL opposed the idea. However, the “the landscape in North America has changed,” the NHL’s chief business officer, Keith Wachtel, told Canadian parliamentarians in 2021 – specifically, “technological innovation, increased partner sophistication and … a true understanding of how a regulated legal sports market can better promote responsibility and integrity versus a non-regulated market.” As it happens, the NHL probably also figured out it can make a lot of money – as much as $216m in annual revenue, according to research from the American Gaming Association.
When it comes to guys like Matthews and McDavid, one obvious concern is that adult viewers and fans will act on these endorsements and, despite tools to set limits, become addicts. But a lot of kids watch hockey, too. Nobody, it seems – including those who pushed for the changes to Canada’s criminal code that have allowed for single-event betting, like MP Brian Masse – really thought about that. He told the CBC he was now worried about the potential impacts of the ads on kids.
What can be done?
In Canada, anyway, there might be a pathway to more stringent regulation. The CRTC, Canada’s federal telecommunications regulator, already has established rules around alcohol advertising that state it cannot contain an endorsement from “any person … who is or is likely to be a role model for minors,” including for a full 10 years after they’ve retired from that activity. This rule kicked-in in 2003, when former NHL commentator Don Cherry endorsed Molson beer. The ads were eventually pulled after complaints. I asked the CRTC whether it was considering extending its rules for alcohol endorsement to single-event sports betting. “It is the responsibility of the advertiser to ensure the legality of airing all its commercials,” a CRTC spokesperson replied. “I don’t have any further information on this issue, and am not in a position to speculate.”
Top cheese
On 19 January, Josh Morrissey notched his 50th point of the season, another milestone in the best year of his career. Part of what makes Morrissey’s story so compelling is that he’s had a long road to this point. After joining the Jets full-time roster in 2016-17, Morrissey typically played around 60 games a season for Winnipeg, notching somewhere between 20 and 30 points a campaign.
That’s changed this year thanks in part to a coaching regime under Rick Bowness – one that encourages a much more aggressive defense, which suits Morrissey’s style and which has helped make Winnipeg a playoff contender in the West. Morrissey credits Bowness with challenging him to take his game “to new levels”.
Here’s Morrissey with a beautiful feed to Lars Ehlers on Saturday night.
“I’m not too far removed from a couple tough seasons with family stuff going on,” Morrissey told the Winnipeg Sun earlier this month, referring to his dad’s recent death from cancer. Now Morrissey’s currently on pace for 90 points, prompting Jets’ fans to dub him “Norrissey”, a reference to the Norris trophy, awarded to the league’s best defenceman every year. It’s not out of the question that he could get it. In the meantime, he’ll have to settle for being an All-Star.
Cup chase – who’s hot
Barring a spectacular collapse in the final week of the month, the Boston Bruins will finish January as they started it: winning. They are on pace for 65 wins this season.
The Carolina Hurricanes finally welcomed Max Pacioretty, who’d been out since mid-August as he fixed and rested a torn achilles tendon – only for him to tear it again.
While Toronto were inconsistent, Tampa Bay went on a five-game winning streak through the middle of January, before losing two consecutive games to Edmonton and Calgary. Elsewhere, the New Jersey Devils snapped out of their December doldrums in their own five-game win run to bring themselves within reach of the top of the Metropolitan division.
The Dallas Stars stayed neck-and-neck with the Jets atop the Central division during a frustrating month, perhaps summed up best by Jake Oettinger’s delay-of-game penalty on 12 January in New York.
Further west, the Kraken awoke on 1 January and decided to sink opponents for eight straight games – including Boston – before finally losing to Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, goaltender Jack Campbell may have finally found his groove, backstopping five straight wins into the third week of January (with a sixth consecutive win going to backup Stuart Skinner).
Bedard chase – who’s not
At writing, Tankathon.com, a site with a running NHL draft simulator, says the Columbus Blue Jackets have the best chance (25.5%) of grabbing the first overall pick this summer (ie Connor Bedard, the 17-year-old phenom from North Vancouver). Despite taking on star Johnny Gaudreau last summer in a surprise move, Columbus have had an abysmal season. January was no different, with the Jackets’ only significant win, against Carolina, coming in a shootout.
Meanwhile, the Athletic’s calculations put Anaheim ahead in the race for Bedard. January wasn’t kind to Anaheim, either – but at least they beat Columbus. Somewhere in this race still are Chicago, where chatter continued (but didn’t get far) about where Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane may end up by the trade deadline (Pacioretty’s injury might be a hint).
Clip of the month
Connor McDavid continues to learn hockey’s cheat codes and has no shame in deploying them. In mid-January in Anaheim, he showed off a spin move to net his 35th goal of the year. He’s since scored five more and, unsurprisingly, leads the league in goals and overall points.
Elsewhere around the league
Sunrise, Florida: The NHL’s All-Star Game fan vote system has proved controversial once again. The problem this time was that, well, the fans’ votes didn’t seem to count. Neither Alexander Barkov (Panthers) nor Martin Nečcas (Carolina) made the cut, much to the dismay of their fanbases, some of whom suggested the process is being rigged, but this seems unlikely. Whatever the reason, they’re unfortunate – especially for Barkov, whom the home crowd would have been excited to support. At this rate, the NHL will probably be happy to just get out of Florida intact.
Vancouver: What to say about the ongoing dysfunction in Vancouver? A new head coach might, under normal circumstances, have been greeted positively, given the team’s poor season. Not so in this case. Earlier this month, team president Jim Rutherford admitted he’d been calling other coaches, but that “all I can say is that Bruce [Boudreau] is our coach right now.” That didn’t sit well with, uh, anyone. And fans made it clear whose side they were on when it became clear that a coaching change was indeed imminent.
How that impacts incoming coach Rick Tocchet is yet to be seen, but he’s already made one promise: he’ll stay off Twitter.
The new partnership is in fact an ongoing collaboration as Altenar first completed its product integration late last year and is now moving forward with making the sportsbook platform fully available at Starcasino, and to its players.
Belgium Just a First Market for This Collaboration
As a result, Starcasino gains access to a highly-competitive product that is associated with strong engagement and customer retention, that will deliver pre-match and live betting offerings. Altenar’s products come with full front and backend support.
This means that Starcasino will also have access to the full promotional suite and market-leading customer support management options. Altenar offers 24/7 support to partner brands to help the navigate the platform and deliver on the best possible experience for their players. The partnership follows on similar expansions with ChillyBets in Germany and PalmBets in the Balkans and Bulgaria in particular.
As to the latest tie-up, Altenar is also Starcasino’s technology partner, which means that it will deliver a 360-degree solution that will make it possible for the brand to enjoy the best-in-class tech provision for its existing and future markets.
While the partnership is only now being put to a solid test in market conditions, Starcasino is very confident about the future of this collaboration. Commenting on the opportunity, Starcasino representative Stefaan Maene said:
When setting out our plan for launch in Belgium, we hoped to have a partner that not only allows us to offer the best possible sports betting experience to players, but works with us to help us both grow.
Starcasino representative Stefaan Maene
He hailed Altenar as the right partner for the company and confirmed that the company is looking to further expand its reach in various markets, including Belgium at first, but later on – in other worthwhile jurisdictions.
Altenar sales manager, Alejandro Cazorla, was equally chuffed with this development. The sportsbook solution, he said, was one of the best and most flexible options available, and the entire team at Altenar was happy to welcome Starcasino as its latest partner.
“We have certainly found that in Altenar, and we look forward to enjoying a great deal of success in this exciting market,” Cazorla concluded.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 should forever be remembered in poker as Chop Pot Day. First, it was a fumbled split pot in the WSOP Circuit King’s Resort Main Event, a hand in which a player mistakenly busted. Then in the evening, PokerGO viewers witnessed an equally entertaining, albeit less controversial, chop pot during the High Stakes Poker Season 10 debut.
For those who missed our story Tuesday morning, a poker player (Pierre Kauert) didn’t realize he should have chopped the pot in the WSOP Circuit event, and neither did the dealer or live-stream announcers. Instead, he was out in fifth place and no one said a peep to him about it until it was too late, although it did appear that some players at the table may have noticed the pot should have been chopped.
Everybody Loves a Chop Pot
Ema Zajmovic
Later in the day, PokerGO released the first episode of the newest High Stakes Poker season, and viewers witnessed yet another wild split pot. In a $200/$400 no-limit hold’em cash game, Eric Persson, who bought in for $400,000, called from a middle position with before Jennifer Tilly raised it up to $2,000 with next to the button.
Ema Zajmovic, holding , three-bet it from the button to $7,000, which led Matt Hanks, in the small blind, to four-bet to $25,000 with . Feeling trappy, Zajmovic made the call while the others folded. The flop came out , leaving Hanks drawing dead to winning the hand outright.
With Zajmovic having just $61,000 behind and the pot already over $50,000, Hanks decided to put her all in with his top pair. She wasted no time in calling, and her opponent needed a runner-runner straight just to split the pot. But this is Chop Pot Day, so of course the board ran out the on the turn and the on the river. They chopped up the $176,000 pot, which should constitute as a bad beat even though nobody lost the hand.
Jennifer Tilly
Hanks, Zajmovic, Persson, and Tilly were joined by Jean-Robert Bellande, Chino Rheem, and Poker Hall of Famer Bobby Baldwin at the table for Episode 1.
Most of the action outside of the aforementioned chop pot hand was due to the aggressive play of poker bad boy Persson and Tilly, the high-stakes poker playing actress. On the first hand, in true form, Persson made a large three-bet with 6-5 off-suit to take down the pot. Later on, he made an ambitious $40,000 turn bet with just a small pair before having to fold when Bellande moved all in with top pair and a queen-high flush draw.
Tilly was also aggressive at the table, making large preflop raises with marginal hands in a few instances. In one of the most entertaining and biggest pots of the night, Persson bet $7,000 on the turn with with the board showing , but his two pair was drawing to a four-outer against Hanks, who had for a flush.
Hanks bumped it up to $25,000 and his opponent made the call. When the river brought four cards to a straight, that didn’t save Persson as he called off a $60,000 bet only to lose a $182,000 pot.
High Stakes Poker will return to PokerGO next Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. ET. As is the case with any past episode, you can watch this week’s show on-demand with a PokerGO subscription.
Ivey, Negreanu Play Unbelievable High Stakes Poker Pot
Just like other European countries, Sweden faces changes in its economic environment. While the cost of living continues to rise, many people in the country already feel the negative effect of the economic crisis. According to Anders Håkansson, a professor of psychiatry at Lund University and doctor at Malmö’s addiction clinic, the economic crisis helps problem gambling flourish, a report released by the newspaper Aftonbladet reveals.
The professor flagged that currently, there’s no solid research that can outline gambling patterns in Sweden. The number of people affected by problem gambling in the country is measured by the Public Health Agency. Still, the Agency reveals statistics about the problem gambling rate on a yearly basis. Judging by this data, back in 2021, just above 4% of the Swedish population faced issues with gambling.
Håkansson acknowledged that the economic conditions are continuously changing, which results in a delay in the results. “There is a delay in terms of time before we see a possible increase in the number who come to addiction care,” he said. Additionally, Håkansson pointed out that there’s currently little to no data regarding how long it takes people to develop problem gambling.
Economic Crisis Pushes People to Gamble
Another point raised by the professor involved gambling advertising and problem gambling during an economic crisis. He said that it is worrying to see more people being attracted to gambling via ads that offer immediate financial gains.
Citing previous research, Håkansson said that people who start gambling at a time of financial crisis are at a higher risk of developing problem gambling. At the same time, the circumstances may push back individuals who have previously stopped gambling, he explained. “For those people, the risk of problem gambling is particularly high. If there’s ever a time when you shouldn’t start playing to win money to solve financial problems, it’s during a crisis,” said Håkansson.
Recently, in December, a proposal was introduced that sought to fight against problem gambling in the country. The new piece of legislation proposed gambling operators have access to additional customer information in an effort to curb problem gambling and reduce harm. Under the new proposal, gambling operators would be able to monitor client behavior and spend in an effort to flag problem gambling.
Supplier of gaming products and services to the global gaming industry, PlayAGS, announced it has signed a new online game content partnership with Caesars Sportsbook & Casino.
Boost Caesar’s Online Slot Content
The partnership between PlayAGS and Caesars will see the supplier of slots and table games provide the online betting and gaming brand of Caesars Entertainment with high-performing titles from its portfolio of online gaming content to help boost the operator’s online real-money gaming (RMG) operations.
Commenting on the development, senior vice president of iGaming at Caesars Digital, Matthew Sunderland, outlined that the content provided by PlayAGS would be “an exciting addition” to the operator’s collection of online casino games.
We anticipate this new content to be popular among our players given its successful track record for performing well both online and in brick-and-mortar casinos.
Matthew Sunderland, SVP iGaming, Caesars Digital
The partnership will allow Caesars Sportsbook & Casino to offer its players in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to taste the thrill of more than 30 titles from the supplier’s interactive content library such as Capital Gains, Rakin’ Bakon!, Gold Wins Deluxe, Tiger Lord, and others, that have been proven across land-based venues.
On behalf of PlayAGS, senior vice president and general manager of Interactive, Gary Hardy, expressed how delighted he and everyone at the company is at the opportunity to deepen the relationship with “one of the world’s most high-profile casino brands.”
“Our growing portfolio of player-favorite game themes and track record of delivering consistent game performance should only help to further cement Caesars’ position as a leading operator in the North American RMG market,” Hardy added, looking forward to the months ahead as PlayAGS and Caesars are planning to expand their partnership into more markets.
The partnership with Caesars Sportsbook & Casino is set to further cement the position of PlayAGS as a leader in supplying online gaming content to operators in the US and globally. It is the latest for the supplier following an agreement with online casino content aggregator Pariplay last month.
The agreement with Pariplay saw PLayAGS’ slot content onboarded to Pariplay’s Fusion aggregation platform and went live in the Canadian province of Alberta via PlayAlberta.ca to make PlayAGS the platform’s first content partner in the province.
The expansion saw PlayAGS’ fan-favorite titles such as Capital Gains, Tiger Lord and Golden Wins Deluxe become available to players in Alberta. It was facilitated by the existing partnership between the aggregator and the iGaming lottery product supplier NeoPollard Interactive.
before 
next to the button.
, three-bet it from the button to $7,000, which led Matt Hanks, in the small blind, to four-bet to $25,000 with 
. Feeling trappy, Zajmovic made the call while the others folded. The flop came out 
, leaving Hanks drawing dead to winning the hand outright.
on the turn and the 
on the river. They chopped up the $176,000 pot, which should constitute as a bad beat even though nobody lost the hand.
with the board showing 
, but his two pair was drawing to a four-outer against Hanks, who had 
for a flush.
brought four cards to a straight, that didn’t save Persson as he called off a $60,000 bet only to lose a $182,000 pot.
