I received an email from Deke Castleman with the Las Vegas Advisor asking me if I’d answer the following QOD (Question of the Day):
The QoD on Station Casinos giving zero player points on some video poker machines generated lots of strong reader comments. One opinion is that Advantage Players are one contributing cause for lessening, even ending, player points on VP machines. As a big-time video poker advantage player, might Bob Dancer have some cogent thoughts on this topic?
I definitely have some thoughts about this — people regularly disagree about how cogent those thoughts are. Since my answer was going to be long, I thought it more suitable for a blogpost rather than a QOD.
Local casinos often have slogans such as, “We Love Locals,” or “We ♥ You More,” among many others. These slogans are geared towards making you believe these are benevolent organizations run by grandfatherly types just looking for ways to make your life better.
In fact, casinos are money-making businesses — or at least they are trying to be. They are offering games that they hope will induce players to come in and leave some money behind.
In the slot department, which includes video poker and certain other games, machines are evaluated by daily hold. Let’s say in a particular casino that the average hold of machines is $100 per day. That’s not all profit, of course. Perhaps $80 of that goes for the various expenses necessary to run a casino.
Since Station Casinos was mentioned in the question, let’s look at the Double Double Bonus games they have. They have some 10/6 games returning a tick more than 100% to the perfect player, 9/6 games returning about 99%, 9/5, 8/5 and perhaps even worse. For a competent dollar player playing a modest 600 hands per hour, the 10/6 game will allow him to break even, the 9/6 game causes him to lose $30 per hour on average, the 9/5 game $70, and the 8/5 game about $100.
All of these numbers have big fluctuations. Sometimes the player hits one or more royals or aces with a kicker and wins several thousand dollars. Usually, he doesn’t hit one of those fairly-rare jackpots and loses. But on average, the amounts given are averages for strong players. Not-so-perfect players lose much more, of course.
The skill of the players is very important. Six hundred hands per hour means 600 decisions are required. There are occasionally hands where there are two plays returning the same amount, such as with 2♠ 4♥ 5♣ 6♦ 8♠ it doesn’t matter EV-wise whether you hold 2456 or 4568, but most hands have one best play. Even in the hand mentioned where you have two equivalent correct choices, a number of not-so-strong players throw everything away, which is quite a bit worse.
On the 100% game, let’s assume it makes $50 a day for the house. There are enough imperfect players that the house still makes some money, but less than the house average and less than the break-even number the casino needs to survive. The casino now has a number of choices — of which there are basically an infinite number of variations:
The casino can live with making less money on these games. They might figure that players who play these games also bring in friends who don’t play so well. Or these players might also bet on basketball while they’re there and the house makes money on that. Or maybe advertising these games as “loss leaders” can bring in players, not all of whom will correctly play the loose games.
They can reduce the “extras.” Casinos offer slot club points. Often casinos have policies such as loose games take more coin-in to earn a point than tight games do. Or loose games aren’t eligible for point multipliers. Or loose games get points, but the players playing them get no mailers.
The games themselves are tightened. The 10/6 games become 9/6 games. These games have a 1% hold and the casino can make money on these games — IF players still play them. Players, of course, always have the choice of whether to play or not.
Players who only play the loosest games and do so successfully are restricted. Lots of ways to do this as well, and there are mild restrictions and severe restrictions. There are temporary restrictions and there are permanent ones.
One could argue that if there were no strong players, the house would make plenty of money and not need to resort to any of the measures listed. And that’s probably true. (But not necessarily. Even if casinos could increase their daily hold to $150 per machine per day, most competent slot directors would be exploring ways to increase that to $200.) Just as the casinos are trying to make money, players have similar incentives. Players figure out that if they get good enough, they can support themselves playing in casinos. That’s a lot more attractive way for some of us to go through life than working at a of “regular job.”
The players who aren’t so competent at the games can certainly bemoan the fact that good players force the casinos to take countermeasures. And these players can also blame people like me for teaching others how to do well playing these games.
If skillful players didn’t figure out the game and some of us teach others, then it would definitely be much, much easier many more players to win in casinos. And that “easy money” would cause people to work hard to get that money. That’s the way capitalism works — and you can probably find similar incentives under other economic models as well. You find an area where you can make money and you go do that. If that doesn’t work, you try something else.
Complaining about those who are further along the “skillful player path” doesn’t do much good, however. The facts of life are that if you want to succeed at gambling (or anything else for that matter), you have to learn how to play the game, and then play what you have learned. If you’re not willing to do that, it’s much easier to resort to blaming others for your misfortune.
Whether it does them much good or not, there will always be players who play the blame game. That’s just the way some people are wired.
Destiny, long a controversial streamer, has now called out his fellow streamers who criticize the Kick platform’s gambling connections. The content creator recently revealed that he signed a 12-month agreement to stream on the up-and-coming site through a non-exclusive deal.
condemn the promotion of slot machine streams on the site’s homepage
Many streamers criticize Kick for its backers’ ownership of the Stake crypto gambling site. They also condemn the promotion of slot machine streams on the site’s homepage through the “recommendation” section.
Destiny was streaming recently when he called out critics, saying “please stop pretending you give a f*ck about gambling. Please, the virtue signaling is so f*cking cringe.” He noted that he doesn’t plan to promote any gambling to his viewers.
Destiny also claimed the stance of certain streamers was hypocritical because they didn’t speak out when Twitch’s parent company Amazon signed a deal with DraftKings or when it was announced that TwitchCon is being held in Las Vegas this year.
The post Destiny Calls Out Fellow Streamers Who Criticize Kick’s Gambling Connections appeared first on VegasSlotsOnline News.
The seventh edition of the Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown runs at the Olympic Park Casino and the adjacent Hilton Tallinn Park from July 21-30, and we predict it is going to go down a storm.
The Summer Showdown looks to build on a hugely successful 2023 Kings of Tallinn festival, which ran in late February, by inviting players worldwide to compete across 53 events.
Renowned tournament director Teresa Nousiainen has spent countless hours creating an action-packed schedule of events that has something for everyone. Each event’s structure has been designed from the ground up to ensure poker enthusiasts from all around the world are treated to a phenomenal poker experience.
Having looked at the Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown schedule, PokerNews is most impressed. There is not only a wide range of buy-ins, from €60 to €5,000, but the variety of formats and poker variants rivals what would usually be reserved for series’ held in Las Vegas.
Priit Parmasto Takes Down Record-Breaking Kings of Tallinn Main Event
There are mystery bounties, progressive bounties, Pot-Limit Omaha, No-Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha Mix, 8-Game, Pot-Limit Finnish 5-Card Stud, and the incredibly exciting Sviten Special.
Although challenging and unfair to pick a single Summer Showdown tournament from the amazing schedule, PokerNews must say that the €1,100 NLHE Main Event is the event everyone will have their eye on.
When a similar tournament ran at the 2023 Kings of Tallinn festival, 716 entrants ensured the €500,000 guarantee was blown clean out of the water, with €673,040 awarded. Estonian grinder Priit Parmasto was the player that came out on top, and they banked €90,000 after a three-way deal involving Petteri Laiho (€102,500), and Antti Vetelainen (€90,000).
Olympic Entertainment Group Poker Director Christer Larsson cannot wait to welcome back thousands of poker players from far and wide.
“The Tallinn Summer Showdown is the most popular poker festival in Northern Europe during the summer as it offers amazing poker action with 53 events designed by world-renowned tournament director Teresa Nousiainen and a fun vibe for both recreational and professional poker players.”
“The festival offers something for everyone thanks to the many different poker formats at a variety of buy-ins, a team competition, cash games running around the clock, and a four-day Main Event that can’t be missed. The weather in Tallinn during the summer is fantastic for players that wish to take a break from the poker action with the sun nearly always shining day and night.”
Full Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown Schedule
Date
Time
Event
Fri 21 Jul
4:00 p.m.
#1 €20 Rake Free Hyper Satellite to €250 Mystery Bounty
7:00 p.m.
#2 €150 NLHE Kings of Tallinn Summer Warm Up
10:00 p.m.
#3 €250 NLHE Mystery Bounty Day 1A
Sat 22 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#3 €250 NLHE Mystery Bounty Day 1B
1:00 p.m.
#4 €20 Rake Free Hyper Satellite to €350 Opening Event
5:00 p.m.
#5 €350 MLHE Deep Stack Opening Event
7:00 p.m.
#6 €20 Rake Free Mega Satellite Road to the €5,000 NLHE
9:00 p.m.
#3 €250 NLHE Mystery Bounty Day 1C
10:00 p.m.
#7 €60 Mega Satellite to Kings of Tallinn Championship
Sun 23 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#3 Mystery Bounty Final Day
12:00 p.m.
#8 €60 Satellite to the €555
1:00 p.m.
#9 €555 NLHE Championship Day 1A
3:00 p.m.
#10 €150 Open Face Chinese Pineapple Three-Handed
5:00 p.m.
#11 €150 PLO 4/5/6 Round of Each
7:00 p.m.
#9 €555 NLHE Championship Day 1B
9:00 p.m.
#12 €150 Satellite to the €5,000 High Roller
Mon 24 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#9 €555 NLHE Championship Day 1C
3:00 p.m.
#13 €250 NLHE Knock Out
5:00 p.m.
#14 €350 PLO Deep Stack 4/5 Card Round of Each
7:00 p.m.
#15 €20 Rake Free Mega Satellite Road to the €5,000
9:00 p.m.
#9 €555 NLHE Championship Day 1D
9:00 p.m.
#16 €250 PL Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw
10:00 p.m.
#17 €150 Mega Satellite to €1,100 Main Event
Tue 25 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#9 €555 NLHE Championship Day 2
12:45 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1A
1:00 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1B
1:00 p.m.
#19 €250 NLHE Progressive Bounties
3:00 p.m.
#20 €1,100 PLO Championship
7:30 p.m.
#21 €150 NLHE Celebrity Special
10:00 p.m.
#22 €150 Mega Satellite to €1,100 Main Event
Wed 26 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#23 €1,100 NLHE Main Event Day 1A
12:00 p.m.
#9 €555 NLHE Championship Final Day
1:00 p.m.
#24 €20 Rake Free Mega Satellite Road to the €5,000
2:00 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1C
2:15 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1D
3:00 p.m.
#25 €250 NLHE/PLO 4/5 Card Mix Round of Each
4:00 p.m.
#26 €20 Rake Free Hyper Satellite to the €550 NLHE
5:00 p.m.
#27 €350 8-Game
7:00 p.m.
#28 €20 Rake Free Satellite Road to Main Event
9:30 p.m.
#29
10:00 p.m.
#30 €150 Mega Satellite to €1,100 Main Event
Thu 27 Jul
11:30 a.m.
#23 €1,100 NLHE Main Event Day 1B
1:00 p.m.
#32 €20 Rake Free Satellite Road to the €5,000
1:00 p.m.
#33 €250 NLHE Deep Stack
2:00 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1E
2:15 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1F
3:00 p.m.
#34 €150 NLHE/PLO 4/5 Card Mix Round of Each
5:00 p.m.
#35 €20 Rake Free Mega Satellite Road to the €5,000
7:00 p.m.
#36 €250 Sviten Special
9:00 p.m.
#23 €1,100 NLHE Main Event Day 1C Turbo
10:00 p.m.
#37 €150 Satellite to the €5,000 High Roller
Fri 28 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#23 €1,100 NLHE Main Event Day 2
2:00 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1G
2:15 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Day 1H
3:00 p.m.
#38 €5,000 NLHE High Roller 6-Handed
5:00 p.m.
#39 €250 5-Card PLO
7:00 p.m.
#40 €150 NLHE
9:00 p.m.
#41 €555 NLHE Mystery Bounty Day 1
10:00 p.m.
#42 €150 Satellite to the €3,000 High Roller
Sat 29 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#23 €1,100 NLHE Main Event Day 3
12:00 p.m.
#18 €150 NLHE Flip & Go Mystery Bounty Final Day
12:00 p.m.
#41 €250 Mystery Bounty Final Day
12:00 p.m.
#43 Free Queens of Tallinn Freezeout Satellite (Ladies Only)
12:00 p.m.
#44 €150 NLHE Last Chance Satellite to €3,000 High Roller
12:00 p.m.
#45 €350 Open Face Chinese Pineapple 3-Handed
3:00 p.m.
#46 €3,000 NLHE High Roller 6-Handed
3:00 p.m.
#47 €150 NLHE Queens of Tallinn Ladies Only
5:00 p.m.
#48 €150 NLHE Olybet Bounty King Mystery Bounties
5:00 p.m.
#49 €150 Finnish Five Card Stud Pot Limit
7:00 p.m.
#50 €555 PLO 4/5 Card Progressive Bounties
9:00 p.m.
#51 €150 NLHE
Sun 30 Jul
12:00 p.m.
#23 €1,100 NLHE Main Event Final Day
12:00 p.m.
#52 €250 NLHE Progressive Bounty
1:00 p.m.
#46 €3,000 NLHE High Roller 6-Handed Final Day
2:00 p.m.
#53 €150 NLHE Turbo Version of Main Event
Kristian Zitting Wins Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event (€56,500)
Popular Team Competition Returns
It is worthwhile traveling to the Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown with friends, or at least making some new friends on the ground once you arrive in Estonia. Why? Because the Team Competition is in play throughout the series.
The Team Competition is free to enter, and sees 2% of the prize pools from qualifying events reserved for it. The best five performing teams win a share of the pot, with the winning team banking 40% of the prize pool, the runner-up reeling in 25%, third place 15%, with the fourth and fifth-place finishers each scooping 10%.
Your team cannot have more than four players, and you gain points by cashing in qualifying events, which are made clear at the venue. The organisers love this team element so much that they are offering participating teams free custom T-shirts if you register your squad!
Don’t worry if you are traveling alone or only have a couple of people in your team, there will be help on hand at the Olympic Park Casino so you can fill your quota and stand a chance of banking some additional prize money, all why making some poker friends for life!
In what might be the most anticipated High Stakes Duel match of them all, Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk will rematch on the PokerGO heads-up show starting with the $200,000 pot round in August.
The official date hasn’t been determined, but it will take within weeks following the conclusion of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Negreanu defeated Eric Persson in Round 1 of High Stakes Duel 4 back in May, a $50,000-per-player buy-in, but his opponent declined a rematch.
“DNegs” won his first match on the heads-up poker show for the first time in four tries. He lost three consecutive games to Phil Hellmuth in 2021 before the winner cashed out. High Stakes Duel’s structure calls for the stakes to be doubled each round, starting with $100,000 and potentially all the way up to $12.8 million if the players are willing to go that far.
Since Negreanu won Round 1 against Persson, he automatically advanced to Round 2. Although the replacement player is different, Polk is a familiar opponent for the Poker Hall of Famer.
Three years ago, the then bitter rivals battled in one of the most highly publicized heads-up challenges in poker history, but all but the first session took place online. Polk would go on to win the 25,000-hand battle at $200/$400 no-limit hold’em stakes by $1.2 million.
More Competitive in Rematch?
This time around, the structure and mood will be quite different. That’s because High Stakes Duel uses a sit-n-go format, and the competitors no longer despise each other and are now friends.
Polk, who gained respect for his opponent during that highly-publicized competition, is considered one of the best heads-up poker players of all-time. Negreanu, on the other hand, had minimal heads-up cash game experience when the two faced off. But Polk admits the rising blinds structure on High Stakes Duel minimizes his edge.
For now, however, Negreanu will continue to be focused on the World Series of Poker. He’s attempting to end a 10-year drought without a bracelet. After losing $1.1 million last summer at the WSOP, he’s down more than $800,000 this year at about the two-thirds mark in the series. Polk competed in just one event — Event #8: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship — and took second place for $313,362. He did, however, lose nearly $1 million days prior on Hustler Casino Live’s historic $1 million buy-in game.
A mea culpa. An unqualified apology. An acknowledgment of wrong-doing. Real remorse. A commitment to pay back the money stolen. A promise to never do it again. Unrepentant poker swindler Ali Imsirovic offered none of these things last night in a 28-minute-long YouTube video that was as insincere as it was nauseatingly boring.
had the temerity to suggest that it is he who is the injured party
Sitting in his trophy room in a house paid for with ill-gotten gains, the self-confessed con man paltered and prevaricated, whinged and whined, painting himself as the victim of scurrilous accusations. The cheater asked the viewer to take his word, the word of a cheater, that he didn’t always cheat in the way that it is alleged. He actually had the temerity to suggest that it is he who is the injured party, his reputation forever maligned for only sometimes breaking the rules.
Needless to say, this “setting the record straight” video went down like a lead balloon as the poker community spoke up in unison to castigate the deceitful scammer. Imsirovic’s statement was not just woefully inadequate, but it bordered on parody, straight out of the Bill Clinton “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” or Donald Trump “locker room talk” playbook.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em
The video began with Imsirovic admitting that during the COVID-19 lockdown period of 2020, he made “a really bad mistake and began multi-accounting MTTs.” He said that he cheated for a period of “four to five months” before having a totally genuine moral epiphany which just so happened to coincide with being banned by GGPoker and having $320,000 confiscated.
It is noteworthy, however, that by his own admission, Imsirovic initially fought the ban, so I guess it was after those efforts were ignored that his moral compass kicked into gear. It was then, and only then, that he took stock and thought: “….this is my punishment for what I did, and I deserve it.”
alleged that there was “a lot of shady shit happening in those games”
Later in the video, Imsirovic confessed to multi-accounting again on six occasions in 2022, but not before claiming that other players, including some of his accusers, do not “have their house in order.” With the apparent rationale of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” he alleged that there was “a lot of shady shit happening in those games. I knew there were people card sharing and multi-ing, working as teams.”
Imsirovic defends himself
In between those two acknowledgments of wrong-doing, Imsirovic went on the offensive against his accusers. He referred to the claim that he runs a massive online poker cheating operation as “completely f*g ridiculous,” the allegations of him chip dumping to horses as “such an outrageous claim,” the accusations about RTA use as “mind-boggling,” and Alex Foxen’s posts calling for his blacklisting as a “Twitter temper tantrum.”
Ali opens the CO with Ah9c. Then quite visibly looks down at Paul Phua’s hole cards, Ad5. The actual footage makes it even more clear than this screen shot. Paul folds and Addamo defends the BB. Ali cbets and gets raised on 642ddd, sticks in a 3bet and wins the hand. pic.twitter.com/aIhQw4Hqv4
By way of defending himself against the accusation of looking at Paul Phua’s cards, Imsirovic waxed lyrically about live-tell etiquette, claiming he was not rubbernecking cards but rather staring at his opponent’s hands so he could act faster when it was his turn. By way of defending himself against accusations of ghosting his horses, he pointed to how he was playing live on a couple of occasions when players he staked were winning online tournaments. By way of defending himself against the accusations of real-time assistant use, he did some whataboutism on the widespread use of pre-solved Monker ranges before going into excruciating detail on why a chip EV RTA would have limited application during the various stages of tournaments.
There were other weak defenses offered, like how suboptimally he played in a heads-up match versus Doug Polk, how he doesn’t have horses with fellow accused cheater Jake Schindler, how ghosting wouldn’t be worth his valuable time and how chip-dumping would have negative EV consequences in various hypothetical examples.
Pewter tat
In summary, the sentiments expressed in the video rang hollow – the “poor me” moans of an impenitent grifter who got caught, the deluded sense of entitlement of a duplicitous huckster who thinks that he can, in his own words, “erase the past… and that perception of me.” Well, he can’t. What’s done cannot he undone. He is a pariah and this video confirms that.
it’s too bad if he doesn’t like what he sees
At one point, he says that he went back to multi-accounting for a couple of months until a friend told him not to become the person that the community was painting him as. On this matter, the community isn’t holding a paintbrush. They have a mirror and it’s too bad if he doesn’t like what he sees.
Imsirovic wrapped up the video by explaining that the cheating allegations have been hard on his family, insisting that: “I’ve paid all of my dues and want to move past this.” If being related to an unprincipled fraudster has brought shame upon them, then that’s the cross he must bear and a 28-minute diatribe isn’t going to change that. Empty words spoken by a hollow man surrounded by pewter tat, for that is all that trophies are when you cheated to win them.
The post Ali Imsirovic: The Empty Words of a Hollow Man appeared first on VegasSlotsOnline News.
One week does not make a career, but if there was any doubt remaining as to how strong Brian Rast’s Poker Hall of Fame candidacy was seven days ago, you may have since changed your mind.
That’s not to say the other nine builders and players nominated aren’t deserving of reaching poker’s most exclusive club — they are. But Rast is our World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Week for winning one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, and in doing so, becoming the favorite for the Hall of Fame’s 2023 inductee.
What a Week for Brian Rast
Brian Rast
Rast took down Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $1,324,727, becoming the first player ever to win the PPC three times. He scooped his sixth overall bracelet and cracked the $25 million mark lifetime in live tournaments, according to Hendon Mob.
2023 World Series of Poker Hub
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2023 WSOP is here.
On top of his huge win, the Las Vegas resident added another deep run this past week, a seventh place finish for $18,709 in Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo. In that tournament, Mike Matusow may have given Rast a bit of a sweat.
Following his Poker Players Championship title, Rast became the heavy favorite for the Poker Hall of Fame. But one of his nearest competitors is Matusow, a four-time bracelet winner and poker boom era legend, was heads-up for a bracelet in Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo. “The Mouth,” however, lost the heads-up match to Marcin Horecki and was denied his first WSOP title since 2013.
Still, Matusow is very much in the running for the HOF induction this year, but being unable to finish it off in the hi-lo event may have improved Rast’s odds.
Rast made it clear to PokerNews at the 2021 WSOP that reaching the Poker Hall of Fame is important to him. He’s certainly done well for himself this past week, and throughout his career, in putting himself in position to achieve that goal.
There were many other top performers the past week at the World Series of Poker. The list of players who deserve recognition is too lengthy to fit into this article, but we’ll highlight a few here: Mike Gorodinsky (won $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.), Steven Genovese (won $500 Salute to Warriors), and Ian Matakis, who is giving Shaun Deeb a run for his money in the WSOP Player of the Year chase.
After selling the Cosmopolitan Casino and Hotel Las Vegas to MGM Resorts in 2021 and agreeing to sell its half stake in the MGM Grand Las Vegas and Mandalay Bay resorts to partner VICI Properties Inc., on June 27, as reported by Bloomberg, Blackstone Inc., an American alternative investment management firm based in New York, revealed that it is currently weighing offers for half of its stake in the real estate of the Bellagio casino-hotel in Las Vegas, which the company bought nearly four years ago for $4.25 billion.
Consideration of options:
“The New York-based investment firm is considering its options and hasn’t committed to a sale,” said the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Additionally, Blackstone was looking to cash out some of its real estate positions.
On a related note, on Monday, June 26, it revealed its upcoming plans to sell warehouses and industrial assets for $3.1 billion to Prologis Inc.
Reasons for sale and potential buyers:
The Bellagio, one of the most successful resorts on the city’s widely-known Strip, is still managed under a long-term lease by MGM Resorts International, aka its original owner. Given that fact, the main reason Blackstone decided to sell its most successful resort on the Strip is that Las Vegas hotel traffic has remained strong even as other real estate sectors, like malls and office space, have weakened.
Furthermore, looking at the aforementioned sale of the Cosmopolitan casino and Hotel for $5.65 billion, this figure means that Blackstone has managed to roughly triple its initial investment, making it one of the most profitable commercial real estate transactions in US history. Additionally, looking at the aforementioned sale of a 49.9% stake to VICI Properties, this means that VICI is seen as a possible buyer for the sale of Bellagio. However, VICI hasn’t publicly endorsed its interest in owning part of the site.
When asked to comment on the potential sale of Bellagio, representatives for Blackstone and MGM refused to comment.
Renovating the Bellagio:
Reports of a potential sale come as the Bellagio begins its latest renovation. Relatedly, earlier this year, its officials unveiled new details about a $110 million makeover of all rooms and suites within the Spa Tower, a move set to provide “contemporary accommodations inspired by the beauty and tranquility of Italy’s Lake Como.”
Furthermore, the renovation of the Spa Tower includes 819 guest rooms and 104 suites and is due to be finished in October, with the first collection of rooms available for guests from July.
The brains behind the increasingly popular Irish Poker Tour are bringing an action-packed six-day schedule to the Slovakian capital Bratislava. The 2023 Bratislava Poker Festival‘s schedule is not only crammed full of events, but those tournaments come with combined guaranteed prize pools of €1 million.
The 2023 Bratislava Poker Festival takes place at The Card Casino in Bratislava, Slovakia, from July 18 through July 23. Situated one minute’s drive from Bratislava airport along the Danube River, The Card Casino is Slovakia’s largest casino, and it will need to be to accommodate the upcoming Bratislava Poker Festival.
Fintan Gavin, the CEO of the Irish Poker Tour, said, “We’re ready to bring the magic of Irish Poker to the heart of Europe. We know what players want, and we’re ready to give it to them.”
Full 2023 Bratislava Poker Festival Schedule
Date
Time
Event
Buy-in
Guarantee
Tue 18 Jul
4:00 p.m.
Mystery Bounty 1A
€400
€50,000
8:00 p.m.
Bratislava Festival Opener
€150
€10,000
Wed 19 Jul
2:00 p.m.
Mystery Bounty 1B
€400
€50,000
2:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Super Satellite
€80
5x Seats
6:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Day 1A
€550
€500,000
7:00 p.m.
Euro Omaha Championship Satellite
€220
3x Seats
8:00 p.m.
NLHE Freezeout
€150
Thu 20 Jul
11:00 a.m.
Euro Omaha Championship Satellite
€220
12:00 p.m.
Mystery Bounty Final
€50,000
12:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Super Satellite
€80
5x Seats
1:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Day 1B
€550
€500,000
3:00 p.m.
Euro Omaha Championship 7-Max Day 1
€2,500
€100,000
4:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Super Satellite
€80
5x Seats
6:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Day 1C
€550
€500,000
8:00 p.m.
€1K One Day Satellite Turbo
€100
3x Seats
Fri 21 Jul
11:00 a.m.
€1K One Day Satellite Turbo
€100
3x Seats
12:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Day 1D
€550
€500,000
1:00 p.m.
Euro Omaha Championship 7-Max Final Day
€100,000
1:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Super Satellite
€80
5x Seats
2:00 p.m.
€1K One Dayer
€1,000
€50,000
4:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Day 1E
€550
€500,000
6:00 p.m.
Omaha 7-Max
€300
8:00 p.m.
NLHE Turbo Freezeout
€150
9:00 p.m.
High Roller Satellite
€330
2x Seats
Sat 22 Jul
11:00 a.m.
Grand Prix Day 1F Fast
€550
€500,000
3:00 p.m.
High Roller Mega Satellite
€330
5x Seats
4:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Day 2
€500,000
6:00 p.m.
Irish Poker Tour NLHE
€250
€40,000
7:00 p.m.
High Roller
€3,000
€200,000
8:00 p.m.
Omaha 7-Max
€300
9:00 p.m.
Bratislava Cup Super Satellite
€50
5x Seats
Sun 23 Jul
11:00 a.m.
Bratislava Cup Super Satellite
€50
5x Seats
12:00 p.m.
Grand Prix Final Day
€500,000
1:00 p.m.
High Roller Final Day
€3,000
€200,000
2:00 p.m.
Bratislava Poker Cup
€350
€50,000
7:00 p.m.
Omaha 7-Max
€300
8:00 p.m.
Last Chance Turbo
€150
The Irish Poker Tour’s influence becomes apparent when you look at the exciting schedule. Although No-Limit Hold’em events dominate proceedings, as they tend to do with every online and live poker festival, there are plenty of Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments adorning the schedule.
One such event, the Euro Omaha Championship 7-Max, is nothing short of massive. Commanding a €3,000 buy-in, unless you win your way in via one of the live satellites at The Card Casino, this event comes with a €200,000 guaranteed prize pool, which is almost unheard of in PLO circles.
Euro Omaha Championship players sit down with a generous 30,000 starting stack, and play to 40-minute levels where the blinds start at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Re-entries are unlimited for the first nine levels, so expect the action to be fast and furious.
PartyPoker LIVE Releases Schedule For All New Grand Prix Bratislava
The piece de resistance, if you will, is the €500,000 guaranteed Grand Prix, in association with PartyPoker LIVE. Entering the Grand Prix costs €550 unless you win your way into it via the live satellites or online satellites at PartyPoker; more on those soon.
Every Grand Prix player receives a 40,000-chip starting stack and plays to blinds starting at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Late registration remains open for nine levels, and those levels are 30 minutes long for Levels 1-12 and 25 minutes long for Levels 13-14, after which each flight ends. Only one re-entry per flight is permitted.
Day 2 of the Grand Prix sees the blind levels extended to 45 minutes, and 12 levels are scheduled. The third and final day plays to a 60-minute clock until a champion is crowned.
Win a €1,500 Grand Prix Bratislava Package for Only €0.01
As the Irish Poker Tour is working with PartyPoker LIVE, it is possible to win a Bratislava Poker Festival package online at PartyPoker from as little a €0.01.
PartyPoker’s famous centrolls feed into €0.22 buy-in sub-feeders, then €1.10 feeders. Win your way through a €1.10 buy-in feeder to compete in the €5.50 GP Bratislava Festival Main Event at Phase 1 games. These pay tickets to the €22 Phase 2 satellites, which then put you into the €109 Phase Final that has three €1,500 packages guaranteed. Capture such a package to receive:
€550 Grand Prix Bratislava Main Event buy-in
€250 spending money to put towards travel expenses
Five night’s accommodation at the four-star NH Gate One Hotel worth €700
You can download PartyPoker here if you do not already have an account. Making a deposit rewards you with a bunch of tickets plus a 100% up to $600 first deposit bonus!
PartyPoker also has a special freeroll on July 2 that awards one €1,500 package to the Grand Prix Bratislava festival. Hurry, or you may miss out!
Opitbet.lv is also running online satellites, but this online poker room is restricted to players located in Latvia, while Highstakes.com, part of the TonyBet Network, has some exciting promotions, too.
After close to 13 hours on the virtual felts on WSOP.com, “Suki_The_Sav” took down Online Event #11: $888 NL Hold’em Crazy 8’s after defeating “Jautiena” in a lengthy heads-up battle.
A total of 1,050 players who rebought 629 times created a prize pool of $1,343,200, with the top 248 finding a cash. “Suki_The_Sav” took down the top prize of $227,000 and the coveted gold bracelet.
Although not much is known about “Suki_The_Sav”, they managed to navigate the tough field to become victorious with an impressive show of skill.
A star-studded field joined the action throughout the day, and some who were fortunate enough to find a return on their investment included popular poker YouTubers Andrew “GrandpaEd” Neeme (94th – $2,014) and Johnnie “JohnnieVIBES” Moreno (85th – $2,283).
Also bracelet winners Benjamin “TheChyGuy” Ector (59th – $3,358), Koray “Seatscramble” Aldemir (52nd – $3,895), Jeff “NedrudRelyt” Madsen (45th – $4,566), and Ari “PalmTreeB” Engel (17th – $8,462), who ran his ace-eight into queen-jack of Julio “PrsFinest” Clavell who hit a queen on the river to send the two-time bracelet winner out in 17th place.
Final Table Action
The official eight-handed final table had an average stack of just under 20 big blinds, but with the big pay jumps, the action started off slow. The first casualty came when Cameron “cammy3399” Drucker was all in with ace-jack against the ace-queen for Dana “propjoe” Muse and Andrew “GudLife” Moreno with nines. The board didn’t improve Drucker and he was sent to the exit in eighth place.
A few hands later, Muse got it in ahead with ace-nine against the king-queen for “Jautiena”, but when the river fell a queen, it was the end of the road for Muse as they were eliminated in seventh place.
“AbleBaker” was next to go when they got their last few blinds in with ace-five against the eight-deuce for Clavell, who hit a pair of twos to send “AbleBaker” out in sixth place.
Moreno came into the final table as one of the biggest stacks, but after some unfortunate hands, found himself on a short stack. Moreno was in the blinds with only a couple big blinds left and called off with six-five against the eight-six for “Jautiena.” The board didn’t help Moreno, and he was sent to the rail in fifth place.
Andrew Moreno
Four-handed went on for some time before Clavell moved in with ace-four from the small blind and was snap-called by “Suki_The_Sav” in the big blind with pocket sevens. The board ran out with no ace, and Clavell was eliminated in fourth place.
Ryan “BitC0in” Riess maneuvered his way to three-handed play but got his short stack in with king-three suited against the pocket sevens for “Suki_The_Sav”. The lucky sevens for “Suki_The_Sav” scored the pot, and the former Main Event champion was out in third for a six-figure score.
Heads-up play started with “Suki_The_Sav” and “Jautiena” within less than a big blind apart of each other, and the battle went on for over an hour. “Jautiena” took the early lead and looked like the match would soon be over, however, “Suki_The_Sav” found a double with ace-queen against king-queen and the match was back to even.
Soon later, “Suki_The_Sav” flopped quads to take another pot to take the lead. In the final hand, “Suki_The_Sav” moved all in with king-five to put pressure on “Jautiena”, who called with ace-deuce for their tournament life. The flop fell a five, and the rest of the board was no help to “Jautiena”, who finished in the runner-up position.
That wraps up the coverage of Online Event #11: $888 NL Hold’em Crazy 8’s on WSOP.com. Be sure to keep it with PokerNews for all your up-to-date coverage of the rest of the WSOP online and at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
June 27 was the 29th day of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. The day saw several events break attendance records, which seems to be a common theme this year, with a trio of players becoming WSOP bracelet winners.
The first of three bracelets won on Day 29 went to Steven Genovese, who triumphed in Event #56: $500 Salute to Warriors. Genovese, a retired firefighter helped himself to the $217,921 top prize and his first gold WSOP bracelet. The event raised almost $200,000 for charity, and what better champion that a warrior who spent his career aiding others.
Jason Daly became a WSOP champion for the first time by taking down Event #58: $3,000 Limit Hold’em (6-handed). Daly put on a dominant display as he bulldozed his way to the victory, which came with a score that tipped the scales at $165,250. Daly may see this win as redemption for his third-place finish in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event in 2022.
The third and final bracelet of Day 29 went to “Suki_The_Sav” in Online Event #11: $888 No-Limit Hold’em Crazy 8’s. “Suki_The_Sav” left a field of 1,050 entrants in their wake, including fifth-place finisher Andrew “GudLife” Moreno and third-placed Ryan “BitC0in” Riess in their wake. After defeating Lithuanias “Jautiena” heads-up, the champion raked in $227,000 and a covered WSOP bracelet.
Negreanu Bags Big on Day 1 of the $10K Stud Hi-Lo Championship
Daniel Negreanu
It has been a frustrating series thus far for Daniel Negreanu. The six-time bracelet winner has nine cashes to his name, but a final table continues eluding him. While the final table of Event #63: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship is still some way off, Negreanu has done his chance of reaching it no harm at all by bagging up a top five stack on Day 1.
Negreanu crammed 264,000 chips into his overnight bag; only Bruno Fitoussi (355,000), Maximilian Schindler (310,500), and Dan Colpoys (285,000) accumulated more betting tokens through the first 10 levels of this tournament.
Such luminaries as Connor Drinan (246,000), Eric Rodawig (230,000), Scott Seiver (218,500), and Dzmitry Urbanovich (216,500) return to the tables with top ten stacks in tow.
As you would expect from such a specialist event, the remaining 57 players from a starting field of 124, read like a who’s who of the poker world.
Brian Hastings (148,500), Jeff Madsen (124,000), Calvin Anderson (119,500), Joao Vieira (112,000), Mike Matusow (54,000), David “ODB” Baker (52,500), and Todd Brunson (46,500) are just a handful of names to look out for in the PokerNews live updates on Day 2.
Event #63: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Bets
1
Bruno Fitoussi
France
355,000
44
2
Maximilian Schindler
United States
310,500
39
3
Dan Colpoys
United States
285,000
36
4
Daniel Negreanu
Canada
264,000
33
5
Connor Drinan
United States
246,000
31
6
Ryan Miller
United States
245,500
31
7
Qibang Cheung
United Kingdom
237,000
30
8
Eric Rodawig
United States
230,000
29
9
Scott Seiver
United States
218,500
27
10
Dzmitry Urbanovich
Poland
216,500
27
Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 28.
Plesuv Leads the Final Seven in the Millionaire Maker
Pavel Plesuv
Only seven of the 10,430 starters remain in contention to become the champion of Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker. Moldova’s Pavel Plesuv (70,300,000) has the most chips going into a fifth day of action; he has a considerable lead over the chasing pack.
Plesuv has more than $6 million in live poker tournament earnings, and looks set to add another seven-figure score to that impressive sum. Looking to stop Plesuv’s quest for poker gold are the likes of Florian Ribouchon (46,000,000), Myles Mullaly (43,600,000), Andreas Kniep (34,800,000), Paul Gunness (24,100,000), Vitor De Souza Coutinho (20,800,000), and short-stack Anton Smirnov (19,800,000).
PokerNews‘ coverage of the Millionaire Maker continues from 1:00 p.m. on June 28, although it is on a 30-minute delay as PokerGO is streaming the final table, and we do not want to give any spoilers!
Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Seat Draw
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
2
Pavel Plesuv
Moldova
70,300,000
44
3
Anton Smirnov
Russia
19,800,000
12
4
Paul Gunness
United States
24,100,000
15
6
Florian Ribouchon
France
46,000,000
29
7
Myles Mullaly
United States
43,600,000
27
8
Andreas Kniep
Germany
34,800,000
22
9
Vitor De Souza Coutinho
Brazil
20,800,000
13
Lau Leads the Final Five in the $25K PLO High Roller
Ka Kwan Lau
Ka Kwan Lau goes into the final day of Event #57: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller with one hand on the tournament’s bracelet and $2,294,756 top prize, thanks to bagging up 28,2800,000 chips at the end of Day 3. Lau’s stack is so colossal that he could double-up any player apart from second-placed Sergio Martinez Gonzalez (17,475,000) and still have chips remaining.
Lau is considered one of the best PLO players on the planet, and his performance in this event seems to add weight to those claims. Gonzalez aside, Lau must contend with Norway’s Mads Amot (12,850,000), Roger Teska (6,400,000), and Andjelko Andrejevic (3,425,000) when the cards are back in the air from 5:00 p.m. local time on June 28.
PokerNews‘ updates will be delayed according to the PokerGO live stream.
Event #57: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller Final Day Seat Draw
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Mads Amot
Norway
12,850,000
64
2
Sergio Martinez Gonzalez
Spain
17,475,000
87
3
Ka Kwan Lau
Hong Kong
28,200,000
141
4
Andjelko Andrejevic
United States
3,425,000
17
5
Roger Teska
United States
6,400,000
32
Wisbrod On Course for Bracelet No. 2
Barak Wisbrod
Israel’s Barak Wisbrod finds himself in the envious position of being the chip leader of Event #59: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout with only 18 players remaining. Wisbrod, who is coming off the back of a third-place finish in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Secret Bounty event, is only 17 eliminations from becoming a two-time WSOP champion. He sits down with 6,400,000 chips in his arsenal.
Although Wisbrod has an advantage right now, there are only 11 big blinds separating him from fifth place. Macedonia’s Ilija Savevski (5,435,000) is Wisbrod’s nearest rival, while Kenny Smith (5,170,000), Robert Burlacu (5,140,000), and Frederic Normand (5,060,000) are hanging from the leader’s coattails.
Lower down the chip counts is where you find the likes of Julien Sitbon (3,215,000), Brock Wilson (2,850,000), Dario Sammartino (2,575,000), and Gianluca Speranza (2,470,000). Each will have a role to play in where this event’s bracelet ends up.
June 28 at 12:00 p.m. local time is when the cards are back in the air in this event, and PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all of the action until the champion is decided.
Event #59: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Barak Wisbrod
Israel
6,400,000
53
2
Ilija Savevski
Macedonia
5,435,000
45
3
Kenny Smith
United States
5,170,000
43
4
Robert Burlacu
United Kingdom
5,140,000
43
5
Frederic Normand
Canada
5,060,000
42
6
Jesse Lonis
United States
4,450,000
37
7
Robert Schulz
Austria
4,080,000
34
8
Shon Aroeti
Israel
3,465,000
29
9
Xuming Qi
China
3,245,000
27
10
Julien Sitbon
France
3,215,000
27
Can Seidel Bag His Tenth WSOP Bracelet?
Erik Seidel
Only Phil Hellmuth, the late Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Johnny Chan are in double-figures regarding WSOP bracelet wins, but Erik Seidel has every chance of joining that exclusive club.
Seidel is one of only 24 players remaining in Event #60: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw, with his 680,000 stack enough for a top ten place right now. The Poker Hall of Famer has a knack for getting the job done whenever he finds himself deep in prestigious events and can definitely handle high-pressure situations.
Several elite-level grinders stand between Seidel and his 10th piece of WSOP hardware. Ryan Moriarty (1,035,000) is the only player with a seven-figure stack. He is being chased down by the likes of Nick Guagenti (990,000), Robert Campbell (805,000), Richard Ashby (800,000), and Adam Friedman (720,0000, all of whom are among the top ten chip counts.
Maria Ho (515,000), Chris Brewer (465,000), Jason Mercier (390,000), Brad Ruben (375,000), and Mike Watson (335,000) are also still in the mix.
Return to PokerNews from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 28 got all the 2-7 Single Draw action you can handle.
Another Attendance Record Broken in the $1,000 Super Seniors
Farzad Bonyadi
Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em is the biggest such tournament in WSOP history, with 3,122 over 60-year-olds turning out in force. That is an increase of 453 players from the 2022 edition.
Kevin Durgin (392,000) leads the 808 Day 1 survivors back into battle on Day 2, closely followed by Greg White (384,000), Christian Guittier (366,500), and Geoffrey Gault (308,000).
Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi (261,000) finds himself in the top ten, and will fancy his chances of progressing much deeper in this popular tournament.
A host of stars are among the veterans that punched their Day 2 tickets. Lee Markholt (185,500), Alan Goehring (162,500), David Jackson (152,000), Yucel Eminoglu (124,000), the legendary Billy Baxter (84,000), and Humberto Brenes (73,000) and just a small selection of well-known super seniors through to Day 2.
Day 2 commences at 10:00 a.m. on June 28 with the plan to complete another ten levels. Return PokerNews then for all the updates from the Super Seniors event.
Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Kevin Durgin
United States
392,000
196
2
Greg White
United States
384,000
192
3
Christian Guittier
France
366,500
183
4
Geoffrey Gault
United States
308,000
154
5
Michael Thorpe
United States
294,500
147
6
Dieter Dechant
United States
288,000
144
7
Rassoul Malboubi
United States
280,000
140
8
Farzad Bonyadi
United States
261,000
131
9
John Haddad
United States
252,500
126
10
James Guziak
United States
248,500
124
David Prociak Bags a Top 10 Stack in the NLHE/PLO Mixed Event
David Prociak
In 2022, this event drew in a 1,234 crowd, which was seen as huge at the time. However, Event #62: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha in 2023 has seen 2,076 players buy in.
The action was plentiful throughout Day 1, and that resulted in only 259 players progressing to Day 2. Weathering the storm the best was Justin Jones (756,000), with Philip Wiszowaty (708,000) also bagging up more than 700,000 chips at the close of play.
Bracelet winner David Prociak (518,000) returns in the top 10. The Florida native won a $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo event in 2016 and finished fourth in a $5,000 buy-in edition of this event in 2021.
Others that navigated their way through the shark-infested waters include this event’s 2021 champion Motoyoshi Okamura (459,000), Robert Cowen (416,000), Dan Heimiller (375,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (357,000), Shaun Deeb (344,000), Martin Kabrhel (331,000), Chris Moorman (80,000), and Robert Mizrachi (67,000).
Day 2 starts at 1:00 p.m. prompt on June 28. PokerNews is where you will find all of this event’s updates.
Day 30 of the 2023 WSOP should be another incredible day for poker lovers. Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker will crown its worthy champion, as will Event #57: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller. We will also discover the winners of Event #59: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, and Event #60: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw.
Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors will whittle its field down to a more manageable number, while Event #62: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha field should be cut down to near its final table, as will Event #63: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.
If that was not enough poker action for you, three fresh events shuffle up and deal! PokerNews will bring you coverage of Event #64: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Championship, Event #65: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em (6-Handed), and Event #66: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better!
