Poker News November 21st, 2008

Gambling in Great Falls

The drive down 10th Avenue South in Great Falls looked a lot different twenty-five years ago. Casinos started to spring up in the mid-80s and now you’ll find ten of them on the main drag alone. So what effect does the gaming industry have on our community nearly 25 years after the Video Poker Machine Act was passed? Jane Yonkin says she had a hidden addiction that consumed her life for fifteen years. “It was horrible, suicide was there…it was one of the options because I let my life go so badly…I didn’t feel I had anywhere to turn,” she said. The darkest hours of life were spent in front of the flashing lights of an electronic gaming machine. “Almost from my very first time, there was a problem. I lost like only a dollar, but I wanted to win it back like me versus the machine.”

Read More?

Card Player Player of the Year Update

A handful of players made progress on the Card Player Player of the Year leader board during the past two weeks, but two of them made moves near the top 10, as Michael Binger and Dario Minieri added to their point totals. Binger won the third poker tournament of his career when he beat 131 opponents to win the title at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. For his victory in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em main event, he took home $181,379 and 624 points. This took his point total up to 4,416 and put him in sixth place, ahead of David Benyamine.

This was the 10th final table of the year for Binger, who has won $1,005,846 during the course of 20 cashes in 2008. This was the seventh time that he has cashed for more than $100,000 in any one tournament since he started competing on the tournament trail in 2006.

Read More?

High-est Stakes Poker Ever

Two hundred thousand dollars. That’s the minimum for how much players will have to buy in for on the fifth season of High Stakes Poker.

The unprecedented amount highlights the newest season of the poker series that regularly features the richest cash games in television history.

In all prior seasons, the series began with players buying in for “only” $100,000. However, by the end of last season, the amount was upped to $500,000 per player.

“High Stakes Poker, by a wide margin, has become a must-see on Game Show Network for poker players and poker fans all over the world,” said Henry Orenstein, an executive producer of the show.

Read More?

JC Tran to represent Team PKR in Premier League III

PKR.com, the next-generation poker room, has today announced that leading pro poker player JC Tran will be representing Team PKR playing in the forthcoming PartyPoker.com Premier League III.

JC Tran is one of the world’s most feared tournament players and is the #1 ranked player in the ESPN-Bluff power rankings. He has over $6.8m in career tournament winnings, and is one of a select few to have scooped both a World Series bracelet and a World Poker Tour title. Over the past five years, JC has recorded 23 WSOP cashes (including seven final tables) and 11 WPT cashes (with five final tables).

The $75,000 buy-in event will take place in London from November 21 – 30 and will feature an all-invited field of 12 of the world’s finest poker players battling it out for a share of the $1.25m prize pool. Players include Roland de Wolfe, Phil Hellmuth, Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan, Annette Obrestad and 2008 WSOP main event winner Peter Eastgate.

While representing Team PKR in this event JC will wear PKR branding and will also provide an interview that will be featured across PKR’s online TV station (PKR.tv) and its customer magazine (Stacked).

Simon Prodger, Marketing Director at PKR said: “We’re honoured to have the world’s best tournament player represent PKR at this year’s Premier League. It’s a great format, and our association with JC will help introduce PKR to a whole new audience of poker fans”.