Monthly Archives: February 2021

February 08, 2021Mo Nuwwarah

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints, and official policies of PokerNews.com.

All the way back in 2016, which seems like half a lifetime ago at this point, I took over a PokerNews tradition started by old-timer Rich Ryan, offering predictions for the coming year in the poker industry. There were hits and there were many misses, but fun was had by all me as I tried to divine the craziness in this wacky culture and the readers as they laughed at my whiffs.

This year, that tradition must come to a sad end. This piece will start off normally enough as I run through last year's calls, but after that, it'll take on a new look.

Specific predictions for what's to come in 2021 seem rather pointless, because pretty much everything hinges on the balance between COVID-19 and the availability of the vaccines for said coronavirus. For all I know, we'll all be vaccinated and firing away as normal in six months, though I sincerely doubt it.

Instead, I'll offer a more freeflowing look at where I think the industry will head in the coming 10 months. And I'll close with one crazy prediction that I'll totally ignore for future purposes unless it actually happens.

First, let's see how everything from 2020 came out. Just know I'll be grading these on a very generous curve since in January 2020 when this was written, I had barely heard of the coronavirus. Certainly, like most, I had no concept of how radically the world was about to change.

Now, where do I see things progressing in 2021?

The year 2020 brought unprecedented changes to the poker world as it did to pretty much every industry.

The most noticeable thing, of course, was the glaring absence of major live poker tournaments. The European Poker Tour was basically absent aside from a Sochi event that isn't easily accessible for most players. The World Poker Tour held just a handful of events before shutting down live operations for the year in early March. And the World Series of Poker shifted basically its entire schedule online barring a surprising hybrid Main Event to end the year.

Unfortunately, at this stage, there's not much reason for optimism that things will be back to normal for 2021.

COVID-19, despite the emergence of a vaccine, remains a significant problem in most of the world.

In some locales, poker operators have chosen to soldier on. Look no further than the WPT event taking place in Florida this week. It made headlines for a strong turnout of 1,573 entries. No doubt, that may embolden some to try put on a big event. Hell, there's another WPT coming up just around the corner at Venetian.

However, that seems likely to be more of an oddity than the norm, at least in the foreseeable future.

While the potential for the vaccine to help clear things up is exciting, the glacial pace at which it's being distributed makes me less than hopeful it have a discernible impact this year. Less than 2% of the U.S. has received the full vaccination at the time of writing. I know in the state where I live, nobody that I know of under age 70 who doesn't work in health care has even gotten a first dose scheduled.

Other than the aforementioned Venetian event, the WPT has nothing on the schedule aside from online stuff.

The EPT has only another Sochi event officially on the docket. The much-anticipated second running of the PSPC, which was supposed to take place at Barcelona in 2020, still has only the original postponement announcement as its last major update. It seems unlikely PokerStars will run the event if it can't hold a candle to the first iteration, a never-before-seen spectacle redefined what a $25K tournament could look like.

As for the biggest tournament series of all, the WSOP...well, usually by now, PokerNews has the ball rolling in terms of planning coverage for the summer bonanza. I can share that this isn't the case for 2021 as of right now.

I do know at least one major Vegas poker destination has a big series planned for the summer, so I'm not ruling out a WSOP in some form. If it happens, though, I think it will be heavily slanted to online events with some mixed and non-hold'em formats that the client can't support potentially playing out live, along with some big final tables. I'm not even sure those smaller fields would be feasible with the current international travel situation.

I don't anticipate anything that resembles a normal schedule of live major tournaments until 2022. I could see some things creeping back toward normal in the later months of 2021, but I feel like if anything big was coming before then, we'd have heard about it by now.

While the live poker situation in Europe seems certain to remain pretty much on ice as lockdowns remain prevalent and international travel remains somewhat limited and difficult, it's a bit easier for smaller tours to get traction again here in the U.S.

Still, everything seems certain to be more regionalized as venues and operators cautiously dip their toes back in. And even that will only occur in certain states, as others remain firmly against large gatherings, the likes of which a decent-sized poker tournament would fall into for sure.

It seems the M.O. for now will be stuff like the Bally's Main Event Mania from late last year schedules of events that look something like a WSOP Circuit but with smaller guarantees that may cater more towards local players.

This kind of thing can give the venues the chance to rake in a few dollars while whetting the appetite of local players without the bad optics of thousands of players flooding in, potentially raising the ire of local regulators and media.

As for what events players can hope to circle, it seems the Mid-States Poker Tour has the most ambitious schedule laid out with something like their normal number planned. The Heartland Poker Tour, on the other hand, still has a planned event from last August listed on its website, so it's anyone's guess whether it will even come back. The WSOP Circuit seems content to shift things online, where they can raise revenue with zero risk.

All of that is to say, you might be able to find a halfway decent tournament series somewhere nearby, but the chance to win six figures for a modest buy-in won't be too common.

While things are looking grim both stateside and around the world in terms of live poker, the online scene paints a much different picture.

With the dearth of available live poker in 2020, the online operators stepped up and provided some incredible tournament series. Hundreds of millions in guarantees were produced by international operators GGPoker, PokerStars and partypoker. Even domestic operators like WSOP.com with smaller player pools provided huge guarantees with six-figure prizes available.

It looks like much the same will be on the horizon for 2021. GGPoker shows no signs of slowing, having just wrapped up a whopping $100 million WSOP Circuit series. Its competitors will be looking to keep pace and that means more huge prize pools everywhere.

Promotional dollars shouldn't be hard to come by either. PokerStars executives have already made rumblings about committing more dollars to the business, promising "investments in poker" ($) that can only mean good things for the players. Run It Once has just rolled out what one industry expert called "the most lucrative welcome package in recent history."

Exciting happenings are also afoot in the U.S. with the door wide open for continued growth. Michigan has come online thanks to PokerStars and will hopefully soon be pooling players with the other states.

Not only is Michigan bringing in a sizable population of about 10 million, but it also offers a potential drive-and-play destination for Midwesterners who had no such sanctuary before, what with everything previously located closer to the coasts.

Prize pools in the U.S. should be bigger than ever, and rest-of-world options should be about on par with 2020 as well.

GGPoker will buy the WSOP. This is definitely not based on any inside info or anything like that.

It just feels like this could be the year the WSOP is finally sold after years of rumors but nothing actually coming to fruition. Several employees appear to have been laid off and not replaced, and the future of the flagship series looks as uncertain as ever with 2021 having been the last year anyone said on the record it would remain at the Rio.

Many have suggested in the past that PokerStars could be the ones to fire off, but GGPoker would seem to make more sense at this point.

GGPoker and WSOP already have a strong relationship with all of the bracelet and ring events that have been running on there. Furthermore, there are a few small clues that GGPoker may be looking to enter the live arena at some point in the near future.

What better way to do it than go all the way with their partners?

Hey, ya never know in this crazy industry.

Link:

What Will the Poker World Look Like in 2021? - PokerNews.com

Any person starting off in poker dreams of having their own Moneymaker-esque moment, turning a small buy-in into a life-changing score. However, with the change in the poker landscape over the last 15 years, it now takes a lot more to get to the next level.

Long gone are the days where reviewing a couple poker hands would give you the tools needed to ascend from the low stakes to the big games in a timely fashion. Nowadays, to reach that level, poker players who predominantly play at the low stakes need to develop a deep understanding of the game and put in the work off the felt, if they want to see any real progression.

Thanks to the team at BBZPoker, theyre opening doors for aspirational poker players who grind the low stake tournament scene via their staking and team of elite coaches. The platform has recently embarked on a new adventure with the newly created BBZ Academy a new staking team thats focusing on full-time players, playing around the $5-$20 mark. Managed by Jake Brickman, the academys goals are simple, they want poker players to realize their potential and equip them with all the necessary knowledge needed to progress in this game.

The reason we started this was to get more people from an entry level position into poker. The benefits that players will receive is not only the skills to become a pro but how to act as one. We want to make sure that by the time a player finishes their deal with us that theyre financially stable and able to continue on their own as a professional poker player or transition to one of our other programs such as the CFP (Coaching for Profit) program.

One player who has seen his fortunes turn around since joining BBZ Academy is 19-year-old Brazilian born Eike Onodera. A former prodigy in both tennis and table tennis, it was at a local competition where Onodera first began to swap the rackets and bats he was used to for playing cards.

It was at a BBQ in a very casual tennis tournament that took place in my building, some friends got a deck of cards, poker chips and then we just started playing. Its funny looking back as Id never played poker before and didnt even know the rules

Poker gripped the up and comer instantly. He quickly ran home after his first soiree into No Limit Holdem and found himself googling how to play the game later that evening. Little did he know what that court-side game would result in. Onoderas competitive spirit soon transferred to the online poker felt, with aspirations from the get-go of becoming a professional poker player.

For the first year I already had the goal of becoming a professional, but it was still a bit casual in a certain way, I started with a $100 bankroll on partypoker then managed to increase my bankroll kind of quickly playing the micro stakes. At the time I was studying but it was still very surface level and basic stuff. As well as that, I didnt know too much about how to study correctly or effectively

The Brazilians journey into the BBZ fold began after coming across Jordan Drummonds, founder of BBZPoker, Twitch channel. It was not long after that Onodera found himself joining the aforementioned CFP program. Acknowledging that becoming a staked player was one of the best shots of becoming a fully-fledged poker player, he decided to apply to the newly created BBZ Academy as soon as it was set-up. It was this move that would precede the biggest payday.

Winning a free $109 ticket from the Pokerstars Blowout Series Ticket Machine promotion, Onodera found himself with the opportunity to play an event that was well above his usual buy-in. However, after realizing the ticket was for a satellite tournament for the Blowout Series: $1,050 NLHE [8-Max, The Big Blowout!], $5M Gtd that instant euphoria subsided quickly. Onoderas initial dismay didnt last too long though and soon turned into delight after navigating the satellite event to win the $1,050 ticket prize. After two days of play, he found himself at the final table fourth in chips and over $82,000 already locked up.

The final result saw Onodera bow out in sixth with a six-figure prize of $167,360. An absolutely fantastic achievement being that his first recorded result on PocketFives was a 253rd place finish in a $1.10 online MTT in March 2019.

It was an amazing feeling, I had only been in the BBZ Academy for a month when I had the score, but more importantly I had been studying with BBZ content for almost a year. That definitely was a huge factor in my game and helped me move in the right direction. Despite playing way higher than I ever had before, the lessons I had learned from the coaching I had received made me confident that I would not be so behind when playing against tough opposition.

And when talking about how new poker players can best elevate their skills or looking for potential backing, its no surprise what Onodera had to say.

I think any BBZ content would be great for a beginner as they are very experienced in teaching and explain the game in a very direct and efficient way. Getting a better understandingof how the game fundamentally works and its math is what people should expect.

If anyone wants to be staked, bias aside, I definitely recommend BBZ. Theyve been in the market for such a long time and in the past few months they have been doing a lot of video content. Poker is a competition so the more effort you put into studying, while still being efficient, will keep you ahead of most players. I believe being curious about how the game works, concepts, ideas, etc should be some of the traits of someone whos seriously looking to improve their game

The BBZ Academy is still looking for aspiring poker player who wants to elevate their game to the next level.

Players looking to apply will need to hit some requirements before having the chance to be one of BBZs newest recruits. Theyll need to have put in the hours and played at least 3000 tournaments over the past year to 18 months to be considered. Also, BBZ makes it clear that the Academy is no side hustle, players are expected to commit most of their time and effort in order to succeed.

More information on applications to the Academy can be found on the BBZ Poker website.

More:

BBZ Academy Producing Next Generation of Poker Superstars - PocketFives

College third-year and varsity baseball and basketball player Darien Knowles has bounced around a lot. Since graduating high school, he has been enrolled at four different schools. His winding academic journey was supposed to stop last spring when he started at Oberlin, but the COVID-19 pandemic ensured that nothing would come easy for him. Still, he has managed to adjust and acclimate thanks to help from his teammates, his coaches, and his other passion: playing poker.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Where were you before Oberlin?

I graduated high school and I decided to do a year of prep school in Arizona [at Hillcrest Prep] after graduation because a lot of college coaches wanted me to gain weight before college. So, I went to prep school to try to gain the weight. Things went well. Basketball wise, recruitment wise, everything was looking good. And then I ended up having surgery on both of my knees. That knocked me out the following year while I had to rehab and recover. Then I spent a year at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. That just wasnt a good fit coaching wise, so I went to Glendale Community College in Arizona to get re-recruited. I ended up tearing my meniscus again in the first game of the season, which sucked. So now Ive had three knee surgeries. And then, after being out in Arizona for those two years, I was just really, really tired of being that far from home. Im from Amherst. I actually live like 10 minutes from the school.

How did you end up at Oberlin?

Ive had a relationship with the Head Baseball Coach Adrian Abrahamowicz since I was in high school. Ive been working with him for years and it never really hit me that there would be any chance I would attend Oberlin. But, when I was transferring from my JUCO [junior college] and I realized I wanted to play baseball, I was actually on campus at Oberlin with Abrahamowicz working out and my mom came up and were all talking and it clicked We put it in motion and I got accepted.

How did you become a dual sport athlete?

My whole life I was actually the baseball kid, and basketball was something that I did for fun. Then, my junior year in high school, it kind of flipped in my head. I started to love basketball more and baseball took a backseat. I still played baseball my last two years of high school, but I didnt take it as seriously. So, after I graduated, I didnt play baseball again until last spring. At first I wasnt sure if I was going to be playing both here or not, but the basketball coach approached me and the baseball coach was very cool about it, so I decided to play both.

What was it like transferring to Oberlin last spring and having your first semester and baseball season cut short?

It was really upsetting. We went through our full pre-season. We had been practicing for a while and then we got to play four games before they ended up cancelling the season. We were actually like two or three days away from leaving to go to Arizona for a couple of days, which we were all looking forward to. But I got to meet the guys, and theyre all great.

Have either of your teams been able to help you with the transition to Oberlin?

Shout out to [College fourth-years] Lawrence Hamilton and Alexis Castillo. Those are my guys, but really both teams, all 30, 40, 50 guys as soon as I came in the atmosphere and environment that they created, it was incredible. I walked in on day one, not knowing a single person, but left feeling like I was almost immediately a part of this family and culture. I think the school community does a perfect job of that as well. Everybody Ive met has been so down to earth and just welcoming and helpful. In my experience, at my other colleges, its almost difficult to get somebody that wants to help you, but here it seems like anybody would be willing to help you with anything.

Outside of sports, what was it like transferring right before the pandemic hit?

It was a lot, especially because Oberlin is so far advanced [academically] compared to where I was, so I was trying to transition into a harder curriculum. Then the pandemic hit and it just all happened so fast. At first, it didnt seem real. It was like, okay, theres a case in the U.S. No big deal. And then, a week later, the whole country is upside down and were all at home. But I think academically, it almost calmed things down because there was so much else going on. A lot of my professors realized that, and kind of pulled back a little bit and became a little more lenient. So it actually, I think, helped my academic transition. But it was still a lot to process.

What do you do outside of athletics and academics?

I watch a lot of movies and TV shows. I bowl, but mostly I play a lot of poker.

Do you play online or do you have a group you play with in person?

One of my buddies has a huge basement around the corner and before the pandemic wed all go play over there. Itd be anywhere from eight to like 22 people. If we got that many people, then wed have two tables. But Ill go play at the casino or online. Ill play anywhere.

Would you consider yourself to be good or is it just for fun? If you went to Vegas, how would you feel about your odds of winning?

I consider myself to be good, 100 percent. I think were all good. In my friend group, theres one or two of them that are top level, like could almost compete professionally. Then theres me and then the rest. Id do pretty good in Vegas.

Anything else youd like to say?

Ill say, for the football fans, that the Browns are going to the Super Bowl next year. And, for the basketball fans, LeBron James is the GOAT.

Read more from the original source:

In The Locker Room with Darien Knowles, Two-Sport Athlete and Poker Player - The Oberlin Review

For over a year now, PokerStars PA has been the only online poker operator in Pennsylvania. While there have been numerous hints over the previous months that WSOP.com could enter the market, the launch kept getting delayed.

Now, it seems that all pieces have finally fallen into place: The launch of WSOP PA appears imminent. In the next few months, players from Pennsylvania will likely get another option for their online poker needs.

One of the best hints that WSOP is indeed coming to the Keystone State is pages on the companys official site, spotted by pokerfuse, that list specific rules for PA players. It certainly seems like the operator is getting in position for launch.

888, WSOPs platform provider, has already received a license from the PCGB, and the existing partnership with the Harrahs casino in Philadelphia, all technical requirements have been met.

The pair have extended their relationship for US online poker, and in a recent interview with pokerfuse, 888 said that it was hoping to launch with its partner under the WSOP brand this side of summer.

Awaiting the official announcement, we will try to answer some of the biggest questions you may have about the upcoming launch of WSOP.com in Pennsylvania.

In a recent interview for Pokerfuse, Yaniv Sherman, SVP and Head of US at 888 Holdings, stated that the company is currently prioritizing Pennsylvaniathe clearest sign yet that WSOP has eyes on PA.

Right now, we are looking to prioritize Pennsylvania with our partner Caesars to deploy it for the WSOP brand. We then will aim for a phased rollout across the states, he said.

The company plans to roll out before the summer and the start of the 2021 World Series of Poker. If things go according to plan, we should see WSOP PA go live before June 2021.

Like with the rest of state-licensed operators, players on WSOP PA will have to be physically present in the state to join real money cash games and tournaments.

The minimum age limit to legally register with the site is 21 and the operator reserves the right to verify the information provided by the player by requesting their documents.

As things stand right now, PA players will likely be ring-fenced to begin with, i.e. they will only be able to play against other players from the state.

There are negotiations underway, which would allow combining the player pool with those of WSOP New Jersey and WSOP Nevada. For this to happen, PA regulators would need to sign on to the MSIGA (multi-state igaming agreement) that permits operators to pool liquidity across state lines.

Whether this happens or not also depends on the Wire Act interpretation and what happens with it in the months to come. With some positive developments in this area disputing DoJs interpretation of the document, path could be paved for many interstate compacts in the future.

While it is hard to say for certain, based on the products in other states, we can speculate on what kind of offers new WSOP players in Pennsylvania are likely to have access to.

WSOP.com PA will likely welcome all players with a no deposit bonus of $10. For this one, all you have to do is register an account and confirm your identity.

The free cash is available on a completely risk-free basis, so it will be a nice way to get familiar with the site, check out the software, and test the waters in some real money games playing with the house money.

When and if you decide to make a real money deposit, there should be a nice deposit bonus waiting for you. If it is similar to what WSOP offers in other markets, players will get a 100% match up to the maximum of $1000.

As is usually the case with poker bonuses, you will need to play to release the bonus funds. With WSOP.com PA, it will probably look something like this:

New players have two months (60 days) to clear the bonus. Any funds that are not released by that date will be voided.

Like other regulated poker rooms in the US, WSOP.com offers a variety of banking options. Pennsylvania players should have no problems funding their accounts or withdrawing their poker winnings.

To add money to your WSOP.com account, you will probably have access to the following options:

When it comes to cashing out, WSOP PA will probably feature several options such as:

For withdrawals, NETELLER is the fastest option, so if you want to have quick access to your funds, go with this. Bank drafts and checks are very reliable, but they longer to process.

The offering of cash games at WSOP in Pennsylvania is likely to be very similar to that in New Jersey and Nevada. In terms of variations, this means Texas Holdem, Omaha, and several stud games, in no limit, pot limit, and fixed limit formats.

As for the stakes, the highest available games will probably be $25/$50, at least for no limit and pot limit variants.

There are no fast-fold poker variations offered by WSOP.com at this time, so you will have to make do with regular tables.

The maximum number of cash game tables you can have running at any one time is 10. There is no limit to the maximum number of tournaments you can have open, though.

According to the WSOP.com Pennsylvania page, the operator will be rolling out BLAST tournaments when they go live in the state.

In case you are new to WSOP, BLAST poker features four-handed sit and go tournaments with random prize multipliers between 2x and 10,000x the buy-in. When the play starts, the countdown timer is initiated. Once the time runs out, players can no longer make decisions and they will be all in every hand until there is the winner.

The WSOP.com online platform is powered by 888 and both rooms have a very similar design and features. The software has seen many upgrades in the recent period and it offers a high quality gaming environment.

The lobby features several sections to make the navigation easier. You can use additional filters to find the games you are looking for and get a seat at the table or register in a tournament of your choice with no problems.

For Pennsylvania specifically, WSOP.com is looking to roll out with a brand new client called Poker 8, pending certification. From what we have seen of the new client thus far, it features a sleek, modern design that seems to be a significant upgrade on the current software.

WSOP.com offers quality mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, and players from Pennsylvania will certainly have access to these once the room goes live.

The current mobile apps live in Nevada and New Jersey only support play at one table at the time and only for Texas Holdem cash games.

However, if 888 is able to roll out Poker 8 in time for PA, as they plan, then these restrictions will be lifted. The new mobile app supports PLO and multiple simultaneous tables.

See more here:

WSOP Pennsylvania FAQ - when will the iconic World Series of Poker launch online poker in PA? - Pokerfuse

Liverpool are in the hunt for RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano, who is considered the dream signing for manager Jrgen Klopp.

Thats according to BILD, who say the Reds play poker with Chelsea and Bayern Munich to secure the highly-rated Frenchman.

Upamecano is widely expected to leave Leipzig in the summer, having established himself as one of the top centre-backs in Europe in recent years.

He has a release clause worth 42.5m in his contract that activates this summer, a price that several top sides in Europe consider a bargain in the current climate.

Embed from Getty Images

Liverpool are one of those to have been named among his suitors, with them desperate to find a long-term partner for Virgil van Dijk, particularly after their defensive woes this season.

BILD back up their interest today and state that Upamecano is the dream transfer for Klopp this summer.

They explain that while Liverpool urgently need defenders, they wanted to wait until the summer and then invest heavily.

An injury to Joel Matip forced them to move for Ozan Kabak in the January transfer window and while BILD say he can be signed for 30m at the end of his loan deal, Klopp would rather add the 12.5m and sign Upamecano instead.

They face competition from Chelsea and Bayern Munich for his signature, though, with it now very much presented as a three-way race between these clubs for his signature.

Go here to read the rest:

Liverpool 'play poker' for Klopp's 'dream' defensive signing - Reds now prepared to invest heavily - Sport Witness