This Week in Poker: March 2 – 8

This Week in Poker
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  • PG News March 8, 2016
  • 5 Minutes Read

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring to you the weekly round up of the biggest online scores by Indian MTT players along with the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit.

Here are this week`s top stories

It was a hectic week, with the Macau Poker Cup (MPC) 24 concluding after marking a record-breaking edition this time, with both its highlight events seeing surprise winners. The Red Dragon Main Event was won by Ying Lin Chua for HK $1,904,000 and Wayne Yap was the champion of the High Roller and took home HK $2,292,720 in prize money. Team India claimed a title in Event 7 with Shiva Kumar taking top honors and a payday of HK $121,466. Dhaval Mudgal cashed twice, first with Raghav Bansal in the Teams Event, and capped off the series in style with another final table finish in Event 19.

On the virtual felts, it has been Team PokerStars Pro Aditya Agarwal all the way these past two months! The pro proved exactly why he is India’s greatest player and so revered by the player community. The pioneer and mentor-to-many is once again our “PokerGuru Star of the Week” with not one, but five big final table scores, the highest being $10,947.28, after a four-way deal in PokerStars ‘The Weekender: $530 NLHE [8-Max, 2-Day], $75K GTD’.

Online enthusiasts have some juicy promotions to look forward to with PokerStars announcing a massive $1 Million Freeroll, even as the first anniversary celebrations at Spartan Poker continue.

We have more in our weekly round-up with news from the online world of poker, as 888poker announces a change in its VIP policy and also gets a new CEO. A new development has Alibaba, the e-commerce giant investing in a non-gambling variant of poker called Match Poker.

In the business news, Amaya is still in the limelight over the takeover news from its own CEO, David Baazov. Our tournament reports cover the World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Tour, Eureka Poker Tour and the Hollywood Poker Open (HPO) Toledo Main Event.

Finally, domestic news has the Goa CM stating that no alternate location has been found yet for the offshore casinos, though the deadline for the move was March 31.

 

Online Railbird Report

Consistency is the hallmark of a great poker player and Team PokerStars Pro Aditya ‘Adi Agarwal’ Agarwal continues to display this by once again topping the online charts. This is the fourth time in two months that he has clinched our “PokerGuru Star of the Week title. After grabbing it in January, he won it again in the second week of February and was the second-highest scorer in the third week of the same month. Agarwal earned the same title last week and is once again our “PokerGuru Star of the Week” with over $17,000 in cashes!

Aditya Agarwal
Aditya Agarwal

Agarwal scored five cashes this past week. His highest was at PokerStars ‘The Weekender: $530 NLHE [8-Max, 2-Day], $75K GTD’ for $10,947.28, after a four-way chop. His other cashes were also all at PokerStars and include a ninth place for $1,165.32 at the ‘$109 NL Hold’em [Turbo, 1R1A], $50K GTD – Sunday Edition’, fifth place for $1,932.00 in the ‘$215 NL Hold’em [Turbo], $20K GTD’, besides a second place in ‘The Hot $22 [Turbo], $15K GTD’ for $2,389.40 and a third place for $2,632.00 in the ‘$215 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Re-Entry], $15K GTD’.

indiandurr’ was the only other notable scorer and made $1,125.90 for 17th place in the PokerStars ‘Wednesday $320, $100K GTD’

For those hoping to enjoy and earn at the virtual felts nothing gets better than the upcoming PokerStars $1 Million Freeroll! The winner is set to get at least $20,000! Just play a real-money (any stake) tournament or poker hand at the site and get a free ticket to the 90-player Sit & Go Satellite. The top nine at this satellite will get into the $1 Million Freeroll on March 18. Players who don’t make it can get another free satellite seat for a minimum deposit of $20, using the bonus code “MILLION1”.

Spartan Poker continues its anniversary celebrations, but time is running out for those who would like to grab the unbelievable offer of the Double-Deposit Bonus! There are just two days left for this bonanza, so make your deposit now using the promo code “DOUBLEDEPOSIT” and get going for double the fun only at Spartan Poker!

 

Macau Poker Cup (MPC) 24 Recap

The just concluded MPC 24 was the largest-ever edition with record entries. The Red Dragon Main Event broke its earlier record of 995 players with 1,075 entries and made history as the largest freezeout tournament in Asia-Pacific to date. In a surprise move, a Conference Manager Ying Len Chua won the event for HK$1,904,000, which included a HK $100K ACOP Main Event seat. Chua beat favorites like former Red Dragon winner Tom Alner and several other notables to clinch the title. Chua got the title after a three-way chop and went on to collect the first Red Dragon trophy for Malaysia.

Ying Len Chua
Ying Len Chua

Read the complete story here.

The HK $80,000 High Roller was another thrilling affair, which saw cash game specialist Wayne Yap collecting the title and HK$2,292,720 in prize money, beating the many pros in attendance.

Wayne Yap
Wayne Yap

Read the complete story here.

Team India was strongly represented and Shiva Kumar won Event 7 for HK $121,466. Dhaval Mudgal was at his best, cashing in the Teams Event with Raghav Bansal at sixth place for HK $27,010. He was also the only one to collect a second cash, with a sixth place in Event 19 for HK $14,900. Kunal Patni and Madan Kumar were the second pair to cash in the Teams Event at 11th place for HK $8,310.

Raghav Bansal
Raghav Bansal

Among other Indian cashes were Kartik Ved, who made HK $3,130 for a 20th place in Event 3. In the Main Event there were four Indian cashes, with Alok Agarwal (25th – HK $49,150), Shravan Chhabria (43rd – HK $40,150), Pranay Kapoor (73rd – HK $29,000) and Vidur Sethi (133rd – HK $22,300) all making it in the money.

 

Changes At 888 Holdings, New CEO & Revamped 888poker Loyalty Scheme

Itai Frieberger, earlier COO of 888 Holdings was announced as the new CEO of the company. Frieberger, who has been with the company past five years has been credited with its turnaround and is expected to infuse it with a new vitality.

After PokerStars and partypoker, 888poker has also revamped its loyalty scheme, making it more attractive and lucrative for recreational players. Renamed as the 888poker Club, the new scheme will feature exciting new Free Tournaments every month. Players will now get points for playing on other 888 platforms – Casino and Sportsbook and rise to higher levels once targets are reached. Additional goodies, such as Scratchcards and Gold Coins are in store for a challenging and rewarding time for players.

 

Alibaba Invests In Match Poker

China’s biggest ecommerce portal’s subsidiary, Alibaba Sports has partnered with Ocean Sports and Entertainment for their non-gambling variant called Match Poker. Alibaba intends to reach the huge gaming public with this game, which is easily accessible on mobiles and uses points instead of money.

 

Amaya Committee Prepares For Baazov Takeover

Though the Amaya select committee is yet to get a formal offer from David Baazov, CEO, they have begun the process by appointing an advisor. The committee is upset over the investors, who remain anonymous and have curtailed Baazov’s controls at management, besides sharing crucial company information with his alleged partners.

Speculation has gripped the industry as to Baazov’s investors, which are said to include four of his colleagues at Amaya, besides Playtech, a gaming software provider. Playtech’s owner Teddy Sagi is said to have been indicted and jailed for stock fraud by the US authorities in the 1990s and this may pose a problem for Amaya’s plans to return to the country.

 

Dietrich Fast Wins WPT L.A. Poker Tour Main Event

The $10,000 Main Event at the WPT L.A. Poker Tour was won by Dietrich Fast for $1,000,800, denying Mike Shariati his second WPT title. The event had 515 entries and a long drawn out heads up, where Shariati made second place for $656,540.

Dietrich Fast
Dietrich Fast

Read the complete story here.

 

Pius Henz Claims Eureka Poker Tour Super High Roller

It was a curious case of a WSOP Main Event winner (2011 ) Pius Henz playing just ten tournaments in these past five years. Pius has now claimed the Eureka Poker Tour €5,300 Super High Roller for €44,814.

Pius Henz
Pius Henz

Read the complete story here.

 

HPO Toledo Regional Main Event Won By Michael Ermie

The HPO Toledo Regional Main Event saw a record 323 hopefuls pony up the $1,115 buy-in. Michael Ermie overcame that crowd to win the event for $60,017, after a three-way deal. The event featured several notables like Chris Moneymaker (23rd place) and Nick D’Palma, who finished in third place.

Michael Ermie
Michael Ermie

 

Goa CM Statement Angers Activists

A recent statement by Laxmikant Parsekar, Chief Minister, Goa has upset local activists. The CM stated that no alternate locations have yet been found for the offshore casinos. The deadline for the shifting is March 31 and local bodies are accusing the government of going back on its election promises. Experts report that it will not be easy to overlook the huge revenues brought in by casinos, by the ruling government of the cash-strapped state.

Read the complete story here.

 

And that sums up this weekly news report, but stay tuned same time next week for a recap of all the top stories.

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