Things are really starting to heat up on the planet of poker, with the 2016 World Series of Poker November Nine not up to a month away, and the largest buy in event in poker history not up to two weeks from kickoff.
They get a little bit warmer on this week's Five Thoughts as well, as we discuss how the success of the €1,000,000 One Drop could really threaten the way forward for other high roller events at the poker calendar and the way mentioning indiscretions from a decade ago may not be the right way to troll Justin Bonomo.
Plus, there's honoring a member of the Poker Hall of Fame, PokerStars bailing out the worldwide Poker League and running it up again in Reno.
1. One Drop Success, Soft Play Accusations Threaten High Rollers
Max Silver
With lower than two weeks to move before Guy Laliberté's Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza kicks off, a statement was dropped last week indicating 35 players are already confirmed to play within the historic €1,000,000 buy in recreational-player-only Main Event.
With that many already in, plus satellite and side events at the schedule previous to the massive One, interest, and ultimately the collection of entries, should grow to a degree way past what several shunned pros thought it would.
After seeing a drop within the percentage of recreational players within the 48-entry field from the inaugural 2012 $1 Million Big One for One Drop after they drew 42 total in 2014, Laliberte said several businessmen and philanthropists indicated to him they were bored with being bled out by professional players. As a result, he altered this year's €1,000,000 event, leaving the professionals at the sidelines.
While most played nice publicly, not desirous to be seen criticizing an event with a charitable goal, several pros scoffed privately, claiming the only Drop would flop.
Now, with all signs pointing to the only Drop Extravaganza being a success, it is the other big buy in events at the poker calendar that can be in jeopardy.
While this is a well-known fact most professional players in events with buy-ins $100,000 and above are selling and swapping action, most of these who achieve this claim they're playing throughout the spirit of the sport. They are saying they're upholding the integrity of the tournament and positively not soft playing and colluding with one another as they look forward to the handful of recreational players within the event to bust out and go home before they split up their money.
However, British pro Max Silver, who has played in a lot of these nosebleed events, recently appeared on Joe Ingram's Poker Life Podcast, claiming there has been some evidence of soppy play and collusion at one recent high roller final table.
Silver didn't name any names, but he didn't need to.
Once the affluent recreational poker-playing community sees that is the case, and pro-player, soft-play and collusion-free events like One Drop prove themselves a viable option, the possibility that any of them will continue to shop for in to pro-heavy high roller tournaments all over the world is slim.
Without the whales to feed on, the sharks will likely look to search out friendlier waters as well, making the times of those much-hyped high roller events seemingly numbered.
2. The Pot and The Kettle
Justin Bonomo
The poker community appears to be a slightly unforgiving one.
Justin Bonomo fired off what he claimed was a "friendly reminder" on Twitter this week, alleging poker pro Will Givens is a "thief and a scammer." Bonomo says he and Isaac Haxton invested in Givens and a package of events he planned to play.
Apparently Givens didn't finally end up playing and allegedly refused to refund the money when Haxton was lower than friendly in an exchange with him.
Bonomo's tweet was met with the standard barrage of trolling, with several uninvolved third parties calling Bonomo a scammer himself, regarding previous online multi-accounting scandals. Givens even referenced Bonomo's history in his own defense, claiming he might pay back any debts when Bonomo did the same.
It's impossible to make a choice sides here, since only these three know what really went on.
I'm just wondering when the statute of limitations runs out on these things, and when a player like Bonomo can expect in an effort to freely indicate the allegedly unethical actions of another with no need to listen to about mistakes he made in what, by most accounts, was another lifetime.
Givens' package of events was reportedly from the 2010 World Series of Poker and Bonomo admitted to multi-accounting over a decade ago.
Of course, trolls are going to troll. I'D JUST hope that 10 years on, they'd get a hold of some new option to attempt to get under Bonomo's skin. Maybe the trolls will go after his musings about microaggressions and attempts to play poker's white knight. These are points we will all agree are a lot more relevant in today's day and age.
3. Bailing Out The GPL
Global Poker League
In what amounts to a bailout which will keep the fledgling Global Poker League afloat for now, PokerStars signed on because the league's lead sponsor last week.
In the midst of dwindling viewership numbers and a transparent loss of interest within the league from anyone outside of poker industry insiders, at the surface, this looks to be exactly what the GPL must keep the lights on in the course of the inaugural season.
The problem with a bailout like that is that it is going to prevent the GPL from taking a much-needed, hard and long have a look at itself — or make the changes to the product which might be essential to attract an audience and find sustained success. Sponsorship dollars might buy the league a bit time, but it's what they do with that point so one can be the important thing to its future.
4. Honoring a Legend
Lyle Berman
While much of the poker world have been gripped by heated debate over who was nominated and who should get within the Poker Hall of Fame this year, 2002's single inductee was quietly being honored again across town.
Congratulations exit to Lyle Berman — the first-ever inductee into his home state's Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame — after becoming one among six people inducted into the yankee Gaming Association's Gaming Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Las Vegas last week.
Berman, 75, is a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and co-founder and previous CEO of the sector Poker Tour. His lengthy resume within the gaming industry also includes co-founding Grand Casinos Inc., an organization credited with helping spur the boom in American casino construction outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City within the 1990s.
Berman, who reportedly still plays high-stakes cash games, is a legend in poker, and deserves many of the credit for helping create the WPT, a TV product that may be as much accountable for poker's boom as anyone or anything.
5. Run It Up Rolls On
Jason Somerville
A tournament series many previous attendees claim was probably the most fun they ever had playing the sport is headed back to northern Nevada on the end of this month.
Twitch stream star and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Somerville goes back to Reno for the third installment of his Run It Up Reno series Oct. 24-31, 2016. The Peppermill Resort Spa Casino will again play host to a fun-packed schedule that features a collection of parties, mini-seminars and uniquely structured poker tournaments.
The festival will wrap up with a $600 Main Event featuring unlimited reentry and an international Series of Poker Main Event November Nine viewing party.
The series has always been devoted to bringing fun back to poker and has also been successful in bringing together Somerville's legions of online stream fans, referred to as Run It Up Warriors, in a live poker environment. Additional info and the whole schedule of events are available in the course of the Peppermill Reno website.
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