Featured Articles Archive - Page 357

Pius Heinz wins World Series of Poker Main Event

LAS VEGAS -- Germany's Pius Heinz beat the Czech Republic's Martin Staszko in a six-hour heads up duel to win the World Series of Poker Main Event and win $8,715,638. Staszko won $5,433,086 for finishing in second. Ben Lamb, from the United States, took third and won $4,021,138.Heinz outlasted a field of 6,865 to lay claim to poker's top prize...read more

Shhh. We're trying to play a poker tournament.

LAS VEGAS -- Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb and Martin Staszko survived 10 hours of grueling play Sunday and will play for the World Series of Poker Main Event championship Tuesday. The tournament's champion will win $8,715,638.Matt Giannetti finished in fourth to win $3,012,700.While Heinz, Lamb and Staszko advanced to Tuesday's finale, the raucous crowd inside the Penn & Teller Theater in the Rio was proving to be both a blessing and a curse for poker's biggest stage.Caesars has been wildly successful in turning the World Series of Poker Main Event final table into a loud, energetic, crowd-pleasing spectator event.Pausing the tournament for three months to allow TV coverage to catch up to the Main Event gives players time to organize and bring their fans to Las Vegas to watch the play for life-changing money.Fans show up singing songs, wearing T-shirts, banging drums, shaking maracas and cheering wildly throughout the day/night.But the electric atmosphere is starting to interfere with game plays...read more

WSOP Main Event fans organized, creative, loud

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Frederick Kafkas III willingly arrived at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino at 6:30 am on Sunday morning to watch nine men he didn’t know play poker for over 10 hours.Crazy? Perhaps. But similar to how diehard supporters wait outside for playoff tickets in the freezing cold for hours when their favorite team makes the postseason, Kafkas III was one of dozens of poker fans who descended on the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to watch the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.Kafkas III and another gentleman were the only two people in line until 8:00 am."I'm just a fan of poker," he said...read more

Top-10 November Nine first impressions

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- I have covered the World Series of Poker the last two years, but Sunday was my first time reporting on the WSOP Main Event final table. The November Nine concept was first introduced in 2008, and in the three years since it has turned from a subject of derision to the major event on the poker calendar.That being said, I still didn't appreciate how big the event was until I saw it in person...read more

Benba runs straight to WSOP Main Event final three

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Ben Lamb had already made history before he sat down at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.Lamb is the only November Nine member to also be named the WSOP Player of the Year. His final table appearance is the culmination of an incredible 2011 Series, which included his first gold bracelet, a second-place finish and two other top-15 finishes...read more

PokerStars awards $70,000 to controversial winner in 70 billionth hand promotion

PokerStars executives were probably looking forward to the positive PR the company would be getting out of announcing the winners of its 70 billionth hand promotion. Little did they know that the world's largest poker room would be facing controversy and an outcry from players on the site who feel like the winners gamed the system.The winner of the hand would earn $70,000, plus a little extra bonus cash depending on the number of VPPs earned in the previous 50 hands...read more

MGM Resorts says Las Vegas properties are recovering

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Resorts International said Thursday its 10 Strip casinos are showing signs of recovery.As part of the company’s third quarter earnings announcement Thursday, MGM Resorts said revenue per available room grew 13 percent in the quarter at the company’s 10 Strip resorts, including Bellagio, MGM Grand Las Vegas and the CityCenter complex...read more

Deal Me In: Bad beat for the book

Dear Mark: With all football games now going into overtime instead of settling in a tie, does that help the house or the player? John P.At the outset, John, my response would be neither, in that once the line is set, a skilled bookmaker continually tweaks the line to get equal amounts wagered on both teams to assure the casino its profit.However, some of these overtime games are creating some big totals...read more

Macau gaming revenues hit record in October

MACAU -- Macau's gaming revenues soared to a new single-month record in October, fueled by the Chinese holiday of Golden Week. The Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Tuesday that casino operators collected gaming revenues of 26.9 billion patacas, or $3.36 billion...read more

Report: Groupe Bernard Tapie reaches deal with DOJ

Groupe Bernard Tapie has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that will allow the French company's purchase of Full Tilt Poker to continue, according to SubjectPoker.com. The deal is subject to approval by the shareholders of Full Tilt...read more