Category Archives: Poker

A Poker Run and Benefit for Lindsey Brewer will be held Sept. 25 at Saddle Ridge Bar and Grill, 2097 Lincoln Highway, Chester. All vehicles welcome. Registration is from 10 to 11:50 a.m. with the first bike/car out at noon and last in at 5 p.m. Cost is $25 per rider, $10 for guest and includes dinner and prizes. Dinner for riders served at 5:15 p.m. Dinner for non-riders start serving at 3 p.m. and cost is $12. Menu is ham or hot sausage, potatoes or ziti, green beans and dessert. Carry out or eat in available. Craft and vendor show, Chinese auction, raffle tickets.

Brewer is a 2003 graduate of Beaver Local. She has two children, 8 and 17. She has been battling ovarian cancer for a few years. The cancer has spread to her spine, brain and other parts of her body. She has been undergoing extensive chemo and radiation. She is currently in UPMC under hospice care. The event is raising money to help with her medical bills and needs for her children. Any questions or wanting to make a donation contact Janice Shanabarger at 330-853-8085 or Bernadette Blakeley at 330-420-5851.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

The rest is here:

Poker run to benefit Beaver Local grad | News, Sports, Jobs - SalemNews.net

The history of poker is nebulous. Nobody seems to know exactly when the game started being played in America, but what isn't in question is the rapid ascent of poker that has seen it become one of the most popular card games, whether you're gambling with real money or fake chips. Nowadays you can find a game, in person or online, anywhere, with a vast variety of different skill levels and stakes.

If you want to become a high-level poker player, The Ultimate Poker Pro Blueprint Mastery Bundle from Alton Hardin is a great choice. Valued at $2,200, it's on sale now for just $21.

Featuring classes inspired by Amazon's #1 bestselling poker book and led by a pro poker coach, this bundle deals with the essentials of poker all the way up to the tiniest details that will give you an edge over your opponents. Plus, you'll learn about the different types of games you'll be playing as you make further progress as a player, such as Zoom games, micro-stake multi-table tournaments, and 30nl cash games. With 11 different mastery courses included, you can take serious strides toward becoming a positive cash flow poker player, and maybe one day reaching a professional level. While you may not get to the level of Daniel Negreanu, you'll be able to improve your skills.

You can get The Ultimate Poker Pro Blueprint Mastery Bundle for $21 (reg. $2,200) .

Price subject to change

This content is from our partner StackCommerce. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

Read the original post:

Become A Better Poker Player With This Training Package - GameSpot

It's not every day you come across a dream job. When you do, you should seize the opportunity and apply. Take this gig, for example, ahead of the release of the latest James Bond film, My Poker Coaching is looking for an official martini tester.

Yes, we're absolutely serious, but before you go quitting your actual job to pursue a life as a cocktail taster, there are some things you need to know. For one, this isn'ttechnicallya full-time job. The selected candidate will be paid $500 for their work and get a professional cocktail set and booze to whip up martinis at home. My Poker Coaching will also cover the cost of your drinks, but that's it. So it certainly won't pay the bills, but it could be fun.

As for what the job entails, it's pretty straightforward.My Poker Coaching is looking for someone willing to go out to well-known establishments to taste martinis. The hope is that the martini tester will be able to uncover the perfect martini, one 007 himself would love. Each drink must be judged on a strict set of criteria, which includes the following categories:

If you're interested, you can applyhere. You'll be asked some questions about yourself and have to tell My Poker Coaching why you're the perfect candidate for the job. Applications are open until September 30. The winner will be announced on October 8. Applicants can be from the United Kingdom, United States, or Canada.

You may not get to give up your day job to drink booze for a living, but you will get to live out your Bond fantasy for at least a little while.

View post:

This Company Will Pay You to Drink Martinis Like James Bond - Thrillist

September 08, 2021Jon Sofen

Nick Wright, host of FS1's popular "First Things First" sports TV debate show, returned to the felt on this week's "Poker After Dark" Season 13 first episode for "Fight Night," and he showed even an amateur can have a creative bluff in their arsenal.

The most ardent LeBron James defender you'll probably ever encounter sat down at the table against a few talented poker pros Maria Ho, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Jon Aguiar. He also took on UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer and daily fantasy sports legend Peter Jennings.

Each player began with 125,000 chips in a sit-n-go style format game.

Shortly after Hellmuth inhaled a chicken and bacon avocado sandwich to the delight of PokerGO commentator Ali Nejad, Wright, who made his debut appearance on Poker After Dark last week, tangled in an interesting pot on a dripping wet board against Aguiar.

With in the hole and 128,000 in his stack, the sports TV personality bumped it up to 5,500. Aguiar came along for the ride with from the small blind. Both players flopped a big piece of the flop but they each opted to check. When the appeared on the turn, the competitors stared at a four-to-a-flush board neither player holding a diamond and again they checked.

The river was the and Aguiar went for thin value, betting out 1,500 into a pot of 14,000. Wright, who showed some creativity in the heads-up match he lost in July to Hellmuth on "High Stakes Duel," considered the reality that top pair might not be good on that wet of a board. So, he raised it up to 8,500 and Aguiar quickly let the best hand go.

Phil Hellmuth thinks he's the best tournament player in the world, Daniel Negreanu disagrees. The Poker Hall of Famers, two of the most popular pros ever, have gone back and forth the past year over the "Poker Brat's" abilities. That didn't change during "Fight Night" Episdoe 1 on Poker After Dark.

"Here's what pissed me off," Hellmuth told his Poker After Dark opponents. "All throughout the 90s, all I did was play against the greatest players. All through the 80s and 90s because those are the only people that played the tournaments."

"But everybody was bad back then," Aguiar chimed in to which Hellmuth took offense and told his opponents to keep quiet until he's done with his story.

"I don't want to play the f*****g debate game where I just get cut off with b******t," Hellmuth fired back. "Daniel does that to me all the time."

"Daniel hasn't said anything," Wright said.

"You know how many times he's done this?" Negreanu jumped in. "He says, 'don't say anything, let me finish, and then you can talk,' then I don't say a word, then I go, 'okay, Phil, so here's the thing, and then within three seconds he goes bla bla bla bla bla."

"Yeah, but then you call me out and I shut up," the 15-time WSOP bracelet winner responded before going back to his story.

Hellmuth mentioned that "all through the 90s" he played against what he dubs "the greatest players" and said he "beat them all."

"And then all of a sudden they developed this narrative that I'm not good enough against good players," he continued. "So, the very field that has all the great young players is the turbos. And in the last four turbos, I have a first, a sixth, a fifth three final tables. Some crazy amount, three final tables in five years, and this is the one I'm not supposed to compete because all the GTO guys. It's f*****g aggravating for me."

Hellmuth then went on to defend his poker resume. He said he thought the greatest poker player in the world should be the one who wins the most bracelets, a record he holds. The bickering continued when he accused Negreanu of "studying bad math."

"How do you know it's bad math if you don't study it?" Negreanu asked.

During Hellmuth and Negreanu's back and forth, Maria Ho and Nick Wright were tangled in an exciting pot. Ho raised it up to 6,000 pre-flop with and the amateur made the call from the small blind with .

Both players had just over 130,000 in chips and watched the flop come out , and they each checked. The turn was a , giving Wright a straight and Ho nothing but bottom pair on a wet board. Still, she called a 5,000-chip bet. When the appeared on the river, things got interesting.

Ho, who was playing the board, bet out 22,500 into a pot of 27,000. Wright pondered his move and folded his king-high straight, apparently putting his opponent on a flush.

Remember, Poker After Dark will air every Monday but is only available to PokerGO subscribers. If youre not currently subscribed, you can get a monthly subscription for $14.99, a three-month plan for $29.99, and an annual subscription for $99.99. You can also save $10 off an annual subscription by using promo code PokerNews at checkout.

*Images courtesy of PokerGO.

Continued here:

Nick Wright Turns Top Pair Into Bluff, Hellmuth and Negreanu Bicker on Latest Poker After Dark - PokerNews.com

The 2021 Poker Masters kicked off this week, with the first of twelve high-stakes events on schedule being a $10,000 buy-in no-limit holdem tournament. A total of 82 entries were made, building a prize pool of $820,000. In the end, the lions share of that money was awarded to eventual champion Shannon Shorr, who took home $205,000 for the win. The score increased his career tournament earnings to $9,157,400.

This was Shorrs third title of 2021. He won a Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $2,650 buy-in event roughly a month before this victory for another $186,261. Back in April he took down a $5,000 buy-in event during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown_ for $296,535.

In addition to the title and the money, Shorr was also awarded 480 Card Player Player of the Year points for his latest run to the winners circle. He has now made a total of six POY-qualified final tables this year, with $797,579 in earnings across those scores. As a result, Shorr has climbed into 15th place in the 2021 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.

He also earned 205 PokerGO Tour rankings points as the champion of this event. This was his fifth qualified cash on the tour, bringing his point total to 363. He now sits in 49th place on the PokerGO Tour leaderboard, and has taken the early lead in the Poker Masters points race. The player with the most points accrued by the end of the series will be awarded the Poker Masters Championship, along with the Purple Jacket and $50,000 in added prize money.

The final day of this event began with 2016 Card Player Player of the Year award winner and three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner David Peters in the lead, and Shorr in second place. Ben Yu, another three-time bracelet winner, came into the day as the shortest stack with just more than eight big blinds. Shorrs K-J outran Yus A-9 in the first hand of the day to narrow the field to six. Yu earned $41,000 as the seventh-place finisher. John Riordan followed not too long after, with his A-8 running into the A-Q of Shorr, who overtook the lead when his queens with an ace kicker earned him the pot and the knockout. Riordan took home $49,200 for his sixth-place showing.

Five-handed play continued for roughly two hours, but the stalemate ended when World Poker Tour main event winner Jonathan Jaffes pocket deuces lost a preflop race against the A-9 of Brock Wilson. A nine-high flop gave Wilson a lead which he never relinquished, and Jaffe hit the rail with $65,600.

Wilson got the last of his short stack in on a king-high flop with the K36 he had defended from the big blind. Peters had raised with KQ from the button, though, giving him a big lead when the chips went in. Wilson found no help on the turn or river and was eliminated in fourth place ($82,000).

Dylan DeStefanos run in this event came to an end when his three-bet shove with Q9 from the big blind ran into the pocket jacks of Peters, who had opened with a raise on the button. DeStefano picked up both flush and straight draws on the flop, but failed to improve any further and was knocked out in third place. The $98,400 he earned for his deep run in this event was the largest live cash of his career.

With that, Peters surged past Shorr to take the lead going into heads-up play. The two traded the advantage a few times over the course of their nearly two-hour showdown. Peters nearly put things away when he had the lead and the best hand in one of the final showdowns of the event, but his A-9 lost to a flush made on the turn by Shorrs A5 to see the stacks return to nearly even. The two agreed to a deal at that point, and ran a flip to determine the champion. Shorr ended up winning the hand with ten-high to secure the title.

Peters earned $147,600 and 400 POY points as the runner-up. This was his ninth POY-qualified final table of the year, with three titles won along the way. The 2021 U.S. Poker Open champion now sits in 12th place in the POY race. The 148 PokerGO Tour point he earned moved him into sixth place on that leaderboard.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: PokerGO.

Go here to read the rest:

Shannon Shorr Wins The Kickoff Event At The 2021 Poker Masters - Poker News - CardPlayer.com

Alexandru Papazian made poker history as the first Romanian player to ever capture a World Series of Poker gold bracelet when he took down the 2017 WSOP $888 buy-in eight-max no-limit holdem crazy eights event for $888,888. The format of the tournament must suit Papazians game, as he managed to win his second bracelet in the online version of the same event during the 2021 WSOP Online festival. This time around Papazian defeated a field of 2,350 entries to secure the hardware and the top prize of $241,128.

Papazian came into the final day of this event in second chip position with 31 players remaining, with Venezuelas Eugenio Pernia sitting atop the leaderboard when action resumed. Pernia ended up finishing ninth for $24,112, while Papazian survived to the final table in the middle of the pack.

Igor Thiesen ran A-J into A-Q suited to finish in eighth place ($32,155). Nikola Minkov (3rd $42,879) followed not too long after when K-Q failed to outrun the A-J of Patrick Mahoney. A classic preflop race ended in brutal fashion for Aleksey Churbanov. His 77 were up against the AQ of Tal Noach. The sevens remained ahead through the K108 flop and the 10 turn, but the river put two high pairs on the board to counterfeit Churbanovs pocket pair. He earned $57,180 as the sixth-place finisher.

Noach then overtook the top spot in the chip counts when his AA held up against the AK of Mahoney, who had cold four-bet from the big blind after an early position raise was three-bet by Noach. Mahoney found no help from the board and was eliminated in fifth place $76,250.

Cristian Nagaki was the next to fall to Noach. In a battle of the blinds, Noach shoved from the small blind with A6 and Nagaki called with Q9. Neither player improved and Nagaki was sent packing in fourth place ($101,682).

Papazian was the shortest stack when three-handed action began, but managed to surge up the leaderboard when his flopped set of deuces beat out the turned top pair of Santiago Varela. The Uruguayan player fell to the bottom of the chip counts after the hand, and soon was at risk with 64 against the AJ of Noach, who flopped top pair and held from there to set up a heads-up showdown with Papazian. Varela was awarded $135,595 for his third-place showing.

Papazian held roughly a 2:1 chip lead to start, and remained ahead by the time the final hand arose. Papazian raised to 1,000,000 from the button with Q6 and Noach called from the big blind with 87. The Q65 flop saw Noach check and Papazian bet 699,600. Noach check-raised with his open-ended straight draw, making it 2,600,000 to go. Papazian called with his top two pair and the 3 hit the turn. Noach bet 3,660,000 and Papazian called. The 2 on the river prompted Noach to move all-in with his busted draw for 9,482,308. Papazian called with his two pair to lock up the pot and the title, while Noach earned $180,818 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

Visit link:

Alexandru Papazian Wins His Second Bracelet In The World Series of Poker Online $888 Crazy Eights Event - Poker News - CardPlayer.com

September 12, 2021LearnWPT

This week were focused on a tournament scenario where you are out of position against a tough player in early position who opens to 2.5BBs, you raise to 10BBs from the Big Blind and they call.

This is an interesting situation due to the larger sizing of 4x the UTG+1 players raise since youre out of position. In addition, remaining stacks in relation to the pot size going to the flop are relatively shallow with an approximate Stack to Pot Ratio of 2. These factors coupled with your opponent being in position postflop, leads to a higher calling frequency of your raise even with some of their biggest hands. The early position player will be utilizing a strategy that mixes calling and 4-betting and flat calling our 4x raise with the majority of their range that includes pocket aces, pocket kings, suited broadway hands, plus a handful of suited connectors and Ax combos.

So unlike many other situations with a reraise and call, the preflop caller in this instance doesnt have a capped range. Your range as the Big Blind is also uncapped but is quite polarized with all of the strongest hands still possible as well as a mix of bluffing hands that includes suited combos such as Q5, 75, and 54.

With the shallow stacks, positional disadvantage, and polarized preflop range you should focus on continuation betting strategy balanced between some betting and some checking. You will notice that many that do c-bet in this spot do so at less than a 70% frequency. The best hands to c-bet will have significant hard equity and the ability to fire multiple barrels on certain runouts. For example, hands with reasonable showdown value such as top pair with good kicker and strong back door draws would be good candidates to bet.

To see more examples and test your skills, you can play through five free solved hands from this scenario.

To access the free five hands, visit this page.

Regular play on the WPT GTO Trainer will help you adjust your decisions closer and closer to GTO strategy.

You dont have to be the worlds best player to use GTO Strategy, and thanks to the WPT GTO Trainer, now you dont have to buy expensive software or have expert level knowledge to study GTO.

The WPT GTO Trainer lets you play real solved hands against a perfect opponent in a wide variety of postflop scenarios for cash game and tournament play.

If your goal is to be a tough poker player then you should try the WPT GTO Trainer today.

Register a free account here (it only takes your e-mail address to begin) to play hands and see true GTO strategy in real-time.

The WPT GTO Trainer has over 4 billion unique solved flops, turns and rivers that are fully playable.

As you make decisions in a hand, you receive instant feedback on the specific EV loss (if any) and Played Percentage for every action you take as compared to GTO strategy.

The full selection of scenarios for the WPT GTO Trainer are only available to members of LearnWPT, however were giving PokerNews Readers free access to the Trainer on a regular basis with the WPT GTO Hands of The Week.

Use this series of articles to practice the strategies you learn on LearnWPT (or at the table) and test your progress by playing a five-hand sample each week

See more here:

WPT GTO Trainer Hands of the Week: 3-Betting From The Big Blind - PokerNews.com

Ryanairs confirmation that it has ended 10 months of negotiations with Boeing over an anticipated order for up to 200 737 Max 10s at face value opens a door for the Airbus sales team. However, a past history of seemingly futile narrowbody sales campaigns appears to have left Boeings European rival reticent over dealings with the low-cost carrier and its hard-bargaining boss Michael OLeary.

We do not share Boeings optimistic pricing outlook, although this may explain why in recent weeks other large Boeing customers such as Delta and Jet2 have been placing new orders with Airbus, rather than Boeing, OLeary quipped in a September 6 statement. However, in the same breath, the Ryanair CEO added that the airline already has plenty of coming Max deliveries over the next five years, taking its fleet to more than 600. That might suggest that he plans to hold in what appears to be the latest round of poker with the U.S. airframer.

Ryanair is set to receive more than 200 Max jets through 2025, dubbing the models as Gamechanger aircraft. We are disappointed we couldnt reach an agreement with Boeing on a Max 10 order, OLeary said. However, Boeing has a more optimistic outlook on aircraft pricing than we do, and we have a disciplined track record of not paying high prices for aircraft.

If Ryanairs existing fleet growth plan really is sufficient to cover projected increases in traffic, which OLeary says is bouncing back all over Europe as the continent recovers from the Covid pandemic, that somewhat begs the question of why it even began negotiations for the 230-seat Max 10 in the fall of 2020. As recently as August 31, OLeary told a press conference in Brussels that he was making progress in agreeing on pricing with Boeingsometime before the summer of 2022.

Ryanair stands as the largest European customer for the 737 Max, having placed firm orders for 210 of the Max 8-200 variant. The Irish low-cost carrierreceived its first Max 8-200configured with 197 seats in June and now has taken delivery of 12 of the type. Schedules call for a further 55 to join the groups fleet before summer next year.

Neither Boeing nor Airbus has commented on the breakdown in negotiations with Ryanair. On September 6, Lufthansa started operations with its first A320 narrowbody, an A321neo, equipped with the new Airbus Single-Aisle Airspace cabin. It became the first European operator to introduce the new interior configuration, which includes slimmer sidewall panels to increase personal space, improved windows and lighting, and larger overhead bins for baggage.

See the original post here:

Analysis: Ryanair Holds in Poker Game with Boeing - Aviation International News

SPRINGFIELD MGM Springfield made the Gaming Commission's planned discussion on Thursday about the absence of poker at the western Massachusetts casino an easy one.

While poker will return to MGM Springfield, the casino will bring the popular card game back at a reduced capacity. Players can expect about 10 to 12 tables instead of the 28 that used to populate the casino's poker room.

"So, really, I think our first statement is that poker will be returning to MGM Springfield," Daniel Miller, the casino's compliance director said right off the top. "We have plans that it will come back in Q4 of this year."

The state's two casinos MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor were freed of nearly all COVID-19 restrictions and resumed mostly normal operations in late May without offering poker, which had been prohibited by the commission when regulators first allowed the casinos to reopen under health and safety restrictions last year. This spring, the Gaming Commission began to take notice of the 10-fold increase in complaints about the lack of legal poker in the Bay State.

Both casinos said they would make decisions about the future of poker by the end of the year.

"Where previously we had made the statement that we would make a decision on it by the end of the year. We have at least made that decision and we will move forward with a plan on how to return it within that quarter," Miller said, rounding out what ended up being a discussion of less than two minutes.

While poker will return to MGM Springfield, the casino will bring the popular card game back at a reduced capacity. Players can expect about 10 to 12 tables instead of the 28 that used to populate the casino's poker room, Miller said.

"We have listened to our poker players and also our previous dealers that want this back as an option at our casino, and we want to provide it to them," he said.

Encore Boston Harbor told the Gaming Commission in late July that a reintroduction of poker would require the casino to close other table games because it cannot find enough people to hire as dealers. An Encore executive also said the former poker room is now filled with "some of our highest-performing slot machines."

"Based on current market conditions and the resulting need to prioritize space, Encore Boston Harbor will not be bringing back live poker at this time. If and when poker should return to Encore, it will likely be at a reduced capacity," an Encore spokesperson said in July.

Poker is different from many other games in that gamblers play against (and win money from or lose it to) each other rather than the casino. Instead of the casino generating revenue by winning a game, as it usually does, casinos generally profit off poker by claiming a rake, or a percentage of cash game pots and tournament entry fees.

Poker rooms at casinos are "somewhat notorious for their inability to produce competitive levels of profit per square foot," researcher Anthony Lucas wrote in a paper published in the UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal in 2013. Around the country, other operators have decided not to offer poker at this time, Bruce Band, the assistant director of the commission's Investigations and Enforcement Bureau and chief of the Gaming Agents Division, told commissioners last month.

July produced a record $27 million in gaming taxes and fees for the state.

Even without poker, Encore Boston Harbor raked in a record-high $59.07 million in gaming revenue in July and MGM Springfield had its best month since before Encore opened in June 2019, counting $23.71 million in gaming revenue. Combined with $12.95 million in monthly revenue at Plainridge Park Casino, July produced a record $27 million in gaming taxes and fees for the state.

On Thursday, Band provided the Gaming Commission with an update on the number of gaming positions offered at each of the three licensees.

Plainridge Park Casino currently has 910 active slot machines, he said. MGM Springfield is operating 1,609 slot machines, 52 table games and 15 stadium gaming seats, which allow gamblers to play blackjack, roulette, and variations of baccarat on computer screens, but with live dealers.

At Encore Boston Harbor, gamblers have their pick of 2,608 slot machines, 180 table games and 53 stadium gaming seats, Band said.

Read the rest here:

Letting the chips fall: Poker will return to MGM Springfield by year's end - Berkshire Eagle

Colin A. Young| State House News Service

MGM Springfield made the Gaming Commission's planned discussion on Thursday about the absence of poker at the western Massachusetts casino an easy one.

"So, really, I think our first statement is that poker will be returning to MGM Springfield," Daniel Miller, the casino's compliance director said right off the top. "We have plans that it will come back in Q4 of this year."

The state's two casinos -- MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor -- were freed of nearly all COVID-19 restrictions and resumed mostly normal operations in late May without offering poker, which had been prohibited by the commission when regulators first allowed the casinos to reopen under health and safety restrictions last year. This spring, the Gaming Commission began to take notice of the 10-fold increase in complaints about the lack of legal poker in the Bay State.

Both casinos said they would make decisions about the future of poker by the end of the year.

"Where previously we had made the statement that we would make a decision on it by the end of the year. We have at least made that decision and we will move forward with a plan on how to return it within that quarter," Miller said, rounding out what ended up being a discussion of less than two minutes.

More: Players complain about absence of poker at Massachusetts casinos

More: Massachusetts state representatives approve sports betting

While poker will return to MGM Springfield, the casino will bring the popular card game back at a reduced capacity. Players can expect about 10 to 12 tables instead of the 28 that used to populate the casino's poker room, Miller said.

"We have listened to our poker players and also our previous dealers that want this back as an option at our casino, and we want to provide it to them," he said.

Encore Boston Harbor told the Gaming Commission in late July that a reintroduction of poker would require the casino to close other table games because it cannot find enough people to hire as dealers. An Encore executive also said the former poker room is now filled with "some of our highest-performing slot machines."

"Based on current market conditions and the resulting need to prioritize space, Encore Boston Harbor will not be bringing back live poker at this time. If and when poker should return to Encore, it will likely be at a reduced capacity," an Encore spokesperson said in July.

Poker is different from many other games in that gamblers play against (and win money from or lose it to) each other rather than the casino. Instead of the casino generating revenue by winning a game, as it usually does, casinos generally profit off poker by claiming a rake, or a percentage of cash game pots and tournament entry fees.

Poker rooms at casinos are "somewhat notorious for their inability to produce competitive levels of profit per square foot," researcher Anthony Lucas wrote in a paper published in the UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal in 2013. Around the country, other operators have decided not to offer poker at this time, Bruce Band, the assistant director of the commission's Investigations and Enforcement Bureau and chief of the Gaming Agents Division, told commissioners last month.

Even without poker, Encore Boston Harbor raked in a record-high $59.07 million in gaming revenue in July and MGM Springfield had its best month since before Encore opened in June 2019, counting $23.71 million in gaming revenue. Combined with $12.95 million in monthly revenue at Plainridge Park Casino, July produced a record $27 million in gaming taxes and fees for the state.

On Thursday, Band provided the Gaming Commission with an update on the number of gaming positions currently offered at each of the three licensees.

Plainridge Park Casino currently has 910 active slot machines, he said. MGM Springfield is operating 1,609 slot machines, 52 table games and 15 stadium gaming seats, which allow gamblers to play blackjack, roulette, and variations of baccarat on computer screens, but with live dealers.

At Encore Boston Harbor, gamblers have their pick of 2,608 slot machines, 180 table games and 53 stadium gaming seats, Band said.

Read the original here:

Poker returning to MGM casino this year; return to Encore not imminent - The Patriot Ledger