Category Archives: Poker

At least 10 people were shot this weekend in Dallas, police said.

DALLAS Dallas police said 10 people were shot and three were killed in Dallas over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

People living in the area of the shootings said they were out watching fireworks and enjoying themselves when the shooting started and they were forced to run for cover.

Senseless, senseless, Cornerstone Baptist Church Pastor Chris Simmons said.

Simmons was stunned when he heard about the violence across Dallas Sunday night.

Crews spent the day cleaning up at the Larry Johnson Recreation Center in Southeast Dallas on Dixon Circle after a holiday celebration ended in violence.

They heard the shooting, and they started running, witness Kevin Carter said.

Carters girlfriend was sitting in her car when it was shot out, shattering the back window.

Her cousins, ages 13 and 15, were shot, and are in area hospitals. Theyre both expected to make full recoveries.

Over on the 3000 block of Park Row, many were gathered and watching fireworks when one woman was shot, and another man was shot in the head.

Its a dangerous neighborhood, Carter said.

Around 11:15 last night, a celebration on the 8200 block of Towns Street in Hamilton Park was the site of a shooting where five people were shot, and three were killed.

Then, over on Gould Street, a 61-year-old man was shot and killed in a park over a poker game.

He attended our church, Simmons said. Senseless, to realize that a life is not more valuable than $7, and the shooter's life is destroyed."

Garcia and the community have been working hard to get the crime rate and violence down. He said compared to this time last year, the crime rate numbers are significantly down.

Simmons and other pastors have been sticking together, and trying to make a difference.

To not allow violence to take place in the community, and become incognito, but to engage with the police, said Simmons.

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61-year-old man killed over a poker game is one of 3 people killed in Dallas-area shootings over holiday weekend - WFAA.com

Baazi Games concluded the online edition of the National Poker Series recently and saw a nation-wide pool of Indias poker talent. The debut-edition recorded a whopping 83,793 entries from across the country and the winners took home a staggering prize pool of more than Rs19 crores.

The 15-days series hosted on PokerBaazi lauded 64 gold medalists in addition to 128 silver and bronze champions. The winners from the main-event gold medalist Mohammad Azhar (Nagaur, Rajasthan), silver medalist Ashwani Vishwakarma (Satna, Madhya Pradesh) and bronze medalist Player think_again were the ultimate poker maestros who secured victory in this tenacious battle of skill and mental strength. The biggest event of the tournament Golden Rush witnessed 19,249 entries and discovered the hidden gems of poker Vivek Bajaj (Ranchi, Jharkhand), Player neha 94 and Sumit Sapra (Mohali, Punjab) who won gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.

Commenting on the success of the National Poker Series,Baazi Games founder and CEO Navkiran Singhsaid,We are over-joyed with the immense enthusiasm and love that the poker patrons across the nation have showcased during this 15-days gala. The National Poker Series, hosted on PokerBaazi.com ended on a high note as we witnessed exponential audience participation which crossed our anticipated mark and unveiled some hidden gems and marvels who excel in the game of poker. Moreover, the success of the series is a testament of our efforts towards pivoting the perception of poker in India as a skill-based game that provides an opportunity to challenge the human mind. I would also like to acknowledge the dedication and diligence that has gone behind by our teams to ensure the success of this tournament. As we conclude the debut-edition of NPS, we are already geared up to start planning for the next season and bring some exciting opportunities to the table.

Talking about his victory and experience,NPS Podium Gold Medalist Mohammad Azhar Tak from Nagaur, Rajasthansaid,This edition of NPS has been more than participating in just one or two events. The main event is my third victory and the toughest one so far, where I took the field down. Its one of my greatest feats that I have been going after since a very long time. NPS has been a great experience and I have secured the first position for the Vegas package. Moreover, it is unreal to believe that I will be representing India internationally. I am looking forward to my trip to Vegas, where I plan to discover all things poker.

The series witnessed some nail-biting poker tables and scaled new heights by throwing open the platform for one-and-all to try their hand at the game of poker. Furthermore, the NPS Podium Finishers, the players with the most valuable medal hauls across the series,Mohammad Azhar Tak (Nagaur, Rajasthan),Ankit Wadhawan (Chandigarh, Punjab) andKritagya Sharma (New Delhi) who won the gold, silver, and bronze medals,will be representing India at an international platform in one of the biggest poker events of the world to be conducted in Las Vegas.

The Leaderboard:

Top 3 main-event champions:

Gold: Mohammad Azhar Tak from Nagaur, Rajasthan

Silver: Ashwani Vishwakarma from Satna, Madhya Pradesh

Bronze: Player under the name of Thing_again from Mumbai, Maharashtra

Winners for Golden Rush Tournament:

Gold: Vivek Bajaj from Ranchi, Jharkhand

Silver: Player under the name of neha94 from Jaipur, Rajasthan

Bronze: Sumit Sapra from Zirakpur, Mohali, Punjab

Top 3 Podium Finishers:

Gold: Mohammad Azhar Tak from Nagaur, Rajasthan

Silver: Ankit Wadhawan from Chandigarh, Punjab

Bronze: Kritagya Sharma from New Delhi

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PokerBaazis National Poker Series witnesses participation of 83,793 entries across the 15 days tournament - Animation Xpress

July 04, 2021Chad Holloway

PokerNews is known throughout the world for our industry-leading live updates for both live and online events. In fact, right now we're offering various updates right here.

Over the years, weve captured memorable hands, many of which have become a part of poker history. In this new column, we will bring you some of the biggest hands of the week as reported in the PokerNews Live Updates.

Remember, if youre playing an event PokerNews is covering, you can get in the updates via the MyStack App. You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.

Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.

This past week, PokerNews was offering live updates from the $10,000 buy-in, $10,000,000 GTD Wynn Millions, which saw Andrew Moreno top a 1,328-entry field to win $1,460,106 in prize money.

Throughout the tournament, there were some memorable hands including a brutal cooler involving Bryn Kenney and Alex Foxen, as well as Ari Engel winning with straight flush over straight flush.

In between, there were some other interesting hands reported in our live updates blog. Here's a look at some highlights.

On Day 1a of the Wynn Millions, it took just one hand for the first player to fall. It happened in Level 1 (100/100/100) when Maria Konnikova raised to 300 only to have Tony Wasaya three-bet to 1,300. Arthur Morris called, Konnikova folded, and it was heads-up action to a rainbow flop.

Wasaya continued for 7,000, Morris called, and the appeared on the turn, which put out a potential flush draw.

Wasaya bet 13,000 and then snap-called when Morris raised all in.

Tony Wasaya: Arthur Morris:

Morris had flopped a set and cracked aces after the river bricked. Just like that, the first player fell in the 2021 Wynn Millions.

In the same level, there was heads-up action between Daniel Negreanu from the cutoff and Walter Enlow on the button with a completed board of showing.

A series of raises saw Negreanu move all in and Enlow called off his stack holding slightly less then Negreanu.

Negreanu quickly rolled over the nuts and Enlow tossed into the muck. With that, Negreanu doubled and was off to a great start. Unfortunately for him, it was only downhill from there.

In the very next level, there was four-way action that saw a flop and Nitis Udornpim continued for 1,500. Negreanu raised to 5,500 and all three opponents called bringing the turn.

Action was checked to the player in middle position who fired out 1,600 and Negreanu raised all in. Action folded to Udornpim who came over the top and isolated.

Nitis Udornpim: Daniel Negreanu:

Negreanu was ahead after flopping a set of fives but a completed the board on the river, giving Udornpim a better full house and sent Negreanu to the rebuy desk.

On Day 1b, Negreanu was back at it but continued to struggle. In Level 7 (400/800/800), 2017 WSOP champ Scott Blumstein raised to 1,800 from middle position only to have Negreanu three-bet jam for 11,800 a couple spots over. Action folded back to Blumstein, who opted to fold. Negreanu then let slip a smile and showed the .

In the very next hand, Negreanu raised to 1,600 from the hijack and Wyoming's Ryan Remington called from the button. The player in the small blind called, as did the big, and it was four-way action to a flop of .

Two checks saw Negreanu continue for 5,500, Remington called, and the other two players got out of the way. After the dealer burned and turned the , Negreanu jammed and action was on Remington.

"That was a good card for me," he said before making the call.

Ryan Remington: Daniel Negreanu:

Indeed, the turn gave Remington a diamond flush draw, but Negreanu was ahead with a pair and heart flush draw. Unfortunately for "Kid Poker," the river was the to pair Remington.

Negreanu would try again and eventually found his footing; in fact, he wound up finishing 114th in the tournament for $27,099.

Also on Day 1b, it was Level 8 (500/1,000/1,000) when Sergio Aido raised to 2,500 from the button and then called when Chan three-bet to 7,500 from the small blind.

On the two-diamond flop, Chan continued for 10,000 and Aido called to see the turn.

Chan moved all in for his last 15,000 or so and Aido called.

Johnny Chan: Sergio Aido:

Aido was out in front with two pair while Chan had both straight and flush draws. Unfortunately for the two-time WSOP Main Event champ, the river was a brick and he was eliminated from the tournament.

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Hands of the Week: Negreanu Struggles in Wynn Millions; Johnny Chan's Bustout - PokerNews.com

Join us in this cute hand between Lynn Gilmartin and Charlie Carrel. Does chemistry make it harder to read your opponent? Let us know what you think! Subscribe here to our channel: http://psta.rs/SubscribetoPS -----------------

Amazing bluffs, sick coolers, quads, flushes. The best plays, the best players, the best clips. This is what Best Poker Clips is all about. Whether it's plays from pro players like Vanessa Selbst, Phil Ivey, and Tony G., or skilled amateurs doing something crazy. If it's a great play, we will share the clip.

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PokerStars is home to the best (online) poker events. Every year we run the best online tournament series in the world. We also host the best weekly tournaments, plus many more every day of the week. PokerStars is the only place where you can watch and play against Team PokerStars Pro - our group of elite pro players. Between them they have scores of World Series bracelets, EPT and WPT titles and more, adding up to millions in winnings.

At our channel youll find livestreams of our biggest poker tournaments, highlights of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and series like Big Game and The Shark Cage. But we will also walk you through poker strategies of our pro PokerStars, give you poker tips, show you how to play poker, show you the best (and worst) poker hands and we will line up some of the best poker moments for you. There's no better place to learn and play poker than with PokerStars.

Curious to what you can expect on our channel? New video every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday at 6PM(Live/online) tournaments year round

Want to stay up-to-date with all the poker-ins and outs? Follow us on our Facebook-, Twitter and Instagram page or check out our Twitch-channel.

Do you need more information? Check out our website!

Are you Portuguese, French, Spanish, German or Russian-speaking? Check out the Brazilian, UK, French, Spanish, German or Russian PokerStars YouTube channel: - http://psta.rs/3rgMqKv - http://psta.rs/33MmT2g - http://psta.rs/2UjKDFd - http://psta.rs/3naQuJk - http://psta.rs/2WB5vJa - http://psta.rs/3gxS4lz

Keep it cool, Keep it fun, Play Responsibly:https://www.pokerstars.net/about/responsible-gaming/

Content is for 18+ only

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Subscribe to the PokerStars Global channel: http://psta.rs/SubscribetoPS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PokerStars Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pokerstars/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/pokerstars Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/PokerStars

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#PokerStars #BestPokerClips #CharlieCarrel

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The CUTEST Poker Hand Ever Best Poker Clips PokerStars - PokerNews.com

LAS VEGASFinding himself escorted from the premises as soon as his transgression came to light, professional poker player Curt Manginis was banned from The Venetian Casinos Texas hold em tournament Tuesday for deceiving his opponents by knowingly betting on a weak hand. Curt just kept raising and raising so we assumed he had a full house or something, but then when he flipped his cards over it was nothing but a pair of threes, and we were all just outraged, said fellow tournament-goer Pete Walton, expressing his fury that trickery of this nature had been allowed at a professional event. The rest of us folded in good faith, so to see that it was all nothing but a con is pretty unbelievable. We came here to play cards honorably at a high level, and its a shame to have it marred by such a blatant attempt at chicanery. At press time, an additional player had been banned for attempting to bamboozle and confuse opponents by spinning a poker chip on the table.

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Professional Poker Player Banned For Deceiving Opponents By Knowingly Betting On Weak Hand - The Onion

Planet Hollywood Rumoured To Close Its Poker Room On July 11July 2, 2021Dusan Jovanovic

Yet another US poker room is closing for good in Las Vegas, if current rumors hold true. Planet Hollywoods poker room will permanently shut its doors on July 11, according to some of its employees, though there has been no official statement yet from the company regarding the closure.

Back in 2020, Planet Hollywood was due to host the GOLIATH series from May 28 to July 8, but the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.

The event, like all other poker festivals scheduled for that year, was put on hold.

The venue initially suggested that the series would be rescheduled, but with the recent developments, it appears the plans have now been thrown into the trash bin.

While we still need to wait for confirmation from Planet Hollywood and its parent company Caesars Entertainment with regards to the permanent closure of the poker room, its inactivity on social media since mid-October 2020 provides hints into the rooms real status.

Vital Vegas, a popular source of news and tips concerning Las Vegas, also tweeted on June 29 that Planet Hollywoods poker room is indeed closing on July 11, according to a reliable source. One commenter, who identified himself as an employee of the casino confirmed the rumor.

If ongoing speculations are true, then Planet Hollywood will add to the growing list of poker rooms which decided to cease operations in Las Vegas, including those at Mirage, Mandalay Bay, Binions, and Excalibur.

Planet Hollywoods poker room sits next to the establishments popular Pleasure Pit, a gaming area featuring sexy dealers and dancers. Without any physical barrier separating the poker area from the Pleasure Pit, players are offered a unique experience playing their favorite poker games and tournaments.

The latest major poker festival to be held at the poker room was the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Planet Hollywood, which took place in 2019. It featured a $1,700 buy-in Main Event which was eventually taken down by Michael Trivett for $215,943 in top prize, alongside a WSOPC ring. The event attracted a total of 778 entrants.

On the same year, the venue also hosted an edition of the GOLIATH series which saw British player Ben Farrell capture the Main Event for $162,400.

The live poker scene in Las Vegas has continued to shrink, with several rooms closing for good. In 2010, the Sin City was home to over 1,000 poker tables. That figure has now dropped to less than 300.

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Planet Hollywood Rumoured To Close Its Poker Room On July 11 - top10pokersites

Investment banker and poker enthusiast Prateek Shuklas second book Gamble of Love (Buddhas House of Mirrors is his debut book) is a spy thriller, but it is much more than that. Delve into it and find that the author looks at life and millennials internal conflicts through a spiritual lens. That is a lot of layering you think, but then you discover that the poker fiction in the young-adult thriller genre weaves parallel stories of two orphans Alia and Suhana prodigies in poker and the science of explosives. The fast-paced narrative has poetic nuggets with a spiritual undertone in a suspense-filled espionage story.

London-based Prateek, (his pen name Shuklaji takes after what his friends and family address him), was born in Varanasi to a lineage of spiritual masters and teachers. Scribbles of the past remained with me, he says by way of explaining his fascination for storytelling, despite a career in finance. Since childhood, he has written stories, poems and ghazals, which gradually turned into blogs and articles.

Prateek thinks being spontaneous helps him straddle both banking and writing. Through all the changes and his multiple interests, poker has remained a constant, he says. So its no surprise Gamble... combines elements of spirituality and mythology with the thrill of a poker game. Poker was added as an element in his book owing to the changing narrative around the game in India from a gambling sport to a sport of skill. As a poker enthusiast, I wanted to help voice my support for the game along with the prominent voices from poker community who have provided reviews for the book.

In an email interview, Prateek Shukla shares his inspirations and the role of spirituality in his writings. Excerpts from the interview.

How did Gamble of Love take off?

The dots just connect when I look back paraphrasing Steve Jobs, holds good for me. I have always debated spirituality, mythology and history with my parents who encouraged me to create, rather than just critique. Since I had the structure of the story in mind, it took a month for the first draft. Millennials have opened the discussion around consciousness and spirituality more than the previous generation for we are more connected as the world is getting smaller; combine that with my poker enthusiasm and youll realise my love for writing.

Were the characters and the worlds they inhabit inspired by real life?

The setup was inspired by my debut book Buddha's House of Mirrors. Alia converses with a Buddha to make sense of her anger towards the divine for making her an orphan, though with a gift in numbers. Any spiritual quest is a self-introspection on identity. The various character arcs in the book are inspired by the spiritual threads. The questions these characters raise, the solutions thereafter and the abstract analysis of their decisions are inspired by real-life conversations with spiritual masters and readings of translated versions of Vedas and philosophical and religious schools of thought.

My aim was to make sure the characters fit their age but explored their mature side, becoming accountable for their choices and introspect different emotions as they step into the adult world.

Were you sceptical of millennials connecting to the books spiritual tone?

Spiritual theories and thoughts are always open to debate and embrace diverse opinions, thereby, the ease or difficulty of their application depends on an understanding of their contextual depth. Reading the Gita and Vedas, Buddhist theories and principles behind Vedanta, listening to spiritual talks and stories, one needs to take time to introspect and that is something I see millennials doing with ease. We see dialogues around self-awareness with debates on religion, atheism, mythology with intriguing queries on identity.

The books language is simple and the fast-paced short narration has poetic snippets and ghazals. I am confident of keeping the readers hooked.

Stories that weave history and spirituality with the thrill of a game like poker and a spy story in a young adult genre, have been successful in getting millennials approval, more so given the rise of OTT platforms.

Can you explain how you tried to balance various elements poker game, spy thriller, spirituality and more in the book?

I worked a lot in the development of four characters to give them their individual journeys towards a central plot, which helped shape a balanced narrative. While Alia sets off the story talking to a Buddha, underlining the spiritual narrative, Suhana brings out elements of mythology. Jackie and Karan help pace the thriller narrative around a criminal circle and the introduction of a spy network to dismantle it.

Your two books have a spiritual tone. Do you lead a spiritual life?

Experimentally, yes! I have always been open to learning spiritual and religious schools of thought and experimenting with their application in life. Nevertheless, as a human, I too go through ups and down with different emotions and make mistakes but the tools of meditative awareness and observation through a spiritual lens help me move faster and work towards creating something of my own two books and many more to come!

(Gamble of Love Authors Channel, 259)

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Book Gamble of Love: Life through a spiritual lens - The Hindu

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Poker: a game, to be sure, but also a metaphor for life, business, and the hustling we all inevitably engage in to get ahead. Also very fun to watch famous actors do on the big screen! Certainly much more fun than watching the World Poker Tour, unless youre a true poker nerd.

The movies have been obsessed with the card game since just about forever. The best of these, showcased in this list, delve into the larger social and psychological implications of those who become deeply involved in the poker worlds tricky web. Plus whats better than watching Matt Damon and Warren Beatty flop-sweat it out over a hustle?

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The Sting (1973)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid director George Roy Hill took the reins of this Best Picture winner (starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman) thats centrally about the art of conning, though poker plays an important role. Its one of the ultimate hustle-as-a-way-of-life allegories. For better or worse, it might also just help you at your next job interview.

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Casino (1995)

One of the many wonderful, dirty things about Martin Scorseses nearly three-hour Las Vegas epic (!) is Sharon Stone as a gambling hustler who marries Robert De Niros casino manager. Poker is one small but critical facet of what happens inside the casino. Another is Joe Pesci. No wonder Scorsese refused to edit this thing down.

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Rounders (1998)

Its hard to say why (the indie film explosion? A renewed fixation with conning?), but the 90s were a golden age for poker movies. And Matt Damon and Edward Norton as friends nervously, sweatily exploring the underworld of high-stakes poker to pay off a debt are never less than riveting. Rounders is one of the true underrated gems of the decade.

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Molly's Game (2017)

Before he directed the Oscar-nominated and then Oscar-snubbed Netflix movie The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin took the helm of this twisty true story of Molly Bloom, who ran high-stakes poker games attended by the wealthy and famous before facing an FBI investigation and criminal charges. Jessica Chastain as Bloom is in excellent form here.

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Mississipi Grind (2015)

The A24-released Mississippi Grind didnt reach many peoples radars, but it should have. After all, you would think Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn as degenerate gamblers on a Southern excursion would have more commercial traction.

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Maverick (1994)

An update of the old TV series, Maverick has Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner as a trio of Old West schemers intent on using poker to improve their station in life. It is funny, weird, and extremely 90s.

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The Grand (2007)

The improv-oriented mockumentary features actual players at a poker tournament at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, with Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson, Chris Parnell, Werner Herzog, Jason Alexander, Dennis Farina, David Cross, Gabe Kaplan, Michael Karnow, and Cheryl Hines thrown into the mix. In other words, theres no way not to laugh.

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Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (1980)

The title kind of explains it all, but if youre only familiar with the Kenny Rogers hit The Gambler (and if youre not, please correct that immediately), check out the surprisingly solid TV movie piggybacking off the songs success. The always good-natured Rogers plays a gambler helping out a young poker player. Revolutionary? Certainly not, but a worthy late-night watch.

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McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)

Okay, so its not really about poker, but Robert Altmans masterpiece kicks off with a poker game launched by Warren Beattys newly arrived hustler: Well, you boys don't know nothin' about me, and I don't know nothin' about you. So whaddya say we make this a nickel game, huh, to start off with. Thats just the beginning of McCabes sordid saga, and Beattys performance is poetic.

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9 Movies About Poker That Will Change How You Think of the Game - menshealth.com

As in the previous year, the Tour de France (12pm / Sky), which starts in Brest on Saturday, could turn into a Slovenian fight. Current champions Tadej Bokakar and Primos Rocklick are considered the most favorite after a strong season so far, but the Aeneas racing team, which was sacked in 2020, wants to face it with Gerant Thomas, Richie Borde and Richard Carbas. A few more like Ricoberto Uran deserve the stage. Since there is not much mountain trail at this time, the French believers Julian Albiliphe can count on anything. However, this does not apply to four-time champion Chris Froome, who has yet to recover from a serious fall injury in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Austrians are heading for stage victories. However, Lucas Pastelberger and Patrick Conrad are involved in the Bora team mainly as assistants to stage rival Wilco Gelterman and sprinter Peter Sagan, but they will also be given the freedom to make their own initiative. This also applies to Marco Holler, the leading wolf in the most successful Bahraini entourage recently.

The fourth RV professional in the field of elegant touring is Michael Cochle of the Quebec Racing Team, who did a lot in the spring. Holler, Conrad and Pastelberger, who retired in 2020, could start the tour carefree as he struggled with knee problems in advance. The Pastelberger was in excellent shape, lasting several days with stage success and overall tour on the Dowfine tour.

After finishing twelfth overall in the Tour test, Conrad confidently travels to the wind-affected Brittany as the newly crowned national champion. I am in a good mood and the form is correct. I hope I can add a little more during the tour, Conrad told the Austrian press. Lower Austrian, who has already finished in the top ten at Zero, wants to drive on his own, in addition to his role as a key assistant to Gulderman. At one point or another I will look for my chance. A win is a dream come true, the 29-year-old said.

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Tour de France - Poker and Rocklick like to stir up the Tour de France - BioPrepWatch

GGPoker hosted more cash game players at its tables over the last seven days that PokerStars, the first time since 2006 that a comparable online poker site has usurped the online poker giant.

According to data provided by GameIntel, an independent monitor of cash game traffic since 2006, available exclusively on the Poker Industry PRO Data platform, the seven-day moving average of concurrent cash game players for GGPoker was 5006. PokerStars was 4981.

GGPoker hitting the top spot for cash game traffic is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, and of course a testament to the amazing community of players that call GGPoker home, said Daniel Negreanu, global ambassador for GGPoker, in a statement issued to pokerfuse. We dont rest on our laurels, weve reached #1 by constantly innovating and improving our games, promotions and rewards and you havent seen anything yet!

It is the first time since October 2006when then-leader partypoker withdrew from the United States in the wake of UIGEA and saw long-time rival PokerStars take the crownthat another operator with a focus on regulated European markets has sat atop the global online poker market.

GGPoker overtaking PokerStars is perhaps not too surprising for those that have followed the numbers closely for a while. It has been closing the gap on its rival for years; indeed, overtaking PokerStars this year was a prediction we made for 2021.

Data provided by GameIntel

However, taking a step back, its achievement is remarkable. No online poker operator has come close at dethroning the king of online poker for north of a decade.

The last time an operator was remotely close to PokerStars was in 2010-2011, when Full Tilt was of comparable size prior to its collapse on Black Friday. Since then, PokerStars has reigned supreme in almost every market in which it operates, often accounting for two-thirds of all real money cash game hands played each day anywhere around the globe.

But that began to change with the rise of GGPoker. Launching first in Asian markets, it landed on our radars in 2017 when one of its skins, Natural 8, started to move into European markets. Later that year, it launched its own poker rooms, GGPoker.com and GGpoker.co.uk. From there, its traffic grew unchecked for four and a half years.

Data provided by GameIntel

It really took off in early 2020, thanks to big product launches and a transformative partnership with the World Series of Poker. Last summer, PRO highlighted its meteoric rise, up threefold year-over-year.

While the pandemic was partially responsible, we pointed out that its string of successesnew games, new ambassadors, massive tournament series, each tumbling one after other in rapid-fire succession*all pointed to strong underlying growth that will ultimately dwarf a brief pandemic bump.*

Indeed, if anything its growth since then has been even more impressive. Traffic is up around 60% year-over-year, a truly staggering amount given that it is lapping the coronavirus peak of early 2020 summer. To compare, the rest of the dot-com online poker market is understandably down 35% on where it was a year ago.

Data provided by GameIntel

As always with cash game traffic analysis, there are caveats to identify. The figures describe only cash gamesnot tournaments or sit and gosso the picture of the market is partial; it also treats all seats filled at real money tables the same, so low and high stakes games, which can generate very different revenue, are considered equal for this comparison.

There have also been arguably a couple of cases of other operators briefly taking the top spot in the past. IDN, a lesser-known Asian online poker site, has reported cash game traffic at similar or higher levels to PokerStars, and in some rankings has appeared higher. PRO and pokerfuse recently excluded these from analysis of global, European-focused online poker sites as the traffic is so different (in terms of buy-ins) that it is too far from an apples-to-apples comparison to be valuable.

Similarly, Ukrainian online poker site PokerMatch skewed the entire online poker market a few months ago when it launched a rake-free, ultra-nano-stakes no-skill cash game; PRO temporarily disabled them from the rankings for the same reasons.

GGPoker also has access to more markets than PokerStars and its ilk. It does target European markets: it holds licenses in the United Kingdom, Malta and the Isle of Man, and its skin OlyBet is licensed in Latvia and Estonia. However, its global footprint is broader than publicly traded competition.

Sites like partypoker, under the purview of Entain plc, and PokerStars, under new direction from Flutter plc, have had to exit markets considered grey in the last year. GGPoker has withdrawn from some legally dubious areas, but it, or its partners, do remain in some jurisdictions considered too risky by the competition, giving it an advantage over others.

However, these caveats notwithstanding, cash game traffic frequently gives an accurate reflection of global online poker markets. Its trends a strong early indicator of official regulated market data.

Indeed, other markers suggest that GGPoker is as large, if not larger, than PokerStars. Its big tournament series have set records; its partnerships and ambassadorships stir up as much admiration and controversy as anyones.

Its new game launches generate envious buzz, as do its promotions.

Where can it go from here? There is little indication yet that GGPokers cash game growth is stalling. Even if it does level out, this will likely be due to its player base playing more tournamentslike the recently launched hit Battle Royale SNG gamethan leaving the site altogether.

The site also has a summer of WSOP tie-in tournaments coming up. The operator will be offering Las Vegas satellite packages to the World Series; starting in August, official online bracelet events will get underway on GGPoker.com for international players.

One could well expect PokerStars to respond to this directly. For years, the company has aimed to provide less incentives to high volume players, and improve the experience of its casual, recreational customersif anything, declining traffic was part of that plan.

But its new owners recently suggested a change of course. New owners Flutter recently pledged a multi-year investment into poker, citing its share of the online poker market reduced in recent years and promising a significant step-change in investment behind the brand to address historic underinvestment.

In a word: The battle is on.

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GGPoker, Online Poker's New King: For the First Time in 15 Years, PokerStars Loses Cash Game Crown - Pokerfuse