Author Archives: jnewell

WPT Prepares for Season XVIII Start at Gardens Casino

The World Poker Tour is heading for the end of Season XVII this month, as it completes a stop at Choctaw and then heads to Las Vegas for an ARIA event, several final tables at the HyperX Esports Arena, and a Tournament of Champions. Even so, the WPT is ready to start promoting Season XVIII, which will kick off in mid-July at the Gardens Casino in Southern California. The announcement came as the busiest time of the poker year gets

PokerStars Adds Five Events and $5M to SCOOP

The massive Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) is underway on PokerStars. It started on May 12 and offered 201 total tournaments and a cumulative guarantee of more than $75 million. And as it was moving along, meeting its guarantees and attracting tens of thousands of players to the online tournament series, PokerStars did something unusual. It added tournaments to the schedule. By adding five more events, including one 6+ Hold’em, that actually added 15 more tournaments to the overall

PartyPoker Axes More Bots Ahead of HUD Ban

Of the online poker sites focusing lately on poker bots, PartyPoker has been one of the largest operators to take a stand with transparency. Last month, PartyPoker reported that its Poker Fraud Team detected and closed 277 bot accounts between December 2018 and March 2019. And per that in-depth investigation that led to the closures, the site was able to refund nearly $735,000 to its players who were victimized by those bots. The latest news from PartyPoker informed players that

Virginia Commission Hires Gaming Consultant Per New Law

In March, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill to expand gambling in the state, though not to be confused with West Virginia that voted shortly thereafter to legalize online poker and casino games. Virginia passed a law that allowed the state to expand beyond its lottery and horse racing action, one that authorizes casino gaming in cities that vote to approve casinos, two tribal gaming facilities, and the option for sports betting and online gaming. The state legislature made some changes

Seasonal Dip Hits New Jersey Online Poker in April

For the first time in many months, New Jersey’s internet gaming sector showed a monthly decrease in revenue during the month of April 2019. While it has come to be expected from online poker, it is unusual for online casinos to decrease from month to month. And to see a substantial decrease is even rarer. It should be noted, however, that the year-on-year numbers for internet gaming on the whole were up substantially. The nearly 59% increase is better than

Americas Cardroom Continues Online Poker Bot Crackdown

Several online poker sites have taken steps in recent months to rid their online poker tables of bots and various mechanisms that create unfair playing environments. There have been different methods employed by PokerStars and PartyPoker, and the Winning Poker Network has forged its own path to eliminate bots and reimburse players. In April, the WPN flagship site Americas Cardroom launched the results of its own internal investigation into accounts that were affiliated with poker bots. ACR closed those accounts,

PokerStars Introduces New Ambassadors in UFC Deal

PokerStars first announced a marketing sponsorship with the UFC in December 2018. It put PokerStars in the ring as the official poker partner of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), with that first branding on display in late December at the UFC 232 event. Part of the ongoing partnership between the two would include PokerStars branding during UFC telecasts and on digital platforms and social media. At the time, the poker giant also noted that “other promotional opportunities” were in the

New York Online Poker Efforts Fall Flat in 2019

The efforts were minimal. Bills were introduced in the New York House and Senate to legalize and regulate interactive poker games. And though the Senate bill seemed that it could’ve had some momentum, the House bill was merely a gesture. And since their introductions, both bills have been relatively motionless, not even garnering a hearing. Lawmakers have been focused on sports betting, working out the details and holding hearings and meetings to try to make it happen. Meanwhile, online poker

WSOP Circuit Announces 2019-2020 US Schedule

The World Series of Poker decided to make all of its announcements before the summer WSOP gets underway, and that included the unveiling of the next WSOP Circuit schedule. It will be the 16th WSOPC season and ready to launch on July 17 in Oklahoma, just one day after the final table of the WSOP Main Event happens in Las Vegas. Currently, the last of the 2018-2019 season of the WSOPC is happening at Harrah’s New Orleans through May 20,

PokerStars Expands 6+ Hold’em, Preps Other New Games

The experimentation with new games at PokerStars continues into 2019. Not only is the online poker giant expanding its 6+ Hold’em offerings into the tournament realm, other new poker variations are in the works for possible launches later this year. PokerStars has spent the last few years putting a development team on new poker variations, something to spark interest in new players and challenge the strategy levels of seasoned ones. For the most part, the team has been releasing games