Author Archives: jnewell
Jennifer began writing about poker while working at the World Poker Tour in the mid-2000s. Since then, her freelance writing career has taken her from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back to her hometown of St. Louis, where she now lives with her two dogs. She continues to follow the poker world as she also launches a new subscription box company and finishes her first novel. Jennifer has written for numerous publications including PokerStars.com and has followed the US poker and gaming market closely for the last 15 years. Follow Jen on Twitter
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PokerStars Blowout Series Far Exceeds Guarantees
It didn’t start as well as they hoped. PokerStars planned its new Blowout Series as a massive series to take players out of a rocky (to put it mildly) year and into 2021 with great online poker opportunities. The series ran from December 27 to January 19, offering 268 tournaments and $60 million in guarantees. Instead of a Main Event for the series, as is normal, PokerStars established four standout tournaments in the series. They were called the Big Blowout
WPT Spring Festival Set on Poker King for Asian Market
Earlier this week, the World Poker Tour announced that Allied Esports Entertainment sold it for $78.25 million. Compound that with the ongoing and unpredictable nature of the coronavirus pandemic into 2021 after nine months of it in 2020. It all adds up to a WPT year is going to be full of surprises. This week, the World Poker Tour touted the growth of its 2020-launched WPT Online by revealing a new online poker festival. This time, however, it is not
Caesars Renews 888 Contract for WSOP Online in US
The WSOP.com platform for online poker in the United States market will remain the same for years to come. WSOP has operated its American online poker on the 888 platform since 2013. Since then, the site has continued to operate in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. Caesars Interactive Entertainment is the parent company of the World Series of Poker, under which the WSOP.com site operates. And this week, Caesars Interactive and 888 agreed to a multi-year extension of the B2B
US Court of Appeals Affirms Wire Act Ruling Against DOJ
On the last day of the Trump Administration, as US President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris awaited the opportunity to take the oath of office and assume their news roles, the US Court of Appeals enters its decision in the Wire Act case. Interesting timing, no? Strangely enough, there wasn’t even a guarantee that the court would render a decision. But on January 19, 2021, more than three years after the US Department of Justice issued a new and
Pennsylvania iGaming Wraps 2020 with Record Stats
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) revealed its final 2020 statistics. There is good news and bad news. The latter is that 2020 was a horrible year for the gambling industry in general due to the pandemic. The good news, however, is that internet gaming was in place to make up some of the difference with an impressive revenue stream. Total gaming revenue for 2020 exceeded $2.6 billion. While that was a 22% drop from 2019 numbers, it could have
Element Partners to Pick Up World Poker Tour for $78M
The World Poker Tour announced today, January 19, that Element Partners will buy the World Poker Tour and all of its assets from Allied Esports Entertainment for $78.25 million. Interesting news, indeed. The last time the World Poker Tour changed hands was when it was WPT Enterprises. In December 2018, Black Ridge Acquisition scooped up WPT Enterprises and Allied Esports Entertainment from Ourgame. The $213.8 million deal focused on esports and video gaming. (The WPT part of the deal was
Americas Cardroom Tees Up OSS Cub3d XI
To new poker players, OSS Cub3d XI on ACR seems like a wild jumble of acronyms. For Americas Cardroom players – or any players on Winning Poker Network sites like Black Chip Poker – they know this means a set of three poker tournament series online that offers something for every type of player. OSS is the Online Super Series, and the Cub3d means it is a comprehensive tournament series multiplied by three. And ACR is, of course, Americas Cardroom.
PartyPoker MILLIONS Online Set to Begin February 21
It is back. The PartyPoker MILLIONS Online debuted several years ago. It didn’t happen in 2020 because, well, coronavirus. PartyPoker became the go-to site for many tours that took their live events online because of pandemic-related cancellations and closures. PartyPoker hosted numerous World Poker Tour series, along with the Irish Poker Open, Super High Roller Bowl and Poker Masters. PartyPoker did fit some of its own series in throughout the year, but it saved the PartyPoker MILLIONS Online for the
Poker Central Again Tries for High Stakes at Aria
Let’s try it again. That is the feeling of the Poker Central executives and high-stakes poker pros who want high roller tournaments to return to Aria on the Las Vegas Strip. They tried it in December. Late last year, Poker Central announced a set of three $10K buy-in High Roller tournaments scheduled for December -5. There were to be reentries. There was to be late registration. Rake was to be lifted for players who registered on time. It all harkened
PokerStars NJ Winter Series to Award At Least $500K
PokerStars wants to give its online poker players in New Jersey the chance to be a part of a substantial tournament series this month. The Winter Series returns for PokerStars NJ and FOX Bet players located within the borders of New Jersey on January 21. The series will be the first of many in 2021. This year’s iteration, though, is bigger than last year’s by far. The 2020 Winter Series for New Jersey offered only $300K in guarantees, while the
