PokerTableRatings

April Fools Hijinx, Casino Partnerships

PokerStars celebrated the dealing of its 60 billionth hand on Tuesday. At a $5/$10 limit hold'em table called Isa 11, the six players seated at the table were told by the system administrator "The winner of the hand will have their prize money doubled. On top of that, they will receive an extra $60,000. And you can't win by folding." Players were guaranteed at least $500 in additional prize with bonuses on their money being doled out based on the number of VIP Player Points accumulated over the previous 50 hands at the table. In the end, the winning hand came from the Qh-3c of Pogo650, on this hand. When the dust settled, Pogo650 booked a total of $102,090 onto his bankroll, while four other players added $21,045, and the sixth $11,040 just for sitting at the table. Said Pogo650, "I'm possibly the biggest luckbox alive over the last week or so. Two losing sessions ended in milestone hands."

Last week PokerStars announced a partnership with the Wynn Casino's in the event that online poker were to reach a state of regulation in the U.S. This week, Full Tilt Poker announced a partnership of their own, forming a strategic alliance with the Station Casino's Fertitta Interactive, an entity set up by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. While he couldn't disclose the terms of the alliance, Tiltware CEO Ray Batar addressed the matter in an email where he indicated that Full Tilt would continue to operate in the U.S. under the same name, and that the relationship "exists to promote a federal regulatory regime." Bitar also stated that the "partnership could benefit from cross-marketing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship" which is also owned by the Fertitta brothers. Unlike last December when the sites seemed ill-prepared for the Reid Poker Bill, the world's top two online poker rooms now appear to be well setup for impending regulation, if and when a bill were to be passed.

The hottest player in the live poker tournament circuit this week was easily Tim West, who booked a win in the Wynn Classic $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event. West came out victorious over a field of 212 players for his largest career cash ($318,738), defeating Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad heads up to claim the title. 6 days later, West found himself heads up again in a major poker tournament, this time at the $10,300 World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Championship at Harrah's Rincon in San Diego. Unfortunately for West, he would finish runner up to Los Angeles native and cash game pro Ali Eslami who would claim the top prize of $282,242, and the WSOP-C Championship Ring. However, it was West that laid claim to the biggest winnings of the week as he won $174,443 for the runner-up finish, turning his week into $493,181 in live tournament earnings.

Friday was April Fool's Day, and the hijinx began with the WSOP announcing Strip Poker as a Bracelet Event, and carried over to PokerStars tournaments that began with blinds that started really high and then grew smaller as the tourney wore on, one cent rebuy tournaments, tournaments that required that you have 1 chip or less to rebuy, and a variety of gag gifts at the PokerStars VIP Store, including "WoodStar" status for their "Badugi Only" client. But perhaps the best April Fool's Day gag came from the folks at "The Micro's" who "Fricke Rolled!" us all. Enjoy the video featuring the fantastic dancing of Jimmy Fricke, Phil Ivey as a bartender, and Tom "Durrrr" Dwan.