Why Poker Isn’t More Mainstream
New stars aren’t being minted like they were during the poker boom, and mainstream audiences are still more likely to recognize a player like Mike Matusow than Jason Mercier, despite what the results say. Poker fans aren’t engaging with poker stars like they did in the early 2000s, and it’s limiting the industry’s ability to establish itself in the mainstream.
EPT: Melanie Weisner in Pole Position with 72 Left
Weisner’s best EPT finish is 12th in Prague in 2010 Melanie Weisner has spent some time as chip leader of a number of European Poker Tour events. Most notably, she led during the late stages of last season’s EPT Grand Final, where she busted out just shy of the final table. Weisner is likely hoping
Daily 3-Bet: Shaniac Swongs, Poker at 103, Sir Phillip Ivey
Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments. Today in the 3-Bet we find PokerStars pro Shane Schleger swinging through the month of February, a 103-year old poker player still going strong and Sir Phillip Ivey shows up in another poker meme. 1) The Ups and Downs of Being PokerStars Pro Shane Schleger Swongs
Weisner Tops Final 72 at EPT Copenhagen
Weisner, who is off to a strong start in 2012 with several deep runs in Aussie Millions events, finished with 368,200 chips, tops amongst the 72 players remaining in the contest. Although Weisner has yet to score a major title, she has shown the ability to build a big stack on numerous occasions including the 2011 WSOPE Main Event where she finished 33rd. Weisner won a 100k pot against Dane Lars Hansen to take the chip lead in the latter part of Day 2.
Former World Champ Eastgate Signs with Betfair
Eastgate is one of the winningest poker players of all-time but famously announced an early retirement from the game in 2010. “I was fed up with the game and I didn’t feel like playing anymore,” he said.
EPT: Mads Wissing Tops Day 1b in Copenhagen; O’Dwyer Still in Front
Stephen O’Dwyer played well enough on Day 1a of EPT Copenhagen to finish on top of the chip counts for that day.
Wahlbeck Keeps Winning, Books $200k Victory
The Finnish poker pro has been one of the consistent high stakes players in the New Year and he’s now up to over half a million in profit. Last night Wahlbeck turned his attention to the $100/$200 6-Max PLO games on PokerStars and gave opponents Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane, Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser, Benny “toweliestar” Spindler and Davin “mTw-Davin” Georgi fits.
POY: Rinat Bogdanov Breaks Into Top Twenty
Bogdanov is still reaping the benefits of his Venice win (Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour) After a few weeks where we saw a whole crop of new faces each week in the 2012 BLUFF Player of the Year ranks, things appear to be slowing down. This week saw only one change to the
O’Dwyer Dominates Day 1a at EPT Copenhagen
The veteran pro and recent EPT London runner-up, who we suspect might be good at poker , completely dominated play in the early stages of Day 1a and had the bulk of his stack by the third level. From there he cruised to the finish, using his stack to pick up small pots at will and end the day just shy of the 200k mark. Now based out of Malta with fellow pros Justin Bonomo and Ike Haxton, O’Dwyer is looking to continue his heater that started in 2011 and resulted in 10 final tables and live cashes for over $1.4 million
EPT: O’Dwyer Tops Opening Day in Copenhagen
O’Dwyer finished fifth in the 2011 BLUFF POY race There appears to be no slowing down Steve O’Dwyer. He had a massive 2011, winning a $5,000 Bellagio Cup event, winning the first Epic Poker Pro/Am event, and finishing runner-up in both the EPT London Main Event and the WPT Venice event. While other players who