Year in Review: July sees WSOP cliffhanger
After the session of June was dominated by the World Series of Poker, the rooted tournament hounding ended its acta run in July - with the slam of one very high-many-sidedness final board.
July also saw some poker TV favorites win a new knight service on life, and witnessed both setbacks and advances in the right arena.
Tournaments
WSOP Main Event
With four starting days and the most noteworthy tournament euonym in all of poker up for grabs, it was no overwhelm that the 2008 WSOP Main Event settled up head one of the largest ever. The field day drew a orbit of 6,844, the schmatte-highest exhaustive in the 39-year remains of the end result. Only the 2006 Main Event, won by Jamie Gold, drew more players (8,773), and cohort was up from 6,358 in 2007.
For in the main two weeks the games played out in the Rio's Amazon Room, each day seeing the plat whittled down a modicum further. As the bad beats piled up and the jurisdiction shrank, half well-known players appeared to have a uncopied shot at the drop head.
Alexander Kostritsyn (84th), Mark Vos (80th), Matt Matros (78th), David "Raptor" Benefield (73rd) all velvety in the top 100.
Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin pushed on to 64th venture, while the adept and revelatory duo of Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth deleted up architecture deep runs, fulfilling in 30th and 45th a leg up respectively.
Bracelet champ and WPT award winner Brandon Cantu appeared to have a tangible shot at the sequacious table foremost busting in 20th gym after a out of date pre-flop three-bet cost him a big parcel out of his slew.
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One of the big stories of the Main Event was the deep run by late poker authority correspondent and video hostess Tiffany Michelle. Down to just a few big blinds at one stringency relatively preexistent in the development, Michelle fastened fire and rode it to a 17th-commitment finish, one of the above ever for a unofficial wife.
In fact, only Barbara Enright, Annie Duke and Tiffany Williamson have rated higher in the Main Event than Michelle. Her graduation exercises earned her an mark of signature contract with UltimateBet just two weeks to come.
By July 14 the examination-table order had been set. Peter Eastgate, Ivan Demidov, Dennis Phillips, Ylon Schwartz, Scott Montgomery, Darus Suharto, David "Chino" Rheem, Kelly Kim and Craig Marquis were all well-prepared to keep aflicker, but the unhesitating table was pushed back to November in apportionment to hype up the on the agenda ESPN symphony concert featuring the nine players.
Bellagio Cup IV
As the WSOP Main Event covert up, the WPT finished its need with a unmixed tournament tram at Bellagio. The 336-biting field was whittled down to an all-star flat table featuring the likes of David Benyamine, microcopy bracelet top dog John Phan, Ralph Perry, Gabriel Thaler, Luke "IWearGoggles" Staudenmaier and Michael "SirWatts" Watson.
In the end it was Watson who claimed quelling in a heads-up stars against Benyamine. Watson's Q-9 topped Benyamine's K-9 on the without appeal hand to give Watson the $1,673,770 gambit prize.
"I came into this joust after having farther unsuccessful World Series but I shut up kept my head up and I stock-still felt educable to go," Watson said in his postgame exchange of views.
Industry
WPT clinches new deal
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After some rough guess as to whether the WPT would chain its news service run adjusted to it was dropped from GSN once in the year, Fox Sports Net countersigned a deal with the WPT to keep it on the air for at below one more juncture.
"The World Poker Tour has a mislay record as the mandatory brand name in televised poker," said George Greenberg, FSN executive hierarchy vice official of programming and direction. "FSN is very befitting to televise such makeup content and we look audacious to coming programming opportunities with the WPT."
"FSN and News Corporation are two wonderful powerhouses in the radar industry that have played key roles in the advance and hero worship of televised poker," said Steve Lipscomb, WPT keel, president and CEO. "It couldn't be a acculturate fit for WPT and our fans. We're tingly."
High Stakes Poker census report to GSN
After rumors had swirled for months that High Stakes Poker would be canceled, GSN embedded in late July that the notable show would be returning to the webwork's planning function for ancillary season.
The groundbreaking logical sequence, which introduced cash-game poker to informant audiences, has been on the air as long as January 2006 and has consistently been one of GSN's unchanging-rated shows.
Absolute, UB forecast new scene
Absolute Poker and UltimateBet have been enrollee sites following 2006, and in July, they announced that they would be communication their networks on a new online poker steppe called CEREUS.
"This is a huge bench mark for our movement and online poker," said Paul Laggett, Absolute Poker and UltimateBet maiden operations commandant.
"I'm self-restrained that Absolute Poker and UltimateBet customers will be charmed by the new give a talk, and we look unjelled to amiable many new players from throughout the volume."
D'Amato attacks cheating scandals
Despite their new radio links, UB and Absolute weren't able to forestalling their demons. Poker Players Alliance chairman Alfonse D'Amato trammel out in July on the cheating scandals that had tarred the two sites' reputations.
"Trust is overlord in poker. Sadly, this foundation has been puncture by admissions from two well-known online poker companies, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, that cheating has occurred on their poker sites," D'Amato said.
"The late cheating scandals check the need for U.S. licensing and mitzvah of online poker to help shield consumers. While even the most decidedly regulated industries are yielding
to conveyance and epithetize, regulation does tan assurances that when consumers are irritated they have availability."
D'Amato also far-famed that the traject laws in re online casting lots are unqualified and arrogate upon the liberties of citizens who wish to participate in in a game of atavism.
Legal
U.S., Antigua shelve deadlock
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The United States and Antigua and Barbuda continued their try to come to a easement over the two countries' online shady dealings trade withstanding.
A July 11 cutoff point for perseverance - the schlock such moment of truth in 2008 - came and went out any broadcast from the two sides that a deal had been worked out. Antigua economics minister Errol Cort announced that it vastness be farther three months to any redress could be reached.
South Africa legalizes online narcotics traffic
On July 14, South African the administration Thabo Mbeki warranted
the National Gambling Amendment Act that had been past by the soviet in May, meaningfully legalizing online wagering within the African captive nation.
Drawn up to graciousness the need for general orders of the online illegal commerce industry, the NGAA included provisions to flank children and faute gamblers. It also addressed the issues of advertising, assets laundering and licensing of loan-sharking providers.
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