Although it was mostly a quiet week, there were a couple of key pieces of poker news that came across the wires. Let’s take a closer look at the key headlines of the week:
PokerStars Announces Latest WCOOP Schedule
With the World Series of Poker behind us, we now know the dates and times of another major poker tournament to get excited about. PokerStars has revealed that the World Championship of Online Poker will take place from September 2-17, with a total of over $116 million in guaranteed prize money. Part of this larger bonanza will be the Main Event on September 16, which will offer $10 million in guaranteed money. Players can buy into the Main Event on two levels with the highest guarantee of $10 million for the $5,200 buy-in. There is a $55 buy-in option for the Main Event, with $1 million on the line at that level.
The event will also be marked by tiered buy-ins for each event, so that players can pick a buy-in option at the low, middle or high end of the spectrum. This has been a recent initiative over the last few years so that tournaments like this can welcome players regardless of skill level and with less emphasis on their bankroll. The wide-open nature of the invitations to the event contribute to its popularity.
The tournament has lots of formats, including Stud, Omaha, NLHE, Turbos, 8-Max, 6-Max, and others.
PartyPoker LIVE Chooses Bruno Fitoussi As Brand Ambassador
French poker professional Bruno Fitoussi has been chosen as a brand ambassador for PartyPoker. The 59-year-old signed a deal to appear at live tournaments in Europe and will join countryman Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, who has represented PartyPoker since April of 2018.
Fitoussi has won almost $3 million in live tournament play in nearly 30 years, thriving at World Series of Poker events. In 2001, he won the World Heads-Up Championship, and in 2007 he finished second at the $50,000 HORSE World Championship.
His next appearance as ambassador will be at the PartyPoker MILLIONS UK tournament series at the Dusk Till Dawn card room in Nottingham, England. Fitoussi also announced that he will be at the WPT Deepstacks event in Dauville from December 3-9.
Cheong Victory Caps DeepStack Championship Poker Series
It was the ideal start to August for Joseph Cheong, who won the 400 NHL Closer tournament for $69,000 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The two-day tournament drew 1,078 entries and created a $400,000 prize pool, with five starting flights, and began with 15,000 in chips. Day 1 involved 30-minute levels, which increased to 40 minutes on Day 2.
It was mostly Americans – and Las Vegas natives – in the top spots as four of the top five were from the United States and three of the five are from Las Vegas. Sharon Levin, who is from Davie, Florida, finished second behind Cheong and took home $44,100. George Glagola, who is from Vegas, earned $43,500 for third, Rory Brown, who is from Ireland, took home $25,401 for fourth, and Bobby Poe of Las Vegas rounded out the top five. He won $19,401. For his career, Cheong’s earnings have now exceed $12.5 million.