This week’s poker news starts off in Montreal where a big World Poker Tour event has come to an end. We’ll recap that big event before moving on to some other poker headlines of the week.
Maxime Heroux Wins WPT Montreal Event
Maxime Heroux has conquered the World Poker Tour event in Montreal, coming out on top of a field that had 606 players. The stakes were high as there was a buy-in of $2,737, plus a re-entry fee of $273. Heroux, who hails from Montreal, earned the biggest payday of his career, taking home $317,554. Patrick Quinn, who placed second, collected $213,263. Derek Wolters won $136,300 in third place, while Brendan Baksh was next with $97,815. Eric Afriat rounded out the top five with $75,043.
Heroux and Quinn led for most of the final table, and eventually got to battle it out heads-up for the win. Heroux was too strong for Quinn on this day. Now he has some momentum going into the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas as we move toward the end of the WPT season. There are only two events left on the schedule.
WPT Partners With DraftKings
Speaking of the World Poker Tour, it has come together with DraftKings for the season finale in Berlin in January in a sponsorship deal. DraftKings will be one of the main sponsors of the event, which takes place at the Casino Spielbank. It isn’t the first time that these two have teamed up as DraftKings was the official DFS partner of the World Poker Tour in 2013, but then they ran into problems with regulations and had to pull back.
The season finale in Berlin will have a guaranteed prize pool of $1.6 million and DraftKings will also host eight qualifiers through NFL and NBA games as it looks to expand its territory. It is also the first time that the World Poker Tour will televise an event from Europe since back in Season XII, so this is going to be a very big event. DraftKings obviously sees some potential clientele either from the participants or viewers, and it is hoping that this sponsorship leads to some new business.
Partypoker Ditches Inactivity Fee
There is some news from partypoker as it has decided to do away with a monthly fee that charged players that had been inactive for six months or more. A lot of players apparently suggested that the fee was a bad move and it seems as though partypoker has decided to listen. It was a bit of a gouge as it hardly affects the company if accounts are open and inactive.
Some other changes that were announced include getting rid of withdrawal fees, which is a major step in the right direction for players. Getting money in and out is always a hassle with online gaming, so anything that simplifies the process is welcomed. Partypoker is also aiming to be more transparent in terms of ethical play, for example, randomized seating in cash games.
There is a lot of competition in the world of online poker now, and partypoker isn’t resting on its laurels as it is doing everything it can to remain relevant. Look for more changes to take place as partypoker goes through more of the suggestions from fans and players.