This week’s poker news kicks off in Minnesota where one of the major tours is going to align itself with the Super Bowl. Let’s take a closer look at the important poker headlines of the week.
WPT Charity Scheduled For Super Bowl Weekend In Minneapolis
Poker and football are teaming up for a good cause at the Super Bowl. At Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis, the World Poker Tour and Latitude will come together for the WPT Foundation Presents NVRFLD, which will benefit organizations such as Healing Haiti, MATTER and Starkey Hearing Foundation. Players like Tony Dunst, Anna Khait and Lynn Gilmartin will be at the tables for the tournament, which is on February 2 (the Friday of Super Bowl weekend). It is another chance for the WPT Foundation to add to the $8 million it has raised for various charities since 2012.
This should be very successful with the number of people that will be in Minneapolis for the big game. Organizers are expecting to see at least a couple of celebrities on the tables.
Lucky Players Share Bad Beat Jackpot In Detroit
Most of the time, bad beats really sting. For a few lucky players in Detroit, it was the sweetest bad beat of their lives.
The Motor City Casino’s poker room in Detroit had a bad beat bonus that reached $1.1 million but then the tables turned. Following a bad beat, one player ended up taking home $427,400 while the next player won $213,700. There were four other players who were present at the table as well and they each won $106,800.
The rules at the Motor City Casino state that the bad beat hand has to involve quads. The winning player had four threes in his hand but still lost, triggering the bad beat jackpot. This isn’t the largest bad beat jackpot that has been won in North America, though. That went to a player at the Playground Poker Club in Quebec with the jackpot hitting over $1.2 million.
Grizzly Games Break Records With Guarantees
It has been a record year for Global Poker’s Grizzly Games. The Grizzly Games, the second leg of the Global Poker Championships, has already exceeded $1.5 million in Sweeps Cash. The first event was a free roll with a guarantee of SC$5,000 and over 5,000 players got in on the action. It was eventually won by a player named “wagawaga”, who defeated “zoman”. Every tournament after that has managed to double its guarantee. For example, the SC$5,000 event went up to $14,000 in its next event. This Sunday’s event is going to guarantee SC$25,000 and there are still a few tournaments left on the schedule, including an ante-up tournament along with four-max and six-max events.
Global Poker is emerging as one of the top poker rooms in the world, coming in the top 10 sites in player volume. It is also the fastest-growing poker room in the United States.