SHARP MARINE SCORES IN W.S.O.P. POKER
Captain Shortway finds a faster way to wealth
The poker news and information site Pokerlistings carried the interesting story of a Marine officer who clearly knows how to pick winners and play a few successful poker hands of his own this week.
On a three week furlough after an eight month stint in Afghanistan, US Marine Captain Robert Shortway has managed to cash for over $268,000 at the World Series of Poker, the site reports.
The canny officer started out by staking friend and fellow poker fan Justin Zaki in a World Poker Tour Main Event in Florida; Zaki scored a third placing worth $413, 000, which the two split evenly.
Captain Shortway used the cash to head for Las Vegas and indulge in some tournament action himself, a decision that proved to be a smart move.
In just a week so far the captain has enjoyed two WSOP event cashes, one of them a $263,655 third placing in a $1,500 NLHE competition.
Encouraged by his friend Zaki, Shortway has now entered event 35, the $5,000 Six Max Pot Limit Omaha competition despite his relative inexperience in that genre, and as InfoPowa went to press late evening Tuesday Vegas time he was still among the last 21 players from an original field of 507, albeit one of the low stacks.
Not bad going, considering the high ratio of quality players and professionals that entered for the event. He's in good company, with players like Gregory Brooks, Erick Lindgren, Jason Mercier, Vanessa Selbst, Michael McDonald, Tom Dwan, David Ulliott, Peter Jetten and Chris Moorman still in the mix.
As we went to press, the captain was around position 20 at level 18 on the second day of the event and assured of at least a cash of another $16 000.
TWO MORE EVENTS START AT W.S.O.P. (Update)
Poker's most prestigious tournament continues to pack 'em in
27 survivors from a starting pack of 3,144 gathered Tuesday for the third and hopefully last day of event 34: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, with Michael Souza leading the hunt for the bracelet and the $488,283 that this competition awards the winner. Souza started the day comfortably ahead of nearest rival Rob Verspui as the only other player above the 600 000 chip mark.
Mark Schmid had a 200 000 chip lead on Trevor Vanderveen, Justin Cohen, Robbie Verspui, Benjamin Volpe, Andrew Rudnik and Jonathan Clancy as the last 7 players fought it out Tuesday evening Vegas time, with the first four players all holding over a million chips apiece at the start of level 27.
The second day of event 35: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Handed commenced Tuesday with 105 players surviving an initial first day field of 507, and notable names like Vanessa Selbst (chip leader), Eric Lindgren, Shaun Deeb, Mike "timex" McDonald, and Gregory Brooks still very much in contention, along with David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Joe Hachem, Brian Rast, Layne Flack, Andy Seth, Jeff Lisandro, Jason Mercier, Chance Kornuth, and the always exciting Tom Dwan.
There's a good reward of $548,095 attached to this new event, together with a coveted WSOP bracelet.
By level 18 on Tuesday evening the field was down to 21 players with the top ten chip counts held (in order) by Gregory Brooks (725,000), Erick Lindgren (500,000), Vanessa Selbst (485,000), Joseph Ressler (435,000), Tom Dwan (400,000), Michael McDonald (380,000), Jared Bleznick (340,000) Steven Merrifield (320,000) Jason Mercier (315,000) and Peter Jetten (315 000).
Clearly there is a lot more action in store in this event.
Event 36: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em launched Tuesday with a field lower than that achieved last year; only 1,734 signed up for the 2011 competition, nevertheless creating a major prize pool of $3.94 million.
The registration list showed an eclectic mix of amateurs, celebrities and professional players that included Ludovic Lacay, Shannon Shorr, Jeff Williams, Scott Montgomery, Jordan Young, Beth Shak, Brad Garrett, Vivek Rajkumar, Lars Bonding, Eric Baldwin, David Pham, Andre Akkari, Alex Gomes, La Sengphet, Erica Schoenberg, Jason Somerville, Dan Fleyshman, Joe Cada, and Jonathan Duhamel.
Playing into Tuesday night the field was down to 490 at level 9, with Chance Kornuth holding a 25 000 chip lead over his closest adversary but many ace players still in the running.
Event 37: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship also kicked off Tuesday with a star-studded entry field of 240 (one player less than signed up for the event last year) generating a prize pool of $2.25 million.
This competition is the final mixed game championship of the 2011 Series, attracting many pros anxious to show off their skills in a range of games as well as earn some money and a bracelet.
Late evening Tuesday Vegas time saw the action reach level 6 with Eugene Katchalov leading on 64,000, with Jimmy Fricke and Andrew Barber biting his heels on 63,000 apiece, and a slew of top players still in a remaining field of 238.
APP HOME SELECTS MAHJONG TIME
Facebook app developer goes online
Online Mahjong software provider, Mahjong Time announced the signing of its latest licensee this week, Facebook applications developer App Home.
App Home selected Mahjong Time's social-specialized software to power its newest brand, Mahjong Kings.com. The company says its Mahjong Facebook Kings app has 54 000 active players.
Slava Novozhenya, CEO, Mahjong Time said: "This new partnership with App Home is very exciting. Mahjong Time's robust software platform, with social tools and web 2.0 integration, combined with App Home's strong, far-reaching brand development will be a powerful alliance. Mahjong Time has continued to grow last year, and, with App Home as our latest licensee, we look to build on this growth for the remainder of 2011."
Elad Natanson, Founder of App Home added: "We are very excited to get into online Mahjong gaming. Integration with Mahjong Time's software was quick and seamless, and the initial results have been very encouraging. App Home is committed to providing the best Facebook applications, and by utilizing Mahjong Time's leading software we can continue that commitment in the world of online Mahjong."
VIRTUE FUSION BEST ONLINE BINGO SOFTWARE AWARD
Voted the best by industry members
Playtech's internet bingo developer Virtue Fusion won Best Online Bingo Software for the third year in a row at the Online Bingo Industry Awards in recognition of its best-of-breed products.
Award winners were determined by votes from over three hundred industry delegates and attendees at the Sixth Online Bingo Summit held at the Victoria Park Plaza in London.
Rob Keown-Boyd, Commercial Director, Virtue Fusion said: “Virtue Fusion’s continued success at the Online Bingo Industry Awards further consolidates our reputation as the leading name in the market.
“It is extremely satisfying to have won this award for the third consecutive year, especially as the votes come from key members of the industry itself. We are pleased that once again our efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by our peers and will continue to build on this success in the year ahead.”
EVERYMATRIX PARTNERS WITH OLYMPIAN TRADING
Deal provides sportsbetting, gaming and bingo to multiple online brands
Olympian Trading Limited, parent company to IAM Corp who represent multiple online gaming brands including GR88.com and Bulldog777.com has entered into an agreement with gaming software firm EveryMatrix for the provision of its OddsMatrix sportsbook, GamMatrix gaming management platform and RakeMatrix bingo network.
The GamMatrix gaming management platform will enable the seamless integration of third party casino products from Microgaming and CTXM as well as poker from Merge.
The online gaming brands represented in the deal will offer mobile sports betting via the new OddsMatrix Mobile Sportsbook set for launch late July 2011.
Peter Karroll, CEO, IAM Corp said: “IAM Corp is extremely excited to embark on this new adventure and partnership with the EveryMatrix products, working with them not only for the current brands but also for the future IAM Corp clients who wish to enjoy the most efficient and experienced turnkey online gaming operations available anywhere in the world.”