The Water Cooler: Poker News from the Weekend of January 9, 2011

by Bodog Poker | Jan 10 2011

Deke puts together the news you can use with his Monday morning look at what happened in the world of poker over the last two days.

Florida

Two Tampa-area women playing $2/$4 no-limit Texas Hold ‘em got more than they could have asked for when they split the biggest poker jackpot in the state’s history on Saturday when they hit a record-shattering $584,864 Mega Bad Beat Poker Jackpot in the new poker room at the Seminole hard Rock Hotel & Casino  Tampa.  Bad beat jackpots are a common way for real-world casinos to get people to play in their poker rooms, offering an incentive to players if they are bested by another while holding certain high-value hands.  In the case of the Hard Rock, it occurs when a hand of at least four 10s loses when the cards are shown. 

A casino spokesperson says that Patricia Dumas, of Lutz, FL, won $292,430 with her "losing" hand of four kings, while Mija Choi, of Tampa, FL, took home $175,458, thanks to her "winning" hand of four aces. The other players at the table each won $19,496, just for being around when it happened.

Nevada

The rumors about The Poker Brat appearing on Dancing With The Stars were stirred up again this weekend when a few sites reported that Phil Hellmuth’s agent, Brian Balsbaugh, said that the audacious poker icon would be seen on television a lot more in 2011. Hellmuth recently left a sponsorship with an online poker room and may be looking to increase his profile and subsequent value to others looking to pick up the man who’s won more WSOP bracelets than any other.

The Bahamas

Speaking of big money, Daniel Negreanu reclaimed his spot at the top of the all-time tournament winnings money list from Phil Ivey at the at the PCA 2011 event in the Bahamas. He was awarded $1,000,000 for finishing as the runner-up in the $100,000 Super High Roller event.  38 players anted up for the event, despite the stunning entry fee, creating a prize pool of $3,743,000 that was shared among just the top five finishers.  The first-place winner, Eugene Katchalov, got $1.5m for his play.

Nevada

The Atlantis Casino in Reno is going to be the setting for a new poker series in an effort to help bring exposure to the poker room and other offerings at the casino. David Farahi, executive director of gaming operations for the Atlantis outlined the format for the new program which will be filmed by Red Reck Productions and edited into two television episodes that will air on a network that has yet to be determined.  The Atlantis All-In Poker Series features 19 events over 10 days including a high-stakes cash game and a main event with a $1,060 buy-in. The tournament will run from March 18-26 and Farahi expects to main event to draw about 200 players, which determines the size of the prize pool.

There will also be a high-stakes, invitation-only cash game that will be filmed in the casino's renowned steakhouse that will be edited into a separate, 13-episode series for the High Stakes Hold 'Em brand created by Red Deck Productions.

"We are really excited to get those people on property and to have that kind of action," he says. "It is really rare for any place in Reno to have that kind of action in a room."

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