The Water Cooler: Poker News for Weekend of Dec. 26, 2010

by Bodog Poker | Dec 27 2010

Christmas and a huge blizzard kept many players home this weekend, but poker news will not be stopped! Deke Marston catches you up on the major stories.

Las Vegas

The World Series of Poker has announced its 2011 dates.  The biggest (and many say best) tournament event that the game has kicks off at the Rio All Suite Hotel And Casino on Tuesday, May 31 and runs through Tuesday, July 19.  The 2011 edition of the WSOP will feature a new policy that many have wanted to see instituted: hard stop times. Players can participate in a maximum of ten levels per day and after that point, hard stop times are going to be enforced no matter how many players are left.  The tournament directors are not going to be allowed to extend play to narrow down the field further. While this is likely to mean that some events will go longer than scheduled, it will also mean less player fatigue, a common complaint at the WSOP.

The World Series of Poker Main Event will, of course, conclude the WSOP. Like last year, it will feature four starting days with Day 1A kicking off on Thursday, July 7. Play is scheduled to go through July 19, 2011, when the November Nine will be determined.

A full WSOP schedule is going to be released in January.

Philadelphia

In case a blizzard that's already convinced people that Philadelphia may not be the idyllic paradise they'd heard wasn't enough, the news that the Pennsylvania Gaming Board, fed up with delays, revoked the gaming license for the Foxwoods casino planned for South Philadelphia. The reason cited? Unreasonable delays on the project, which has yet to actually break ground. This marks the first time that the state has revoked a license of this size and the scuttling of the $50,000,000 license could mean that players in the city will have to stick with SugarHouse, located in Fishtown.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Board set a deadline of December 10th for a finalized deal on what would be constructed. Revised plans for the casino featured a two story, 55,000+ casino with 1500 slots, 70 table games and over 1300 parking spaces in a massive lot. Investors were "confident" about $200,000,000 in funding for the first phase of construction, but the board was dissatisfied over a change to the deal that removed the pledge to pay out 42% of the casino's profits to local charities for kids.

"PEDP (Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners) has worked diligently to negotiate a development agreement beneficial to all parties, including the city of Philadelphia," Foxwoods Development said in a statement. Caesars Entertainment had agreed to buy in for a one-third stake in the operation and run the casino under its Horseshoe brand.

"We believe the Caesars transaction would have provided the most advantageous outcome, creating jobs and providing much needed tax revenue for the local community," a spokesperson from Foxwoods Development said.

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