Maybe you’re kinda like me (or not) and just getting into the 2013 Stanley Cup World Series of Poker? It’s a long haul, sure, but know the basics of these stories and you can feel confident about having a pretty good grasp on how the deal has gone down at the WSOP this summer, and at least won’t sound like a total poker dunce while hosting your next weekly homegame and/or podcast.
1. Chad Holloway Wins
Whoop-whoop all PokerNews-er-ati! Suck it dealers and floor staff! With Chad’s $85k win in Event #1 comes a) proof that just a few years in poker media can make a clean-cut golden boy look disheveled and scruffy … and b) inspiration for many wearing a badge to think that maybe we shouldn’t give up our on-the-felt dreams just quite yet. [ESPN]
More…
In case you hadn’t seen it yet … here’s one of the betting sheets available in the Caesars sportsbooks for morning wagering on WSOP Final Table-days. You’ll notice the rule at the bottom, which says you can’t bet on yourself. And though a Caesars casino should be able to track this via a player’s Total Rewards cards, stopping it from happening seems about as effective as stopping people from using their cell phones in a sportsbook.
Why don’t they offer parlays? That’s where the real money in rigging a couple outcomes would come!
Neato. But I gotta wonder what will be more important in the future — these wagers, or the ability to show live-streaming video with hole cards. And if you can’t have both … what does this mean for the future of betting on skill games like America’s Got Talent?
The Palms Casino Resort, one of the last remaining “family run” operations on or off the Las Vegas Strip — and home to the gloriously raucous @Pokerati Game @PalmsPokerRm — will likely become part of the Caesars casino empire. The Maloof family, 80 percent owners of the Palms, sold off their majority interest this week to investors that include TPG Capital.
Across the street from the Rio ... a true palace of low-stakes NLH/PLO.
Fort Worth-based TPG, of course, are majority owners of Caesars Entertainment, corporate overlords to the WSOP.
According to the Sacramento Bee, upon approval by Nevada Gaming regulators, the billionaire Maloof family will retain just 2 percent … with an option to rebuy up to 20.
Turns out talk of TPG owning the Palms wasn't referring to The Pokerati Game after all.
Untested but presumably reliable sources say the Palms will almost certainly end up in Caesars’ portfolio of casino properties, following an acquisition path similar to how things went for Planet Hollywood … and should become part of Caesars’ Total Rewards program by year-end. Over in Sacramento, the buzz is all about
what the Maloof sale means for the Sacramento Kings, who apparently need both a new arena and a player bankroll.
I can’t begin to think I really understand the high finance and debt restructuring of Big Casinos … so before I try to explain, you should probably peruse the past six months or so of SEC filings for CZR. There really is a rather fascinating story in the agate here.
