27 Jan 12

Daily Rewind: Dwan Interview, Bot Tournament, PokerStars Rush Poker

Today on the Daily Rewind, Tom Dwan does his first interview in a long time, another player will attempt the poker endurance record, and PokerStars may launch a fast moving ring game next month.

The Daily Rewind is your one-stop-shop for a sharp review of the day in poker. Join us here for a mix of the latest news and a more irreverent insight into the poker world. Today we discovered the following topics for you:

Tom Dwan Interview

He made his comeback last week at the Aussie Millions, and now Tom 'durrrr' Dwan has given his first interview in months. Dwan was the most vocal member of Team Full Tilt after they were labelled a 'Ponzi Scheme' by the DOJ, but has been off the radar for some time.

Speaking to PokerNews.com, Dwan reflected on 2011, let us know what he had been up to recently, what he thought of Phil Ivey, and whether he thought online poker would return to the US in 2012.

Discussing PokerStars, he said:

'I definitely trust PokerStars a lot. I don’t think there’s much chance I’m affiliated with them anytime soon, but I still think that’s a fair take on the situation. They handled themselves very well throughout, and they had all the players’ money, which is by far the most important thing.'

On the subject of whether he could have asked more questions of the management of FTP prior to Black Friday:

'I’m definitely really unhappy I didn’t ask more questions, but at this point I kind of just have to let it go. People asking me questions about Tilt is just a reminder of how many people got screwed over. I don’t really mind people asking me. I wish the situation didn’t happen. I wish I wasn’t being asked. But since the situation happened, I think it’s only fair that people get to ask me about it.'

Dwan reflects on the FTP scandal

MIT bot tournament

It is not very often that the creation of a poker bot is encouraged, but today we have the exception. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is hosting a tournament exclusively for bots. The 6,912 MIT Pokerbots Competition has a $30,000 prize pool and students are welcomed to upload a fully autonomous poker bot of their own to compete.

38 bots have been registered, and will play 36,100 matches in total, with $20,000 going to the eventual winner.

Poker world record attempt....again

The record for continuous poker played, with no breaks, has been broken four times in four years; by Dave Cain, Paul Zimbler, Phil Laak, and finally the 'Glorious Seven'. Laak's record stood at 115 hours, while the Glorious Seven, a team of players from Austria, played for 137.

However, it is Laak's record which is recognised by the Guinness World Records, and it is this which British poker event organiser Barry Denson will be attempting to break this year. He will be playing at the G Casino in Manchester from July 1 in an attempt to break the world record, with any funds raised for the event going to the Help for Heroes charity.

Here is Laak after he broke the current world record:

PokerStars getting version of Rush Poker soon?

The eagerly anticipated 'fast moving ring games' at PokerStars, not unlike FTP's Rush Poker, could begin a beta-launch next month. Speaking on 2+2, 'PokerStars Stefan' explained they had hoped to have it launched by now, but it could happen in February or early March instead.