28 Dec 11

Top 5 Poker News Stories of 2011

Barry Carter looks back on what he considers the biggest news stories of 2011, a year that changed the landscape of poker forever.

Chino Wins Epic Poker League Event #1

Although 2011 has been one of the most difficult years for both the poker industry and the players alike, there has certainly not been a shortage of things to write about.

Here are the five news stories that I feel captured what 2011 was all about, in what has been a game-changing year we will never forget.

5. Epic Fail

There were lots of other massive stories in 2011 that didn't make this list, but from a personal point of view, this one really stuck out.

The Epic Poker League had already been criticised somewhat before it even started. Many believed it was just an elitist way of keeping the 'TV Pros' on screen, and others were skeptical because former UB pro Annie Duke was at the helm.

It was already a terrible start for the tour; Black Friday had just happened and they were really struggling to find a network to broadcast the tour. But what followed in the first two events were a PR disaster.

Just days before the first event, November Niner Chino Rheem had been publicly outed on many poker forums for having a lot of bad debt, owing thousands to other players, and even a video of him being confronted about it appeared online.

And would you believe it, Chino only went on to win the first event for a cool $1 million. The tour, which prided itself on having an ethics committee and the 'best of the best' players, found itself with one of the most questionable ambassadors for the game becoming their inaugural champion.

If that wasn't bad enough, the tour became embroiled in even more controversy in their second event. Michael DeVita won a $20,000 seat to the main event, but was withdrawn from the main event and given back only his $1,500 satellite entry, because he was a registered sex offender.

The fact that DeVita was withdrawn from the event for crimes he served time for in 1991, and was not reimbursed the $20,000 he won fairly, angered the poker community. Despite such a reprehensible crime for which he served time, it was remarkable how much the poker community got behind Devita, or at least, opposed the Epic Poker League's decision.

The tour has gotten back on track a little since then, but with televised poker in major decline currently in the States, 2012 will be a make or break year for the Epic Poker League.

4. Poker Survived, and Flourished.

PokerStars celebrate world record online tournament

Poker took the biggest knocks it has ever taken in 2011, with Black Friday and the Full Tilt Poker scandal damaging the reputation of the game more than anyone could have anticipated.

But amazingly, poker has still progressed and exceeded a lot of expectations in 2011.

Live tournament numbers were strong, there were some record turnouts for the WSOP, and the relocated WSOPE in Cannes saw around a 50% increase in all events.

The high stakes cash games moved over from Full Tilt to PokerStars online, and in the live arena there are some ridiculous stakes games taking place in Macau right now.

Despite losing US traffic, PokerStars broke several records just this month. Hosting 62,116 players in a Sunday Million which awarded over $1 million to the winner, and a world record online attendance of 200,000 in their $1 buy-in, 10th anniversary tournament.

And there is a lot to get excited about in 2012 if some of the rumours are true. Several super high roller, including a $1 million buy-in tournament at the WSOP, are scheduled, and all the major tours are adding more stops in 2012.

There are even the first signs of social media and real-money poker combining, with both Facebook and Google+ said to be working on real-money products, which would be a real boost for the game.

3. Pius Heinz Wins The Main Event

This years WSOP Main Event was always going to be a memorable one, because it was the post-Black Friday main event. Poker needed a real shot in the arm from this years world champion, and it may just have got it in the form of Pius Heinz of Germany.

Why was it such a special victory? Other than the fact that Pius seems like a great player and ambassador for the game, it could have special significance for the future of the game.

Poker has been looking for a 'second boom' for many years now, and needs it more than ever following Black Friday.

Pius' victory could well be the start of a new boom in Europe, and almost certainly at least in Germany. His victory made front-page news in many German newspapers and the attention by other classic media such as TV and radio was huge.

We have already seen two German players take down EPT titles since then, and we fully expect to see more in 2012. Now that Germany has a new poker hero, do not be surprised to see more German players making huge waves in 2012.

(And did we mention Pius learned the game at PokerStrategy.com?)

2011 WSOP Main Event champion Pius Heinz revels in the limelight

2. The Full Tilt Scandal

Although poker has had its fair share of 'scandals' in recent years, very rarely do any of them make it into the mainstream news. Black Friday had already proved to be one of the exceptions in 2011, but when the financial reality at Full Tilt Poker was revealed, coupled with the US Department of Justice labeling them a 'Ponzi Scheme' - poker hit the front pages.

What followed was the biggest drama poker has ever witnessed, with plot twists you couldn't write.

Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Ray Bitar were vilified. Tom Dwan became a hero. Phil Ivey went AWOL. The AGCC, Full Tilt's regulator, suspended their license, and came under fire themselves for how they policed the site. The controversial Groupe Bernard Tapie kept players on tenterhooks wondering if they would rescue the shamed site or not.

It was the biggest scandal in poker, bigger than the UltimateBet SuperUser story (At least in terms of scale), and guess what?

It still isn't over.

The most iconic image of the Black Friday story The FBI warning poker players were presented with on April 15

1. Black Friday

Everybody remembers where they were on April 15, when they first heard that the US Department of Justice had shut down PokerStars, Full Tilt, and the Cereus network. Not only was Black Friday the biggest news of the year, it (in conjunction with the Full Tilt scandal that followed) it is the biggest news ever to happen to the online poker industry.

We don't really need to remind you what happened, it is so embedded in the consciousness of every poker player now. What we should mention is how it has dramatically changed the game forever.

Right now the US is essentially locked out of online poker, while players all around the world have money stuck in limbo. Since Black Friday, poker news is no longer about men winning tournaments, it is about business, regulation, and scandal.

Black Friday has changed the way all of us will ever think about the game. The silver lining is that it most likely will make us a lot more careful about where we keep our money, and we will all take a much more active interest in how poker is regulated.

Online poker will never look the same, and in 2012 PokerStrategy.com will strive to bring you the most transparent and in depth poker news reporting we can.

• What do you think the biggest news story of 2011 was? Tell us in our Community Forum.

by Barry Carter