Daily Rewind: Partouche Controversy, WCOOP Action and WSOPE Plans

In today's Daily Rewind we find out what's caused the demise of the Partouche Poker Tour, get the latest from PokerStars' WCOOP and look forward to this year's WSOPE.

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:

Partouche faux pas

The Partouche Poker Tour has come under fire in the last 24 hours, after the Main Event's €5 million guarantee wasn't honoured.

After counting the buy-ins and rebuys, the event's organisers were left with a more than a €700,000 shortfall, prompting them to abandon the previously stated prizepool figure.

So far there have been arguments from both players and organisers as to whether or not the word "guarantee" was ever used.

The official line from Partouche is that they had never stated it was a guarantee and, according to information given to Peter Jetten, the status before the tournament was that it "was not a guarantee but a marketing trick".

The players have argued otherwise though and have produced a selection of evidence to prove a guarantee was offered.

The most damning proof is shown by the following two pictures taken just two hours apart after the story broke:

The original advert on Partouche's website

The updated version

Lawyer-turned-poker player Todd Terry has said that, while he's unsure if the law applies in this case at all, advertising a guarantee that they fail to legally meet "would be outright fraud."

Matt Savage is the man caught in the middle of the debacle, but has promised to "get the remaining players something [and is] in discussions with the Partouche management to do so."

He went on to say: "Once [Partouche] have made a decision I will be sure to let everyone know. I also promise I will give answers to 2+2 and the poker community as soon as possible."

Following the controversy, Patrick Partouche, the CEO of the PPT announced that this year's event will be the last.

Angered by the community's reaction to the recent incident, Patrick stated in a press conference:

"The Partouche Poker Tour bears my name, that of my family. I will not accept, my staff will not accept, that people can say 'Partouche are thieves', 'Partouche are cheats'. As a result, this week you attended the last edition of the Partouche Poker Tour."

Online action with the WCOOP

Another 24 hours, another two WCOOP champions left smiling at their new bankrolls.

Portugal's "anguila" was the first to claim a victory in the $265 PLO knockout event after seeing off 1,175 other players.

A host of talented players made the money, including Eugene Katchalov and George 'georgedanzer' Danzer, but "anguila" was the player in form, snatching the title and $40,595 from "The Cooker" in the final heads-up battle.

The second title of the day went to the UK's "beardo1981" after he defeated "The Lag rat" in the finale of the $1,050 No Limit Hold’em event. The Brit's win netted him $262,936, while "The Lag rat" took home $192,028.

Yesterday's show featured Randy 'nanonokops' Lew, as well as a "drunken" phone call to PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein (39 minutes).

WSOPE on the horizon

With just a couple of weeks to go until the start of the World Series of Poker Europe, the organisers have recently released the structure for their €50,000 + €1,000 event.

Registration is open until the start of level 10,  with unlimited rebuys and 60 minute levels; the game's high rollers should be out in full force for this one.

Satellites and side games at this year's WSOPE kick off on September 21st, with the €10,000 Main Event commencing on September 29th.
 

The scene for this year's WSOPE

High stakes corner

Jean-Robert Bellande and Phil Hellmuth have been at their name dropping best over the past week or so with a number of tweets referencing Michael Phelps.

The pair have been showing the swimming star how poker pros roll in Vegas, but for Jean-Robert that seems to have backfired somewhat.

A recent tweet from "brokelivingjrb" showed him with just $90 in chips after losing a pot to Phelps. The coup by Phelps took just 10 minutes according to Bellande.

While JRB was busy losing to Olympians, "FaKeOrReaL" was busy raking in $165,179 at the virtual felt. A 3,583-hand session put the unknown grinder almost $90,000 ahead of the day's second biggest winner, "Gry Dilling", who bagged $76,034.

Almost broke JRB

Daily Signoff

Tony G is used to laughing at others at the poker table, but after making a mistake in the final of the PartyPoker Premier League it was Tony who was left red-faced.