Daily Rewind: Sklansky Hall of Fame plea, EPT changes, Hellmuth rumours

Today in the Daily Rewind we showcase new changes to the European Poker Tour, while Nolan Dalla hopes for David Sklansky to get the recognition he deserves.

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:

Sklansky HOF plea from Nolan Dalla

Sklansky needs more recognition

Yesterday was the last day to get nominations in for this year's Poker Hall of Fame and WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla made his annual plea to get David Sklansky nominated.

Dalla thinks it is a travesty that Sklansky has not yet been inducted; he cited many of his achievements including three WSOP bracelets, four decades of success at the tables, writing 13 poker books, high profile consulting work, and creating a number of casino games.

Dalla conceded that "Sklansky is not a warm and fuzzy character... but induction into the Poker Hall of Fame should not be a popularity contest."

EPT changes

The EPT starts next month

The new European Poker Tour season starts next month in Barcelona and PokerStars live specialist Neil Johnson has highlighted some new changes this year.

Late registrations will now go on until the start of day two for all high roller and main events, while side events will have four levels of late registration.

You can expect more non-Hold'em formats at each stop, including a Draw Championship at EPT San Remo.

The EPT Player of the Year award will change too. The additional awards like Omaha and Country awards are being phased out, but the Player of the Year award will include all buy-in levels, even £50 and £100 side events will count towards it (when smaller tours like UKIPT, Eureka, or Estrellas are part of the festival).

The payouts have been changed to award 13-15% of the field and the minimum cash will never be lower than 1.7x buy-in. The bubble will always be an odd number to ensure equally matched table numbers.

You can read the full list of changes here, with the schedule for EPT London due to be announced today also.

Hellmuth rumours quashed

Hellmuth's $25k public appearance

For several days there have been rumours circulating that Phil Hellmuth was paid $25,000 to play in the Annual Arizona State Poker Championship.

While this is not exactly unusual, the rumours suggested that the $25,000 was paid out of the prize pool and not the rake/promotional budget for the event, which attracted 1,299 entries and was won by Joe Kuether for $246,161.

However it seems these rumours have now been put to rest, as a representative from the casino posted on 2+2 this morning saying that while Phil had been paid the amount, it was not from the player pool:

"The fees were paid for/provided solely by the marketing department. No funds from either the tournament prize pool or the Players Promotional Fund (PPF/BBJ) were used in any form."

High Stakes Corner

Unknown player 'Rhje' continued his assault on the high stakes scene after booking a $272,147 win yesterday at the $400/$800 No Limit tables, which have been some of the biggest No Limit games running for a very long time.

Not only does this put him up over $1m in the last seven days, he is currently up over $2.5m for the year despite only being a fixture at the nosebleed games since June.

Daily Signoff

When he is not getting paid $25,000 for appearing at poker tournaments, Phil has other ways to make money, as this new clip from this year's WSOP show confirms: