News: $2.5 million overlay in Florida tournament

In today's Daily Rewind the Seminole Poker Open suffers a $2.5 million overlay and we find out how PokerStars almost bought an NFL team.

Seminole Poker Open misses guarantee

Despite offering a $10 million guarantee, the latest Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main couldn't attract enough players to fulfil that prizepool.

In total, 1,499 players took to the felt in the $5,300 Main Event, but when the final stats came in, the organisers were left with a $2.5 million bill.

The failure to meet its guarantee was not only a concern for those behind the tournament, but for many in the industry who have also questioned whether it's a sign of the times.

While there is no doubt that the number of entrants was impressive, this could be a sign that the days of large guarantees could be coming to an end.

PokerStars almost bought NFL team

NFL

PokerStars almost bought an NFL football team according to Nolan Dalla.

Back when poker was booming and Dalla was working as PokerStars Director of Communications, a marketing idea almost led to a bid for the New Orleans Saints.

Following the effects of Hurricane Katrina and a string of disappointing results on pitch, the team's owner, Tom Benson, considered selling his asset for $600 million.

With PokerStars not quite the top poker room in the world at this point, Dalla's role was to help come up with marketing ideas that would make the site a market leader.

Knowing he could potentially generate $15 million worth of free advertising by offering to purchase the team, Dalla submitted his idea to Isai Scheinberg.

Despite initially liking the idea, Scheinberg decided not to authorise the move, preferring instead to stay "shadows" while "minting a fortune".

Hellmuth thanks his friends

Want to know how Phil Hellmuth amassed enough cash to purchase his home in North California?

Well, according to a recent tweet, the Poker Brat was able to buy his house after staking John Bonetti in the 1996 Main Event.

Tweeting about how lucky he was, Hellmuth said:

I have the greatest friends ever! Basically, I own my Nor Cal house because I staked my friend John Bonetti in the 1996 @WSOP Main Event.

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) August 31, 2014

Bonetti, who sadly passed away in 2008, was a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, but it was his third-place finish in the 1996 Main Event which netted him $341,250, the largest prize of his career.

Question of the Day

"Should tournament directors be looking at other ways to attract players beyond offering large prizepools?"

mtt

High Stakes Poker

Chun Lei Zhou emerged as the latest high stakes winner last night after raking in $112,452. The healthy haul was enough to push the Asian to the top of the daily high stakes chart ahead of Alexander Kostritsyn and Viktor Blom who each surpassed the $100,000 mark.

Falling to the largest loss in the last 24 hours was 'Trueteller'. After racing through 409 hands, the online pro found himself $188,999 in debt and ahead of Gus Hansen who ended the day as the second biggest loser with a $94,584 deficit.