Daily Rewind: PokerStars Live, Mizrachi in Africa, Poker Business, French Poker

In today's Daily Rewind we find out when PokerStars' live room opens, take a trip to WSOP Africa, compare business to poker and review the French poker market.

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:

PokerStars go live in March

It's just been announced that PokerStars' live card room inside London's Hippodrome casino will open on March 4.

The project, which is currently under construction, will mark the online poker room's first brick-and-mortar venture.

PokerStars' invested in the property back in October, 2012, and when the room finally opens it will host a series of 24 hour cash games as well as satellites to UKIPT AND EPT events.

WSOP South Africa

Mizrachi excited

The World Series of Poker continues to expand its global reach today with another WSOP Circuit event in South Africa.

Taking place inside Gauteng's Emerald Casino, the five day festival will feature a selection of tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $235 (Ladies Event) to $10,300 (High Roller).

However, the tournament every pro in attendance will be waiting for though is the $3,300 Main Event.

Kicking off on Thursday February 7, the re-entry event is expected to attract a host of players and top the 218 runners who attended last year.

One famous face who's already made the trip to South Africa is Michael Mizrachi.

The Grinder is this year's celebrity player and according to a recent tweet, he is "excited" to be playing poker in Africa.

Poker is like rotten tomatoes

Lee linking business and poker

Patrick Lee, one of the men behind movie review site Rotten Tomatoes, has recently written an article comparing his business ventures to poker.

Published on e27, an Asia-facing web innovation site, the article outlines how luck and timing are just as important in business as they are at the poker table.

Referencing sites such as Facebook and Friendster, Lee explains that launching an idea is "the equivalent of being dealt your starting hand" in poker.

He goes on to link your time and financial investment to a business idea as the ante.

Lee bases much of his analogy on the idea that an unskilled player can still lose with pocket aces (i.e. a good business idea) if they don't play the hand correctly.

The article is certainly an interesting look at the links between profitable business decisions and +EV poker plays.

Click here to read the full article.

French poker dip

France on a downswing

Recent figures released by French online poker regulator, ARJEL, have shown a decrease in the country's overall revenue.

However, despite cash game takings being down by 2%, the amount of money collected from tournament fees has increased by 14%.

Moreover, according to the stats, the number of high volume grinders has dropped by 20%, but the number of females playing the game has increased from 11% to 12%.

While the continued drop isn't good news for the French poker economy, it does now seem that the market is beginning to find its level.

Indeed, the growth in some areas of the industry, coupled with a 39% increase in online sports betting, means the virtual landscape should remain stable for the foreseeable future.

High stakes corner

Ben's back winning

Ben "Ben86" Tollerene returned to winning ways yesterday with his first significant win of 2013.

Having been largely absent from the online scene this year, the American grinder managed to bank $283,471 over the course of 953 hands.

The win put him just $269 ahead of Rui Cao who scooped a haul of $283,202.

At the other end of the spectrum, Rob "Vega_Lion" Akery finished the day as the biggest loser after losing $289,050.

Also suffering another loss - and quickly moving closer to the chasing pack in this year's high stakes race - was Viktor "Isildur1" Blom.

The Swedish star managed to drop $277,078 in the last 24 hours and take his overall profit to $1,699,855.  

Daily Signoff

Michael Mizrachi might be a noted tournament grinder, but he's also an accomplished cash game player: especially when he manages to river Phil Hellmuth.