Daily Rewind: Main Event Latest, Junglen Retires, Poker in Court, WSOPE Schedule

In today's Daily Rewind we get an update from the Main Event, see why Adam Junglen is leaving poker, testify to poker's skill in court and look forward to the 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:

Main Event Recap

Gaelle going for gold

Just three tables remain in the WSOP Main Event after a spate of high profile eliminations late on Day 6.

At the start of the day it looked as though online MTT star Taylor “taypaur” Paur would be pushing for the final table after entering with the chip lead.

However, the American couldn’t maintain his position and eventually hit the rail in 33rd place.

Other famous faces that couldn’t make it through the day, included: Amnon Filippi, Amit Makhija, David “ODB” Baker and Jason Somerville.

Now just 27 players remain and while the final table isn’t likely to be littered with recognisable names, there is still some headline stories waiting to happen as two women remain in contention.

France’s Gaelle Baumann and Norwegian Elisabeth Hille sit 20th and 5th respectively.

Indeed, the latter has over 9 million chips and looks a strong prospect to become the first woman to make a Main Event table since Barbara Enright back in 1995.

Junglen Hits the Rail

He’s been one of the best young online poker players in the world for a number of years, but finally the game seems to have caught up with Adam Junglen.

Despite being respected by many of his peers, the young American has decided that this year’s disappointing WSOP will be his last.

Having improved on his results at the last three Series, Adam suffered a drop in his number of cashes this year as well as a loss of love for the game.

One of his good friends and backer, Daniel Negreanu, has also noticed Adam’s recent decline in performance and enjoyment.

According to Adam’s latest blog post he is going to “work on finding happiness” and take an extended break from the game.

While he acknowledges that he’ll “miss the game too much to just quit forever”, he is now looking forward to a new chapter in his life.

Junglen's had enough

Poker IS a Game of Skill

It’s a sentiment that many of us already know and now it seems that the world’s brightest academics are also coming to the conclusion that poker is a game of skill.

During the trial of Lawrence DiChristina, a man accused of operating a high stakes gambling ring that involved poker in Staten Island, his defence attorney called upon Randal Heeb for a testimony.

Having taught at Yale, as well as holding an economics doctorate from the University of Chicago and a professorship at France’s INSEAD, Heeb is a well respected academic and offered the opinion that poker is a game of skill separate from other gambling endeavours such as sports betting.
 
During the trial Heeb is reported by the New York Post as saying: “Skill predominates over chance in poker” and that his research has shown that “skilful players are overwhelmingly more likely to win...than unskilful players.”

While the judge failed to throw the case out of court based on Heeb’s testimony, he did acknowledge that it raises “an interesting question” with respect to poker’s status as a skill game.

WSOPE Schedule

With the WSOP reaching its climax, the organisers have been busy planning the European incarnation of the event.

Having already released their main group of events, the WSOPE organisers have recently produced a full roster of tournaments, including satellites.

In addition to the core bracelet events, players will be able to take part in a number of smaller tournaments and satellites with buy-ins ranging from €40 to €1,000.

For a full breakdown of the schedule, click here.

Daily Signoff

With the Main Event rapidly approaching a conclusion, we leave you today with one of the most iconic moments in the event’s history.