Daily Rewind: PokerStars Zoom Poker, LAPC Update, Barron's View on Online Poker
In today's Daily Rewind we check out PokerStars' latest innovation, get an update from the LAPC and see what a leading financial publication has to say about online poker in the US. All that plus another amusing Daily Signoff featuring Phil Hellmuth.
Racing to ‘Stars
PokerStars may not have been in a rush to release their latest innovation to the online poker world, but after almost a year of rumours “Zoom Poker” has finally hit the market.
Having witnessed the popularity of Full Tilt’s Rush Poker, it was only going to be a matter of time before PokerStars responded, and respond they have. According to Pokerfuse, in the last 24 hours their new supercharged form of poker raced onto the scene and already it looks to have picked up where Rush Poker left off.
Although still in a testing phase, the new software has a host of familiar features, including: fast-fold, uncapped playerpools and a new quick fade system. Furthermore, the addition of an improved lobby and provisions for games beyond Hold’em means that players will be able to jump from table to table in the blink of an eye.
Indeed, with the ability to join 4 playerpools at once, test players have already been averaging between 200 and 280 hands/hour.
Although there has been no formal real money release date, if beta testing goes well then Zoom Poker could be racing into a lobby near you very soon.
For more information on Zoom Poker and to test it out for yourself, visit testpokerstars to download the beta client.
LAPC Update
Day 2 of the LAPC came to a close yesterday and when all the entrants were counted and verified the prizepool topped $5 million.
In total 549 players anted-up the $10,000 to play the main event including some of the game’s best players such as Vivek Rajkumar, Shaun Deeb and Isaac “WestmenloAA” Baron.
Phil Hellmuth was also in attendance, starting out his day with a tweet outlining his early strategy:
“@phil_hellmuth: Took a nap and came out w great attitude, and firing! 4 bet w Kc-8c, popped it w Ks-7s (made quads), popped it up w 8-3 off suit.”
The aggressive style seemed to pay off as Hellmuth managed to finish the day in 70th place with 104,200 chips. The other Phil in the field, Ivey, also managed to end the day with a healthy chip stack: 106,000 to be precise.
Day 3 kicks off today when 182 players, including 3rd placed Greg Mueller, will return in search of the $1,370,240 first place prize.
Online Landscape Looks Barron
Leading US financial publication, Barron’s, has published an article which paints a somewhat bleaker picture about the future of online poker than many recent reports have.
According to the author, Jim McTague, the idea that an online poker bill getting passed in 2012 is wishful thinking and that: “There's practically no chance at all of a bill squeaking through, now that the presidential campaign's focus has shifted from economics to social issues.”
The article also cites opposition from Native American casino operators as a further stumbling block to any federal legalisation, as well as an already failed attempt to amend legislation this year.
While the political landscape cannot be defined or influenced by one report, it does seem that those with a finger on the American pulse are still unconvinced by the virtual game’s future.
High Stakes Corner
“MaiseE” enjoyed a storming day at the high stakes tables yesterday with a table topping haul of $220,194. It took the online grinder 2,484 hands to bank over $150,000 more than their closest rival, “reaelamit” who netted $66,634.
Faltering at the virtual felt in the past 24 hours was “gavz101” and the big winner in recent weeks, “Jeans89”. “gavz101” logged off with the biggest loss of $118,781 yesterday, just ahead of Jens Kyllonen who dropped $97,770.
Daily Signoff
He was kind enough to offer some insight into his game at yesterday's LAPC main event, but what does Tom "Durrrr" Dwan think of Phil Hellmuth's aggressive style of play?
