Daily Rewind: Raymer's Run, McDonald's Student, Cates Offer, Zoom MTTs

In today's Daily Rewind we review Greg Raymer's remarkable tournament run, see who Mike "Timex" McDonald has been coaching, issue another high stakes challenge and look forward to the prospect of Zoom tournaments.

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:

Raymer's hot streak

Raymer's on form

Greg Raymer might not ever reach the pinnacle of the poker world like he did back in 2004, but that doesn't mean the “Fossilman” has become an extinct entity on the rails of the community.

Indeed, it seems the American has found himself a little niche on the Heartland Poker Tour. The popular midstakes American tour often attracts some familiar faces, but Greg has been one of the staple figures on the circuit for a few years.

Not content just to make up the numbers, Greg has been more than a figure in 2012; he's been a force to be reckoned with after taking down three events in the last four months.

Greg's first win of the year came in July at the HPT event in New Mexico. He followed that up with a win in St. Louis, before taking down his third title in Iowa yesterday. The wins have so far banked him almost $300,000.

The remarkable accomplishment has put him way out in front on the HPT POY leaderboard and shown that he's still a fearsome tournament player.

Balsiger recruits "Timex" for WSOP

Balsiger eyeing up a historic win

Getting a high-profile coach for the final table of the WSOP has been something that many players have done in the past and this year that tradition has continued.

One of the first players to publically announce their association with a top tournament player was Russell Thomas. The table's fourth biggest stack has been working with Jason Somerville and documenting their time together in a series of videos called: The Final Table.

Following in Thomas's footsteps is Jake Balsiger.

Having played online in the past, Jake has drafted in the considerable knowledge of Mike "Timex" McDonald to enhance his chances of success in the biggest live final he's likely to ever play.

Mike has won over $4.5 million and taken down titles in some of the world's toughest tournaments. Although he'll start the finale eighth in chips, Balsiger does have the opportunity to become the youngest winner of the Main Event.

High stakes corner

Daniel 'junglemandan' Cates has been wielding his challenge stick again in the last 24 hours with another high stakes heads-up offer.

Having been eager to generate action ever since Full Tilt went down, Cates offered anyone brave enough the chance to play him heads-up for a minimum of €100,000 last November. Due to take place in Prague, the railbirds eagerly awaited a showdown with another high stakes player, however no challenger was forthcoming.

That lack of interest hasn't deterred Daniel though, as he's just issued another challenge to the poker community. However, this time he's offered flights and comps as a way to sweeten the deal. The $100,000 match will be screened on TV with the blinds starting at $100/$200.
 
The lower buy-in and extra incentives to play have already attracted some interest from David "Viffer" Peat. With terms likely to be discussed, we could see a live battle between the two in the near future.

Let's get it on

Zoom tournaments coming?

Zoom enthusiasts could be smiling in the next few months as it appears PokerStars are preparing to launch Zoom tournaments.

While there has been no official announcement from anyone at the company, a new lobby filter suggests the games might not be far away.

Players who log on to the site can now find a filter option for "zoom" under the tournament filter tab.

Having proved popular on Full Tilt in the past, fast-fold tournaments could be yet another advantage PokerStars holds over its rivals in the online poker market.

Daily Signoff

Henry Van Tran likes to do things on his own terms, even if it means making a fool of himself and annoying his WSOP table under the glare of the TV cameras.