Daily Rewind: WPT China, Full Tilt Payment Processor Guilty, WCOOP Latest

In today's Daily Rewind we announce the WPT's move to China, plead guilty with another Black Friday victim and round-up the latest WCOOP action.

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:

WPT China

The WPT has extended its global reach once again by announcing its first event in China. In association with Beijing Ourgame, the national tournament will take place inside the MGM Grand Sanya Resort and Matt Savage will be overseeing the 500-player tournament.

Running from December 14th until December 17th, the series is expected to attract more than 60,000 players all looking to satellite their way into the main event. Such a strong turnout will mean that the inaugural prizepool will exceed $650,000.
 
Commenting on the latest addition to their tournament schedule, WPT CEO Steve Heller said:

“We are very excited about the potential of this tournament as there are thousands of players in China who aren't able to play in large tournaments such as this without having to deal with the expense and hassle of travelling out of the country. WPT National China Tournament Sanya is filling a void in the Chinese poker community, and we hope this will be the first of many similar events World Poker Tour will hold in China in coming seasons.”

The Asian poker market is certainly booming and, if this event proves a success, it shouldn't be long before a range of other tournaments arrive on China's shores.

Soon to be a familiar sight on the WPT

Full Tilt payment processor guilty

Burtnick faces justice

Former Full Tilt payment processing director Nelson Burtnick has pleaded guilty to various charges relating to the Black Friday indictments.

Burtnick faced a Manhattan court yesterday and admitted that he knew he was breaking the law with regards to handling financial transactions for Full Tilt.

In an article produced by Associated Press and published in the Washington Post, it's been reported that Burtnick found ways to circumnavigate hurdles that made "servicing the company's US customers extremely difficult".

Burtnick's lawyers asked the court to consider an agreement which would see their client pay back all the money derived from his actions.

Sentencing will take place on December 19th with a recommendation that leniency be considered (in light of the maximum 15 year prison sentence) if Burtnick fully cooperates.

WCOOP near finale

The end of the WCOOP is in sight with just 12 events left before the virtual curtain comes down for another year.

Yesterday's action produced three more winners, with Finland's "moukari6" scooping the largest amount of money after taking the $1,050 No Limit Hold'em event.

After two days of play, "moukari6" managed to strike a deal worth $193,000 and finish ahead of 1,306 other players to win the title.
 
Also banking some more money in the past 24 hours was "Alexx Porter" from Russia. A tough field stood in his way during the $215 rebuy event, but in the end he managed to overcome a final challenge from the UK's "INSHALA82" to take home $76,227.

The final winner of the day was "Vlad_Radimov". 932 players joined the $320 Omaha Hi/Lo event, which meant that “Vlad_Radimov” banked $50,328 for his victory.

To catch all today's WCOOP action tune into the dedicated radio show right here in the Daily Rewind.

High stakes corner

A slow day at the virtual felt yesterday meant Vladimir "GVOZDIKA55" Shchemelev topped the table with less than $100,000 profit. After 873 hands Shchemelev managed to add another $84,696 to his bankroll.

Also running well in the last 24 hours was "26071985" and Theo "Theo J" Jorgensen who won $81,083 and $80,569 respectively.

Those not running so well yesterday, included: "KPR16" (-$157,357), Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies (-$139,612) and Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (-$66,987).

Daily Signoff

Today's Daily Signoff is a double dose of sporting excellence featuring Tony G and Phil Hellmuth during their triathlon challenge.