This week’s poker news starts off with a disturbing incident between legend Sammy Farha and a dealer. We’ll start there as we recap the headlines:
Poker Community Raises Funds For Dealer That Punched Sammy Farha
The poker community is rallying around a dealer who had a beef with legendary player Sammy Farha. Apparently, a dealer named A.J. and Farha got into a heated argument one night. Farha used his clout to get him fired. On a separate night, when A.J. was working at a different poker brand, Farha came in to play and that set things off down a violent path. The two got into another feud, got face to face, and A.J. slapped Farha before the two tussled briefly.
Farha hasn’t taken legal actions on AJ yet, but it appears that the hit was for a good cause. Other dealers in the room applauded AJ for his punch to Farha and thought that the poker professional wasn’t using any common etiquette at the poker table.
A GoFundMe has sprouted up from the incident, with people in the poker community hoping to raise roughly $20,000 to help cover any lawyer or court fees that the dealer will have to pay for if Farha presses charges. So far, $680 has been donated.
Gimenez Wins 2021 WSOPC Bicycle Main Event
It was a phenomenal day for Yoann Gimenez. He was able to win the $1,00 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event at the 2021 World Series of Poker Circuit Bicycle Casino. In order to claim the top prize, he had to overcome a field of 525 other entries, which he was able to do. As a result, he picked up the largest amount out of the $795,375 prize pool, taking home $156,160 and his first gold ring from his first-place finish.
By far it was Gimenez’s biggest recorded tournament score. His previous career-high was when he was able to pick up $26,880 from a $1,700 buy-in event. That event took place during the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood’s Rock’N’Roll Poker Open. It was a third-place finish.
Outside of the money Gimenez, grabbed 840 Card Player Player of the Year points and it helped move him inside the top 250 finishers in the current standings.
England Wins Mid-States Poker Tour Main Event
Nobody could stop Kyna England this week at the Mid-States Poker Tour. She was able to take the top spot in the 2021 Mid-States Poker Tour Canterbury Park $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. It wasn’t an easy victory, though, as England fought her way through a large field of 1,042 other entries. That many participants actually helped increase the $400,000 prize pool all the way up to seven digits.
Kyna took home the largest chunk of that money, earning $186,709 for her first-place finish. This was the second biggest recorded tournament score of her career as well. Her current record was from a $488,755 cash out that she got from the World Poker Tour Venetian main event earlier this year.
Lastly, England earned 960 Card Player Player of the Year points for her win and sits just outside the top 20 in the POY race.