One of the most important sports betting spots in Las Vegas is getting a poker room. That important development is where we’ll start our weekly recap of the poker news.
Westgate Casino Opens Up New Poker Room
There is some good news in Las Vegas as one of the biggest sportsbooks is now welcoming poker players. The Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino, which used to be called the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, is opening up a poker room. As you might recall, the hotel and casino was purchased in June 2014 and the poker room was shut down not long after. Since Westgate took over, they have become one of the biggest names in sports betting in Las Vegas, but now it is getting back into the poker game as well. There has been a soft opening for a six-table room as the action debuted last Wednesday.
The plan is to have the room ready to go by the time the NFL season kicks off. Of course, there will be televisions in the room for those who want to play poker but still watch some pigskin. There will be $1-2 no-limit games, as well as $2-4 and $3-6 limit games and a pot-limit Omaha game as well. There will also be daily $40 tournaments. The room will be open from 8am to 2am every day.
Sinclair Claims German Poker Championship
The 2017 partypokerLIVE German Poker Championship Super High Roller game was held over the weekend at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. The 28-player tournament came down to Jack Sinclair and Tony G, and the two came up with a deal in which Sinclair was named the winner of the tournament, but Tony G would pocket more money. Sinclair wound up with just over $294,000 and got to pose with the trophy, but Tony G went home with over $353,000.
Still, it was a good deal for Sinclair, who recently finished eighth at the World Series Of Poker Main Event and took home $1.2 million. His next time out will be at the $5 million guaranteed MILLIONS in Sochi, Russia, which is another partypokerLIVE event.
Legal Poker Push Dies Down in Australia
It’s long looked like online poker would be banned in Australia and now it’s official. There have been a few flickers of hope in the recent months but those hopes have been put out.
The senate managed to pass the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, which basically stops any operators of online poker from coming into the country – even if they are regulated. There was a last-minute pushback from the Australian Online Poker Alliance, which got support from Senator David Leyonhjelm. It looked good for a second but in the end the senate decided against it. The group also brought in professors that claimed the black market is going to boom if regulated online poker isn’t allowed in the country, but again, the senate didn’t listen. Now online poker backers are at square one again.
This doesn’t mean that online poker will never be allowed in Australia, but it has definitely been dealt a crippling blow for the time being.