The world of poker delivers some interesting headlines this week. We’ll start in the United States where another state has welcomed online poker as the state of West Virginia is finally onboard.
West Virginia Legalises Online Poker
Another week, another state that’s getting involved into online game. The latest is West Virginia, who has announced that they’ll legalise online poker. West Virginia has now joined New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Nevada, as this movement slowly spread the accessibility of this particular facet of online gaming.
West Virginia’s House and Senate passed online gambling legislation roughly a month ago – Senate passage occurred on March 8. As long as the governor does not veto within a 15-day time window, the bill automatically becomes law. The sitting governor did not move to make a veto and through that inaction, the bills passed in the legislature did in fact become law.
Five licences for online poker will be granted to specific West Virginia establishments. The venues can pay $250,000 for a five-year licence, with $100,000 renewals for another five years. Online revenues will be taxed at a rate of 15 percent, which should give the state a healthy boost to their budget.
PartyPoker Joins Short Deck Poker Cash Game Trend
There wasn’t expected to be such a demand when the PokerStars company moved into short deck poker space, but it’s been so popular that now PartyPoker is joining the rush. Short Deck Hold ’Em, also referred to as Six Plus Hold ’Em, is a version of Texas Hold ’Em, but with the 2 through 5 cards removed from the deck. Hand strength rankings are differentiated here as well.
The short deck game has always had a cult following, but the poker giants hadn’t really put much stock in them before. However, PartyPoker has joined PokerStars in putting out its own version of Short Deck Hold ’Em with the games being available only in micro to mid-stakes formats. If they continue to grow, we’ll see some higher stakes options on the table as well.
Gilboa Becomes First Israeli European Poker Tour Main Event Champion
History was made at the European Poker Tour event in Sochi, Russia. Uri Gilboa became the first Israeli to ever win a European Poker Tour Main Event. Gilboa, who is 61 years old, is proving that success can come at any age.
Gilboa had to navigate his way through a field of 758 to come out on top of the no-limit hold ’em event. There was a $2,931 buy-in per player, which left Gilboa with a $439,600 prize for first place.
There were also Card Player of the Year points awarded as Gilboa collected 1,368 for the top-place result. That now shoots him up to 41st in the Player of the Year race standings.
Zakhar Babaev, who began the final day as the chip leader, was the eventual runner-up. He took home $267,792 for his efforts. Maksim Pisarenko was third and won $189,840.