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There’s A New NY Sports Betting Bill; Can New York Pass It In Two Weeks?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At long last, New York Assemblyman Gary Pretlow sent his sports betting bill for introduction Monday.

PlayUSA obtained an advance copy of the legislation before it finishes processing and is assigned a bill number, and it has several differences from the draft that had been previously reported.

The terminology providing the professional sports leagues a royalty as opposed to an integrity fee remains, but now there are stipulations for the leagues to claim that money.

New York is trying to pass sports betting legislation before a scheduled adjournment of the legislature on June 20.

Royalty with a catch

In the earlier draft of this bill, Pretlow pledged the same one-quarter percent of all wagers made to sports leagues that is in the Senate bill, but rather than submit to the ruse of referring to it as an integrity fee as the NBA and MLB had proposed, he called it a royalty. The leagues have been lobbying heavily in the statehouse.

In doing so, he deleted the steps laid out in Sen. John Bonacic‘s bill that the leagues had to take in order to get the fee. It was free money with no strings attached.

Rather than automatically getting their royalty payments, the leagues would need to submit a claim by April 13 of each year for disbursement of the royalty fee funds remitted by casinos in the previous calendar year.

Within 30 days of submitting this claim, the league must meet with the commission established by the bill to provide “evidence of policies, procedures and training programs it has implemented to protect the integrity of its sports events.”

This language is taken from Bonacic’s bill, but it seems incongruous to have an integrity stipulation on a royalty.

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Still easy money for leagues

Having to submit a claim for the royalty and have one formality of a meeting with the commission would surely be agreeable to the sports leagues.

The Senate bill also includes an annual report on usage of the fees that is subject to audit by the commission. Since the Assembly bill isn’t requiring that royalty fees go toward maintaining integrity of the games, that isn’t necessary.

Pretlow does add a stipulation not in Bonacic’s bill that sports governing bodies registered to obtain the fee must be headquartered in the US.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Phil Ivey Is Back At The WSOP (And Playing Everything)

Phil Ivey’s name resurfaced into the mainstream poker world in May when he played in the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. Ivey won a Short Deck title and then played in the Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas a few weeks later as the final entrant announced. The two events sparked buzz about Ivey’s 2018 World Series of Poker prospects. Those questions look to have an answer within the first week of the summer.

The return

Ivey played in the WSOP $100,000 High Roller event over the weekend, and after he busted from that event it became evident what hise summer volume will look like. He entered the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw event on Saturday but did not advance to Day 2. On Sunday, fans were treated to a surprise when Ivey entered Day 1D of The Colossus.

A $565 buy-in is less than a small blind for Ivey in most cash games he plays in. Yet, there he was grinding away in poker’s biggest lottery. Ivey’s starting stack of 5,000 grew to 63,000 by the end of the night and he is on to Tuesday’s Day 2.

Last week’s $25,000 WSOP Fantasy Draft fueled speculation that Ivey would be playing a full schedule. Eric Wasserson, a co-captain picking Daniel Negreanu’s team, upped the bid to $50 for Ivey and won. Wasserson and Negreanu are close friends, as are Negreanu and Ivey. The small degree of separation leads to an ostensible guess that Negreanu knows Ivey’s schedule for this summer.

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The bets?

Ivey had been off the WSOP grid since 2014 when he won his 10th bracelet. Legal issues hamstrung his finances to play tournaments but he reportedly remained active in cash games in Asia.

When Ivey won the $1,500 Eight-Game Mixed event in 2014, he earned more than $167,332 first-place prize. Negreanu and Ivey made bracelet bets prior to the summer and Ivey cashed in for the pair.

Could a similar bracelet bet be on the table in 2018? Ivey’s current pace of tournaments entered suggests so.

The last major bracelet bet came in 2016 when Jason Mercier booked a $10,000 bet at 180-1 against Vanessa Selbst that he could win three bracelets in a single series. Mercier came up short but was the talk of the Rio for the full WSOP calendar after he won two bracelets in a single week.

No official details are out in the open as of yet but a lucrative bracelet bet is a likely catalyst for Ivey playing a $565 crapshoot.

In previous years when Ivey has had bracelet bets on the line, two or three tournaments played at once is the norm. Registration is open until the start of Day 2 for the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo event and odds are Ivey will play with Colossus still another day away.

Who is betting against Ivey?

Without a tweet or other form of communication, there is difficulty in pinning down who is responsible for giving Ivey the potentially added motivation to play a full schedule.

The obvious guesses are Negreanu or other members of the American high stakes community. There is a reason to believe Ivey’s tournament skills are diminished as a 41-year-old who has not played many of them in recent years. Bobby’s Room is ruthless and if they believe Ivey is a mark, they will gladly take action.

Another candidate is the group of businessmen who surround Ivey in high stakes games in Asia. Ivey maintains a relationship with Big One for One Drop participant Paul Phua, an influential member of the group who put on the biggest games in that part of the world. The businessmen love a good sweat and Ivey attempting to a win a bracelet with at least six-figures on the line could be worth the seven weeks of entertainment.

Will he pull it off?

Ivey is more than familiar with all the games the WSOP has to offer and ironically owns zero No Limit Hold’em bracelets. There are over 30 events remaining of the non-NLHE variety and if Ivey keeps up his current volume, he is a favorite to make a deep run in at least one or two.

In 2012, Ivey made five final tables in the span of two weeks. A run similar to that this summer would place Ivey immediately back into the conversation for the best all-around player in the game.

And if he wins a bracelet? We’ll see.

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Assembly Committee Passes NJ Sports Betting Bill, As State Takes Victory Lap

As lawmakers and gaming industry stakeholders came together to move legislation forward to tax and regulate New Jersey sports betting, it felt more like a celebration than a serious consideration of the legislation that is going to move quickly through the statehouse in Trenton.

The post Assembly Committee Passes NJ Sports Betting Bill, As State Takes Victory Lap appeared first on Play NJ.

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Justin Bonomo Running Blazing Hot After Winning SHR Bowl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Justin Bonomo sits third on the all-time money list, thanks in part to his recent $5 million win at the Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas.

Fedor Holz may have given the performance of the year in 2017. Bonomo is giving him a run for his money this year though.

Overall, Bonomo’s winnings cap out at $ 32,291,297 with him following closely behind Daniel Negreanu ($39,546,095) and Erik Seidel ($34,507,095).

Bonomo’s total winnings this year keep him at $13,907,138. That represents:

  • 17 cashes
  • 14 final tables
  • 7 titles

One win to rule them all

The Super High Roller Bowl win really secured some ground for Bonomo in terms of ranking. But the table was stacked.

The final table included:

    1. Justin Bonomo – $5M
    2. Daniel Negreanu – $3M
    3. Jason Koon – $2.1M
    4. Mikita Badziakouski – $1.6M
  1. Christoph Vogelsang – $1.2M
  2. Nick Petrangelo – $900K

These six sat for a livestream audience in the PokerGO Studio.

Bonomo came up against Negreanu in the final fight, but won with top set to secure the title, reported Poker Central.

While Negreanu studied up and hired a team of coaches to ready him for the solver/GTO style of play, Bonomo was familiar with this style.

Leading into the final table, Negreanu took the chip lead after a river call against Badziakouski. After a brief battle between Negreanu, Koon, and Badziakouski, Bonomo went for the kill and got the better end of a two pair against Koon.

“I’ve watched the game change,” Bonomo said to PokerNews. “I’ve used all the methods and learned all the games. I finally feel like I’m on top.”

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Bonomo is on fire

After winning the $5 million, some might choose to cash it in. But not Bonomo. Bonomo went straight to the $25K High Roller NLH at ARIA. Even though the number of entries was slim (35), he cashed at first for $350,000.

Already, others are starting to take notice and heed his warnings.

‘ZeeJustin’ secured his best live cash with the Super High Roller Bowl; his total live earnings sit at $32,291,295, according to Hendon Mob.

Just this year, Bonomo dominated the field, snagging multiple titles, those among them:

  • $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller #20 at the 2018 Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Hollywood ($556,873)
  • $10,000 + 500 No Limit Hold’em Event #1 at the US Poker Open in Las Vegas ($190,400)
  • HK$2,100,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller Bowl China in Macau ($4,823,077)
  • £25,000 No Limit Hold’em #24 at the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo in Monte Carlo ($457,356)
  • £25,000 No Limit Hold’em Single Reentry #40 at the European Poker Tour in Monte Carlo ($311,268)
  • $300,000 No Limit Hold’em at the Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas ($5,000,000)
  • $26,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller at the ARIA High Roller 88 in Las Vegas ($350,000)

The tail end of last year started the heater for Bonomo when he won the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic $25K High Roller for $140,000. He didn’t stop there. He continued to move his way up the ladder with second place in the $100K Super High Roller ($1,077,800) and fourth in the $25K High Roller at the PCA ($310,150).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Justin Bonomo Running Blazing Hot After Winning SHR Bowl appeared first on Play USA.