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Live poker may be a struggle at the moment, but the regulated US online poker market continues to grow. That received a significant boost Wednesday with the announcement of a packed World Series of Poker Online Circuit schedule.

The first Online Circuit Series kicks off Jan. 14 with a total of 13 events in 2021 on WSOP.com. The online festival will be available for players in Nevada and New Jersey.

Some added good news for US online poker players? WSOP.com’s announcement hinted that a 13th series could be in a new market.

“An additional 13th online circuit event is earmarked pending launch of the WSOP.com service in a newly regulated market,” a news release announcing the circuit launch notes.

That location is likely Pennsylvania or Michigan. PA seems the most obvious as the platform has been approved in the Keystone State.

WSOP.com adds to US online poker offerings

Players can expect an experience as close as possible to traditional live WSOP Circuit events. The schedule includes an online festival each month throughout 2021.

All tournament series will feature at least 12 official WSOP gold ring events. Four special “Super Circuit” series come with an expanded slate of 18 ring events. Super Circuits also include $1,000 and $2,000 high rollers and a $500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament.

Some series will be co-branded with official WSOPC host casinos, highlighting “cash at the cage” buy-in and cash out availability. These events also offer out-of-market players special promotional rates to stay onsite.

“Players deserve great tournaments and great value year-round, and that’s what we aim to do with the 2021 WSOP Online Circuit Series,” WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said in a news release. “We’ve been thrilled with the big prize pools for WSOP.com events in 2020, and we only expect to see that grow with this new model.”

What else can players expect from WSOP.com?

In total, WSOP Online Series events feature over $600,000 in added prize money across a variety of promotions. That includes leaderboard points awarded for every gold ring event.

Players can earn eligibility for freeroll events and other incentives. The entire schedule culminates with the WSOP Online Circuit Championship. This signature tournament comes with some extra incentive – an official WSOP gold bracelet.

The year-end Circuit Championship is capped at 256 players competing for a $250,000 prize pool. Players can qualify by winning a:

• gold ring event during the 2021 season.
• $10,000 Player of the Month leaderboard.
• Second Chance Fast Forward.

Those who finish among the top 50 players on the cumulative circuit leaderboard also earn an entry. Here’s a look at the complete schedule: 

WSOP.com adds $25,000 monthly freeroll, monthly Second Chance Fast Forward

Players getting in the WSOP Online Circuit action have plenty of extras to look forward to. Each series features a $25,000 freeroll for top performers. This tournament comes with exclusive eligibility only to those who:

• Win a gold ring event during that series.
• Finish among the top 10 on the leaderboard in the tournament festival.

Additionally, players receive a Second Chance Freeroll for participating in at least four tournaments in each series. The winner-take-all event rewards a seat into the year-end WSOP Online Circuit Series Championship.

$10,000 added for Circuit Player of the Month

WSOP.com has added even more for 2021. The WSOP Circuit Series leaderboard will reward the top 10 players with a share of $10,000 in tournament tickets. Players earn points by participating in WSOP gold ring events each month.

These players also receive entry into a $25,000 monthly freeroll. The leaderboard’s first-place finisher also wins a seat into the $250,000 WSOP Online Circuit Championship.

The new year looks to be bringing plenty of action for WSOP.com online poker players.

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The post GOLD RUSH: WSOP.com Announces Packed 2021 Online Circuit Schedule; Hints at Launching in Another State appeared first on .

After months of postponed tournaments, the World Poker Tour is returning to the live poker felt. The tour announced this week that Season XVIII will continue with the WPT Venetian from March 5-9 in Las Vegas.

The $5,000 event comes with a $1.5 million guarantee and is the second tour event at the venue. The last Venetian event was held during Season XVII in March 2019.

“We are excited for the return of the World Poker Tour to The Venetian,” Venetian tournament director Tommy LaRosa said. “We strive to provide our players with as many options as possible and have been working throughout the last year to deliver the great poker experience our players have come to expect, but in a Venetian clean way.”

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WPT returns with 2 events so far on 2021 schedule

With the Venetian, the WPT now has two events back on the Main Tour schedule. The $3,500 Lucky Hearts Poker Open is set for Jan. 22-26 at Florida’s Seminole Hard Rock with a $1 million guarantee.

Both events offer a look at the bounce back of the live poker scene. In announcing the Venetian tournament, the tour and property stressed their commitment to safety during the pandemic.

The Venetian operates under its “Clean Commitment” program, featuring 800 initiatives to minimize risk for guests, players, and employees. The poker room safety measures include:

• all players sanitizing their hands before sitting down at a table
• cleaning protocols to address the ongoing sanitization of chips, cards, and shufflers
• transparent dividers between players
• face masks worn in all areas per Nevada regulations 

Players can expect a traditional WPT experience in the Venetian and Lucky Hearts. Winners earn Hublot WPT Player of the Year points and add their names to the Mike Sexton Champions Cup.

The winner also earns a $15,000 seat to the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions. More Season XVIII events are expected to be announced at a later date.

The tour also still has three final tables left to play at the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas. Delays have left the final six players in the LA Poker Classic, Borgata Winter Poker Open, and Gardens Poker Championship in limbo. Those events will be filmed for broadcast on the FOX Sports regional networks.

WPTDeepStacks events also added to Venetian

Along with a Main Tour event heading to the Venetian, WPTDeepStacks is also heading to the property in 2021. The WPT’s lower buy-in tour kicks off the new year with a $1,600 event from Jan. 29 – Feb. 1.

That event is part of the Venetian’s DeepStack Showdown Series and features a $500,000 guarantee. The entire festival offers more than $1 million in guarantees and begins on Jan. 18. A second DeepStacks event will be announced at a later date 

Players in the Venetian event will be eligible for the DeepStacks North America Player of the Year race. That comes with $15,000 in prizes and the winner earns a $3,000 package toward the WPTDeepStacks Championship.

“The World Poker Tour returns to live WPT Main Tour events in Las Vegas at the Venetian and to add another member to the WPT Champions Club,” WPT vice president of global tour management Angelica Hael said in a news release.

“All parties expect a strong turnout to support three of the best brands in poker in the WPT, WPTDeepStacks, and Venetian. We look forward to a great event in a safe playing environment thanks to the hard work from the Venetian team.”

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WPT gears back up after months of online events

While live WPT tournaments may be coming back, the company has been anything but quiet. The tour has focused more on online poker through co-branding with partypoker and its own ClubWPT sweepstakes poker site.

WPT and party have partnered on several major online events in recent months. Some of those have included Main Tour tournaments. In the US, that meant the first Main Tour online event available to American players. 

The $3,500 Online Poker Open was held Dec. 27-29 and attracted 395 entries for a $1.3 million prize pool. The event was held on the partypoker US Network in New Jersey with Soheb Porbandarwala taking the title for $239,820.

Online poker continues to surge, but the tour’s upcoming Las Vegas and Florida events show live poker’s revival. In Las Vegas, Bally’s held its inaugural “Back in Action” poker tournament series recently.

A few other casinos around the country have also begun adding tournament series in recent months. The World Series of Poker also held the live Main Event final table on Monday.

The WPT adds to this growing trend and many poker players are happy to see events returning.

* Lead image courtesy WPT/Joe Giron

The post BACK IN ACTION: WPT Heading to Venetian in Las Vegas as Live Poker Slowly Returns appeared first on .

The Poker Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that 1996 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Huck Seed is the newest inductee. The honor recognizes a card-playing career dating back to the late 1980s.

Seed received the greatest number of votes from living Hall of Fame members. That totaled 76 votes with tournament director Matt Savage getting the second-largest total at 51.

“Hearing the news that I am being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame this year brought back memories of my early poker days, walking into the Binion’s Horseshoe, about to start a poker session, admiring  all the Poker Hall of Famers on the wall,” Seed said in a news release.

“It feels good to be included with all the poker legends that I once idolized and competed against over the years. Thank you everyone.”

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A long career at the poker table

Originally from Corvallis, Montana, the 6-foot, 7-inch Seed was a star basketball player in high school. He earned all-state honors and went on to study electrical engineering and play basketball at the California Institute of Technology.

However, Seed left college behind in 1989 to play poker full time. Along with being a regular high stakes cash game player for several decades, Seed has several notable tournament wins. Along with the Main Event, Seed has three other WSOP bracelets.  

In 2009, he won the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship for $500,000. Winning the WSOP Tournament of Champions followed a year later for another $500,000. Seed currently boasts live tournament winnings of $7.7 million.

Along with prowess at the poker table, Seed’s prop betting antics are also well known. His wagers included learning to do a standing backflip within six months and not shaving for an entire year.

Reaction to Seed’s Hall of Fame induction

Many poker players applauded Seed’s election to the hall after such a long career in the game. WSOP/ESPN commentator Lon McEachern was also a nominee with broadcast partner Norman Chad. He congratulated Seed on a worthy career for the honor.

Huck Seed is such an amazingly worthy new member of the Poker Hall of Fame. His accomplishments are more than “Hall-worthy” and the stories of him off the felt would have lasted forever even if he were not voted in. I am very happy for him.

— Lon McEachern (@lonmceachern) December 31, 2020

Poker legends Erik Seidel and Phil Hellmuth expressed their congratulations on Twitter as well. Daniel Negreanu, who is locked in a heads-up battle wth Doug Polk, also offered some words about Seed’s induction.

Was happy to see @HuckleberrySeed finally get the call for the Poker Hall of Fame, his induction was long overdue.

He was a hero of mine growing up in Vegas trying to make it. We used to go for drinks then play $200-$400 Stud 8 heads up for hours.

He won.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) December 30, 2020

The Hall of Fame added only a single member this year as done from 1980 to 2004. Hall member Linda Johnson congratulated Seed, but wished the process still inducted more than one person.

“Congratulations to Huck Seed,” she noted. “I sure wish they had inducted two people this year. Matt Savage also deserves to be in.”

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Inside the Hall of Fame voting

Among the qualifications for the Hall of Fame include playing against top competition for high stakes and standing the test of time. Non-players must have contributed to the growth and success of the game with “positive and lasting results.”

Several big names were among this year’s nominees – from Antonio Esfandiari and Mike Matusow to Eli Elezra and Ted Forrest. PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg was also included for the first time.

Scheinberg finished third in the voting with a tally of 45 and Elezra behind him with 30. The hall was acquired by Caesars Entertainment in 2004 when the company bought the WSOP. This was the first year that the Hall of Fame has released official voting results.

All 31 living Hall of Fame members could cast up to 10 votes across the slate of finalists. In total, members cast 30 ballots with one abstention. The hall plans an induction ceremony sometime later in 2021. Here’s a look at the final voting:

• Huckleberry Seed – 76 Votes
• Matt Savage – 51 Votes
• Isai Scheinberg – 45 Votes
• Eli Elezra – 30 Votes
• Antonio Esfandiari – 23 Votes
• Lon McEachern and Norman Chad – 20 Votes
• Ted Forrest – 20 Votes
• Mike Matusow – 17 Votes
• Patrik Antonius – 15 Votes
• Chris Ferguson – 3 Votes

* Lead image courtesy WSOP

* Legends of Poker photo courtesy WPT

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We have finally arrived at the last rewind of 2020.

The year has brought a multitude of gambling-related stories (and there will be plenty to look forward to in 2021.) For our final three, multistate poker clears a major hurdle in Michigan, Hawaii could be getting its first casino, and Tenessee mobile wagering debuts big.

On the rewind:

Multistate poker bill heads to Michigan governor

Our top story has to do with Michigan. No, not the state’s efforts to launch online sports betting and iGaming before year’s end. For that, residents will have to wait till mid-January.

Instead, this story deals with a bill that would allow Michigan residents to play MI online poker against challengers in other states.

The bill, SB991, passed through the House 85-16 and through the Senate 36-1 with ease. Many consider it a “cleanup” to the 2019 law which legalized online casinos.

While not boring you with legal jargon, a specific passage in the bill reads:

The board may enter into agreements with other jurisdictions, including Indian tribes, to facilitate, administer, and regulate multijurisdictional internet gaming for poker by internet gaming operators to the extent that entering into the agreement is consistent with state and federal laws and if the internet gaming under the agreement is conducted only in the United States.

Now to be completely transparent, the language only allows for multistate poker to happen should Michigan enter into some type of interstate compact. It’s not a “flip of the switch” kind of bill.

The takeaway: Many believe the online gaming market in Michigan to be huge. The addition of multistate poker could be a game-changer. Don’t expect online poker anytime soon though, there are still many things to iron out. (But it is coming!)

Talks of Hawaii casino emerge

A proposal to build a casino in the community of Kapolei, Hawaii, located on the island of O’ahu, was approved in a 5-4 vote by the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

Now, before you start booking that long-awaited Hawaiian vacation, this is simply a “proposal,” meaning several rounds of discussions still need to occur. Casinos do not magically appear overnight, especially in a state where all forms of gambling are illegal.

With that being said, you would think a major tourist destination like Hawaii would have at least one casino resort already.

However, there is one city on the mainland that might hope these plans stay ideas — Las Vegas.

According to KITV-4, Las Vegas attracts thousands of visitors from Hawaii a year but due to COVID-19 restrictions, those numbers have significantly decreased this year.

The takeaway: This is a major step for Hawaii, a picturesque destination that could benefit from a major casino resort. Or, should they take a much easier route, perhaps a bill could emerge that lets casino operators invest in existing resorts and outfit them with gambling. Only time will tell. Either way is a longshot at this point.

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Tenessee sports betting starts strong

And with only four operators, Tennessee mobile sports betting is off to a massive head start.

In November, the Volunteer State collected a record-setting $131.4 million in handle — the most of any state in its first month of operations, ever.

The four operators, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Action 24/7, combined for $13.2 million in sports betting revenue which equates to a 10% hold.

On the state side of things, these numbers translate to $2.4 million in state taxes.

That’s the good stuff. The bad stuff is, we don’t exactly know who were the top performers. Unfortunately, the information provided by the Tennessee Education Lottery only gives handle, payouts, and taxes but no specific breakdowns.

The takeaway: This is excellent news for a state like Virginia, which plans to debut mobile wagering first before brick-and-mortar locations are up and running. Experts were a bit confused by Tennessee’s approach to sports betting at the start but in a world where smartphones are in the hands of almost every US citizen, mobile sports betting became the logical choice. And so far, it has not disappointed. Of course, this is only month one, but the bar has been set pretty high.

The post PlayUSA Rewind: Multistate Poker Bill On Its Way To Michigan Governor appeared first on Play USA.

After coming to the table as chip leader with more than twice his nearest rival, Joseph Hebert closed the show on Monday. He won the World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event US side at the live final table at the Rio in Las Vegas for $1.55 million.

The 38-year-old from Metairie, Louisiana, now has a shot to play the international final table winner, Argentina’s Damian Salas. That heads-up duel pays the winner $1 million, awarding the Main Event bracelet and champion’s title.

Hebert’s mother Linda passed away recently and he dedicated his win to her.

“It still hasn’t hit me yet – this is a life-changing experience,” Hebert said after the win. “It feels like a dream. I felt like I was dreaming the whole time I was playing. I know my mom was here with me, and this was for her.”

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Hebert takes title with single heads-up hand

With a sizable chip stack and large payout ladder jumps, Hebert was able to utilize his chip stack well. He dominated play from the beginning, eliminating four of the eight remaining players.

Runner-up Ron Jenkins scored the other three knockouts and certainly improved his standing at the final table. He entered seventh in chips and now takes home just over $1 million.

It took only one hand to end the heads-up play between Hebert and Jenkins. Hebert held about 27 million in chips to Jenkins’ 13 million with blinds at 150,000/300,00 with a 300,000 ante.

In the 98th hand, Hebert four-bet all in with AQ and Jenkins called with QQ. The flop brought K7A, hitting the Ace for Hebert.

Jenkins needed the final Queen in the deck or an unlikely Jack-10 runout. The turn brought the 4 with the river 8 to give Hebert the victory.

The win for Hebert comes after scoring his Main Event entry via a $300 satellite at WSOP.com. He greatly increases his career earnings, which included $668,000 in live tournament winnings before the final table. Hebert felt in control throughout the final day of action. 

“I was just really confident,” Hebert told WSOP.com afterward. “I was excited to play and it was just a battle. It wasn’t easy, I tell you that much. The guys played great. It was just a battle the whole way through.” 

Playing the final table for his mother

The win came with some emotions for Hebert. He unexpectedly lost his mother in September due to a pulmonary embolism. In their final text conversation, Hebert told her about his dream to win a WSOP bracelet.

He began a social media campaign #ForLinda before the final table. His dream ultimately became reality and Hebert said he could feel her presence throughout the competition.

“I really felt like I was dreaming,” he said. “And I thought about my mom, and I know that she was here and this was for her. She would be so excited to see it, so I’m just so happy I got it for her.”

Hebert has been a longtime grinder in mostly smaller stakes, regional tournaments. Back in Louisiana, he’s also worked part-time as a waiter at The Galley Seafood for 20 years. He has no plans to quit the job even if he adds another $1 million in the heads-up duel.

After the score, Hebert had a couple items on his shopping list. He planned to buy his father a new car. His 8-year-old son has been hoping for a pet bird and that is also in order.

COVID-19 issues create some obstacles

Getting to the heads-up matchup hasn’t come without issues. Three-time bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva was disqualified from playing the US final table after a positive COVID-19 test.

Per the tournament rules, anyone testing positive before play would receive ninth-place money. Hebert now faces Salas at the Rio, but that also faced some problems.

Due to pandemic travel complications, the heads-up finale was moved from Dec. 30 to Jan. 3. The two winners will play live at the Rio in Las Vegas with ESPN filming the action.

“Certainly 2020 has been a year of challenges for so many and we experienced them in organizing this unique format for a poker tournament on two continents,” WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said in a news release. “We are so proud of this event, and the showcase it will provide for poker on Jan. 3.

“We’ve seen memorable moments you can’t believe and discovered two central characters you can’t help but root for. A dream will be dealt on Jan 3, and that’s exactly what we need heading into 2021.”      

The players weren’t the only ones who benefited from final table payouts in 2020. In the spirit of giving, eighth-place finisher Gershon Distenfeld has pledged to donate 100% of his winnings to charitable causes. Here’s a look at the complete payouts:

2020 WSOP Main Event US

A look at the WSOP Main Event numbers

The 2020 Main Event brought some big numbers to the legal US online poker market. The tournament set a new benchmark for prize pools after generating $6.8 million.

That easily eclipsed the $2 million achieved for the WSOP Online championship in July. The Main Event attracted a total of 705 players.

This also becomes the first time an online event in the regulated US market has paid a winner $1 million. In this case, the first- and second-place finishers both scored more than a million.

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The post MAIN MAN: Joseph Hebert Wins WSOP Main Event US Final Table in Memory of Mother  appeared first on .

When it comes to film franchises, third installments typically fall short of the heights reached by the first two parts. That was somewhat the case for the third Pennsyl-MANIA event on PokerStars PA that finished Monday night.

The third go-round of the $200 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament sported a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, the largest in the site’s history. While the event once again attracted a huge turnout, it wasn’t quite enough to avoid an overlay of just over $70,000.

Even so, Pennsyl-MANIA Part 3 — or “P3nnsyl-MANIA” — ranks as the second-largest tournament in Pennsylvania online poker’s short history.

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‘PokerAnomoly’ wins third Pennsyl-MANIA, Shahade makes a run

Like previous Pennsyl-MANIAs, the two-day tournament allowed up to five re-entries. There were a total of 1,421 unique players who re-entered 888 times during the 4.5-hour late registration period.

Ultimately the 2,309 entries were about 380 shy of what was needed to avoid the overlay.

The top 377 finishers divided the $500,000 prize pool. Among those taking part of it was PokerStars Ambassador Jennifer Shahade who finished 37th.

After leading for all of a short heads-up battle, “PokerAnomoly” won the last all-in with king-queen versus the pocket sevens of “bigpapa272” to win the title and first prize of $74,147.85.

The first Pennsyl-MANIA back in May still ranks as the largest ever on PokerStars PA. That one drew 2,774 entries to create a $515,964 prize pool.

Thanks to a heads-up deal, winner “D-Low1527” earned just over $70K for finishing first in the inaugural Pennsyl-MANIA. Thus the prize “PokerAnomoly” won last night is the largest earned in any of the three Pennsyl-MANIAs.

High Roller easily eclipses guarantee to build $88K prize pool

For the first time, PokerStars PA added a side event to the Pennsyl-MANIA festivities, a $1,000 NLHE High Roller.

The High Roller featured a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and had no problems exceeding that total.

The 93 total entries (70 uniques) pushed the prize pool up to $88,350. In the end “superdonkeydave” needed a little over six-and-a-half hours to win all the chips and a $21,243.68 first prize.

PokerStars holds steady revenue-wise as PA online casinos thrive

As has been the case since its November 2019 launch, PokerStars PA remains the only online poker site operating in the Keystone State. Both WSOP.com and partypoker appear poised to open online poker rooms in the state in 2021.

Since launching, PokerStars PA has averaged just under $2.9 million in revenue each month. Traffic-wise, the site peaked in April with more than $5.2 million in revenue amid casino closures and other measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the last three months, PokerStars PA revenue has held steady at right around $2.4 million per month.

Per orders from the state government, retail casinos are closed once again in Pennsylvania until Jan. 4. Meanwhile PA online casinos are thriving overall, hitting almost $60 million in total revenue to set a new record in November.

Lead image via Dreamstime.

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The World Series or Poker $10,000 Main Event has seen some interesting twists. That continued on Monday just hours before the US half of the series was set to take place.

News came to light Sunday night that Upeshka De Silva wouldn’t be playing due to a positive COVID-19 test. After qualifying in eighth online at WSOP.com, he now receives ninth-place money for $98,813.

The news threw another wrinkle into the revamped 2020 Main Event that already offered a unique online/live hybrid. The international half of the event played out on GGPoker with a final table at King’s Casino in the Czech Republic.

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Left out of the WSOP Main Event

Coming into the final table, De Silva was one of the most experienced players in the field. He has three WSOP bracelets and $3.1 million in live tournament winnings.

Podcaster and streamer Joey Ingram reported the disqualification on Sunday night after being contacted by De Silva.

Final Table starts tomorrow at NOON so had to get this story out tonight.

9th place is $98,000 and 1st is over $1,500,000@PadawanPesh also made a WPT FT earlier this year that’s been delayed due to Corona. pic.twitter.com/XcLVTmCt35

— Joey Ingram #PASSION (@Joeingram1) December 28, 2020

De Silva said he tested negative on a PCR nasal swab test on Dec. 26. However, the official mouth swab PCR test at the Rio on Dec. 27 came back positive. He noted that he’d been taking precautions and been in quarantine before the event.

So I never had a fever checked every day, had slight allergies like the 15th and 16th but went away, didn’t think I could have gotten it since I had been quarantining since the 10th but dec 20th I go to take a shower can’t smell the soap… I feel 100% and I’m grateful for that

— Upeshka De Silva (@PadawanPesh) December 28, 2020

End of the road in Main Event quest

The ninth-place finish no doubt comes as a huge disappointment for De Silva. The final table offers a chance at winning poker’s biggest event, but also comes with a $1.55 million payout.

The winner earns a shot at a heads-up duel with the international winner for an added $1 million. That winner is also crowned the Main Event champion.

The international half at King’s Casino also featured only eight players. Chinese player Peiyuan Sun declined to make the trip for the final table. He won $75,360 for ninth place.

The heads-up portion of the Main Event may also be affected by other COVID-related news. Latin American poker news site Codigo Poker reports Argentina’s Damian Salas was denied an exception to travel to the US.

From @CodigoPoker – The winner-take-all match between Damian Salas and the @WSOPcom winner is now set for January 2, 2021 pic.twitter.com/EDOJmABt8I

— Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) December 28, 2020

That has now possibly moved the heads-up match to Jan. 2 and adds to the questions surrounding the event. When originally announcing the event, WSOP officials noted that plans could be altered considering the current pandemic.

As in the Sun case, tournament details said those who couldn’t play would receive a ninth-place payout. The heads-up matchup may still be in doubt, and no concrete details have been announced yet.

An added poker letdown for De Silva

This isn’t the first COVID-related final table alteration for De Silva. He qualified for the final table in the World Poker Tour’s LA Poker Classic in March.

The final table was to be filmed at the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas. However, that event along with the Borgata Winter Poker Open and Gardens Poker Championship have also been delayed.

Players took to Twitter offering possible solutions. Some suggested the other eight players refuse to play until De Silva was able to compete. Ingram’s ideas included playing the final table completely online or until De Silva busts.

Those ideas seem unlikely and the event more than likely will continue on Monday. The heads-up duel’s status remains unknown at this time however. ESPN will be filming both events for a later broadcast on the network.

USPoker will continue to update this story as more details emerge.

For a look at the story of GGPoker’s $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event winner Stoyan Madanzhiev, click here.

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