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Presque Isle Downs Finds A Fitting Replacement For Favre

Presque Isle Downs & Casino named Kevin O’Sullivan general manager Jan. 3.

O’Sullivan, known by employees as “K.O.,” replaces Jeff Favre, the brother of Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre, reported Go Erie.

Recently, Jeff Favre took on the role of vice president and general manager of another Eldorado Resorts property, Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Lake Charles, in Louisiana.

O’Sullivan brings know-how

With 25 years of experience in the global gaming industry, O’Sullivan first came to Eldorado Resorts in 2012. He started as senior director of operations for Scioto Downs in Ohio and then moved to the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in West Virginia.

Finally, he made it to Presque Isle Downs & Casino, serving as an assistant general manager.

According to WENY News, O’Sullivan has a track record with the following brands:

  • Horseshoe Gaming
  • Hard Rock Casino & Hotel
  • Foxwoods Casino Resort
  • Sun City South Africa
  • London’s Victoria Casino

The Presque Isle Downs difference

O’Sullivan started as a slot technician, moved through Europe and then ended up on a cruise ship that brought him to the US. While his first interest is growing revenue, he wants to do that securely and utilize what makes Presque Isle Downs different to help the business. He told Go Erie:

“Part of it is the racing. The other part of it is the employees. We have a lot of competition. Our employees understand that for Erie and everybody to get a piece of the action we have to do well and we’re all on that same page. Let’s push Presque Isle to the next level because it’s going to help the community, too.”

In the meantime, O’Sullivan will focus on growing table games, putting out new equipment, and adjusting the hotel menu. O’Sullivan is also making sure he keeps options open, whether they will utilize them or not (PA casino gaming expansion, anyone?). He’ll also be keeping an eye on his competitors within and without the state.

What Presque Isle Downs has to look forward to

Presque Isle Downs comes in as one of four crowdpleasers in PA in the way of table games revenue. Up 4.88 percent from last year, sitting at $1,212,307, Presque Isle Downs continues to make waves. Overall the casino is up 3.42 percent from the prior year.

The change from one year to the next: $8,807,940 (January 2017) to $9,109,070 (January 2018).

As an available auctioneer for the satellite casinos in PA, Presque Isle Downs could win a property and start to settle the score over nearby competition.

Presque Isle Downs relies on Ohio players for revenue. While Sands Bethlehem is a distance from the boundary line in Erie, all three are about equidistant from Cleveland. Brand recognition and global reach could separate Sands from Presque Isle Downs. Already, the casino may have to worry about Mount Airy’s new mini casino.

At this point, Presque Isle Downs has stayed quiet on whether they’ll bid at auction. Even so, O’Sullivan was quick not to dismiss it in his interview with Go Erie.

If the casino continues to offer perks like it offered Super Bowl tickets, it could be in good shape.

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Judge Tosses Tsoukernik Suit Against Kirk And Aria

A District Court Judge has tossed out Czech casino owner Leon Tsoukernik‘s $10 million countersuit against ARIA Resort & Casino and Australian poker pro Matthew Kirk claiming they conspired to get him drunk and rip him off in high-stakes poker session.

All sides admitted Kirk and Tsoukernik played the late-night poker session inside ARIA’s Ivey’s Room in May 2017. Tsoukernik had been drinking. Then he got stuck, borrowing in increments of $500,000 twice and $1 million twice in order to stay in the game.

By the time the session wrapped up, Tsoukernik had borrowed a total of $3 million and lost it all back to Kirk. All this has been confirmed by texts between the pair.

In the days following, attempts were made to broker a deal and settle the debt. Kirk recovered $1 million but ultimately sued Tsoukernik to try to get his hands on the rest.

In October, a Clark County District Court Judge threw out all but two of ten claims Kirk filed against Tsoukernik. The judge called it an unenforceable gambling debt. However, Kirk was allowed to continue to pursue the money on claims of fraudulent inducement and unjust enrichment.

This meant if Kirk could prove Tsoukernik had no intention of paying, Tsoukernik could be found at moral fault and held responsible for the debt and damages.

The $10 million counterclaim

Kirk’s lawyers continued to pursue the matter on those grounds. In November, Tsoukernik fired back with his $10 million counterclaim.

Tsoukernik’s counterclaim alleged he was taken advantage of by both Kirk and the casino. It claimed he was over-served until visibly intoxicated, induced to play for high stakes. It also claimed Kirk was at least partly responsible for getting him to that point.

Tsoukernik claimed they got him so drunk, he needed help counting his chips and misread his cards. The counterclaim sought $10 million in damages for defamation of character and emotional distress.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, part of Tsoukernik’s argument that Kirk and ARIA conspired together centered around the idea Kirk was hiding where he got the cash to play for such stakes.

High-stakes poker backing has no bearing

However, in throwing out the claim, District Judge Linda Bell said Kirk’s refusal to divulge the source of his backing is hardly fraudulent. Plus, where he got the money to play really has no bearing in the case.

Tsoukernik’s lawyer Lesley Miller argued that Kirk’s failure to reveal the source of his money was deceitful. Miller also suggested Kirk “fraudulently conspired with ARIA representatives” to put Mr. Tsoukernik in a vulnerable situation.

However, Judge Bell appeared to agree with Kirk’s attorney Richard Schonfeld. Schonfeld claimed Kirk never ordered Tsoukernik a drink, and therefore held no responsibility for his level of intoxication.

As far as ARIA’s role in allegedly over-serving Tsoukernik is concerned, Judge Bell suggested that is an issue for the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Judge Bell ordered Tsoukernik to pay Kirk’s legal fees for work on the counterclaim. However, she left the door open for Tsoukernik to refile the claim on different legal grounds.

Tsoukernik has close developed close ties with the World Series of Poker over the past year. His King’s Casino in Rozvadoz, Czech Republic became the new home for World Series of Poker Europe in 2017. Tsoukernik was reportedly the first player to reserve a seat in the $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop poker tournament to be held at the 2018 WSOP.

Plus, two WSOP Circuit events were held at King’s in 2017, and a third will go off in March 2018.

The WSOP is owned and operated by Caesars Interactive Entertainment. ARIA is an MGM Resorts property.

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More Evidence That Connecticut Is Considering Online Gambling Legislation Emerges

More Evidence That Connecticut Is Considering Online Gambling Legislation Emerges

Connecticut lawmakers held a 20-minute press conference to brief the media on the possibility of bringing legal sports betting to the Constitution State. But that wasn’t all that was said. As Online Poker Report speculated a couple of weeks ago, there also appears to be some appetite for online gambling in Connecticut. The topic was […]

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WSOP.com Makes History in Nevada With First Online Poker Circuit Ring Event

The World Series of Poker Circuit made history on Tuesday night. The first-ever online circuit ring event was held in Nevada on WSOP.com to coincide with the WSOPC series being held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

According to Bill Rini, head of online poker at WSOP.com, the inaugural was a success. “We felt it [the tournament] performed very well,” he told US Poker. “If you look at live circuit events at the Rio, the online ring event was at the top end of those events in terms of attendance for a mid-week tournament.”

Tournament summary

When registration closed, 256 players had taken to the virtual felt with 5,000 in starting chips and a dream of a ring.

The prize pool for the event was an impressive $137,760, which included buy-ins plus 164 rebuys.

We touched base with Las Vegas poker pro Allen Kessler during the tournament to get his thoughts. It’s probably no surprise that Kessler thought the structure looked fast and called our attention to spots where additional levels would make the tournament more attractive.

As with most online events, the levels increased quickly — every 12 minutes to be exact. In the end, it took just over seven hours to award ‘casedismised’ a gold ring and the first-place prize of $35,817.

Heads-up play between casedismised and ‘Gijoseph’ lasted about 20 minutes. casedismised emerged victorious when his ten-deuce turned a full house, and Gijoseph called the all-in on the river with less.

WSOP.com Circuit final table results

Place Player Prize
1 ‘casedismised’ $35,817.60
2 ‘Gijoseph’ $20,644
3 ‘FenixX $13,224.96
4 ‘Forever21’ $10,469.76
5 ‘Sleeth’ $9,092.16
6 ‘JR4591’ $6,199.20
7 ‘Bigriskky’ $4,821.60
8 ‘GLADIATOR’ $3,581.76
9 ‘jchak’ $2,892.96

Will there be more online circuit ring events?

Everything seemed to run smoothly and the first online circuit event performed as expected.

“We’ve been running online bracelet events during the summer so we knew there was demand for cross-over online tournaments,” Rini said. “We also see a lot of satellite interest going from online to live circuit events whenever we run them. It was really just a matter of offering something that the players wanted.”

There is one more circuit stop in Las Vegas before the 49th Annual World Series of Poker begins in May.

The next circuit stop in Las Vegas will be at Planet Hollywood beginning March 22. While there isn’t an online circuit event on the Planet Hollywood schedule, there’s always hope that the success of the first online circuit ring event will breed more online ring events in the future.

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WSOP Online bracelet events

Online events are a win-win for the players and the WSOP. Players can chase gold on the virtual felt while pursuing some new jewelry in a live tournament. The WSOP, meanwhile, grows its player base and keeps players at the tables.

At this year’s WSOP, the number of online bracelet events will increase from three to four according to the WSOP schedule released earlier this year.

Event #47 – $565 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed is the first non-no-limit hold’em event online bracelet event.

The WSOP online bracelet schedule

  • June 3rd – Event #9: $365 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em
  • June 22nd – Event #47: $565 WSOP.com ONLINE Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed
  • June 29th – Event #61: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Championship
  • June 30th – Event #63: $3,200 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em High Roller

Click here for the complete 2018 World Series of Poker schedule.

WSOP online satellites

The first round of WSOP online satellites and qualifiers concluded on Feb. 25.

WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky spoke to U.S. Poker last month and said to expect new satellites on WSOP.com every month before the WSOP starts at the end of May.

Palansky also shared that World Series of Poker Main Event and online bracelet satellites will begin running in March.

Rini added, “We’re following the same game plan as we have in the past, which is to begin a light schedule in the beginning of the year and then ramp up with a very satellite heavy schedule the closer to the WSOP we get.”

“We’ll have some other announcements coming up that we believe that players will be excited about as well,” he concluded.

Stay tuned to this space for ways to win your way into the most anticipated poker tournament series in the world.

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New Hampshire Senator Wants The Government To Look Into Loot Boxes

The release of Star Wars: Battlefront sparked a contentious debate over the presence of “loot boxes” in video games last year. That debate was once again in the spotlight after New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan questioned Federal Trade Commission nominees on the matter.

The exchange between Hassan and the FTC nominees came during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing last week. Additionally, it comes on the heels of Hassan writing to Patricia Vance, the president of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

Hassan is the highest-profile lawmaker to broach the issue in the US. She joins Hawaii State Representative Chris Lee, who has been calling for stricter controls on loot boxes since last November.

Hassan to the ESRB

In the letter, Hassan asked the ESRB to look into the presence of loot boxes in video games and what can be done to mitigate any potential harms.

Hassan wrote in part:

“I respectfully urge the ESRB to review the completeness of the board’s ratings process and policies as they relate to loot boxes, and to take into account the potential harm these types of micro-transactions may have on children. I also urge the board to examine whether the design and marketing approach to loot boxes in games geared toward children is being conducted in an ethical and transparent way that adequately protects the developing minds of young children from predatory practices.”

Hassan to FTC nominees

At the hearing, the former New Hampshire Governor turned Senator noted the FTC studied aspects of videos games in the past, including violence in video games. She asked if the FTC nominees would be willing to independently review the issue of loot boxes.

All four nominees responded in the affirmative.

Do loot boxes require stricter regulations?

So far loot boxes have only narrowly avoided the gambling designation.

Reviews of loot boxes in other jurisdictions find they meet only two of the three criteria which define gambling.

To be gambling, it needs meet the following guidelines:

  1. Players pay or wager money.
  2. There’s an element of chance.
  3. You can win something of value.

Since loot box prizes have no real-world value, so they only pass the first two tests. This is unlike video game skin betting, where players can sell, gamble, or transfer special in-game items to other players.

As the Danish Gambling Authority Spillemyndigheden wrote in its opinion:

“The winnings that can be obtained from a loot box in Star Wars Battlefront 2 cannot be converted into financial resources, as the fictional items in the loot box cannot be sold or otherwise converted into money. Therefore, loot boxes in their present form in Star Wars Battlefront 2 are not covered by the gaming act.”

Gambling or not, loot boxes still merit attention

But as I wrote in November, that doesn’t necessarily mean loot boxes shouldn’t be heavily regulated.

There’s mounting research pointing to a possible connection between social games and problem gambling behavior. Related is the ability for young people to easily access these simulated gambling games.

A 2016 study titled “Is it gambling or a game?” summarizes the issue thusly:

“In today’s digital landscape, potential for exposure to gambling-like experiences far exceeds that experienced by previous generations. Previously exposure to gambling was primarily through traditional land-based venues, involving travel to a venue, complying with dress codes and producing age-related identification. The advent of electronic simulated gambling games means that people today are much more likely to have a realistic gambling-type experience at a young age.”

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Is Poker Night LIVE The Television Show Poker Needs Right Now?

Poker Night in America is launching a new celebrity focused poker show in March.  Community response to the show, dubbed Poker Night LIVE, has been a mixed bag, making it the latest entry in the, “Is this good for poker?” debate.

Just what the Dr. ordered?

Poker Night in America’s new show is challenging two widely held beliefs about poker programming.

Those two beliefs are:

  • Viewers are more engaged when there is a lot of money on the line.
  • Viewers prefer watching high-level play with the best of the best competing against one another.

Poker Night LIVE is flipping both of these notions on their heads.

The game will be played for low-stakes ($5/$5 blinds with a $500 buy-in).

The lineups will consist of largely celebrity amateurs, with a single well-known poker name, and a poker personality, Joe Stapleton, thrown into the mix to keep the atmosphere light and the table talk flowing. To appeal to as wide a swath of celebrities as possible, PNiA is offering to go to the celebrities’ homes and give them a poker primer.

“This show is going to be different from any show that’s ever been done,” Rush Street Productions President Todd Anderson told PokerNews. “It’s really not as much a poker show as a late night comedy talk show. It’s more Johnny Carson than WPT.”

But is this really the first time something like this has been tried?

The answer is yes and no.

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The Poker Night LIVE-Celebrity Poker Showdown connection

The premise itself isn’t exactly new. The show seems quite similar to Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, which had a five-season run at the beginning of the poker boom.

What’s different is, Poker Night LIVE will be played as a live cash game, not an edited down tournament. It will be filmed at Gardens Casino in California and broadcast in close to real-time without editing.

Celebrity Poker Showdown was a show that I watched religiously. At the time I was playing poker professionally, and even though the show’s players were almost exclusively entry-level players it was still very entertaining.

The show simply worked.

Like Celebrity Poker Showdown, it appears that Poker Night LIVE wants to celebrate the rank amateur part of a person’s poker journey, even if that means hardcore poker fans have to sit through some commentary that will be the equivalent of a frequent flyer listening to the flight attendant safety instructions.

For instance, the first segment of Celebrity Poker Showdown explained the most basic game mechanics, from the button and blinds to five-card hand rankings. Hand analysis was also kept very simple.

It may be boring and something of a waste of time for seasoned players, but this quick primer and basic analysis meant viewers didn’t have to know much of anything about poker to understand what was going on. Furthermore, there was always a player or two at the table who was just as inexperienced as someone seeing poker on TV for the first time.

As Jessica Welman pointed out on Twitter, this “take celebrities out of their comfort zone” TV strategy has a long history of success.

Nor were people tuning in to see people compete for life-changing sums of money. The Celebrity Poker Showdown games were played 100 percent for charity, with participants’ chosen charities receiving prizes based on how they finished.

Each season featured five, five-person tournaments. The charities of the four players eliminated in each of the preliminary tournaments received $5,000. The winner of each preliminary tournament played in the championship, with their charities receiving:

  • Fifth Place in the Championship: $7,500
  • Fourth Place in the Championship: $10,000
  • Third Place in the Championship: $12,500
  • Second Place in the Championship: $20,000
  • First Place in the Championship: $100,000

Bottom line

Celebrity Poker Showdown worked, and the concept is sorely needed in an age of poker where GTO strategies and higher level analysis has become the norm.

Based on the early looks at the show, Poker Night LIVE has the chance to make poker fun again.

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