Weekly Poker Roundup: October 8, 2018

WPT Partners With Vince Van Patten’s New Film

The World Poker Tour announced that it has partnered with the independent film Walk to Vegas, co-written by Steve Alper and WPT commentator Vince Van Patten. Van Patten also stars in the film.

“The WPT is thrilled to announce our partnership with Walk to Vegas and Vince Van Patten, the longest-running commentator in poker, as he brings this true story to life on the big screen,” said World Poker Tour CEO Adam Pliska in a press release. “With a high-quality cast and a team of exceptional filmmakers, Walk to Vegas tells the story of one of the greatest wagers ever made. As the premier name in internationally televised gaming and entertainment, the World Poker Tour is committed to helping market the film to its millions of viewers and fans around the world.”

In the film, Van Patten is the character Duke, a high stakes gambler who makes his living beating the pants off of people in Hollywood with too much money to burn. When he gets in a rough financial spot, Duke ends up making a prop bet with a top-tier director with whom he frequently gambles: Duke will walk from Hollywood to Las Vegas in a week for a million dollars. Hijinks ensue.

Sands, Valley Forge Granted Pennsylvania Online Gaming Licenses

As we look forward to the launch of Pennsylvania’s online gambling industry, there is the still the business of issuing gaming licenses that needs to be completed. This past week, two more casinos were granted licenses: Sands Bethlehem and Valley Forge Casino.

Seven casinos now have all three licenses: online poker, online slots, and online table games. Those who applied before the July 16^th deadline (which was almost all of them) paid $10 million for the three licenses combined. Those who missed the deadline or did not want all of the licenses (Presque Isle Downs Casinos, for instance, passed on poker) paid $4 million for each application fee.

In a surprise move, Rivers Casino withdrew its triple application, deciding to focus on internet sports betting when that becomes a reality in Pennsylvania. Rivers is owned by Rush Street Gaming, which also owns Sugarhouse Casino.

PokerStars Announces PSPC Details

After soliciting opinions from players, PokerStars has announced the structure details of the extremely hyped PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship (PSPC), the big $25,000 live tournament to be held at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas in January.

The No-Limit Hold’em freezeout will have players start with 300 big blinds and nine-handed tables that will transition to eight-handed. Levels will be 60 minutes long and days will likely be eight hours. The event will be a big blind ante tournament (the player in the big blind pays all of the antes for the table) and a shot clock will be put in play when the field is in the money.

It seems that the decisions on payout structure were a bit more complicated. $1 million will be added to first place, so PokerStars decided to flatten the payout structure a bit more than normal. Depending on the size of the field, first place will receive 16.8 percent to 17.5 percent of the prize pool. 15 percent of the field will make the money, but an additional chunk of players will receive $25,000 because there is no rake taken, so that money is going back to the players. The normal min-cash will be $31,900 to $36,300, again depending on how many players register.