The New York City casino licensing process looks like it may drag out a bit longer than some legislators hoped. As the state continues seeing bids from major gaming corporations to bring a casino resort to the Big Apple, a bill was approved in both houses to set deadlines for the licensing process to play out.
However, after two months Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has yet to sign the bill and it appears that may not happen at all. That time lag critical as the bill was passed in June and set a deadline for this month to see all bids submitted.
“I’ve been trying to get the process moving,” Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D) told the New York Post in May. “It’s taking too long. We’re leaving $2 billion on the table. Why are we stringing this along? We’re spinning our wheels here.”
Bill Stalled With Governor
The bidding process began in 2023 and in June the New York Gaming Facility Location Board approved a new deadline of June 27, 2025, for all bids to be in.
The state is awarding a total of three licenses around the New York City area, including two expected to properties already in place and one to a new property.
There are numerous players in the bidding process with plans that have included casinos on Coney Island, Citi Field (home of the New York Mets), Nassau Coliseum, and numerous others. Rapper Nas has also been involved in a plan for a license to expand the Resorts World casino at Aqueduct.
“The legislation sets a minimum license fee of $500 million but gives the New York State Gaming Commission the option to accept higher bids,” gaming industry analyst John DeCree told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The slot and table tax minimums are expected to be set at 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively, but will ultimately be determined by a competitive bidding process similar to the mobile sports wagering licensing process.”
The 2024 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event featured a $3,000,000 guarantee. With 865 entries, that goal was easily surpassed, with $4,195,240 ultimately paid out among the top 109 finishers.
New York stock trader Paul Snead walked away with the largest share, earning $529,428 and the trophy after striking a heads-up deal with Clemen Deng.
“It feels amazing, I just feel like the Hard Rock is my home turf now. I’m originally from New York and still live there and Florida now. Foxwoods used to be my home turf, but now I totally feel comfortable here and playing here. I love the way that they run tournament here, it’s just great,” Snead told Seminole Hard Rock Poker blog reporters after coming out on top.
This was the largest tournament score yet for Snead, topping the $257,334 he earned as the 21st-place finisher in the 2008 World Series of poker main event. He now has more than $2.3 million in recorded tournament earnings, with three of his top five cashes now coming in events held at Seminole Hard Rock properties around Florida.
The final day of this event began with just eight remaining from the field of 865 entries, with Snead in second chip position behind only Deng. Snead closed the gap early on when his pocket sevens outran the pocket jacks of Sterling Savill (8th – $80,000).
Loni Hui was the next to fall. After losing a big pot against Brandon Kessous, she got all-in against the same opponent with K-J suited facing A-3. Kessous made aces and nines to send the two-time bracelet winner to the rail in seventh place ($103,000).
Tyler Montoya, not far removed from a 61st-place finish in this year’s WSOP main event, placed sixth in this tournament for $133,000. His final hand saw his pocket eights run into the pocket kings of Deng, which held to narrow the field to five.
A battle of the blinds ended Billy Pilossoph’s run in fifth place ($175,000). Pilossoph shoved with K-9 from the small blind and was called by Deng, who held K-Q in the big blind. Both players paired their king, with Deng’s kicker playing to earn him the knockout.
A classic race resulted in Jack Thu’s elimination in fourth place ($230,000). Thu’s A-9 was in a fair fight against Kessous’ pocket eights, but the later made an eight-high straight on a seven-high runout to win the pot.
Kessous was soon the one who was all-in and at risk. His final stand pitted A-J against the pocket jacks of Snead. Neither player connected with the board and Kessous earned $310,000 as the third-place finisher.
Snead held 23,350,000 to Deng’s 19,900,000. The two soon came to a deal that saw Deng awarded $512,522 as the runner-up, while Snead secured the title and $529,428. This was Deng’s largest score yet, bringing his career earnings to over $1.9 million.
Poker has been an inspiration for many films through the years – from Rounders to The Cincinnati Kid to Molly’s Game. Now a new entry is on the horizon after a trailer for the new crime thriller Dead Money was released on Thursday.
The film Dead Money is produced by Samuel Goldwyn Films and directed by Luc Walpoth (Baby Money; Trojan Woman_.) Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild; Alpha Dog; Speed Racer; Lone Survivor_) and India Eisley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager; American Outlaws) star in the film.
Goldwyn describes Dead Money: “When a home poker game is robbed by armed men, pro poker player Andy (Hirsch) and his girlfriend Chloe (Eisley) get caught in the middle. Now, Andy must play the best poker of his life at the biggest game in town to save his and Chloe’s lives.”
The trailer features action at the tables mixed with plenty of intrigue and drama. But the home game robbery is a bit of a new twist on the poker theme. Legends like Doyle Brunson have recounted tales of robberies in games before the game became popular at casinos. A home game in New York was even robbed earlier this year.
How will Dead Money stack up against other films in the poker genre? That remains to be seen, but players can decide for themselves when the movie hits theaters and video on demand platforms on Sept. 13.
Rounders Sequel In The Works?
In related news, Matt Damon and Ed Norton apparently are interested in being part of a Rounders sequel. On the Rich Eisen Show recently, Damon said he’d even discussed the possibility with David Levien and Brian Koppelman, screenwriters of the original. He said a sequel could delve into changes the game has undergone over the last two decades.
“The one we’ve been talking about for years, and we’re trying to, and I just saw Edward Norton a few weeks ago, like all of us want to do it is a second Rounders movie,” Damon said. “So much has happened in the poker world in the last 25 years, it would be fun to catch up with those guys.
“They had a whole movie ready to go then, but now there’s been a whole other change in the poker world since then, so I haven’t talked to them about what it would be, but I know … what they had 10 years ago was fantastic, and I’m sure they could augment and roll with the times and update it to where we are today and make something great.”
Poker media member Terrance Reid is listed as the Live Events Manager for Poker.org. While he does spend plenty of time working in the industry, Reid is also an avid player.
The Missouri native and current California resident managed to secure his largest live tournament score ever on Monday, Aug. 5, by taking down the RunGood Poker Series $2,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event that was part of the Destination: RunGood Season Finale at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort near Sacramento. Reid overcame a field of 455 entries, earning $192,755 and the title after striking a three-way deal that brought the event to a close.
Terrance Reid now has more than $408,000 in recorded tournament earnings. Prior to this huge victory, his top score was a third-place finish in a $800 buy-in RGPS tournament last fall for $46,600.
In addition to the title and the money, Terrance Reid also scored 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his third final-table finish of the year. With 1,424 total points, he now sits inside the top 250 in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.
This event featured a $1,000,000 guarantee. The 455-entry turnout resulted in a final prize pool of $1,015,105 that was paid out among the top 68 finishers. Several big names ran deep, including WPT champion Taylor Black (7th), Darren Rabinowitz (5th), and bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Jared Jaffee (4th).
2023 champion of this tournament Tyler Patterson (6th), who is a WPT champion and bracelet winner, continued an impressive streak of final-tabling this event three times in a row. He finished second in the season finale at this venue back in 2022, and then first in 2023. This time around he placed sixth for $39,190.
Jaffee’s elimination in fourth place came at the hands of Reid, who took a massive chip lead into three-handed play. The event concluded when Reid came to an agreement with Lee Markholt and Steven Ritchie based on ICM-chop numbers. Markholt, a WPT champion, earned $124,540 as the official runner-up, while Ritchie secured $110,000 as the third-place finisher.
Final Boarding Million Dollar Main Final Table Results
Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi has joined elite company within World Series of Poker history by winning his sixth career WSOP bracelet, taking down the final event of the online portion of the 2024 WSOP slate, available on the WSOP’s three-state (MI/NV/NJ) platform. Mizrachi’s latest win in Sunday’s Online Event #30, $888 NL Hold’em Crazy 8’s Encore, was also the first of his bracelet victories to come online.
Mizrachi, playing as ‘Thegrinder44’, topped a 931-entry field to claim the summer’s final bracelet and $108,815.28, ending it by closing out Mitch ‘Paltex’ Garshofski for the win. Garshofky, a three-time Circuit ringwinner, collected $79,544.64 for his runner-up effort. Third place and $58,466.80 went to Kevin ‘GR4ND_THEFT’ Ruscitti.
Complete results for the Crazy 8’s Encore have yet to be posted by the WSOP. Results from four online events are not yet verified, also leaving as this report was published the issue of whether 2024 triple-bracelet winner Scott Seiver succeeded in holding off the last challengers to his probable win in the WSOP’s 2024 Player of the Year race. As of the most recent leaderboard update, Seiver still maintained a 600-point lead through the last of the series’ live bracelet events.
Online Event #30’s 931-entry field was comprised of 535 unique players, who also contributed a combined 391 re-entries. The event offered a $744,800 prize pool, and the top 180 players made the money.
We reached out to Michael after his bracelet win and he recorded a short video for us with his brother Eric.
Mizrachi famed for three $50K PPC wins
The win in Online Event #30 marks the first bracelet victory for Mizrachi since 2019, when he won that year’s $1,500 Seven-card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better tourney. Mizrachi is, of course, most famous in WSOP bracelet lore for being a three-time winner of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship in 2010, 2012, and 2018. He joins the likes of Shaun Deeb and Jason Mercier on six bracelet wins. Only 11 players have won more, with Phil Hellmuth on top with 17 bracelets.
The win also moved Michael back in front of his brother Robert for most bracelet wins by a Mizrachi. Robert Mizrachi won his own fifth bracelet earlier this summer in Event #13, $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship.
Scott Seiver will turn 40 next year, which will make him eligible for nomination into the Poker Hall of Fame. This impending milestone lit a fire under the 39-year-old poker pro based out of Las Vegas. He dedicated himself to the World Series of Poker Player of the Year grind in 2024, with the hope that a strong performance this summer might help him cement his status as a worthy candidate for induction in the future.
“It’s always been something in the back of my mind, and as I’ve gotten older and more people I know have gotten in, I realized that a lot of my life I’ve dedicated to this game and this profession, and it would mean a lot to me to show that I’ve left my mark on this field,” Seiver told Card Player when asked about the Poker Hall of Fame as a motivating factor. “So, I thought by coming out here this summer and really just reminding people that I am someone that came through poker.”
Seiver definitely reminded the poker world what he is capable of this year. He cashed 17 times during the 2024 WSOP for a total of $1,449,736 in earnings, winning three bracelets along the way to bring his career total to seven. He is just the 11th player in history to have won as many titles at the series, and the seventh player to ever win three during a single year.
As a result of his impressive run this summer, Seiver locked up the 2024 World Series of Poker Player of the Year award, securing 4,403.85 total points to hold off Michael Rocco (3,803.67) and Jeremy Ausmus (3,686.6).
Seiver’s first win of the summer came in event no. 10, the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship. He defeated a field of 197 entries to earn his fifth overall bracelet and the top prize of $426,744.
He cashed in four more events before buying into the $1,500 razz. He ended up overcoming a field of 547 entries in that event to earn $141,374 and his second title of the festival.
After another series of four smaller cashes, Seiver found himself at a stacked final table in the $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw lowball championship, which had drawn 186 players. He was able to navigate his way to victory yet again, earning $411,041 and his third bracelet in the span of a month.
“It means everything to me,” said Seiver when asked about taking down that prestigious event. “I was really devastated when I got second in this two years ago. I’ve always wanted this bracelet so much. This final table was unbelievably difficult. From two tables down, everyone was tremendous and honestly, that makes it even more special. I am good at this game, but I am not like world-class great. Getting to play with Jason Mercier, Billy Baxter… these are people that have won this tournament 10 times or whatever. It was very special.”
Seiver had secured a victory at each of his first three final tables to this point at the series. He managed two more final tables after that, finishing third from 134 entries in the $10,000 buy-in online no-limit hold’em championship for $182,214.
His final hurrah was a sixth-place run in the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. event
Seiver now has more than $27.2 million in career tournament earnings to his name, with over $7.7 million of that coming from his 87 in-the-money finishes at WSOP events over the years.
2024 WSOPPOY runner-up Michael Rocco cashed 12 times, accruing over $2.2 million along the way. His top scores were his win in the $10,000 six-max no-limit hold’em championship for a career-high $942,922 payday and pair of third-place showings which collectively added more than $922,000 to his haul.
Third-place finisher Jeremy Ausmus cashed 21 times this series, accumulating nearly $3.5 million along the way. He also made seven final tables, tying a record set by Phil Hellmuth for the most in a single WSOP.
Here is a look at the 17 cashes that Seiver recorded in bracelet events this summer:
The World Series of Poker® (WSOP) is returning to paradise this December for its second winter tournament series, WSOP Paradise. In collaboration with GGPoker, WSOP Paradise 2024 will be held from Dec. 6 to Dec. 19, 2024, at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas, featuring the largest guarantee in live poker tournament history.
This series kicks off just months after the 55th annual World Series of Poker shattered live tournament poker records once again at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip this summer.
The revamped WSOP Paradise festival will offer the most comprehensive set of high roller and super high roller tournaments ever. While the full schedule will be released later, events will range from $2,500 to $1,000,000.
The series’ highlight will be the $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Championship, boasting a historic $50,000,000 guarantee and billed as the Super Main Event. Online qualifiers and tournament promotions will start immediately on GGPoker.
“The action we saw during the WSOP summer series is a testament to the health of poker, particularly for high-roller tournaments,” said Ty Stewart, SVP & Executive Director of the WSOP. “Last year was no one-time gimmick. We’re thrilled GGPoker has reaffirmed their commitment to building WSOP Paradise through the biggest guarantee in poker history.”
“This is one you can’t miss,” said Daniel Negreanu, GGPoker Global Ambassador. “There were a lot of learnings from year one and everything is going to be bigger and better. A 50 million guarantee in the Bahamas! Are these guys crazy?”
“We are thrilled to welcome back WSOP Paradise players, guests, and fans for the second year to Atlantis Paradise Island, the entertainment capital of the Caribbean. This monumental tournament offers attendees the opportunity to experience Atlantis’ $150 million renovation, including the opulent Atlantis Casino, Bar Sol, The Royal Towers, and several new dining options. See you in Paradise!” said Joe Brunini, Chief Gaming and Customer Development Officer at Atlantis Paradise Island.
The full WSOP Paradise 2024 daily events schedule will be announced later this year, along with details on complimentary hotel accommodations available through special GGPoker tournament packages. The WSOP reserves the right to cancel, change, or modify the tournament or any tournament event, in part or in whole, without notice.
On Sunday at noon, in the Paris Ballroom in Las Vegas, high-stakes poker legend Patrik Antonius was named as this year’s inductee to the Poker Hall of Fame.
“In the modern era of poker, few have been as bold and fearless as Patrik Antonius,” said Executive Director of the WSOP Ty Stewart. “A force both online and live, we’re thrilled to see Patrik’s high-stakes career acknowledged by legends who have added the first international player to the Poker Hall of Fame in years.”
From Helsinki, Finland, Antonius, 43, emerged during the poker boom as one of the toughest cash game players in the world who routinely battled, both live and online, with the biggest names in the game before turning into one of poker’s brightest stars himself.
The induction of Antonius is a stiff rebuttal to the commonly held belief that a defined number of World Series of Poker bracelets is needed to win the necessary votes for induction. Having yet to win a bracelet, Antonius’ on-camera, on-the-felt results in both cash games and tournaments were enough to turn the tide in his favor and lock up a spot on the walls of the Hall of Fame Poker Room at Horseshoe Las Vegas.
Even without a WSOP bracelet on his resume, Antonius’ tournament results are more than bona fide for the Hall of Fame. With nearly $23 million in recorded tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob, Antonius has six seven-figure scores, that include a runner-up finish in the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl Macau for a career-high score of more than $3.1 million. Additionally, he’s claimed an EPT Main Event and EPT High Roller title, as well as a Triton title in 2022, and a runner-up finish at the Season IV edition of WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2005 – just to note the “test of time” requirement.
Ultimately, it was Antonius’ competitive nature that helped him get to where he is today. From his early days online as a regular in Full Tilt’s nosebleed Rail Heaven cash games, to becoming a fixture on late-night poker TV including Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker, Antonius has never been one to back down from poker’s biggest stage.
It’s something his fans have enjoyed for more than two decades and something his peers clearly admire, honoring him, in his second nomination, with a spot in the Poker Hall of Fame.
Chance Kornuth has ascended to the elite list of players who have won four or more World Series of Poker bracelets. The 38-year-old poker pro took down the 2024 WSOP $1,000 Flip & Go event, outlasting a field of 1,088 entries to secure the hardware and the top prize of $155,446.
Kornuth’s victory made him just the 73rd player in poker history to have earned as many titles at the WSOP.
The win increased Kornuth’s career earnings to nearly $19.3 million. It also saw him earn 960 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was the second title and fifth final-table finish of 2024 for Kornuth. With 2,971 total points, he now sits in 30th place on the overall POY leaderboard presented by Global Poker.
The first Flip & Go tournaments were hosted online at GGPoker and then brought to the brick-and-mortar WSOP in 2021. The tournament begins with an initial ‘flip’ in which a full table of players are forced all-in blind and are dealt a hand of pineapple. They discard one of their three starting cards after seeing a flop and then the rest of the board is dealt out. The winner from each single-table flip makes the money and moves on to the second phase of the event: a fast-paced no-limit hold’em tournament that plays down to a champion like a typical tournament would.
From the 1,088 entrants, only 136 moved on to day 2 having locked up a min-cash of $2,200. Among those that went on to make deep runs were two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr (25th), popular poker vlogger Brad Owen (21st), bracelet winner Danny Wong (18th), six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (14th), three-time bracelet winner
Georgios Sotiropoulos (11th), and bracelet winner Mike Leah (3rd).
Kornuth won a flip with A-Q against the pocket fours of Leah to take a healthy chip lead into heads-up play against Kannapong Thanarattrakul of Thailand. The final battle for the bracelet was brief. The chips soon got all-in with ADiamond Suit4Diamond Suit for Thanarattrakul facing QDiamond SuitJHeart Suit for Kornuth. A 8Club Suit7Spade Suit7Club SuitJDiamond Suit7Heart Suit runout saw Kornuth make sevens full of jacks to win the pot and the title. Thanarattrakul earned $103,633 as the runner-up.
Japan’s Shiina Okamoto navigated her way through a field of 1,295 entries in the 2023 World Series of Poker $1,000 ladies no-limit hold’em championship, only to fall one spot shy of earning the hardware.
On day 1 of the 2024 WSOP ladies event, which drew 1,245 entries, Okamoto made a post on social media that translated to the following: “I want to retrieve the things I left behind last year.”
Incredibly, she did just that. Shiina Okamoto managed to battle all the way back to the final two, and this time around she emerged victorious with the bracelet. She defeated two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner and poker commentator Jamie Kerstetter heads-up to secure the top prize of $171,732.
Shiina Okamoto, via translation by the first-ever Japanese bracelet winner Naoya Kihara, told “There was a long way to go, and I didn’t think it would really happen. But by the end of day 2 I had a really massive stack, and at that point I thought it could be true.”
After this latest win, Okamoto now has $408,567 in recorded tournament earnings to her name, with more than three-quarters of that coming from her success at the WSOP.
This tournament ran over the course of four days. The money bubble burst late on day 2, with 187 players earning a share of the $1,095,600 prize pool. Plenty of notables ran deep including poker media member Alexandra Loveless (34th), two-time WSOPC ring winner Kasey Lyn Mills (31st), Jennifer Shahade (27th), recent Resorts World Las Vegas’ Summer Poker Series $100,000 guaranteed event winner Robyn Alvis (27th), Monika Zukowicz (22nd), Nadya Magnus (19th), Cherish Andrews (16th), and 2023 European Poker Tour Prague final tablist Marle Spragg (11th).
Just six players advanced to the final day of play, with Kerstetter in the lead and Okamoto joining her as the only other player with more than 100 big blinds to start. Kerstetter scored the first knockout. France’s Cecile Ticherfatine got all-in with K-J trailing the K-Q of Kerstetter. A jack on the turn gave Ticherfatine a pair and the lead, but also saw Kerstetter pick up a flush draw with one card to come. The river brought a fourth diamond to give Kerstetter a winning flush. Ticherfatine earned $32,007 as the sixth-place finisher.
Diamond flushes were key in the next big hand as well. Israel’s Mor Kamber flopped a jack-high flush with J-7 of diamonds, only to have Kerstetter turn an ace-high flush when a fourth diamond came off the deck again. The chips went in on the turn, but Kamber was not drawing dead. She had an open-ended straight flush redraw to keep her hopes alive, but a brick on the end saw her head to the rail with $43,125 for her fifth-place showing.
Linda Durden was knocked down to just a single big blind after her king-jack ran into the pocket kings of Ceci Liao. Durden managed one double up through Kerstetter, but was soon all-in again. She found a big hand in pocket nines to shove her last few blinds with. Kerstetter called with A-7 suited and flopped an ace to take a big lead in the hand. Durden found no help on the turn or river and was eliminated in fourth place ($58,910). This was the largest recorded score yet for the Wenatchee, Washington resident.
Despite scoring that knockout, Liao was still the clear short stack heading into three-handed action. A preflop cooler brought her tournament to a close, with her pocket queens running into the pocket kings of Okamoto. A king high flop left Liao in dire straights, and a blank on the turn ensured that she would finish third for $81,573.
Heads-up play began with Kerstetter holding roughly a 3:2 chip lead over Okamoto. The first several hands all went Okamoto’s way. A failed bluff attempt for Kerstetter saw the lead change hands, as Okamoto made a quick call of a river raise with deuces full of aces to best Kerstetter’s missed flush draw.
Shiina Okamoto was able to pull away ahead of the final hand. Kerstetter limped on the button for 160,000 total with ADiamond Suit7Heart Suit and Shiina Okamoto checked from the big blind with 9Spade Suit5Diamond Suit. The flop came down AClub Suit10Spade Suit9Diamond Suit and Okamoto check-called a 200,000 bet from Kerstetter, who had flopped top pair. The 5Heart Suit turn gave Okamoto two pair and the lead. She checked and Kerstetter bet 550,000. Okamoto check-raised all-in and Kerstetter made the call. The 2Heart Suit on the river eliminated Kerstetter in second place. She earned a career-best live score of $114,479 as the runner-up, increasing her career earnings to over $1.1 million.
