Bryn Kenney took down the WPT Rock ‘N Roll Poker Open yesterday for a $354,565 payday, the number one in the all-time tournament rankings taking the trophy after a heads-up deal with Brock Wilson.

A French court has ruled against professional poker player Rick Salomon, saying that it cannot enforce an alleged $2.8 million in unpaid winnings the American says he is owed by a wealthy Saudi man.

Salomon claimed that Raad al-Khereiji owed him the enormous sum stemming from a 2014 Texas hold’em game at the Tiara Miramar Beach hotel near Cannes.

1804 Law Sinks Debt Collection Effort

Ronald Sokol, the French lawyer who represented Salomon in the case, said that his client had been trying to recover the debt ever since the game was played five years ago, with no success. During the trial, the court was told that several other players had heard Khereiji promise he would transfer payment for the debt through a lawyer in Los Angeles.

However, that lawyer later contacted Salomon to tell him that the debt wouldn’t be paid, as Khereiji believed the poker game had been a friendly one without any actual stakes.

That excuse might sound unlikely to anyone who has ever sat down at the poker table. But the actual legal issues at hand were related to a French law that dates back to 1804. According to that statute, courts can only enforce gaming debts “involving weapons, foot or horse racing, chariot races, tennis and other games of the sort which involves physical skill and exercise.”

That gave Khereiji’s lawyer a straightforward defense: poker does not fit into that definition, as it is not a physical contest. Sokol countered on Salomon’s behalf by saying that the game in question had lasted 48 hours, making it a contest of endurance.

That apparently wasn’t enough to convince the judge, who ruled in Khereiji’s favor.

Sokol noted that Salomon had achieved a couple of smaller victories in the case. The court rejected a request that Salomon be required to pay Khereiji’s legal fees, and it did allow gambling records from Las Vegas that showed Khereiji had spent $34 million over 29 months in the Ivey Room at the Aria.

Salomon Considering Appeal Options

That information could prove important in establishing Khereiji as a knowledgeable gambler if Salomon chooses to appeal the decision.

Rick Salomon is a well-known high-stakes poker player who is a regular on the super high roller circuit. According to his Hendon Mob page, Salomon has earned over $9.9 million in live tournament winnings, putting him among the 100 winningest players in tournament poker history.

Salomon is also known for twice having been married to actress Pamela Anderson. Their first marriage ended in an annulment in 2008, while the second ended in divorce in 2015, with Anderson receiving a $1 million settlement from Salomon.

Aussie Kahle Burns is having a breakout year. As well as for that, he’s now the 2019 GPI Player of the Year leader with simply over a month remaining. Yet the race is limited and a handful of skilled pros, including Sean Winter and Stephen Chidwick, are right on his heels.

Although he’s played incredibly well in 2019, defending POY Alex Foxen is all but out of contention to repeat. He’s currently in 16th area, well off the pace. Disallowing an incredible heating system in December, we’ll have a brand-new champ.

Kahle Burns Making Home Country Proud

Australia isn’t understood for having numerous famous competition casino poker players. Joe Hachem, the nation’s most well-known poker pro, won the WSOP Main Event in 2005. And there are other strong pros such as James Obst and also former WSOP Gamer of the Year Jeff Lisandro.

But it had been a while since a gamer from Australia has completed big points on a global degree, up until 2019. Kahle Burns has actually been the top tournament gamer on the planet the past month and he currently has as great of a shot as anybody at winning GPI Player of the Year.

Burns’ hot touch started at the WSOP Europe series in October in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. He won 2 arm bands, one in a low-stakes and one in a high-stakes event and also cashed a third time during the collection.

The young Australian professional after that took a trip to Las Vegas for the Casino poker Masters series where he won Event # 9 ($ 25,000 no-limit hold ’em) for $416,500, ended up second in Event # 5 ($ 10,500 huge wager mix) for $109,200, and racked up a 4th area finish in Occasion # 7 ($ 25,000 pot-limit Omaha) for $85,000.

Today at Partypoker Many millions Globe series in the Bahamas, Kahle Burns won another $400,000 for 3rd area in a $50,000 no-limit hold ’em money player.

For the year, Burns has $4,191,366 in money from worldwide. He had $3.5 million in cash money from 2009 to 2018, integrated. The Aussie millionaire has actually been among poker’s outbreak celebrities in 2019.

Race Not Over Yet

The GPI Player of the Year race is as close as it can potentially obtain. Kahle Burns remains in the lead with 3,548.08 points, however Sean Wintertime is simply behind him with 3,523.43. Stephen Chidwick is also close to the top, sitting in 3rd place at 3,428.36.

While those three skilled mills are neck and neck, they aren’t the just one still in the hunt. Each gamer in the leading 10 still have a realistic shot of coming to be 2019 GPI Player of the Year. Ali Imsirovic, probably the best under-30 player on the planet, remains in 10th location with 3,206.78 points. That’s just 221 points off the lead. One event success might move Ali from 10th area to top place.

It must be an interesting month of December. We anticipate the upcoming WPT Five Diamond series at Bellagio in Las Vegas will establish a winner.

Daniel Dvoress finally has a “major-ish” poker title to his name. Daniel outlasted 51 players at the Baha Mar Resort and Casino to win the $250,000 buy-in SHRB Bahamas for a career-best $4,080,000.

Daniel Dvoress Dominates Brutal Final Table

Daniel Dvoress earned his victory on Monday. To win the title in the Super High Roller Bowl Bahamas, he had to defeat a final table that included a Poker Hall of Famer (Erik Seidel), the second winningest tournament player in history (Justin Bonomo), and at least two other players who appear destined to one day enter the Poker Hall of Fame (Jason Koon and Steve O’Dwyer).

Seth Davies, another skilled high roller, held the chip lead by a slim margin over Koon when play began on Monday. But he lost his grip on the lead early in the session when his set of 10’s ran into Seidel’s flopped straight, costing him a massive pot and likely the tournament.

Davies was eventually eliminated in fifth place ($1,020,000), right after O’Dwyer (sixth place for $765). Koon and Bonomo were the first two to go at the final table. Seidel then busted in fourth place for $1,275,000. He now has over $37 million in career cashes, trailing only Bryn Kenney, Bonomo, and Daniel Negreanu.

Kathy Lehne, the first woman to cash in a Super High Roller Bowl, suffered one of the most brutal bad beats of the tournament. In a 5 million-chip pot, she called an all-in with pocket aces against Wei Lin Chan, who held pocket sixes.

The flop and turn looked good for Lehne as it ran out K-K-Q-7. But the soul-crushing river 6 sent her home in third place. On the flip side, she still took home $1,785,000.

That set up a heads-up match between Chan and Daniel Dvoress, who hit a lucky card himself to stay alive earlier in the tournament. Holding pocket 10’s on a 2-3-2 flop, he moved all-in and was called by Chan’s A-2. A 10 on the turn gave the eventual champion the hand in a 6 million-chip pot.

Dvoress led when heads-up play began and never relinquished that lead. Chan took home $2,677,500 for second place.

Super High Roller Bowl VI Official Final Table Results

Kristen Bicknell topped 51 poker players to win the $25K No-Limit Hold ’em even at the 2019 Poker Masters for $408,000. She rallied from a massive deficit to outlast Chance Kornuth, who has three runner-up finishes in the series.

Kornuth is 0-3 in heads-up matches at the Poker Masters this past week. He lost to Isaac Baron in the $10K hold ’em event, CardsChat ambassador Ryan Laplante in the $ 10,000 pot-limit Omaha, and now  Bicknell in the sixth event of the series.

Although he’s come up just short of first place three times, Chance is running away with the overall series lead. The winner receives a coveted Purple Jacket. Last year’s Poker Masters champion, Ali Imsirovic, ended up third behind Kornuth on Sunday.

Bicknell Becomes First Female Poker Masters Champion

With her title on Sunday, good for $408,000, Bicknell becomes the first woman to win a Poker Masters event. The winners of the initial 17 events in the series, which is now in its third year, were all male.

Bicknell is arguably the top female player in the game today. She was named GPI Female Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019, and is well on her way to winning that award for the third straight year.

Kornuth seemed poised to ship his first Poker Masters event after a pair of near misses last week. He entered Sunday’s final table with a massive chip lead. The Chip Leader Coaching founder had more than half the chips in play when the final table of six began.

By the time three-handed play began, he had a 6-1 edge over both Kristen Bicknell and Imsirovic. The blinds were so large that his opponents were basically in a shove or fold situation, and Kornuth was unfortunate to run into better hands, doubling both players up in succession.

During heads-up play, Kristen Bicknell was at more than a 2-1 disadvantage. The blinds were so big that she was forced to shove or fold most hands. With the blinds at 100,000/200,000 and a 200,000 big blind ante, she moved all-in for nine big blinds with pocket sixes, and won a race against Q-9 to double-up into the chip lead.

Moments later, she was the beneficiary of a fortunate river card. All the chips were in the middle – totaling 4.1 million – before the flop, with Kornuth out in front with pocket nines against pocket eights.

The board ran out 5-4-7-A-6, giving Kristen Bicknell a winning straight to finish off the $25,000 Poker Masters event. Kornuth can’t catch a break during heads-up play. He does have 630 points for the series, however, putting him well out in front of the five players, including Bicknell, who are tied for second place with 300.

2019 Poker Masters Event #6: $25K No NLH Results

Kornuth entered Event #7, $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha on Sunday. With 10 players out of 34 remaining at the time of publishing, he had one of the biggest stacks. Perhaps, another runner-up finish is in store for the poker coach?

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The 2019 Poker Masters kicked off this week and also the initial event is in guides. Winning Occasion # 1: $10,000 No Limit Hold ’em was Isaac Baron. Baron topped the area of 97 entrances to take home $223,100.

To win the title, Baron covered a final table that included Jeremy Ausmus, Sam Soverel, and also Scott Blumstein, and also he defeated Opportunity Kornuth in heads-up play. Kornuth gained $164,900 for his runner-up finish.

2019 Poker Master Event #1: $10,000 NLHE Final Table Results

Baron entered the final table of eight with the chip lead and it was Pennsylvania poker pro Thai Ha to bust first in eighth place. Ha went out at the hands of Ausmus when his Ah9h lost to Ausmus’ 8s7s in all-in preflop action.

Dan Shak was next to bust, and it was Baron who sent him packing. Ausmus had opened to 120,000 holding the AsTc with the blinds at 30,000-60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante, and Baron reraised to 330,000 with pocket fives. Shak, who was on a severe short stack, then called all in for 75,000 with the KhJd. Ausmus folded, and it was off to the races for Baron and Shak. No help came for Shak and he was out in seventh place.

Although Soverel busted Blumstein in sixth place, he was the next one to bust, and it was once again Baron doing the deed. Baron’s AsAc held up against Soverel’s 8d8c and Soverel was out fifth.

After Ausmus was knocked out in fourth and Ralph Wong in third, both at the hands of Baron, it was time for the heads-up match between Baron and Kornuth. Entering the duel, Baron had 8.415 million in chips to Kornuth’s 1.29 million.

The two wasted no time getting the money in, as Baron shoved with the 5c3c against Kornuth and his stack of 10 big blinds. Kornuth looked at the Ah9h and made the call. Unfortunately for Kornuth, the board ran out Th3d2dQdKc to give Baron the victory.

With the win, Baron took the early lead in the race for the overall Poker Masters title with 300 points. The player to earn the most points over the course of the series will be crowned Poker Masters champion and receive a $100,000 bonus plus the trophy purple jacket.

Partypoker professional Bertrand Grospellier, aka “ElkY,” came out successful at the Giant last table on Monday. The French poker star who formerly represented PokerStars won the last of 104 gold WSOP bracelets in 2019.

“ElkY” also helped fellow PokerStars Team Pro member Daniel Negreanu win WSOP Player of the Year. “Kid Poker” needed Shaun Deeb to finish outside the top five in the €550 Colossus to secure his third POY title. Grospellier busted him early on the final day in 11th place.

Partypoker Ambassador Takes Home WSOP Gold

All eyes were on Deeb on Monday. Could he make it right into the leading five in the Colossus and take the POY title from Negreanu? The answer, as we have actually already stated, is no. He was the initial elimination of the last 2019 WSOP Europe session, and also took home EUR13,564.

As soon as Deeb exited King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, the emphasis resorted to Partypoker pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, the greatest remaining celebrity and one of the leading players in the video game.

“ElkY” was at one point on Monday down to just eight big blinds. But a couple of fortunate double-ups later and he was back in contention.

“Once I won the two all-ins it put me into the lead and I had a good run after that and I am really happy with the result,” the Partypoker ambassador said in his post-game interview.

By the time “ElkY” was heads-up for the arm band, he had regarding a 1.5-1 chip advantage over Avraham Dyan. He never gave up that lead as well as completed his challenger off with pocket 10’s all-in pre-flop against A-10. The board ran out 7-4-2-3-4, excellent for Grospellier.

WSOP Europe Colossus Final Table Results

1. Bertrand Grospellier (France) €190,375
2. Avraham Dyan (Israel) €117,630
3. Marian Kubis (Slovakia) €86,172
4. Mick Heder (Denmark) €63,670
5. Dieter Becker (Germany) €47,452
6. Christoph Peper (Germany) €35,674
7. Sergii Karpov (Ukraine) €27,057
8. Alessandro Pezzoli (Italy) €20,703
9. Francesco Candelari (Italy) €15,984

” ElkY” took home his second occupation arm band. The Partypoker pro’s last one came in 2011 in Las Vegas in the $10,000 7 Card Stud Championship for $331,639. He now has approximately $14 million in live competition cash money. As well as with that said, the 2019 Globe Collection of Casino poker period has actually formally involved an end. Congratulations to all 104 bracelet victors and Daniel Negreanu, the Player of the Year. We’ll see you all once more following summer in Las Vegas.