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Today we take a look at even more fallout from the alleged PokerStars/Full Tilt Poker sale, a record-breaking tournament on the HPT and online superstar Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad finding a new sponsor.
1) PokerStars Addresses Full Tilt Rumors
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve likely heard the bombshell of a rumor that PokerStars is allegedly set to buy Full Tilt Poker after the Bernard Tapie Group pulled out of the deal.
The entire poker world is waiting for confirmation from PokerStars and the online gaming giant finally opened up earlier today. The only problem is they didn’t say much.
PokerStars Head of Communications Eric Hollreiser wrote this on the PokerStars corporate blog:
"We've had a lot of enquiries and there's lots of speculation on the forums, so I wanted to address the PokerStars chatter. As you know, PokerStars is in settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. As such settlement discussions are always confidential, we are unable to comment on rumors. As soon as we have information to share publicly we will do so."
Let’s just hope PokerStars shares information faster than Full Tilt Poker.
2) HPT Draws Record-Breaking Field in Colorado
The Heartland Poker Tour is the energizer bunny of the poker world. It doesn’t matter if its parent company goes bankrupt or if the online poker scene in the U.S. collapses. It just. keeps. going.
It did more than just survive this week as its Colorado event blew its old attendance record to pieces.
A total of 840 players showed up at the Golden Gates Casino to create an impressive $1.2 million prizepool.
It wasn’t quite the EPT Grand Final but local Steen Ronlov walked away from a final table full of relatively unknown players with a first place prize of $270,905.
That’s not to say the tournament was devoid of poker pros either as Gavin Smith, Joe Sebok, Darvin Moon and Allen “Chainsaw” Kesler all made the journey out to Black Hawk for the tournament.
The HPT now heads to Canterbury Park Racetrack & Card Casino in Shakopee, Minnesota for its next event. The series runs April 19-29 with the main event set to begin April 26.
3) Annette_15 Signs with Lock Poker
One of the brightest young poker players, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, has found a new home on Lock Poker.
"I'd heard amazing things about Lock Poker from all my friends and pros who play there, and I was thrilled when I got an offer from them," says Annette.
"Being part of Lock is something I'm really excited about and it will be a great beginning of a new exciting relationship. Lock is the new generation of online poker where player experience drives the company with an incredible Pro team that I can hardly wait to work with."
The poker world started buzzing about Annette_15 when she was still playing online poker games underage. The buzz turned to a roar when she won the inaugural WSOPE Main Event for $2 million.
Despite her considerable accolades Obrestad has bounced around the poker world, initially signing with Betfair, then Full Tilt Poker and now Lock Poker.
Obrestad joins a Lock Poker team that also includes Chris Moorman, Eric Lynch, Melanie Weisner and Matt Stout.
*Any mention of a bonus or discussion of such terms is not in relation to the province of Ontario.
