PokerWorks

Splashing the Pot captures the foam created by the disturbance and turbulence of action, action, action, and is filled with tidbits above and beyond the victories and beats and adds a little spice to the game of poker.

World Series of Poker Announces All-Star Event for 2010 Series

The World Series of Poker has taken a page out of the major sports organizations’ book by announcing their inaugural all-star event.  A total of 27 players will take place in the one million dollar freeroll, with first place walking away with $500,000.

Just like all-star games in other sports, most of the players will have to earn their right to play in the event by earning the most votes.  The top 20 voted between March 15 at noon and June 15 at midnight will earn their seat to the June 27th event.

Five players have already earned their free seat for winning previous tournaments.  Those players included 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Cada, WSOP Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman, and the last three WSOP Tournament of Champions winners Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and Mike Sexton.  Two other players will earn sponsored exemptions, with details on how to obtain those seats coming at a later time.
 
In order to qualify for the All-Star event you have to own at least one WSOP Bracelet, in which there are currently 521 eligible players.
 
Suspect EPT Robber Released Because of Lack of Evidence

It finally appeared that there was a lead in the robbery that took place during the European Poker Tour’s Berlin Event two weeks ago, but it appears police are back to square one.
 
The robbery, which was caught on film by multiple sources, and had a number of eyewitnesses, had yet to have any suspects, but finally on Friday a man was arrested in connection to the robbery.  The man who was detained was also a part of another Berlin casino heist that took place six years ago.  Despite his shady past, the man was let go after a number of hours of questioning in which he denied taking part of the EPT robbery.  Additionally, none of the video accounts could clearly identify him.

Eight Year Old Allegedly Wins $500,000 in Online Poker Winnings, Case Heading to Indian Court

An eight year old boy has added a new definition to the term “Internet Whiz Kid.”  Over the last two years a boy in India named Aashish Nanak has allegedly won over $500,000, most of it in a recent tournament win, from online poker through an undisclosed poker room.  When the family realized this, and went to collect their winnings, the poker room figured out he was only a child, and refused to pay.  The case is now heading to a New Delhi court.

Nanak’s mother said that when he was just three years old he started showing a great interest in computers.  Initially his mother had set him in front of a computer to watch cartoons while she went about her duties as a maid at a hotel.  By the time he was four years old he was building his own web pages, and by the time he was five he was building websites for the hotel, in hopes to attract more customers.
 
Apparently his uncle set him up with a poker account when he turned six years old.  The Nanak family contends that the website knew about the eight year old playing the website, claiming the website even had staff members who began calling him “littlepokerwizard,” while being well aware of his age.  Nanak had booked small wins before, even collecting the money, but when he won upwards of $500,000 in a recent tournament, the website blocked his account when he went to collect.

The story is seemingly unbelievable, as multiple sources point out it is still unconfirmed, but if it’s true, and Nanak’s family won the case, the money would be indeed life changing.  The average family in India makes $1,740 a year.

Mclean Karr Wins Bay 101 Shooting Star, Over Shadowed by Hellmuth’s Reaction to Being Sucked Out On

Mclean Karr won the World Poker Tour’s Bay 101 Shooting Star Event on March 13, and the $878,500 that went along with it, but his great performance may have been outdone by the first player eliminated at the 6-man final table: Phil Hellmuth Jr.

Hellmuth got all his money in with pocket queens, against the A-J of Andy Seth.  The flop was a safe one for Hellmuth, but the turn gave Seth additional outs by giving him a chance to catch an inside straight draw, or Ace for the win.  Inevitably the Ace fell, sending Hellmuth to the rail, but not immediately.  After calmly shaking the hands of the remaining five players and putting on his trademark leather jacket, Hellmuth walked over to the corner, fell on his knees, and appeared to cry in front of the television cameras and audience for about two minutes.  To add insult to injury, Hellmuth was eventually called back to the table, as there he had a $5,000 bounty on him, and also had to sign a t-shirt for Seth for eliminating him.  The full video can be seen here, although it is not very clear, you can see enough of what was going on.

After the Hellmuth “drama,” in which he walked away with $117,000, Hellmuth-conqueror Seth walked away in 2nd place with $521,200.

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