by Haley Hintze
WAXMAN SOARS AT WPT PARIS
Floridian Matthew Waxman’s trip to Paris for the World Poker Tour Paris stop ended in the biggest payday of his career. Waxman triumphed over a 312-player field at the celebrated Aviation Club de France to win $729,886, sealing the win when he dodged runner-up Hugo Lemaire’s flush draw. Lemaire was France’s last hope for a home-country winner, though like Waxman, his secondplace payday of $442,645 was the largest of his career. Third place and $299,834 went to fellow Frenchman Frederic Magen, while Byron Kaverman, Mikko Sundell and Martin Jacobson also made the to-be-televised finale.
MCDONALD TAKES SECOND EPT EVENT
Canada’s Mike McDonald, a young gun from the onlinepoker world under his “TimeX” name, was victorious at the new Epic Poker League’s second-ever event. EPT action returned to the Palms in Las Vegas, where the 22-year-old McDonald triumphed over a field heavy on old-time names. McDonald collected $782,410 after finishing off Hong Kong’s David Steicke ($506,260), with Fabrice Soulier third ($299,160) and Erik Seidel fourth ($184,100). Other finalists included Nam Le, Isaac Baron, Sean Getzweiler and Russell “Dutch” Boyd. Attendance for this EPT event was down nearly a third from the premier tourney in August, and the event wasn’t without its moment of controversy, when a satellite qualifier was barred from participating and escorted from casino property after turning up on a sex-offender registry.
SECOND CIVIL ACTION LAUNCHED AGAINST FULL TILT
Troubles continue to mount for besieged online poker giant Full Tilt. In the latest developments, a Canadian class-action law firm has launched a new suit against the site and its alleged primary owners, declaring that Canadian players were unduly harmed by the company’s global shutdown in the face of the Black Friday indictments launched against the firm by American authorities. The firm responsible for the lawsuit, Consumer Law Group (clg.org), has also issued a call to action for other players to join the action. In separate news, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission announced that an already delayed hearing over Full Tilt’s suspended European license will be held behind closed doors; any news from the late-September hearing will appear in a future issue.
TUCKER TRIUMPHANT AT WINSTAR
One of the Midwest’s largest poker paydays each year goes to the champion of the River Poker Series at Oklahoma’s WinStar Casino, and the casino’s 2011 breakout star was Bronson Tucker. Tucker emerged from a giant 1,355-player field to win $640,000, by far the largest cash of his poker career. Ricky Barker finished second for $342,300, while Doug Ashmore’s deep thirdplace run was worth $182,290.
WYNN TO DOUBLE UP IN MACAU
Macau’s rapid growth as one of the world’s premier gambling destinations received confirmation when Wynn Resorts recently announced plans to launch a second Macau-based gambling complex. The as-yet-unnamed project is budgeted for $2.5 billion and will add another glittering casino jewel to Macau’s budding Cotai strip. When complete, the new complex will offer 1,500 to 1,600 hotel rooms, about 500 table games and 1,300 slot machines.
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