On the virtual felts, however, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey has enjoyed better times and thus far in 2013 is down a whopping -$2,297,409 after 52,146 hands played. Last week Ivey, dropped $956,528 to top the week’s list of losers, despite employing a rigid stop-loss system which helps him limit the potential damage to his bankroll. In fact, Phil Ivey is known as the king of “stop losses” online, a practice which isn’t always to the taste of his opponent’s. At the end of March, for instance, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey enjoyed a profitable session against high-stakes regular “SallyWoo”, who subsequently declined to begin a game of FLO8. As their online chat went:

Polarizing: quit when u want
Polarizing: i may play 2 min
SallyWoo: nah, u too nitty
Polarizing: ha
SallyWoo: we play another time
Polarizing: play 8 games
SallyWoo: well when i played u lhe u said play other games, i moved to 08, now here u wont really givve action, so ill move to another game will it happen again at plo?
SallyWoo: will you quit me at horse if i play that? or can we battle?
SallyWoo: like in future
Polarizing: what are u talking about
Polarizing: i have no idea what your talking about
Polarizing: u have issues
SallyWoo: issues?
Polarizing: i will play i just quit when i want
Polarizing: simple as that
SallyWoo: u lose 2bb and quit 9 out of 10 times and i have issues gotcha
Polarizing: ha

Nevertheless, Ivey had no difficulty finding a new taker in the guise of Kyle “KPR16” Ray, who promptly proceeded to lose $161,000 over 165 hands to the top poker pro.

Overall, however, the game of poker continues to swing in both directions, even for the top pros, and with an estimated personal wealth of around $100 million, and over $35 million in live and online winnings to his name, Phil Ivey continues to be the player most other pros fear and respect in equal measure at the poker tables.

This year the World Series of Poker enters its 44th year and once again will be open to anyone over the age of 21 willing to put their dollars on the line for a chance of winning big bucks, as well as a prestigious gold WSOP bracelet. There will also be plenty of opportunities for players to pick up a bracelet or two, especially with 62 events organised at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

In 2011, the tournament series attracted 75,672 players and 2012 was only slightly down on that number at 74,766. Needless to say, despite all the nay sayers folowing the Black Friday online poker closures in the US, the competition remains as iconic and popular as ever. Adding an extra layer of expectation to this year WSOP 2013 is that the series is offering more lower buy-in events than ever before with numerous tournaments offering enteries in the $150-$500 price range.

When the competition gets underway at the end of this month, WSOP organizers are determined to get the 2013 WSOP off with a bang and have arranaged for a number of highly anticipated events to take place in the first five days, including the $5k eight-handed NLHE tournament and the $1,500 NLHE event that guarantees the winner a minimum of $1 million prize. As tournament director Jack Effel explains: “We have the first week for the no-limit warriors, for the specialty guys, for the high buy-in guys. There’s something for everybody.”

Finally, poker enthusiasts can expect to see all the big names show up at the Rio, as they attempt to capture a much sought after gold bracelet. So far, Phil Hellmuth holds the record with an incredible 13 bracelets, although Johnny Chan isn’t far behind on 10, and Phil Ivey has taken a step closer on 9, after his victory at the 2013 WSOP APAC. One contender who will not be attending, however, is 10-times WSOP winner Doyle Brunson, 79, who recently announced via twitter:

“Afraid I am finally gonna give in to Father Time and pass on tournament play at WSOP. #toomanyhours.”

Patrick Partouche decided to break the news via his Facebook page, although plans for the migration were already in place after the Partouche Poker home page, stated; “The migration to MyPok was approved by ARJEL on May 15th.”

The Partouche online poker room has seen its traffic plummet of late, with unstable software, as well as bad publicity adding to the sites woes. Partouche online poker has been under investigation by ARJEL, the French regulator of online poker, ever since allegations were made indicating Groupe Partouche family members and a number of top-ranking employees had received free tournament entries and Frequent Player Points at Partouche.fr. One such instance apparently involved Partouche Board Member Katy Zenou, who had originally deposited just €175 into his online account but subsequently received over €36,000 in tournament credits, €27,500 of which he then withdrew into his bank account.

Patrick ‘I´m no cheat’ Partouche, was given his nickname after a public display of petulance in which the tilting CEO dramatically pulled the plug on the Partouche Poker Tour, following a dispute in which he apparently reneged on the guaranteed €5 million prize pool. Nevertheless, despite the recent ARJEL investigation into the Partouche online poker site, Patrick Partouche has denied any wrongdoing and decided, instead, to apportion the blame elsewhere, stating on his Facebook account:

“I just watched Special Investigation! To all my “friends” poker players for once it is not in Partouche we cheat! I see nothing on the forums etc..You are less “dynamic” for Wina, Pokerstars and barrier! No hard feelings, I love you anyway.”

At the time the AGA stated that PokerStars was a ‘criminal enterprise’ and apparently tried to halt the process by handing regulators briefs that allegedly supported their case. The Rational Group (PokerStars’ parent company) fired back by questioning the motives of the AGA, implying they were doing their utmost to limit potential competition in the US casino and online gambling market.

Nevertheless, the Atlantic Club Casino went ahead and pulled out of the deal and have even hung onto the $11 million PokerStars has already invested in the business, stating “that’s a risk they took for the opportunity of being at the forefront of online gaming in New Jersey.”

Obviously, the biggest poker room in the world wasn’t going to roll over easily and consequently won a temporary restraining order preventing Atlantic Club Casino owners from putting an end to the ‘expired’ casino purchase deal.

However, the Atlantic Club then retaliated with a filings taking aim at PokerStars’ key executives, and claiming ignorance of all the ‘illegal activities’ the company was involved in during the Black Friday period when the Department of Justice shut down online poker in the US.

Still, if the Atlantic Club expected to be let off the hook easily they were very much mistaken and now it seems if PokerStars’ restraining order is not removed in a timely fashion, the casino stands the risk of losing out on potential new investors, with catastrophic consequences for the beleaguered casino.

As PokerStars explained in its most recent comment: “It would be a catastrophic result for the Atlantic Club if the temporary restraining order is not vacated and the request for a preliminary injunction is not denied. As it currently stands, Plaintiffs – who have breached the Agreement – have been granted a unilateral, exclusive option to purchase The Atlantic Club and seek to extend that grant for many months in the face of serious doubt that they will ever obtain regulatory approval in New Jersey.”

You see, the UK tycoon is believed to have a personal wealth of £100 million and manages around £3 billion worth of assets under his own hedge fund, Meditor. The 49-year-old Shakerchi also took up playing high stakes poker five years ago and says he feels fortunate to be able to learn from competing against the very best players in the world.

Shakerchi certainly needed all the poker know-how he could acquire when the philanthropist played in the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop event, which raised $10 million for the charitable One Drop foundation. Shakerchi may not have cashed in at that event, but he has certainly had his fair share of successes since his first live cash in 2010 and now boasts $1,639,904 in live winnings. Shakerchi’s list of accolades include
victory in 2010 at the €10k EPT Grand Final Monte Carlo 6 Max Turbo High Roller for €223,000, and another 1st place finish in 2012 at the £10k EPT/UKIPT High Roller London for £436,330.

Commenting on his evolution as a poker player, Shakerchi said: “Occasionally, if I see a play I don’t understand from a player I respect, then I ask them what their reasoning was. Learning that way gave me the confidence to play in the toughest tournaments without feeling completely out of my depth. After a while you realise that some of the best known names aren’t as strong as their image, whereas there are a number of relatively less known players who are much tougher opponents.”

At his latest tournament in Monaco, Talal Shakerchi may have lost his €500,000 buy-in within the first two hours of play, but as a commentator noted at the time: “Talal seems very unlucky and running very bad – can’t seem to win a hand.”

Shakerchi obviously took all the vagaries of the game in his stride and after exiting the table was heard to say; “Goodbye, see you guys tomorrow.”

Incredibly, Altergott is actually a professional cash-game heads-up specialist who only started playing tournaments recently, and so his victory at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel counts as his first live cash.

By the time the €100,000 buy-in event reached its final table of seven, Jason Mercier was the chip leader with Max Altergott lying in 4th place. Mike Watson (K-Q) then became the first player to exit in 7th (€218,300), after running into the pocket aces of Sorel Mizzi, and 100 minutes later he was joined on the rail by Scott Seiver in 6th (€266,900), whose pocket nines faltered against the A-Q of Mercier.

Next, Vladimir Troyanovsky saw his tournament come to an end in 5th (€339,500) in a preflop all-in encounter which saw his K-Q pitted aginst the A-J of Sorel Mizzi, while Timothy Adams picked up €485,100 in 4th when his pocket nines came off second best against Max Altergott’s A-8.

Following Adams’ departure,  the three remaining players failed to agree a deal and soon after Sorel Mizzi (K-Q) was eliminated by Altergott (J-J) in 3rd (€679,100), thus ushering in the heads-up phase of the competition against Jason Mercier.

As the heads-up battle commenced, Altergott held a 7.35m to 5.15m chip advantage over Mercier, but the US pro was soon able to eek out a slight lead until he lost most his stack going all-in holding Kd-7d on a Jd-8-7-4d board. Max Altergott made the call with his pocket queens and after the river blanked with a 2c,  a depleted Jason Mercier was eliminated the very next hand and consequently finished the runner-up for €1,115,700, while Max Altergott was crowned the EPT champion

The final table payouts were as follows:

1 Max Altergott    €1,746,400
2 Jason Mercier    €1,115,700
3 Sorel Mizzi    €679,100
4 Timothy Adams    €485,100
5 Vladimir Troyanovsky    €339,500
6 Scott Seiver    €266,900
7 Mike Watson    €218,300

At the heart of Mr Suen’s lawsuit was the claim he had helped secure a gambling license for Las Vegas Sands in the Chinese gambling resort of Macau, by spending $328 million lobbying Chinese officials. Sheldon Adelson’s empire now has four resorts located in the world’s biggest gambling hub, but the casino mogul has insisted that Mr Suen did nothing concrete to secure their license.

During the recent trial Sheldon Adelson, 79, appeared relaxed and often cracked  one-liners that made the jurors smile, including the following reference to his childhood; “I could have been a rags to riches story. But my parents couldn’t afford the rags.”

Nevertheless, at the end of the trial which lasted one month, the court ruled in favour of Richard Suen and awarded him the $70 million sum. Ironically, this lawsuit was originally filed in 2004 and disputed in court back in 2008, when Suen was awarded $58.6 million. However, a Nevada Supreme Court subsequently dismissed the case on appeal.

It would also appear Sheldon Adelson, who has a reported wealth of $26 billion, is once again gearing up to appeal the decision, and after the verdict was delivered Sands attorney J. Stephen Peek requested a retrial claiming that a juror had revealed she was prejudiced against Adelson.

Commenting on the his client’s victory, Suen’s lead attorney John O’Malley expressed his satisfaction with the decision, but added: “Sheldon Adelson has unlimited resources by any definition of the term and he can keep this going until the state Supreme Court sustains the verdict. I think the court will do so this time and that Sheldon Adelson will finally have to pay his bill.”

Jason Mercier

“Just knocked out Ivey AQ vs AJ. He had 500k. Combining to unofficial final table of 9 players.. 7 get paid. I am 1/9 with 2.775 mill #letsgo”

David Doc Sands

“Made it to St. Louis in time to see grandma! She can only stay awake for a few min at a time but lit up when she saw me. #happy..He knew I was bummed bout my grandmas condition & having to miss the 100k so @JasonMercier offered me a small piece at a discount. #karma”

Liv Boeree

“Brilliant “@Tim0theeAdams: Tobias sits to my left and tells me he has jingle bells stuck in his head. #focused #superhighrollers”

Daniel Negreanu

“Showing LOTS of willpower tonight in preparation for the 100k tomorrow going for my 4th consecutive final table. Stress release needed soon!..My tourney graph for 2013 after 14 events played at roughly $6000 profit per hour of play.”

Mickey Petersen

“Monaco was great but was stuck a lot on the 25€ omelettes and 5€ orange juices so decided to quit while I was ahead, back home now to SCOOP!”

Dan O’Brien

“Love online poker! Currently pooing while grinding day 2 of #SCOOP event 3 on @JasonMercier’s laptop. Shhhh, don’t tell him #flagged”

Jason Somerville

“For reasons i’m not quite sure of, i’m somehow playing both the deepest, slowest $5 poker tournament in history and a $3k hyperturbo. #SCOOP”

Doyle Brunson

“Afraid I am finally gonna give in to Father Time and pass on tournament play at WSOP. #toomanyhours”

Vanessa Selbst

“For anyone who doesn’t know all the reasons Lock poker is fraudulent company, this is a great summary: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/195/lock-poker/lock-shady-practices-101-a-1328988/”

Todd Brunson

“So the jap’s team wins [darts] game one by 150 points. When I try to adjust teams he calls me a crybaby so we rematch. They win game 2 by 200 points..When I try to readjust again he goes nuts and says I’m unfair. I want him as my agent”

Phil Hellmuth

“Lol->RT @AlecTorelli Busted 8th AK>AA It’s moments like these one understands why hotels don’t put balconies or windows in room #lifetilt”

Leading the pack, as he has done since day 2, is Jason Mercier (4.165m) with around a third the chips in play, followed by Russia’s Vladimir Troyanovsky (2.15m), Canada’s Sorel Mizzi (2.15m) and Germany’s Max Altergott (2.11m). The next wave of contenders include US pros Timothy Adams (830k) and Scott Seiver (625k), with Canada’s Mike Watson (480k) bringing up the rear.

All the finalists minds will now be focused squarely on the €1,746,400 top prize and the title which accompanies it, although they will surely be grateful to have at least guaranteed themselves a minimum of €218,300 for their hard fought efforts. Some of their gratitude will also be directed towards Jason Mercier, who eliminated players in 11th, 10th, 9th and 8th places to set the final table.

One of Mercier’s vicims was Phil Ivey in 10th, who had already spent €300,000 in the event, and busted after being dealt A-J and 4-betting all-in against Mercier’s A-Q. Other notable names falling short of a cash prize included the likes of Mike McDonald,  Bertrand Grospellier, Steve Silverman, John Juanda, Tom Marchese, Sergii Baranov, Jonathan Duhamel and Joseph Cheong.

Chip leader Jason Mercier has already won $8,228,390 in career live earnings,  $117,432 of which has come this year. The 36 year old Florida pro will now be hoping to go all the way and take down the Super High Roller first place prize, thus helping him reach his goal of earning at least $1 million in tournament prizes for 2013.

The final table action is set to get underway today at 2:00 PM CET, and will be streamed on a one-hour delay via EPTlive.

The $2.5 billion casino resort opened 13 months ago, but in March this year filed for bankruptcy declaring $1.5 billion in debts but only $1.1 billion worth of assets. Under the new agreement lenders have been granted 82% ownership of the resort in return for reducing Revel’s debt to $272 million, with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith H. Wizmur subsequently concluding that Revel now had a “reasonable prospect for success in the future.”

Following the Judges decision, Revel’s interim CEO Jeffrey Hartmann said: “We look forward to officially emerging from Chapter 11 by the end of this month with a right-sized balance sheet and a significant reduction in our annual interest expense.”

Previously, Revel had to pay $102 million in annual interest payments, a figure that has now fallen to $46 million. Revel said it plans on putting the debt reduction money towards operations and driving growth by expanding its range of amenities and programmes.

Over the past few years, Atlantic City casinos have struggled from increased competition from neighbouring states, such as Philadelphia, and it was hoped that the $2.5 billion Revel would prove instumental in helping attract visitors back to Atlantic City. Nevertheless, despite its 2,400 slot machines, 130 table games, 1,399 rooms, 11 restaurants and two night clubs, the casino has ranked near the bottom of the City’s 12 casinos in terms of revenue since opening.