Pius and Mighty

Congratulations to 22-year-old German Pius Heinz on winning the World Series of Poker main event and $8.7 million in Las Vegas in November. The young German reclaimed the title for Europe for the first time since 2008 and, also for the first time, gave his home nation a WSOP main event champion.

His victory is sure to raise the profile of the game in Germany where online poker is not fully regulated and exists in a grey area despite stringent rules against its promotion.

There has been some common sense movement towards regulation led by one state, Schleswig-Holstein, but other states seem reluctant to follow despite EU clarity on the need for fair competition and its disapproval of state protectionism and monopoly.

Here’s hoping that Heinz’ victory will shine a positive light on the game and ignite further debate on the freedoms adults should be able to enjoy online with their own time and money.

Check out the full story of how the final nine at this year’s “big one” played down to one in this issue of Card Player Europe and look out for a future in-depth interview with our new champion.

Is the November Nine Done?

There’s lots of speculation as to whether this year’s November Nine will be the last for the WSOP main event. Caesar’s Entertainment’s pr man Seth Palansky has said that they would revisit the concept in light of the success of the near-live coverage this year.

Certainly the final table 15-minute broadcast delay with hole cards can be deemed a success in terms of drama but given that the players were all able to find out additional information about each other’s play this year it seems that one ebb in the game (a movement away from the three-month final table delay) will be replaced by a new flow (of information previously unavailable to players in near-real time).

Some view both the November Nine concept and 15-minute live broadcast delay as corrupting the very essence of the game, others a chance to revitalise a flagging TV format.

Either way we can be sure ESPN and the WSOP aren’t done tweaking yet in search of the best possible outcome for both of them — more viewers.

Indeed the concept of the November Nine must have some cache as it has been adopted by tournaments such as the Partouche Poker Tour and International Poker Open with both final tables, coincidentally, taking place in November.

At a time when poker seems to have lost its way somewhat — low on confidence, high on uncertainty — perhaps the leap of faith similar to that undertaken by Caesars and ESPN for the WSOP main event should be a beacon for others in the industry which is, after all, built on a game where measured risk taking is at the very core of every hand dealt and played. ♠