2016 Poker Year In Review: Clickable Poker PersonalitiesA Look Back At The Biggest Off-The-Felt Stories In The Last Year |
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It doesn’t always take a huge tournament score or big win in the cash games for a poker player to be featured in the news. Every once in a while, a poker personality gets headlines for actions off the felt, and escapes beyond the poker world bubble to catch the eye of the mainstream media. Here’s a look at those who got more than their fair share of attention in 2015.
Mainstream Publicity
Acclaimed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was tapped in January to direct his first movie, titled Molly’s Game. The film will depict infamous Hollywood home game organizer Molly Bloom and her ties to celebrity poker players such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon. The movie, scheduled for 2017, is set to star Jessica Chastain, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera and Idris Elba.
Although rumors continue to swirl about a sequel to Rounders, the original movie came up often in 2016. In July, someone won a charity auction to play poker with actor Ed Norton, who played Worm in the movie. Later that week, a video of Damon impersonating John Malkovich’s performance of Teddy KGB went viral and on an interview for The Rich Eisen Show, Damon said a potential sequel would probably be about online poker. A documentary called Kid Poker also made its debut this year on Netflix about the life of Daniel Negreanu.
Ever since the poker boom, poker players have been regularly cast on reality game shows. This year, New York poker pro Anna Khait appeared on Survivor, becoming the fifth person voted off. David Williams made the final three of season seven of MasterChef, but he missed out on the $250,000 grand prize and a cookbook deal in the finale that aired in September.
Financial Trouble
Legendary Las Vegas sports gambler Billy Walters was indicted by the federal government in New York for an alleged insider trading scheme that involved golfer Phil Mickelson. Walters reportedly made $110 million with inside information.
Six-time bracelet winner Ted Forrest got into some hot water in September over some casino markers totaling $215,000, although he is reportedly still owed millions from a prop bet he won from Mike Matusow back in 2010.
The poker world didn’t get to see much of Phil Ivey at the tables this year because he continues to be wrapped up in civil dispute surrounding his edge-sorting cases with Crockford’s Casino in London and the Borgata in Atlantic City. The Borgata added a low blow by not only asking for Ivey’s winnings back, but also damages in the amount they believe they would have won had he been playing straight up.
Famous Athletes In Poker
Top German soccer player Max Kruse was dropped from matches because he left €75,000 in the back of a taxi after competing at the WSOP Europe in Berlin. To add insult to injury he was fined another $25,000 by his team.
Former Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel opened the year off by making sure he wouldn’t be playing in the NFL the next season by gambling at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas the night before his team’s final regular season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Corey Tindal was pistol whipped during a motel poker game in West Virginia. Buffalo Bills star Sammy Watkins missed optional workouts to play poker, but didn’t get into much trouble for cashing out $6,500 at the casino.
Of course, the news wasn’t all bad for athletes who dipped their toes into the poker waters. Soccer star Neymar won a satellite into the WSOP. Three-time Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour also managed an impressive cash record in WPT events. Other NFL players to compete on the felt this year included Calais Campbell and Antoine Winfield.
Michael Phelps had yet another impressive showing at the Olympics, but the poker world got some recognition when it was discovered that Phelps was playing Pineapple Open-Face Chinese poker on his phone in between races.
They Did What?
Ray Bitar ruffled the poker world’s feathers back in January, when it was revealed that the former Full Tilt Poker CEO had married. Despite his part in what the Department of Justice called “a global Ponzi scheme,” Bitar managed to avoid prison because of health issues.
The Full Tilt hate continued well into the summer, when Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson returned to the WSOP. Although they were repeatedly harassed by other players and people on the rail, they each played many events throughout the series.
Down at the Aussie Millions, Katrina Sheary had made day 2 of preliminary event, only to go into labor. Unable to resume play the next day, her husband Peter took over her stack, much to the dismay of many of her competitors. Peter went on to finish in 25th place for AUD$6,495.
2015 WSOP main event winner Joe McKeehen didn’t win any fans this year with his lackluster performance as the game’s ambassador, but he continued to draw the ire of the poker community this summer when he blamed the media for earlier start times at the summer series.
In April, Gus Hansen became the first notable poker player to announce a retirement of sorts, telling Good Morning Denmark that he was returning home “for good” to possibly start a family. Brian Hastings, who won $4 million against Viktor Blom in a single session of high-stakes online poker, announced that he was quitting poker to open a tea business. Fedor Holz, who put together one of the greatest years in poker history, also told reporters that he plans on retiring.
Prop Bets Galore
Prop bets have always been a major part of the poker world, but 2016 took it to another level. High-stakes poker pros Brian Rast and Sorel Mizzi actually fought each other for charity in January, with Mizzi coming out on top. Then in April, Olivier Busquet won $150,000 for winning a bout against J.C. Alvarado.
At the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Antonio Esfandiari was actually disqualified from the main event because of a prop bet with high roller Bill Perkins. Esfandiari had to lunge everywhere in order to win the bet, so in order to avoid a long trip to the bathroom, he opted to urinate into an empty water bottle under the table. Both players admitted the bet went too far.
Vanessa Selbst scored $10,000 thanks to a drunken bet with wunderkind Dzmitry Urbanovich, laying him an astonishing 200:1 on winning three WSOP bracelets. Although that bet paid off, a similar bet with Jason Mercier cost her a hefty sum when she was forced to buy out after he won two bracelets.
But the biggest prop bet stories came from Instagram celebrity and part-time poker personality Dan Bilzerian, who not only turned heads by buying $100,000 worth of Powerball tickets, but he also won nearly $1 million from Perkins after he rode a bicycle from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. He is also rumored to be considering another bet that will require him to row across the Atlantic Ocean. Rast earned $600,000 for doing the same ride in April.
The Poker World Says Goodbye
Rene Angelil, a respected poker player and also husband and manager of Celine Dion, died in January at age 73. Angelil had more than $750,000 in tournament earnings before succumbing to throat cancer.
In March, groundbreaking publisher Stanley Sludikoff passed away at the age of 80. Sludikoff started the first-ever gaming magazine, Gambling Times, published monthly more than 30 years ago and followed it up with Poker Player.
David Colclough, who won European player of the year in 2003 and 2005, lost his battle with cancer in September. He had more than $2.6 million in career live tournament earnings and nearly won a bracelet in 2003.
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