An NFL player is busted for betting on his team, a poker-themed cartoon, and record-breaking crowds in Prague are some of the short stacks CardsChat collected in last week’s orbit of the poker world.
Fans of poker who also love Japanese anime are in luck. A poker-themed franchise called “High Card” is being developed and the YouTube teaser was released today.
According to animenewsnetwork.com, the show is based on a world order that “can be controlled by a set of 52 X-Playing cards with the power to bestow different superhuman powers and abilities to the ones that possess them. With these cards, people can access the hidden power of the ‘buddy’ that can be found within themselves.”
All righty, then.
Regardless, the art looks very cool. “High Card” is set to debut in 2023 in TV, novel, and manga form.
NFL player loses $11 million betting $1,500
Atlanta Falcon’s wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended yesterday for at least a year for gambling on the NFL last season through an online client. He can ask for reinstatement Feb. 15, 2023.
Ridley said via Twitter he bet a total of $1,500. Multiple news sources say he placed less than 10 bets through his phone between Nov. 23-28, a few weeks after Ridley was placed on the non-football injury list to deal with self-described mental issues.
The bets were three, five, and eight-game parlays in which the Falcons needed to win to hit.
Talk about mental anguish — the lost season will cost Ridley $11 million.
The situation revealed how the NFL monitors their players’ and employees’ gambling habits. According to the Washington Post, the league contracts with Genius Sports which calls itself a “data, technology and commercial partner that powers the global ecosystem connecting sports, betting and media.”
Genius Sports contracts with many of the online books including Draftkings, Flutter (FanDuel), and bet365. The leagues that join the NFL using Genius Sports to monitor their employees include the PGA Tour, NCAA, the Premiere League, and EuroLeague Basketball.
Everyone should get suspended from their job for a year if they bet on the Falcons.
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) March 7, 2022
Breaking tournament attendance records in Prague
Another sign that live tournament poker is experiencing a surge, the €1,100 buy-in Eureka Prague Main Event broke an attendance record that was set in 2018. Four starting flights built a field of 3,155 entries, which breaks the record by 27%.
All 469 players who made it through to Day 2 today got in the money. The tournament continues at the Hilton Prague tomorrow when 66 players return, and is scheduled to finish Thursday. The winner gets €417,820.
APT continues relationship with Resorts World Manila
The Asian Poker Tour (APT) and Resorts World Manila agreed to a two-year deal that will bring four series to the casino.
The first pair of series will take place at Resorts World Manila April 27 to May 8 and then September 7 to 18 this year. Another pair will take place in 2023. A detailed schedule of this year’s events will be soon be announced.
The deal solidifies Resorts World Manila as a major poker stop in Asia, just how the casino wants it.
“Before the pandemic, Resorts World Manila had plans in hand to establish the largest poker room in Asia,” said Hakan Dagtas, executive vice president and chief gaming and marketing officer for the casino in a press release. “With the casino now returning to normal operations, those plans are firmly back on the drawing board. Our goal is to spearhead the initiative to ensure Manila becomes the poker capital of Asia.”
The APT returns this year after a two year hiatus, starting with the APT Phu Quoc Vietnam at the Corona Casino on April 8. It has six stops scheduled for 2022 so far. Besides the COVID-induced break, APT held events at Resorts World Manila since 2011.
