WCOOP A Massive Success

The 12th annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is now past the halfway stage, and all signs point to a record-breaking success. The 66-event series offered a guaranteed $40M in prizes, including an $8M guaranteed Main Event, but it finds itself $8.5M ahead of pace, an incredible number.

Want some more incredible numbers? $25M in cash has been awarded thus far, and PokerStars has taken in $1.5M in tournament fees.

The action continues until the $5,200 Main Event on September 29. Until then, PokerStars will be running three events a day and numerous satellites. For more information, including the WCOOP schedule and results, click here.

Jason Mercier Almost Wins $1.5M Guaranteed WCOOP Event #24

Event #24 brought out 3,491 players, and Team PokerStar Pro Jason Mercier beat all but two of them. Despite struggling as the short stack once players entered the money, Mercier was able to survive a few scares (including a three-way all-in with QQ v. AK v. 88) and make it to the final table. Once there, he had another huge double up (QJd v. A8d) and made it into the top 4. At that time, a deal was struck between the four players and $30,000 was set aside for the eventual tournament champion. Mercier would go on to finish in 3rd place for $229,965.47, while “vovanmillion” took home the bracelet and $271,889.75. The tournament paid out $2,321,515.

Team PokerStars Pro Suspended

Argentinean Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez has been suspended from Pokerstars. No official statement has been released from PokerStars yet, but the ban is rumored to be a result of multi-accounting. A report from Brazilian site superpoker.com stated that Fernandez has received a 6 month ban from logging onto both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

Russian ISP’s To Potentially Block PokerStars

After a new ruling by the Russian Supreme Court there may be serious consequences for any Internet Service Provider found offering access to online gambling or poker sites. Online gambling is already illegal in Russia, but the country will hold any ISP allowing access to these sites as responsible as the actual owners of the gambling sites, which sets a dangerous precedent. Sources now state that most ISPs will block online gambling sites, which may include PokerStars.