Last Post of 2009
With 2009 coming to an end Tonight, i was asking myself what is the biggest poker story of the year??? I have spoken a lot on this blog about theUIGEA and how the PPA lobbying group delayed the compliance deadline. But 2009 has been a banner year for the high stakes online poker scene with Isildur1 vs. durrrr, and 2009 has crowned the youngest WSOP Main Event Champ in it’s history.
UIGEA Deadline Delayed
Not much has happened in the last month or so with the UIGEA deadline. At the beginning of December Barney Frank and the PPA were successful in getting Treasury Secretary Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernake to delay the deadline by 6 months (to June 2010), essentially preserving on-line poker in the United States, and giving necessary time for “further research” into on-line gaming. This move is huge, as it’s widely believed to be a shift in thinking toward on-line poker (basically a cash grab for the government), but more importantly it allows on-line players to continue playing in the states without interruption. Look for developments in this story as 2010 will see further debate and hopefully strong legislation to legalize and regulate on-line poker (instead of criminalize and stop it).
Isildur1
Isildur1, the unknown Scandinavian, ignited the high stakes tables at Full Tilt poker this fall, and during his rise to super-stardom in the on-line poker world, took down Tom “Durrrr” Dwan. There was huge coverage of these back and forth battles, and even records set for largest on-line poker win in a single hand, and we sawDurrrr drop down in stakes to rebuild his bankroll. The end of 2009 was not so rosey for Isildur1, as Phil Ivey and others took note of his play and the wildest swings ever seen by on-line poker resulted. While this story is far from overIsildur1 changed the way high stakes poker is played on-line.
Youngest Champ in History
This could have been the section i talked about a man who hadn’t played on-line poker, but won the WSOP without a sponsor. But it’s not. This is the story of the youngest ever winner of the WSOP main event. Joe Cada beat out an impressive “November Nine” final table that included huge chip stacks (Darvin Moon), a very seasoned poker pro, who was on everyone’s list to win it (Phil Ivey) and a hole host of others. Since winning Joe became an excellent ambassador for online poker, appearing on many late night programs and generally helping to bring poker into the mainstream spotlight.
So goodbye 2009. We had some big wins, some records broken, and some losses. But overall, in 2009 the world of poker continued to push into the lives and living rooms of more and more people, and i can’t see that trend ebbing in 2010…we’ll have to wait and see though!
