The partnership between PokerStars Ontario and the Maple Leafs yielded positive results, with the hockey team reaching the second round of the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2004. 

Best Performance from Maple Leafs in 10 Years 

While the Maple Leafs ended up being eliminated from the tournament by the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference series, it was still a solid run for the team, their best performance in 10 years. PokerStars Ontario has been a huge part of that success. 

Through Maple Leafs’ alliance with PokerStars Ontario, fans of the team enjoyed an array of so-called “activations”, including access to All-In Tournaments, as well as cool giveaways in the form of Maple Leafs merchandise and playoff tickets.

PokerStars Ontario-Maple Leafs Partnership Extended 

Fans were also treated to a tailgating party at all of the team’s home games, made possible through Maple Leafs’ partnership with PokerStars Ontario. 

The tailgate area was set up at Maple Leaf Square where the online poker operator also hosted all-in shootouts and spin of the wheel, giving away merch and tickets to the winners. 

PokerStars Ontario and Maple Leafs will extend their partnership through to next year as both parties look forward to another incredible season.

In 2022, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event narrowly missed out on breaking its own attendance record after it attracted 8,663 entrants, just 110 entries short of the massive 8,773-entry field that turned up during the 2006 edition of the prestigious tournament. Well, WSOP’s Executive Director Ty Stewart is confident this year’s WSOP Main Event will do the job.

Various Promotions to Boost Player Attendance

Breaking records is one of the main goals of the WSOP this year. For the Main Event in particular, the operator has launched a series of promotions with its partners in a bid to send as many players as possible to the festival’s flagship tournament which kicks off on July 3.  

GGPoker is currently running its Road to Vegas campaign that will award WSOP Main Event packages to at least 600 players. Satellites are also running at WSOP.com in the US where nearly 400 Main Event tickets will be given away.

Apart from that, the WSOP for the first time organized a live satellite weekend on May 20 and 21, dubbed the “Main Event Maynia”. It was participated in by 15 casinos across the US.

One Lucky Player Gets Life-Changing Prize if Attendance Record is Smashed 

With the plenty of promotions to boost player participation in the 2023 WSOP Main Event, the tournament could very well smash its own record. If that happens, the WSOP will award one lucky participant entry into the Main Event for the next 30 years via a prize draw.

888poker Ontario has launched a new promotion called “Card Strike”, which allows players to win extra prizes via a bingo-style format. The operator also made changes to its tournament offerings, discarding its sit’n’go games in favor of its spin’n’go product, Blast Tournament. 

The new changes are aimed at improving player experience as 888poker strives to enhance its status in the ring-fenced market.

Card Strike Promotion

888poker Ontario’s Card Strike promotion covers all No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha cash game tables. Players don’t need to spend extra to be eligible for the promo. They only need to log into their respective accounts and play NLH or PLO cash games.

Each player receives 16 cards on a two-by-eight grid. Using the bingo format, a player’s hole cards must match the cards on the grid so they can be marked off. The main goal is to have all 16 cards marked off before the hand limit runs out. If this happens, a player gets a free spin which comes with a prize of up to $10,000. The amount of prizes depends on the table’s buy-in. 

888poker Drops Sit’n’Go to Promote Blast Spin’n’Go

As the competition intensifies in the Ontario online poker market, 888poker wants to make sure its offerings will continue to attract players. For this reason, it decided to remove the traditional sit’n’go games which have become less popular among players. The operator will focus more on its Blast Tournament, its own version of spin’n’go.

Rush Street Interactive (RSI) which is the parent company of the popular Poker Night In America (PNIA) TV would air a new poker show that features interesting content. The new show will be called Studio 52 and will make its debut form May 15.

Studio 52To Feature A Wide Variety Of Poker Content

Studio 52 is going to be a unique and very special poker TV show as it will feature exclusive content that is filmed from a poker residency that is located with a poker studio that is developed within a 10,000 square foot gate, private mansion in Las Vegas of founder Todd Anderson,.

The studio will be located within the home of PNIA founder Todd Anderson who will hold exclusive poker parties by invitation only. One of the guests that are already confirmed to be on the show is Run It Once founder Phil Galfond.

From May 15, the Studio 52 show will be made available across the YouTube and Twitch paltforms. Studio 52 is set to feature a great line-up of guests who are big names in the poker community as this has been a life-long goal of Anderson!

Despite attempts by Doug Polk’s legal team to silence Fernando “JNandez” Habegger on the outcome of his legal battle against Upswing Poker, the latter chose to speak up, asserting that he already won the case and that Polk and his cohorts can’t silence the truth. 

JNandez Continues to Speak Up

In a recent Twitter post, JNandez shared what appears to be a letter from one of Polk’s lawyers warning him to adhere to a confidentiality agreement regarding his previous contract with Upswing Poker, a poker training site founded by Polk. 

The company sued JNandez back in 2018 on multiple claims, but justice ended up on the side of the Swiss pro, costing Polk and his team $150,000. But Polk has appeared to still be in denial of the ruling, insisting on social media that JNandez breached a portion of his agreement with Upswing Poker.

Move On, Doug!

Polk’s recent actions have sparked negative reactions from the poker community, with some saying he should just respect the judge’s ruling and move on. 

Polk never publicly announced that he lost his legal fight against JNandez. It was Charlie Carrel who spilled the beans last month. Both Carrel and Polk have been involved in multiple feuds in the past and now, Polk has apologized to the English pro for saying he empathized with pedophiles.