The Poker Junkie Blog

During this decade, poker was brought up from smoke-filled card rooms into everyone’s living room. Poker sites, and even traditional media, started covering the game. These are the 19 biggest news stories from the decade.

Poker Spot Unable to Pay out Winnings (2000)

Poker Spot is probably the most unsuccessful poker site of the decade. When the site was launched in September 2000, it was the first poker room to offer tournaments – a very unique selling point for Dutch Boyd and the others behind Poker Spot . However, they never collected any deposits from the credit card processing firm and no winnings were ever paid out. The site soon closed down and never came back.

World Championship of Online Poker Introduced (2002)

The first WCOOP tournament was held at PokerStars in 2002. The combined prize pool in the first series was $730,000 and has ballooned to $51,652,800 in 2009.

World Poker Tour Is Launched (2002)

On June 1 2002, the first World Poker Tour winner was announced. Danish poker pro Gus Hansen beat John Juanda in the heads-up battle and took home the title along with the $556,460 first prize. When the tournament was aired on TV we could see the players’ hole cards, which truly revolutionized televised poker (although this technique was first used in the British show Late Night Poker.)

Chris Moneymaker wins WSOP Main Event (2003)

It’s said that Chris Moneymaker is the reason for the poker boom early in the decade. That is probably not true and the game would have boomed even without him, but when Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event through a $39 satellite he surely speeded up the process.  In 2003, 893 players participated in the Main Event; the following year the number of players was up to 2,576.

European Poker Tour Is Launched (2004)

The European version of WPT started with an event in Barcelona. Swedish poker pro Alexander Stevic beat David O’Callaghan in the final and raked in $98,000.

Dan Harrington’s Back-to-Back Final Tables (2004)

Since the starting fields in the WSOP Main Event had become really large by this time, Dan Harrington’s 3^rd and 4^th place in 2003 and 2004 are by many considered one of the greatest accomplishments in poker history.

PartyGaming Public on the London Stock Exchange (2005)

As the first gambling company ever to get listed on the stock exchange, PartGaming, and the largest poker room at the time, Party Poker, was valued to a whopping $8 billion.

First Episode of High Stakes Poker Aired (2006)

In January 2006, High Stakes Poker changed the landscape of televised poker. Instead of showing just tournaments, this was a big cash game including some of the biggest names on the scene. The poker community loved it.

Jamie Gold Wins Biggest First Prize in a Tournament (2006)

The poker boom peaked in 2006 and World Series of Poker was filled with satellite winners and poker pros from all over the world. When the Main Event started, 8,773 players sat at the tables. The last man standing was television producer Jamie Gold and he took down a record-breaking $12 million first prize.

UIGEA Introduced (2006)

On October 13 2006, President George Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which made it illegal for financial institutions to transfer money to off-shore gambling sites. This was a hard blow to online poker players in the United States.

Absolute Poker Scandal (2007)

You probably remember the story: The player Potripper lost a lot of money and finally decided to quit Absolute Poker. A year later he returned and crushed the games. A discussion started in the poker forums that something fishy was going on. Absolute Poker denied all forms of cheating. The evidences started to pile up and Absoute Poker finally admitted that an old super account had been used. Some players, but far from everyone, were compensated.

Poker Legend Chip Reese Dead at 56 (2007)

When Chip Reese, often called the best all-round players of all times, died in December 2007, the poker community lost one of its true legends. “He had the most even disposition of anyone I’ve ever met. He’s certainly the best poker player that ever lived,” Doyle Brunson told The Associated Press.

Hellmuth Takes the Lead in the Bracelet Race (2007)

Before 2007 World Series of Poker, there was a three-way bracelet tie between Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan. When Hellmuth won the $1,500 No-Limit Texas Hold’em event he left the two poker old-timers in second place. The 11-bracelet record still stands.

Annette Obrestad – The Youngest WSOP Bracelet Holder (2007)

For a long time, Phil Hellmuth was the youngest WSOP Main Event Winner, then Eastgate stole the title, followed by Joe Cada in 2009. The youngest bracelet winner, however, is Annette Obrestad from Norway. The day before her 19^th birthday she won the WSOPE Main Event and $2 Million.

TheV0id Disqualified from WCOOP (2007)

Mark Teltscher won the World Championship of Online Poker using the account TheV0id he had set up in his sister’s name; one of five different accounts in the tournament. When the story was unfolded, TheV0id was disqualified and the first prize, close to $1,3 million, had to be paid back.

Russ Hamilton Cheats at Ultimate Bet (2008)

Very much like the Absolute Poker scandal, Ultimate Bet had to admit that cheating through super-user accounts had taken place on the site. The three nicks – nvtease, NoPaddles, and sleepless – could all be linked to former UB owner and Main Event champion Russ Hamilton.

UIGEA Challenged (2009)

In May 2009, Congressman Barney Frank, who has fought the UIGE for a long time, introduced a bill to remove or change the gambling aspects of the Safe Port Act.

PokerStars set World Record (2009)

In 2009, PokerStars set the world record for most active poker players logged on to the site simultaneously. The record of 307,016 players is clarified and will be included in this year’s edition of Guinness Book of World Records.

Antonius Wins the Biggest Pot Ever Online (2009)

During the last two month of the decade, a new player entered the high-stakes online poker scene. His name was Isildur1 and his fearless playing style was an action injection to the games. It all peaked when Isildur1 clashed with Patrick Antonius creating a $1,3 million pot on November 11.