An NBA player booted for life, a casino owner breaks the hearts of a hockey fanbase, and the World Series of Poker getting behind a veterans organization are the short stacks CardsChat picked up in its last orbit of poker news.
WSOP to donate to vets group
The WSOP will donate up to $30,000 to Disabled American Veterans — if enough people take part in the 72 hour “Pokerthon” that will take place on the World Series of Poker free-to-play app this weekend.
The amount is tied to the number of hands dealt starting tomorrow (April 19), which is being called National Poker Day. From the press release:
“During the 72 hours, WSOP players will be able to give back to veterans and all they need to do is join the app and play.
WSOP isn’t just stacking chips and calling bluffs though; it’s about making a difference, which is why it teamed up with a charity doing amazing work to protect veterans.
With over 16 million veterans in the U.S., DAV helps veterans of all generations address their challenges and achieve personal victories, great and small, to better thrive in civilian life.”
The donation will be capped at $30,000.
Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Filed under “it was bound to happen someday,” the NBA permanently banned a player for not only gambling on games, but for providing inside information to other bettors and limiting his own playing time in order to influence betting results.
Jontay Porter, 24, played 26 games for the Toronto Raptors this season. According to the NBA, as reported by NBC News and other outlets, Porter “bet on games, passed on information to gamblers, and claimed illness to influence a wager.”
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
That said, most NBA teams have partnered with online gambling sites, and that includes the Raptors, who named BetPoints Canada an official partner in 2022.
Casino owner kills NHL fanbase
The businessman who mismanaged the Arizona Coyotes to a point it was forced to sell and move to Utah owns Sahara Las Vegas and the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.
Alex Meruelo, who got his start selling pizza, pulled the rug out from under Yotes’ fans by selling the team last week. They played their last game last night.
It’s the second fanbase screwed by this iteration of an NHL team. The good people and fans of the Winnipeg Jets first had their hearts torn out when the team moved to Phoenix in 1996 after 24 years. Its 27 years in the desert has been marked by bankruptcies, several ownership changes, a league takeover and now this.
Meruelo’s business group bought the Coyotes in 2019 for $1 billion. He sold the franchise for $1.2 billion, of which $200,000 goes to league owners. So the only thing he did while owning the team was break even and destroy a fanbase.
He bought the Sahara, which was known as SLS, in 2017. He returned the property’s original name in 2019.
