A lot of stories can fall through the cracks over the course of a week, and this past week was no exception. With eyes focused on Phil Ivey and the Aussie Millions, Super-High-Roller tournaments, and the European Poker Awards there were plenty of smaller stories that you have may have overlooked.

Isildur1 wins his largest pot on PokerStars

This past week Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, won a pot playing a single hand of poker that would put most online casino jackpots to shame. The Team PokerStars pro managed to scoop a massive $335k pot from one of the other high-stakes regulars at PokerStars 1Il|1Il|1il|. You can read more about the pot (Isildur1’s biggest to date on PokerStars) at the PokerStars blog.

MIT hosting Poker Bot competition

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be hosting a poker bot as part of a 3-week course on online poker. While not technically in the business of running no download casinos, MIT will see 51 different teams create an autonomous poker bot that will take part in a tournament featuring $30,000 worth of prizes the prestigious school will be hosting!

PokerStars launching Zoom Poker

PokerStars will soon be launching its version of Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker. Currently called Zoom Poker, few details have emerged about the specifics of the new format, but the Beta version is supposed to launch in late February according to PokerStars spokesman “PokerStars Stephan” on 2+2.

Norwegian poker legend Thor Hansen diagnosed with cancer

The poker word was rocked with some sad news this past week, when it came to light that Norwegian poker legend, and all-around good-guy, Thor Hansen had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The outpourings of support from the poker world came from all corners, as Hansen bridged the gap between the old-school players and today’s younger players.

Galfond selling infamous New York bachelor pad

Phil Galfond has put his Yahoo-profiled New York condo up for sale according to his blog. According to Galfond, he simply doesn’t spend any time in the multi-million dollar condo that features a slide going from level 1 to level 2, and doesn’t like the idea of renting it out. Perhaps Antonio Esfandiari will purchase it and let out one of his “WEEEEEE’s” as he slides down to level 1!

“I am selling my place in New York because I don’t know when I will be able to live there full time again, and it’s pretty expensive… Nobody’s living there. I considered renting it out, but I don’t really like the thought of someone living there. If I move back to New York I can find another place,”

Phil Laak’s Guinness Record has a challenger

According to a report in Card Player Magazine Europe, poker event organizer Barry Denson is going to take a run at Phil Laak’s 115-hour session record. Like Laak, Denson plans on donating any proceeds from the undertaking to charity, but we’ll see if he can manage to stay awake, considering he is already looking a little pessimistic with the following quote: “In 1894 Russian physician Marie de Manaceine kept four puppies awake almost five days, at which point the puppies died,” Good thing he’s not a puppy!

Tags: Aussie Millions, Bachelor Pad, Beta Version, Blom, Full tilt Poker, Gap, High Roller, high Stakes, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Mit, Phil Galfond, Phil Ivey, Poker News, Poker World, Pokerstars Blog, Prestigious School, Regulars, Sad News, Terminal Cancer, Thor Hansen

This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 7:34 pm and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.