2019 Retrospective: WSOP POY Debacle, PA Goes Live in November
2019 Retrospective: WSOP POY Debacle, PA Goes Live in November

As we move into 2020, PocketFives takes a look back at the year that was in poker news, going month-by-month through the biggest and most important stories of 2019. November involved two big pieces of news involving Daniel Negreanu, and then, of course, we got the launch of legal online poker in Pennsylvania.

Data Error Finds Negreanu Not WSOP POY

After it was originally announced that Daniel Negreanu was the 2019 World Series of Poker Player of the Year, a data-entry error was discovered by Russian poker journalist Alex Elenskiy that resulted in Negreanu being credited for more points than he should have. WSOP officials were made aware of the issue, verified the error, and then corrected the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year standings, with Australian Robert Campbell being awarded the title.

“We have confirmed an error was made in our results for WSOP Event #68, affecting places 32-46,” a WSOP statement read. “As a result, Daniel Negreanu was given 213.1 points erroneously in this event. We deeply regret this error and its impact. Recalculating our Player of the Year results has an impact to the standings. Robert Campbell finishes in 1st place in the now final results, with Negreanu dropping to third place. Again, we apologize profusely for the error in our calculations and the impact it has had.”

Also involved was Shaun Deeb, who ultimately finished second in the race. Deeb was vocal and very upset with what had happened, and the entire debacle caused plenty of a stir within the poker community.

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Negreanu Signs with GGPoker

After he parted ways with PokerStars back in May, Daniel Negreanu signed a new sponsorship deal with GGPoker. The new deal came six months following the part between Negreanu and PokerStars and saw Negreanu become an ambassador for GGPoker.com.

Negreanu made the announcement via a social media video.

PokerStars PA Goes Live

November brought exciting times in the world of regulated US online poker, as PokerStars PA went live in the first week of the month. Following a couple of days for a soft launch period, PokerStars PA went fully live on November 6, 2019.

The wait may have been extended, but Pennsylvania online poker players were out in full force when PokerStars PA went live. Cash games traffic was very good upon the site opening its virtual doors, and the first Sunday tournament schedule featured plenty of variety and guaranteed prize pools.

PocketFives followed the launch of PokerStars PA through its live blog and captured some of the best moments from the start.

Mateos Wins partypoker MILLIONS World Bahamas

Adrian Mateos just keeps on crushing, and November saw him take down the partypoker MILLIONS World Bahamas Main Event. Mateos topped the 948-entry field to win $1.162 million.

At the final table, a three-handed deal was made between Mateos, Aaron Van Blarcum, and Chris Hunichen, and it was Mateos coming out as the champion.

Caribbean Poker Party Final Table Payouts

1st: Adrian Mateos – $1,162,805*
2nd: Aaron Van Blarcum – $970,000*
3rd: Chris Hunichen – $1,097,195*
4th: Scott Wellenbach – $650,000
5th: William Blais – $500,000
6th: Oleg Mandzjuk – $350,000
7th: Peter Jetten – $250,000
8th: Gregory Baird – $180,000

With the victory, Mateos has now won the WSOP Europe Main Event, European Poker Tour Grand Final, and partypoker MILLIONS World Bahamas Main Event in just more than six years.

‘Josef_shvejk’ Wins Monthly PLB in November

Russian online grinder Arsenii ‘josef_shvejk’ Karmatckii won the Monthly PLB title for November. He earned 1,958 points in the month to narrowly beat out ‘DeathbyQuads’ and ‘C Darwin2.’ Included in his November success was a victory in the PokerStars High Roller Club $530 Bounty Builder for $14,298.