Weekly Poker Roundup: October 23, 2016

Daniel Negreanu Wants to Change Poker Hall of Fame Voting Process

Carlos Mortensen and Todd Brunson were recently elected to Poker Hall of Fame and will soon be officially inducted. The election process has been criticized over the years, particularly for its opaqueness, and this past week, Daniel Negreanu, a Hall of Famer himself, blogged about the changes he would like to see made to that process.

His proposed changes really revolved around clarifying the eligibility criteria. Phrases like “top competition,” “high stakes,” and “stood the test of time” are all quite vague. Seeing as this is a quick summary, we won’t get into the details of his explanations, but here is how he would reset the Hall of Fame criteria:

• Must Be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination
• Played for High Stakes.

o   Tournaments with buy ins over $10,000

o   Limit Cash games $400-$800 and above

o   No Limit Cash games of $25-$50 and above

• Their poker skills are well respected by their peers
• They were exceptional in at least one of these areas:

o   Cash Games

o   Tournaments

o   Online Poker

• Stood the test of time over a period of 15 years or more

Negreanu would also like non-players to only be considered once every four years and separately from the players and for much of the nomination process taken out of fans’ hands.

Poker Pro Dave Colclough Passes Away

Popular British professional poker player, Dave “El Blondie” Colclough passed away on October 18^th after a battle with cancer. He was 52-years old.

Colclough racked up nearly 200 live tournament cashes and more than $2.6 million in his career, mostly in Europe. He was a force on the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT), making many final tables. His poker career was not defined by tournaments, though, as he was a staple in UK cash games.

Above all, Colclough was beloved by friends, fans, and opponents. Since his passing, many in the poker world have expressed their sadness, all saying the same thing: Colclough was a gentleman and could not have been more friendly to everyone he met. On Twitter, fellow UK poker pro Barny Boatman said of Colclough, “A rare combination of sharp mind and easy manner, Dave Colclough was universally liked and admired.”

Vicky Coren called him, “one of the friends and heroes of my early days in poker.”

Sam Panzica Wins 2016 WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble

When the final table of the 2016 WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble began, it was Sam Panzica and Richard Malone, Jr. together at the top of the leader board, nearly tied in chips. At the end of the final table, it was the two of them still together, battling for the title. Sam Panzica won it, along with $354,335, but for quite some time, it did not look like things would end that way.

World Poker Tour final tables are six-handed and Malone eliminated the first four players, two of them in one hand. He entered heads-up play with a 7.365 million to 3.95 million chip lead, a lead that, while large, feels like it should have been more significant considering the damage he did at the final table.

During heads-up, Malone extended his lead, building his chip stack to over 10 million chips and it looked like victory was certain. But Panzica held on, finally turning things around on the 73^rd hand of the heads-up match when he doubled-up to get back to around the original chip deficit. Though still well behind, that was the spark Panzica needed; from there, he never looked back, soon taking the lead and eventually moving on to the championship after nearly 150 one-on-one hands against Malone.