Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.
Today in the 3-Bet we find Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn putting some poker-esque pressure on one of the biggest companies in the world, poker's popularity putting some pressure on slots space in a Columbus casino and the International Stadiums Poker (Marketing) Tour getting stranger as days go by.
1) Einhorn Gets Pushy, Asks for Preferred Apple Stock
Poker fans will remember financial heavy hitter David Einhorn from two notable poker moments.
First, Einhorn finished 18th in the 2006 WSOP Main Event and got plenty of screen time on ESPN wearing a sweatshirt with his kids' handprints on it. Just last year Einhorn finished third in the $1m Big One for One Drop for $4.3 million and donated it all to charity.
At the time, Einhorn explained to PokerListings that poker pressure was nothing compared to his average day:
“I’m a money manager and I manage a rather good fund that generates a terrific income for me so I have to get into some pretty tough battles with nerves every day at my job at stakes that are way higher than what we’re dealing with here.”
Case in point: Einhorn’s latest dispute with one of the richest companies in the world, Apple. As one of its biggest shareholders, Einhorn is unhappy with its stock performance and laid some pressure on in an open letter posted Thursday.
His solution? A new perpetual preferred stock that would be distributed to Apple's shareholders like him.
Mbn to have that kind of power move, in poker or in life. Read Einhorn's statement here.
2) Columbus Casino Removes Slots, Adds Poker Tables
While New Jersey received some pretty promising poker news today, so too did the poker fans of Columbus, Ohio.
Hollywood Casino Columbus announced it will remove 500 slots and add six more poker tables (for 36 total) to try and boost revenues.
We haven't heard that very often in the last few years, tbh, and it bodes well for a healthy poker fetish building again in America. As Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for Hollywood Columbus, told the Columbus Dispatch:
“We’ve been open four months now and are at the point at which we’ve been able to establish patterns and see what’s popular. The poker room has been way more popular than we anticipated.”
Despite poker not being much of a revenue producer on its own, Tenenbaum says it's the spinoff business that brings the real value.
“Poker brings in a lot of people to the casino. They’ll play other games, they’ll have a meal, maybe they’ll stay for the entertainment.” Read more here. Get to Columbus via I70 or I71.
3) ISPT Pushing “Wemplay” Slogan, Turnout Slow
We won’t rehash all of the general confusion that’s surrounded the International Stadiums Poker Tour (check here if you're interested), but suffice to say not many people expect much of an inaugural event at Wembley Stadium in London this May.
Originally projecting a 30,000-player max, by the look of things 3,000 might be a stretch. Still, the ISPT pushes on with its odd “We Wemplay” marketing campaign with ambassadors Sam Trickett, Michael Mizrachi, Liz Lieu and David Benyamine and its drama-heavy promo vids.
Satellites are still running on sites including Poker770 and another Day 1 is scheduled to run for US players on Lock Poker this Sunday.
Given its questionable reputation it's hard to say just how many players to expect on W-Day (see what we did there?), but based on the current ISPT leaderboard it looks like, um, 13 players are through so far. More info here; vid below.
Visit www.pokerlistings.com