Internet poker online

As part of an ongoing feature we continue to count down some of the top poker stories that didn’t make the front page but still deserve a mention.

This week we look at Ivey having the chance to take down even more money, ESPN airing even more poker, Italians getting banned from PokerStars.com and several other stories.

Here we go:

More money for Ivey

Wicked Chops has a story about Andy Bloch betting Phil Ivey $20,000 to win the Main Event at 200-1 odds with 2,500 players remaining. That equals $2 million if you’re keeping track at home. Supposedly Ivey also stands to make an extra $10 million from FTP if he wins, in addition to the $8.5 million for first place.

It’s getting to the point where if Ivey wins he will suddenly represent approximately 50% of the poker economy.

Poker returns to ESPN

The first episode of the 2009 WSOP aired on ESPN this week with Russian Vitaly Lunkin triumphing over Isaac Haxton in the $40,000 No-Limit Hold’em. No word on the ratings but considering the always popular Greg Raymer went deep it wasn’t a bad way to kick off the season. Next up is the special Champions Invitational event won by Tom McEvoy. The episode airs on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Italian poker players bumped from PokerStars main site

Numerous poker sites are reporting that Italian players have been bounced from PokerStars’ international site. Apparently the Italian government has enacted a new law where online poker rooms must have their servers located in the country. It’s not a total loss for Italian players as they were simply re-routed to the Italian-only version of PokerStars.

There’s a good chance, however, they will be missed by the rest of the poker world.

Deep stack mistake?

Tournament director Matt Savage has a great piece over on 2+2 detailing some of the issues regarding deep stack tournaments. According to Savage deep stacks offer a lot of play in the early stages of play but can be a crap shoot in the later stages.

Definitely worth a read.

World Poker Tour releases positive Q2 numbers

For the first time in a long while, the World Poker Tour actually had some good news regarding their latest financial statement.

Income from continuing operations tipped the scales at $370,000, which is a massive improvement from the $3.3 million the WPT lost in the same quarter last year. The company also reported Q2 earnings per share of $.02, which was better than the forecasted $.01.

The WPT’s next big event is Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in L.A. It kicks off on Aug. 22.

PokerStars offering “Extreme” satellites for 2009 WCOOP

The WCOOP is the biggest online poker series of the year and PokerStars announced this week they are offering some “Extreme” ways to get a virtual seat in one of the events. The “Extreme Satellites” will sometimes offer more than 100 seats into various WCOOP events with players qualifying for as little as $7.50.

The 2009 WCOOP kicks off on Sept. 3 and will run all the way until the two-day main event on Sept. 30. You can check out the complete schedule for Extreme Satellites here.