Belgium 
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2020 was as bad as it gets for most people. At least as poker players we had the online game and casinos such as lvbet.lv to fall back on as live poker shut down almost completely, but there could be light at the end of the tunnel as we get out of this mess.
It is starting to look like 2021 won’t be such a washout after all. The vaccination program is picking up momentum, with a solid plan in place to get everything open again, and there looks to be plenty of interesting plans for poker in the pipeline.
Live World Series of Poker on the Cards
A couple of weeks ago Kevin “KevMath” Mathers tweeted that he had some inside information from the WSOP organisers about this year’s event. Apparently it is just about set in stone that we will have a series this year but certain not to be during the usual summer slot.The way the vaccination program in the US is being deployed right now, the country might be live poker’s only hope for a major series. Most of Europe is struggling and most Asian nations have closed their borders, so we could be left with a vaccine passport option as our saving grace. Fingers crossed.
Galfond Challenge
After racing off to a 3/3 start in the Galfond Challenge Phil Galfond must be licking his lips at the prospect of finding some more customers. Many thought his day had been and gone; that he was a product of a bygone era, but, as it turns out, he’s still as deadly as he ever was, if not even more.2021 could see another demolition job if anybody else is brave enough to step up to the plate.
Can Phil Hellmuth Beat Aria High Rollers and Daniel Negreanu?
Phil Hellmuth has to be the most talked about poker player in history. He is the gift that keeps on giving as far as poker writers are concerned. Luckily for us, there are a couple of things in his diary that will keep us entertained during 2021.First he has to deal with Daniel Negreanu in a heads-up match where we will get to see every hand live. This promises to be a thrilling contest with Negreanu fresh off the back of his gruelling battle against Doug Polk in the High stakes Feud. Luckily for Hellmuth, the format for their upcoming match will be one where he recently smashed Antonio Esfandiari 3-0 without getting out of first gear.
Once this is all wrapped up and done Hellmuth will be making a few trips to the Aria Casino—50, in fact—to play a bunch of high rollers to prove to Daniel Negreanu that he is a winning player in the $25,000 tournaments.
partypoker Doing What They Can
Over on partypoker it looks like most festivals are being shuttled online for the foreseeable future. Fingers crossed that the Caribbean Poker Party will be running as planned in November, but we won’t hold our breath for the European series. Maybe the WPTDeepstacks Sochi has a chance, but we’re still waiting for confirmation.- Want poker news as it breaks? Join the Poker News and Gossip Telegram channel!
