While there have been several player complaints and issues surrounding the 2015 World Series of Poker, the cards were by far the biggest.
Some players complained the first-place prize of Colossus must have been bigger and the limit game structures will need to have been better, however the largest and loudest voices were heard when it came to new decks introduced after the WSOP struck a take care of Italian card manufacturer Modiano.
Apparently the cards were too thin and too easily marked, eating away on the integrity of the sport. It took the WSOP a minute or two to react, but they eventually gave in to the players' demands for brand new decks.
And now, heading into the 2016 WSOP, after already announcing a bevvy of fan- and player-friendly changes to all kinds of items surrounding poker's biggest and most prestigious tournament series, they're even getting prior to the curve at the cards.
1. Know When To Fold 'Em
The WSOP announced last week it had inked a multi-year take care of Copag to bring the cardboard manufacturer's product back to the WSOP, a year after a care for another card company gave them nothing but headaches.
Last year, the list of players complaining concerning the decks supplied by Italian card manufacturer Modiano read like a poker who's who, with almost all of the community agreeing they were too easily bent and marked.
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said in a statement that putting quality cards at the tables on the WSOP is likely one of the most significant elements of all of the event. Kudos to Stewart and all of the organization for realizing this, and getting out sooner than things in 2016.
2. Nice Guys Finish Seventh
UK pro Max Silver took the lead into the general table of the 2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €25,750 High Roller last week. However, a terrible run of cards and horrible luck saw him fizzle out seventh.
Sometimes that is the way the cookie, or stack, crumbles, but I WILL NOT help thinking Silver deserved better.
Deep into Day 2, I witnessed a hand that highlighted Silver's true integrity — an admirable quality on this world of edges and angles. He had raised and another player three-bet, when a 3rd player peeled back his cards to have a look. Glancing over, Silver accidentally saw the 
Instead of keeping this valuable information to himself, Silver immediately spoke up, doing the appropriate thing by sharing it with the remainder of the table.
Despite having one card exposed, that player pushed in and both Silver and the opposite raiser folded. The result of the hand seemed rather insignificant on the time, aside from the reality it highlighted Silver's integrity, confirming he's one of the most nice guys on this game, and is willing to play by the principles it doesn't matter what the cost.
Unfortunately, sometimes nice guys finish seventh.
3. Turning €10 Into €305,660
Asan Umarov did it.
No, Umarov didn't win the 2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €5,300 Main Event. EPT veteran Jan Bendik did that. Instead, the Kazakhstani player qualified for the development through a €10 Spin & Go on PokerStars, defied the chances to make a fantastic run all of the approach to fourth place, and turned that €10 investment into €305,660.
Umarov was one in every of 120 players who qualified for the Grand Final Main Event through Spin & Go satellites, helping the development break attendance records. Considering that, and Umarov's success, it is a good bet PokerStars will run the same campaign for future EPT events. The numbers are certain to grow and it won't be long before we're talking about an EPT champion who qualified for a measly €10.
It's an eerily similar story to Chris Moneymaker's. In 2003, he won an $86 satellite on PokerStars that at last resulted in a seat, and the win, within the 2003 WSOP Main Event. That story helped ignite the unique poker boom, and all indications are, that while it will not be on that very same scale, this it is easy to do something similar.
4. Bonomo Takes A Stand
Justin Bonomo took a stand against PokerStars last week. First he told the Twitterverse he could be refusing all media requests from PokerStars and the EPT, seeing no reason to do unpaid promotional work for an organization" that has defrauded many thousands of players."
Then, when he made a heads-up deal that gave him the title and the trophy in a €2,000 event on the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final, he refused to permit a winner's photo to be taken. Details of the kerfuffle included Bonomo claiming the EPT was refusing to pay if he didn't pose, then backing off when he offered to do it with an indication outing their refusal to pay and claiming PokerStars stole $50,000 from its SuperNova Elite players.
Later, Bonomo claimed the EPT said they might never withhold winnings, but would ban him from all PokerStars live events if he didn't take the photo.
At the chance of further alienating a segment of the high-stakes community that has already publicly called for my head, I WILL disagree with Bonomo's stand here. Yes, Bonomo is right, PokerStars pulled the rug out from underneath anyone who installed the countless hours it takes to succeed in SuperNova Elite last year, making changes to this system at what was surely the eleventh hour, and costing those players thousands in bonuses. Unfortunately for them, it was likely well inside the site's rights to do so.
But either way, refusing media requests and winner's photos isn't the right strategy to go about protesting this, considering players essentially sign a release agreeing to do most of these things once they register.
My clearly unsolicited advice to Bonomo could be to take your money elsewhere. Should you truly believe PokerStars "defrauded many thousands of players" then sue, and for those who are not looking for to do "unpaid promotional work" for the company, don't play in its events. Vote along with your feet, and in case you are truly righteous, others will follow and an impact could be felt.
5. Keep Running It Up
Jason Somerville's next Run It Up event is about to happen in Reno, Nevada on the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino from May 24-30, 2016.
In the week before the 2016 WSOP kicks off, Somerville will again be bringing fun back to the sport with a sequence of affordable buy-ins and eclectically structured events, and of course, PokerNews has partnered with the game's newest every-man to supply live coverage.
In 2013, after five years of working in poker media, I grew bored with watching spoiled brat millionaires shrug and mug their way through winner's photos and took a sabbatical. After I returned a year later, the poker economy had changed. Gone were the weekly $10,000 buy-in events that had always filled the poker calendar, and of their place were new and emerging tours with affordable buy-ins all around the poker landscape.
When I went to hide these events, I DISCOVERED an enthusiastic grassroots poker community who played as much for the affection of the sport as they did for the cash. It certainly renewed my interest within the game and reporting on it.
Somerville's Run It Up events seem to be all about that as well, and when it returns to Reno later this month, I'LL BE rooting hard for numbers to grow and hoping this segment of poker's new grassroots community continues to set the pace for others, putting fun first and running it up for the great of the game.
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