Merson Wins POY, Caesars Interactive is Active

Greg Merson’s Historic Marks on Poker

In the early morning hours of October 31, Greg Merson became the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. Amidst cheers and tears, the grateful player accepted his $8,631,853 and proudly showed off the gold and platinum bracelet. He has even more to be proud of. Merson is the first player to win a preliminary WSOP tournament and then win the Main Event in the same year since Chris Ferguson did it in 2000.

Even more, he beat Phil Hellmuth for the WSOP Player of the Year award. (Hellmuth took second last year as well, that time to Ben Lamb who won the POY at the Main Event final table.) Hellmuth had the lead this year with 889.33 points, with Merson in tenth place, but the win gave Merson 981.13 points for the year and the undeniable win. Hellmuth tweeted from @phil_hellmuth: “I played in ‘Player of the Year’ race, but @Gregy20723 played better! Bummed to finish 2^nd in POY (for the 3^rd time!!), but I’ll MAN UP!”

Click here for Nolan Dalla’s final report.

Click here for an amazing photo journey through the WSOP Main Event final table action.

Caesars Signs Payment Processor

Caesars’ Interactive Entertainment division just announced a partnership with London’s Optimal Payments for payment processing services for Nevada online poker. Caesars plans to launch its online poker endeavor in early 2013, though license approval is still pending with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The step by Caesars further indicates the company’s dedication to joining the intrastate Internet poker market.