People News: Twitch deletes videos; Negreanu vs. Polk; Phil Hellmuth vs. Esfandiari; Spraggy and Marle engagement

In this column, we deliver you the latest and most interesting news and gossip from our favourite poker people.

Twitch deletes videos

Many streamers on Twitch have music running in the background while they play their game of choice. Twitch streamers had received warnings in the past that the copyrighted music they were using might cause issues down the line.

Most ignored it and now have to live with the consequences. On 20th October clips and back catalogues of hundreds of streamers have been deleted for using copyrighted music without permission.

The Twitch streamers were issued with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices. Twitch got under so much pressure that they simply deleted a lot of the content without a chance for the streamers to counter the claim.

Many other streamers had to make sure to remove all their archived video on demand and Twitch clips.

Shit going down with @Twitch and copyrighted music / DMCA strikes.

Not streaming Friday. I have to figure out a way to handle the music situation. Probably end up not broadcasting music because I’d rather stab my ears than listen to non-copyright shit.

See you Sunday 3 pm CET

— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) October 21, 2020

Got to delete all my twitch vods in the morning. Big bummer. Dmca sucks

— Jaime Staples (@jaimestaples) October 23, 2020

Just had to delete over 3 years of VODs from my Twitch channel. Bit sad innit.

— Spraggy (@spraggy) October 22, 2020

Twitch is working to help streamers find a better solution that protects artists by launching a service for streamers to use rights cleared music. The streaming platform issued the following statement:

“We are incredibly proud of the essential service Twitch has become for so many artists and songwriters, especially during this challenging time. It is crucial that we protect the rights of songwriters, artists and other music industry partners. We continue to develop tools and resources to further educate our creators and empower them with more control over their content while partnering with industry-recognized vendors in the copyright space to help us achieve these goals.”

Fingers crossed that this will be resolved and streamers will be able to broadcast music without having to lose their content afterwards.

Negreanu vs. Polk update

The long-awaited Doug Polk vs. Daniel Negreanu grudge match starts soon and the latter has tweeted brief but informative information for us.

It’s soon, so I figured I would get everyone straight on the start date for the match.

It will start Nov 4th

Live @pokergo

First 200 hands with actual chips and cards.

Then I imagine roughly every other day @WSOPcom with various streams available.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 29, 2020

Here is a little more meat to this. The heads-up will begin on 4th November with 200 of a total of 25,000 hands played live on PokerGo with hole cards. After that, the remainder of the hands will be played online on WSOP.com. Various streamers will broadcast the match, this includes of course the combatants themselves.

And while the match itself has meaning, financially and morally, the outcome is starting to be almost irrelevant if it wasn’t for the side bets. What it actually means, if Daniel beats Doug or vice versa, nobody knows.

Fact is, Bill Perkins got in the mix taking a lot of action on this match. He didn’t just place a $1 Million bet on Daniel Negreanu, he also booked about 500k directly with Polk.

I bet 2m to win 500k from Perkins, despite him wanting to bet bigger.

Told him Id take more but I have to consider how early I’d die with zero. https://t.co/sSqCRiGVap

— Doug “Truck Driver” Polk (@DougPolkVids) October 28, 2020

Daniel Negreanu had made clear that there were no side bets for him, but he was open for offers.

I have no bets on the match yet. Zero.

Looking to bet $100k to win $500k.

Get at me if interested in laying 5-1.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 28, 2020

Other big poker names published their bets on this match, too.

Well I did it! I bet 10k of my 20k bankroll on @RealKidPoker getting 4 to 1 vs @DougPolkVids. I would of bet it all but needed 6k for bills on nov. 1st. Plus the 5k I bet on Trump to win in March that could be in jeopardy. Let’s go @RealKidPoker don’t let me go bust again!

— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) October 22, 2020

I will be LIVE on @themouthmatusow Podcast today at 3:30 PM PST. I bet $25,000 on @ReadlKidPoker vs @DougPolkVids to win $100,000 (Mikey has $10K of it). Doug is a beast! But, 4-to-1…Today we talk: my $400,000 heads up match vs @MagicAntonio, Sam Grizzle stories (RIP), and more

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) October 23, 2020

The match will be played NLHE $200/$400 across two tables. They start with 100BB and auto top-up on. The loser can quit after 12,500 to cut losses or stakes can be raised.

Both players have been studying hard. Polk being the specialist in this discipline but not having played in a while is seen as the massive favourite. But Daniel Negreanu with a lot more experience and a hunger to learn and improve cannot be underestimated.

Who is your bet on?

Phil Hellmuth smashes Esfandiari AGAIN

Phil Hellmuth has cleared up any doubts that he is indeed a good poker player. Not that he actually had to prove anybody that he is with a record 15 WSOP bracelets. But this has been a topic recently on “poker Twitter” and Hellmuth showed the doubters how it’s done.

Hellmuth had played Antonio Esfandiari in the High Stakes Duel for $100k, then for $200 k and now for $400k and he has won all three matches. For now this head-to-head battle is over and there will not be revenge – yet.

You can watch the pre-match weigh-in here.

Spraggy and Marle engagement

While some probably still haven’t gotten over the fact that English poker Twitch streamer Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg is in fact dating the American poker player and former model Marle Cordeiro, the pair now made it official.

Today @MarleCordeiro made me the happiest man alive. I asked her to marry me and she said Yes!! 💍❤ pic.twitter.com/xiCh9rptM4

— Spraggy (@spraggy) November 1, 2020

If you see these two together you wonder how they can be a match, but their humour is very similar and full of sarcasm and they are definitely on the same page here.

They say you should spend 3 months salary on an engagement ring.

What can we get for -20k? https://t.co/KBQSdg7FI1

— Marle Cordeiro (@MarleCordeiro) November 1, 2020

You gotta love these two! Congratulations on the engagement!