Calling the Clock: Galfond says no to HUDS, players say yes to SCOOP, and more

In this week’s Calling the Clock we bring you up to speed with Phil Galfond saying no to HUDs, PokerStars rolling out the 10th-anniversary SCOOP, and much more. 

I’m going to begin my weekly round-up with the mighty PokerStars. partypoker has been giving them a bit of a kicking in the live tournament stakes of late, but when it comes to putting on a humdinger of an online festival, nobody comes close to putting on a show that dazzles like the Stars.

PokerStars is celebrating a decade of Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP) by guaranteeing over $110 million in prize money, making partypoker’s $40m guaranteed POWERFEST seem positively Lilliputian in stature.

One of the early winners was Niall “Firaldo87” Farrell who took down Event 3 (H): $2,100 NLHE Progressive KO. The most successful Scottish poker player of all time, outlasted 577 entrants, bringing home $118,054 in bounties, and $101,854 for first. Farrall beat the Mexican maestro JC Alvarado in heads-up action.