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Frenchman Laurent Polito has won the €1,500 WPT National Paris, after defeating a field of 229 players over four days to lift the title, and collect the €74,500 ($97,313) first place prize. Last summer Laurent Polito triumphed at the €10k EPT Barcelona High Roller for €270,229 ($332,017) and after his latest victory in France now takes his live career earnings to $910,744.
As the last day of action got underway at the Aviation Club in Paris, Polito faced a tough final table which included the likes of Stephane Benadiba and 2009 WSOPE Main Event finalist Antoine Saout. Eventually, Antoine Saout would finish in 4th place for €24,750, while in the final phase of the tournament it was left between Laurent Polito and Stéphane Benadiba to decide the champion.
However, it would be a further 90 minutes before the defining hand was played with both men in pre-flop and Laurent Polito holding 9-9 to Benadiba’s J-10. The board subsequently rolled out 7-8-7-4-A to relegate Stéphane Benadiba to a runner-up finish worth €52,000, while Laurent Polito was crowned the 2013 WPT National Paris winner. In addition to the title, Polito also received a €7,500 ticket to the WPT Grand Prix de Paris.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1 Laurent Polito – €82,000
2 Stéphane Benadiba – €52,000
3 Omar Lakhdari – €33,400
4 Antoine Saout – €24,750
5 Paul Fayngersh – €18,600
6: Yossi Iffergan – €14,850
7: Florent Estegassy € 12,340
8: Damien Lhommeau € 9,900
Meanwhile, action at the Aviation Club in Paris is set to continue until 28th as part of the tournament series known as the Euro Finals of Poker (EFOP). The festival will then culminate in the €5k buy-in Diamond Championship which will take place from January 24th to 27th.
As the last day of action got underway at the Aviation Club in Paris, Polito faced a tough final table which included the likes of Stephane Benadiba and 2009 WSOPE Main Event finalist Antoine Saout. Eventually, Antoine Saout would finish in 4th place for €24,750, while in the final phase of the tournament it was left between Laurent Polito and Stéphane Benadiba to decide the champion.
However, it would be a further 90 minutes before the defining hand was played with both men in pre-flop and Laurent Polito holding 9-9 to Benadiba’s J-10. The board subsequently rolled out 7-8-7-4-A to relegate Stéphane Benadiba to a runner-up finish worth €52,000, while Laurent Polito was crowned the 2013 WPT National Paris winner. In addition to the title, Polito also received a €7,500 ticket to the WPT Grand Prix de Paris.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1 Laurent Polito – €82,000
2 Stéphane Benadiba – €52,000
3 Omar Lakhdari – €33,400
4 Antoine Saout – €24,750
5 Paul Fayngersh – €18,600
6: Yossi Iffergan – €14,850
7: Florent Estegassy € 12,340
8: Damien Lhommeau € 9,900
Meanwhile, action at the Aviation Club in Paris is set to continue until 28th as part of the tournament series known as the Euro Finals of Poker (EFOP). The festival will then culminate in the €5k buy-in Diamond Championship which will take place from January 24th to 27th.
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2006/12/07
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French regulator ARJEL has indicated that a change in its regulations is in order, admitting that pooling cash poker players with online poker sites outside of France is a must to ensure long term viability of the platform.
Industry numbers for 2012 were published this week, showing cash game revenue declining 5% during the year. Online tournaments rose 21%, although revenue from tournaments represents less than 20% of total online poker revenue.
In an annual review accompanying the figures, ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte admitted that the “attractiveness of poker … is a matter of concern.”
ARJEL thus advocates “pooling cash poker tables to allow French players to play with foreign players,” where regulations in other EU countries are deemed compatible with the French system.
Such a change “requires an amendment of the law” before any plans can progress, Vilotte stated.
Shared player liquidity has been an important ongoing discussion between the regulators of key European markets.
When regulators from Italy, France, Spain and Portugal met in December, the latest in the regulators’ biannual informal meetups, it was concluded that “agreements aimed at facilitating exchanges, particularly of operators’ liquidity, could be reached,” however no explicit steps have been taken yet to further this common goal.
Spain and Italy seem the most likely to pool their players first. In July 2011, Director General of the Spanish Regulator (DGOJ) Enrique Alejo stated that a combined player pool was a real possibility in 2013.
He also stated that The French viewed the idea in “positive” light, “but have shown less willingness to act” within the time frame proposed.
The French system has a much higher tax rate than it’s European counterparts. With a 2% tax on all cash game pots—whether raked or not—it is equivalent to approximately 40% tax on gross gaming revenue, compared to 20-25% in Italy and Spain.
It forces operators to set high rake and low rewards, and goes a long way to explain the exodus of French players from cash games to tournaments.
Reworking the gaming tax system, however, was not proposed in Vilotte’s statement.
Industry numbers for 2012 were published this week, showing cash game revenue declining 5% during the year. Online tournaments rose 21%, although revenue from tournaments represents less than 20% of total online poker revenue.
In an annual review accompanying the figures, ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte admitted that the “attractiveness of poker … is a matter of concern.”
ARJEL thus advocates “pooling cash poker tables to allow French players to play with foreign players,” where regulations in other EU countries are deemed compatible with the French system.
Such a change “requires an amendment of the law” before any plans can progress, Vilotte stated.
Shared player liquidity has been an important ongoing discussion between the regulators of key European markets.
When regulators from Italy, France, Spain and Portugal met in December, the latest in the regulators’ biannual informal meetups, it was concluded that “agreements aimed at facilitating exchanges, particularly of operators’ liquidity, could be reached,” however no explicit steps have been taken yet to further this common goal.
Spain and Italy seem the most likely to pool their players first. In July 2011, Director General of the Spanish Regulator (DGOJ) Enrique Alejo stated that a combined player pool was a real possibility in 2013.
He also stated that The French viewed the idea in “positive” light, “but have shown less willingness to act” within the time frame proposed.
The French system has a much higher tax rate than it’s European counterparts. With a 2% tax on all cash game pots—whether raked or not—it is equivalent to approximately 40% tax on gross gaming revenue, compared to 20-25% in Italy and Spain.
It forces operators to set high rake and low rewards, and goes a long way to explain the exodus of French players from cash games to tournaments.
Reworking the gaming tax system, however, was not proposed in Vilotte’s statement.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Rational Group, parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, announced Thursday the appointment of Rafi Ashkenazi as Chief Operating Officer.
Ashkenazi previously held the COO position of publicly-listed Playtech, operator of the iPoker network.
In his new role, which he will assume on February 1, Ashkenazi will be responsible for “all customer-facing product and back-office functions for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker,” according to today’s press release.
The role includes “marketing, customer support, poker room management, IT management, payment processing & security, and game integrity.”
Askhenazi has been at Playtech for seven years, following a four-year period at IT development company SQLink, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He lists “new markets development,” “regulatory and compliance” and “managing large budgets” in his skillset.
He will remain based on the Isle of Man, where Rational Group maintains its head offices.
Ashkenazi will report directly to Mark Scheinberg, CEO and chairman of Rational Group. His father, Isai Scheinburg, was required to step down from his executive position at the group as part of its settlement with the US Department of Justice.
Ashkenazi previously held the COO position of publicly-listed Playtech, operator of the iPoker network.
In his new role, which he will assume on February 1, Ashkenazi will be responsible for “all customer-facing product and back-office functions for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker,” according to today’s press release.
The role includes “marketing, customer support, poker room management, IT management, payment processing & security, and game integrity.”
Askhenazi has been at Playtech for seven years, following a four-year period at IT development company SQLink, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He lists “new markets development,” “regulatory and compliance” and “managing large budgets” in his skillset.
He will remain based on the Isle of Man, where Rational Group maintains its head offices.
Ashkenazi will report directly to Mark Scheinberg, CEO and chairman of Rational Group. His father, Isai Scheinburg, was required to step down from his executive position at the group as part of its settlement with the US Department of Justice.
Join:
2006/12/07
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29893
Patrik Antonius, one of the most profitable players ever on Full Tilt Poker, has returned to the software for some high-stakes online poker action.
According to HighstakesDB, Antonius is up more than $11.5 million lifetime on Full Tilt. Only Phil Ivey, with more than $19 million, has fared better on the site.
However, since returning on Monday, Antonius has dropped more than $200,000.
After winning more than $5 million to start the year, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom had a rough week. He dropped more than $2 million of those profits. However, on Thursday he stopped the bleeding by putting together a small six-figure win.
Gus Hansen was victim to an awful run on Tuesday, but managed to recoup some of his losses Thursday. He won more than $500,000.
Keeping with the trend of high-stakes pros who are on the upswing, Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky — last year’s biggest winner on the Internet — was just recently down more than $2 million on 2013. However, over the past few days he put a $500,000 dent into the deficit.
In contrast to winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller for $2 million, Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver has had a difficult time finding traction on Full Tilt. He’s down more than $400,000 on the year there, after losing about $100,000 over the past week.
High-Stakes Online Poker: Patrik Antonius Returns To Full Tilt Poker
According to HighstakesDB, Antonius is up more than $11.5 million lifetime on Full Tilt. Only Phil Ivey, with more than $19 million, has fared better on the site.
However, since returning on Monday, Antonius has dropped more than $200,000.
After winning more than $5 million to start the year, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom had a rough week. He dropped more than $2 million of those profits. However, on Thursday he stopped the bleeding by putting together a small six-figure win.
Gus Hansen was victim to an awful run on Tuesday, but managed to recoup some of his losses Thursday. He won more than $500,000.
Keeping with the trend of high-stakes pros who are on the upswing, Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky — last year’s biggest winner on the Internet — was just recently down more than $2 million on 2013. However, over the past few days he put a $500,000 dent into the deficit.
In contrast to winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller for $2 million, Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver has had a difficult time finding traction on Full Tilt. He’s down more than $400,000 on the year there, after losing about $100,000 over the past week.
High-Stakes Online Poker: Patrik Antonius Returns To Full Tilt Poker
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2006/12/07
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29893
Late on Sunday night on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, long after the January sun had dipped beneath the pinky-orange towers of the sprawling Atlantis resort, a 27-year-old Bulgarian named Dimitar Danchev won the best part of $1.9m (£1.2m)in a poker tournament. The following night, a 28-year-old Yale law graduate named Vanessa Selbst won $1.4m (£900,000) and a week earlier, Scott Seiver, 27, won a little more than $2m (£1.25m), also playing poker at Atlantis.
Danchev, Selbst and Seiver were the champions of the three flagship events of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), the second-largest poker festival in the world, and the biggest outside of Las Vegas. The PCA has been held annually in the Bahamas since 2004 and celebrated its 10th birthday this year, offering five prizes of more than a million dollars to its biggest winners.
The festival has spanned almost precisely the first 10 years of the so-called poker boom, ignited in 2003 when an accountant from Tennessee named Chris Moneymaker won $2.5m (£1.6m) at the World Series of Poker, the most prestigious event in the world. Moneymaker had qualified for $40 (£25) playing online, and his unlikely success, coupled with a tremendously appropriate name, convinced anyone with an internet connection they too could become a world champion – a notion the online poker operators did everything they could to encourage.
The game underwent an unprecedented boom over the past decade and there are countless major poker festivals every year in the post-Moneymaker era. This year's PCA featured 40 tournaments contested across 10 days, the largest of which attracted 987 players and had a total prize pool of roughly $9.6m (£6.5m).
However online poker has been subject to some high-profile scandals of late, including indictments of company executives by the FBI, which resulted in the large-scale withdrawal of the online game from the American market. Its future had seemed imperilled; the previously unstoppable poker juggernaut had apparently been halted.
But it seemed few in the Bahamas last week had got the memo.
In down times at the PCA, the players either gambled among themselves in side games, or glugged cocktails in beach bars, beside yachts, lagoons and dolphin coves. Money rarely seemed to matter to any of them, unless it concerned the logistics of wiring vast sums to their bank accounts, or paying off bets made at restaurant tables as to who would pick up the bill.
The tournament won by Seiver – known as the "Super High Roller" event – cost $100,000 (£60,000) just to enter. Forty-seven people – including private equity millionaires, a co-owner of a student loan company and some of the fiercest poker sharks in the world – anted up the money and joined the fray. Greg Jensen, the co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, with estimated earnings of $70m (according to Forbes), finished sixth, won $286,200 (£175,000) and donated it to charities supporting the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in his native Connecticut.
Meanwhile the American press became fixated on the appearance of the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who played the $10,000 (£6,000) "main event" sporting a backwards baseball cap and shaggy black beard – a "hipster" guise that attracted little but disdain. A rumoured appearance by the poker-player turned US-election seer Nate Silver did not materialise, leaving the familiar faces of the international poker circuit to go about their business largely as usual.
"I just can't get that excited when my friends win seven figures anymore, it happens eight to 10 times a year now," tweeted one player named Jonathan Aguiar, with tongue only slightly in cheek.
Post-Moneymaker, online poker sites rapidly became billion dollar concerns, with their branding attached to television shows and live poker tours snaking the globe. The new players, meanwhile, changed the accepted strategies of the game beyond all recognition.
Out went the old guard of grizzled-faced, cigar-chomping veterans, claiming they had a "feel" for the game and could sniff out a bluff. In came the new breed of maths students and computer whizz-kids, basing decisions on the more dependable precepts of probabilities, analysis and fearless aggression. The new poker enthusiasts played up to 20 tables simultaneously online and saw more hands in a week than an average old-school rounder had seen in a 30-year career.
Many new players were not even old enough to gamble in bricks and mortar American casinos (where the legal gambling age is 21) But they were making millions from playing online poker in university dorms or their childhood bedrooms, and analysts questioned how long the rise of the industry could last.
In the early days, online poker was predicted either to plateau quickly or to fizzle out, but the rise was seemingly unstoppable. The first prize at the inaugural PCA was $455,780 (£280,000), but by 2009 it was $3m (£1.8m). Similarly the World Series of Poker champion has earned no less than $8m since 2006, four times what Robert Varkonyi, the last pre-Moneymaker champion, won in 2003.
These days, the mainstream has apparently grown immune to the dizzying sums and reports significantly less frequently on poker, even though the game's paydays regularly eclipse the largest prizes in most major sports. Yet the plateau poker has come to occupy is still spectacularly lofty, even after the high-profile scandals and complications with international legislation over the past few years.
"If you look at any popular activity, it's going to have peaks and valleys," said Eric Hollreiser, the head of corporate communications at PokerStars, which is the largest "real money" poker site in the world. "But online poker is tremendously popular. Our success over the past 10 years has shown that."
Few valleys have proved as difficult for an industry to traverse as the one carved on April 15, 2011. On a day now commonly referred to by poker p
Danchev, Selbst and Seiver were the champions of the three flagship events of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), the second-largest poker festival in the world, and the biggest outside of Las Vegas. The PCA has been held annually in the Bahamas since 2004 and celebrated its 10th birthday this year, offering five prizes of more than a million dollars to its biggest winners.
The festival has spanned almost precisely the first 10 years of the so-called poker boom, ignited in 2003 when an accountant from Tennessee named Chris Moneymaker won $2.5m (£1.6m) at the World Series of Poker, the most prestigious event in the world. Moneymaker had qualified for $40 (£25) playing online, and his unlikely success, coupled with a tremendously appropriate name, convinced anyone with an internet connection they too could become a world champion – a notion the online poker operators did everything they could to encourage.
The game underwent an unprecedented boom over the past decade and there are countless major poker festivals every year in the post-Moneymaker era. This year's PCA featured 40 tournaments contested across 10 days, the largest of which attracted 987 players and had a total prize pool of roughly $9.6m (£6.5m).
However online poker has been subject to some high-profile scandals of late, including indictments of company executives by the FBI, which resulted in the large-scale withdrawal of the online game from the American market. Its future had seemed imperilled; the previously unstoppable poker juggernaut had apparently been halted.
But it seemed few in the Bahamas last week had got the memo.
In down times at the PCA, the players either gambled among themselves in side games, or glugged cocktails in beach bars, beside yachts, lagoons and dolphin coves. Money rarely seemed to matter to any of them, unless it concerned the logistics of wiring vast sums to their bank accounts, or paying off bets made at restaurant tables as to who would pick up the bill.
The tournament won by Seiver – known as the "Super High Roller" event – cost $100,000 (£60,000) just to enter. Forty-seven people – including private equity millionaires, a co-owner of a student loan company and some of the fiercest poker sharks in the world – anted up the money and joined the fray. Greg Jensen, the co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, with estimated earnings of $70m (according to Forbes), finished sixth, won $286,200 (£175,000) and donated it to charities supporting the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in his native Connecticut.
Meanwhile the American press became fixated on the appearance of the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who played the $10,000 (£6,000) "main event" sporting a backwards baseball cap and shaggy black beard – a "hipster" guise that attracted little but disdain. A rumoured appearance by the poker-player turned US-election seer Nate Silver did not materialise, leaving the familiar faces of the international poker circuit to go about their business largely as usual.
"I just can't get that excited when my friends win seven figures anymore, it happens eight to 10 times a year now," tweeted one player named Jonathan Aguiar, with tongue only slightly in cheek.
Post-Moneymaker, online poker sites rapidly became billion dollar concerns, with their branding attached to television shows and live poker tours snaking the globe. The new players, meanwhile, changed the accepted strategies of the game beyond all recognition.
Out went the old guard of grizzled-faced, cigar-chomping veterans, claiming they had a "feel" for the game and could sniff out a bluff. In came the new breed of maths students and computer whizz-kids, basing decisions on the more dependable precepts of probabilities, analysis and fearless aggression. The new poker enthusiasts played up to 20 tables simultaneously online and saw more hands in a week than an average old-school rounder had seen in a 30-year career.
Many new players were not even old enough to gamble in bricks and mortar American casinos (where the legal gambling age is 21) But they were making millions from playing online poker in university dorms or their childhood bedrooms, and analysts questioned how long the rise of the industry could last.
In the early days, online poker was predicted either to plateau quickly or to fizzle out, but the rise was seemingly unstoppable. The first prize at the inaugural PCA was $455,780 (£280,000), but by 2009 it was $3m (£1.8m). Similarly the World Series of Poker champion has earned no less than $8m since 2006, four times what Robert Varkonyi, the last pre-Moneymaker champion, won in 2003.
These days, the mainstream has apparently grown immune to the dizzying sums and reports significantly less frequently on poker, even though the game's paydays regularly eclipse the largest prizes in most major sports. Yet the plateau poker has come to occupy is still spectacularly lofty, even after the high-profile scandals and complications with international legislation over the past few years.
"If you look at any popular activity, it's going to have peaks and valleys," said Eric Hollreiser, the head of corporate communications at PokerStars, which is the largest "real money" poker site in the world. "But online poker is tremendously popular. Our success over the past 10 years has shown that."
Few valleys have proved as difficult for an industry to traverse as the one carved on April 15, 2011. On a day now commonly referred to by poker p
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Michael Phelps, one of the most decorated Olympic swimmers and renowned sportsperson in the world, has been moving into the world of professional poker. Phelps signed with PokerStars, an online poker giant and has helped to market the brand, but as far as playing poker professionally, the community did not expect much from the swimmer. However, if his recent moves at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure are to be believed, Michael Phelps is bringing his singe-minded gold medal winning focus to the poker tables. Michael Phelps recently participated in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 Main Event tourney.
Michael Phelps had to compete against some of the top names in professional poker in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Other participants in the event included the likes of Jason Alexander, Dylan Hortin, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Phil Ivey, Olivier Busquet, Ashton Griffin, Steve O’Dwyer, Jake Cody, Matt Waxman, Nacho Barbero, Greg Merson and Phil Hellmuth.
Michael Phelps who has eighteen gold medals to his name, managed to secure a fairly decent chip stack of 92,000. Michael Phelps did very well against Dylan Hortin and had a good cash in. Ever since joining PokerStars, Phelps has improved his poker skills and one can expect him to participate and perhaps also cash in several times this year.
And while he is having a good time at the poker tables, Phelps is also sporting an interesting change of appearance. Phelps has grown out his sideburns and has even manufactured a rather biker style moustache on his upper lip. A lot of leather and a backwards turned cap completes his look for Phelps the poker player. Some speculation as to whether the new look is helping the swimmer keep a straight poker face while at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
According to USA Today, Phelps’ wardrobe seems to be a sort of mixed and matched look. “Phelps has the back-skewed hat of Justin Bieber, the hipster spectacles of an NBA player who’s trying too hard, the goatee of a guy in a bar who propositions your wife while you’re in the bathroom and a jacket…well, the jacket looks fine. Is that Under Armour?”
The good looking Phelps is also enjoying his time in the sun with some lovely ladies. As for now, it looks like Phelps is getting the best of all life has to offer.
Michael Phelps Competes Hard At PCA
Michael Phelps had to compete against some of the top names in professional poker in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Other participants in the event included the likes of Jason Alexander, Dylan Hortin, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Phil Ivey, Olivier Busquet, Ashton Griffin, Steve O’Dwyer, Jake Cody, Matt Waxman, Nacho Barbero, Greg Merson and Phil Hellmuth.
Michael Phelps who has eighteen gold medals to his name, managed to secure a fairly decent chip stack of 92,000. Michael Phelps did very well against Dylan Hortin and had a good cash in. Ever since joining PokerStars, Phelps has improved his poker skills and one can expect him to participate and perhaps also cash in several times this year.
And while he is having a good time at the poker tables, Phelps is also sporting an interesting change of appearance. Phelps has grown out his sideburns and has even manufactured a rather biker style moustache on his upper lip. A lot of leather and a backwards turned cap completes his look for Phelps the poker player. Some speculation as to whether the new look is helping the swimmer keep a straight poker face while at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
According to USA Today, Phelps’ wardrobe seems to be a sort of mixed and matched look. “Phelps has the back-skewed hat of Justin Bieber, the hipster spectacles of an NBA player who’s trying too hard, the goatee of a guy in a bar who propositions your wife while you’re in the bathroom and a jacket…well, the jacket looks fine. Is that Under Armour?”
The good looking Phelps is also enjoying his time in the sun with some lovely ladies. As for now, it looks like Phelps is getting the best of all life has to offer.
Michael Phelps Competes Hard At PCA
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With federal legislation in limbo, Nevada law makers continue to push for new ways to bring interstate online poker to light.
In his state of the state address this week, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval urged the state legislature to approve an amendment to the Silver State’s laws that would ease that transition.
“Nevada has always been the gold standard of both gaming regulation and operation, and I intend to see to it that our state will lead the world into this new frontier,” Sandoval said. “Other states are moving quickly on this issue and I ask you to pass a bill within 30 days.”
The state’s Gaming Control Board has proposed the elimination of wording in current state law that prohibits a licensee to operate interstate gaming unless federal legislation authorizes it.
Essentially, if the amendment passes, the Nevada governor could make agreements with other states where online poker is legal.
Despite opposition from fellow governors that snagged the Reid/Kyl bill, Sandoval supported federal regulation.
“In the absence of federal action on this issue, Nevada must continue to lead,” Sandoval said Wednesday.
“The promise of these ideas is real. The chance to innovate is exciting.”
On a Nevada public television program last week, Nevada Senator Harry Reid hinted that the passage of federal regulation was becoming more difficult.
In Reid’s bill, Nevada would have been the state assigned to oversee regulation for the online poker industry, which he said would have created thousands of jobs in the state.
Reid said legislation also would be a boon to New Jersey, where an online poker bill awaits a decision from Governor Chris Christie.
“With legislation, there’s always a sweet spot,” Reid said. “We’re going to continue to try to get this done. We have some opposition we didn’t have earlier. ... We’re going to try to thread the needle. It’s going to be harder to do than it was before.”
Nevada Governor Asks for Interstate Poker in a Month | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
In his state of the state address this week, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval urged the state legislature to approve an amendment to the Silver State’s laws that would ease that transition.
“Nevada has always been the gold standard of both gaming regulation and operation, and I intend to see to it that our state will lead the world into this new frontier,” Sandoval said. “Other states are moving quickly on this issue and I ask you to pass a bill within 30 days.”
The state’s Gaming Control Board has proposed the elimination of wording in current state law that prohibits a licensee to operate interstate gaming unless federal legislation authorizes it.
Essentially, if the amendment passes, the Nevada governor could make agreements with other states where online poker is legal.
Despite opposition from fellow governors that snagged the Reid/Kyl bill, Sandoval supported federal regulation.
“In the absence of federal action on this issue, Nevada must continue to lead,” Sandoval said Wednesday.
“The promise of these ideas is real. The chance to innovate is exciting.”
On a Nevada public television program last week, Nevada Senator Harry Reid hinted that the passage of federal regulation was becoming more difficult.
In Reid’s bill, Nevada would have been the state assigned to oversee regulation for the online poker industry, which he said would have created thousands of jobs in the state.
Reid said legislation also would be a boon to New Jersey, where an online poker bill awaits a decision from Governor Chris Christie.
“With legislation, there’s always a sweet spot,” Reid said. “We’re going to continue to try to get this done. We have some opposition we didn’t have earlier. ... We’re going to try to thread the needle. It’s going to be harder to do than it was before.”
Nevada Governor Asks for Interstate Poker in a Month | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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Fertitta Entertainment’s new Ultimate Poker platform took one step further to integrating into the Nevade intrastate gambling market by signing a deal with Central Account Management System (CAMS). The agreement will see the Los Angeles based CAMS help Ultimate Poker accept payment online. According to a press release issued by CAMS, the group will “provide Ultimate Gaming’s new online poker brand, Ultimate Poker, IP Geo-Location services, Mobile Geo-Location, Device Intelligence, Player Age Verification, payment connectivity, chargeback representment and tokenization through a single integration to its centralized platform.”
Central Account Management Services received a Class Two gaming license from Nevada’s authorities last year in order to help online poker providers meet strict regulations dictated by the state when it comes to accepting payments at their gaming sites.
The Chief Executive for CAMS, Matthew Katz said: “CAMS supports the creation of a safe and secure payment environment for casinos, lotteries, brands and players and helps meet or exceed regulatory and compliance requirements. Our solutions are specifically tailored for partners like Ultimate Gaming and will become increasingly critical as new United States regulatory markets continue to develop for the online gaming world.”
The Chief Technology Officer for Fertitta Entertainment’s Ultimate Gaming, Chris Derossi said that by working with CAMS, his group was able to reduce internal programming costs, centralize many of its daily operating costs and, simultaneously, reduce nearly 30% of its upfront and ongoing monthly costs from the same vendors that it intended working with.
Ultimate Poker claims to bring players “the opportunity to compete with others from around the world for unreal rewards and global bragging rights.”
“From stacking chips and talking trash to pushing to the top of custom leader boards, Ultimate Gaming brings excitement every day,” read the press release.
Fertitta Signs Deal for Online Poker Payment System
Central Account Management Services received a Class Two gaming license from Nevada’s authorities last year in order to help online poker providers meet strict regulations dictated by the state when it comes to accepting payments at their gaming sites.
The Chief Executive for CAMS, Matthew Katz said: “CAMS supports the creation of a safe and secure payment environment for casinos, lotteries, brands and players and helps meet or exceed regulatory and compliance requirements. Our solutions are specifically tailored for partners like Ultimate Gaming and will become increasingly critical as new United States regulatory markets continue to develop for the online gaming world.”
The Chief Technology Officer for Fertitta Entertainment’s Ultimate Gaming, Chris Derossi said that by working with CAMS, his group was able to reduce internal programming costs, centralize many of its daily operating costs and, simultaneously, reduce nearly 30% of its upfront and ongoing monthly costs from the same vendors that it intended working with.
Ultimate Poker claims to bring players “the opportunity to compete with others from around the world for unreal rewards and global bragging rights.”
“From stacking chips and talking trash to pushing to the top of custom leader boards, Ultimate Gaming brings excitement every day,” read the press release.
Fertitta Signs Deal for Online Poker Payment System
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2006/12/07
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Even though it’s called Texas Hold’em, playing poker in the Lone Star State for money is illegal. However, that could change if lawmakers pass a certain bill this legislative session.
House Bill 292 is sponsored by Democrat Eddie Rodriguez, and if passed would legalize Texas Hold’em at bingo halls, Indian reservations as well as at horse and dog racetracks.
Kris Keller owns several bingo halls in San Antonio and likes the idea.
“I think it would be big,” said Keller. “I think a lot of people play poker now and if it was legal a lot more people might want to play.”
Keller said other bingo hall owners like the idea since it wouldn’t be exclusive to casinos. He said it would also give San Antonians a chance to stop having to drive hundreds of miles to play poker for money.
“I know that our charities would have an opportunity to profit more, which would be good for the community because they’re local charities,” said Keller.
However, the proposed law has its share of critics, and the odds could be against legalizing poker.
“I’m probably not for increasing the amount of legal gambling that goes on in Texas,” said San Antonian Mary Schuett.
“People have gambling problems. To me, I don’t see why we need to have gambling here,” added Javier Garcia of San Antonio.
The bill would not only create a legal avenue to play poker, but also calls for tougher penalties on those who play the game illegally.
House Bill 292 is sponsored by Democrat Eddie Rodriguez, and if passed would legalize Texas Hold’em at bingo halls, Indian reservations as well as at horse and dog racetracks.
Kris Keller owns several bingo halls in San Antonio and likes the idea.
“I think it would be big,” said Keller. “I think a lot of people play poker now and if it was legal a lot more people might want to play.”
Keller said other bingo hall owners like the idea since it wouldn’t be exclusive to casinos. He said it would also give San Antonians a chance to stop having to drive hundreds of miles to play poker for money.
“I know that our charities would have an opportunity to profit more, which would be good for the community because they’re local charities,” said Keller.
However, the proposed law has its share of critics, and the odds could be against legalizing poker.
“I’m probably not for increasing the amount of legal gambling that goes on in Texas,” said San Antonian Mary Schuett.
“People have gambling problems. To me, I don’t see why we need to have gambling here,” added Javier Garcia of San Antonio.
The bill would not only create a legal avenue to play poker, but also calls for tougher penalties on those who play the game illegally.
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Daniel Buzgon played some solid poker in 2012, with more than $275,000 in live tournament winnings, and a consistent pattern of cashes. Five career titles, 154 career cashes, and more than $2 million in winnings are no small feats in the poker world.
Logan Hronis: Tell us about your early poker career, how you got started, and why you are drawn to the game of poker.
Daniel Buzgon: I got my introduction to poker like many else in my generation with the combination of Chris Moneymaker and the movie, Rounders. Seeing how much money could be won in such a short period of time really got me interested in poker. That summer, my friends and I spent numerous nights playing micro-stakes cash games and the occasional tournament. A few months later, I started attending Arizona State University, where my interest in poker really started to grow.
We would play in the dorms a few nights a week and also take trips to Morongo Casino in California where the legal gambling age is 18. Around this time, I was introduced to online poker by one of my friends. To this day, I’m still not sure how I was able to graduate after finding online poker. I spent the next few years trying my hardest to not let online poker consume my life. And as many of you know, that’s easier said than done.
After graduation, instead of looking for a “real” job, I spent the next few months back home in New Jersey grinding low stakes multi-table tournaments and sit-and-gos online. It took me about three months to realize this might be a lot harder than I originally had thought. This poker dream of mine just wasn’t panning out like I thought it would. I was down to my last few hundred dollars on PokerStars when their annual WCOOP series was starting up. Luckily I managed to chop the very first event for a life changing $96,000. Without this score, I more than likely would have gone back to pursuing some kind of position in the golf industry.
LH: Talk about poker in New Jersey. How has the poker scene there affected or formed your poker game, if at all?
DB: Growing up so close to a major stop on the poker circuit has given me the opportunity to play a lot more live tournaments than the average online player. For the past five years now, I have played almost every tournament held at the Borgata and the majority of WSOP events. Getting to play with some of great players from around this area has definitely made me make some changes in the way I approach live tournaments. The majority of these players are from the online world, and have successfully made the transition. However, there are more than a few successful local players out there who do not have an online background. I think having a mix of these two styles is extremely important if you want to have success in live tournaments.
LH: Being an online and a live player, how do you approach the differences in the these settings? Which game would you say you have the bigger advantage in, personally?
DB: Online and live poker really aren’t that much different. There are only a few key differences. The first is the actual physical presence of your opponents. I find it a lot easier to figure out how my opponents are playing live, versus online. It is a lot easier to focus on one table of players as opposed to multiple tables that you would be playing online. Picking up on live tells is also a key difference in the two. A lot of recreational players give off information that you would not be able to gather online.
The stack depths in live poker are usually much deeper than online. This is usually true for both cash games and tournaments. Online tournaments usually play a lot more shallow, and it’s a much more preflop game than it is post-flop. It was very difficult for me to make the transition from online to live because of this major change. I used to have a much bigger advantage online because I just wasn’t as comfortable playing live yet. Over the past few years though, I have a bigger edge live just because the tournaments I usually play in are more passive. I’m curious to see how the online game has changed since Black Friday, and see if I can make the adjustments needed to succeed there now.
LH: Describe your feelings about the controversy that is online poker past and present. How has your lifestyle changed because of Black Friday, if at all?
DB: It was such a huge part of my life for about seven years. I devoted so much time and energy to it, that it doesn’t seem fair that it could be just taken away from me one day, just like that. I think the worst part for me is just the uncertainty of it all. No one knows what’s going to happen over the next few years with online poker, and when you play poker for a living, that kind of poses a bit of a problem. I almost am to the point where I don’t even care if online poker comes back in this country or not. I just want someone to tell me that though so I can move on and stop thinking about it.
LH: Your biggest cash in 2012 was at the $5,000 buy-in WPT main event in Jacksonville. Talk a little bit about that tournament, and your mindset as you approached the final table. Is there anything specific you try to keep in mind as the field starts thinning?
DB: The WPT Jacksonville was one of the craziest tournaments I probably will ever play in my life. We were down to the final two tables, and all I could think about was making good decisions. I was in this same position at WPT Borgata a few months before, with a good stack with two tables to go. I didn’t play very well leading up to the final table. I managed to get to the final table but was last in chips. I didn’t want the same thing to happen and was focused on being patient and picking good spots.
Playing online poker prepares you for these situations. You are going to take your fair share of bad beats and coolers because you are playing so many hands. You become numb to the pain. You move on. It’s over. One positive about being this short is that
Logan Hronis: Tell us about your early poker career, how you got started, and why you are drawn to the game of poker.
Daniel Buzgon: I got my introduction to poker like many else in my generation with the combination of Chris Moneymaker and the movie, Rounders. Seeing how much money could be won in such a short period of time really got me interested in poker. That summer, my friends and I spent numerous nights playing micro-stakes cash games and the occasional tournament. A few months later, I started attending Arizona State University, where my interest in poker really started to grow.
We would play in the dorms a few nights a week and also take trips to Morongo Casino in California where the legal gambling age is 18. Around this time, I was introduced to online poker by one of my friends. To this day, I’m still not sure how I was able to graduate after finding online poker. I spent the next few years trying my hardest to not let online poker consume my life. And as many of you know, that’s easier said than done.
After graduation, instead of looking for a “real” job, I spent the next few months back home in New Jersey grinding low stakes multi-table tournaments and sit-and-gos online. It took me about three months to realize this might be a lot harder than I originally had thought. This poker dream of mine just wasn’t panning out like I thought it would. I was down to my last few hundred dollars on PokerStars when their annual WCOOP series was starting up. Luckily I managed to chop the very first event for a life changing $96,000. Without this score, I more than likely would have gone back to pursuing some kind of position in the golf industry.
LH: Talk about poker in New Jersey. How has the poker scene there affected or formed your poker game, if at all?
DB: Growing up so close to a major stop on the poker circuit has given me the opportunity to play a lot more live tournaments than the average online player. For the past five years now, I have played almost every tournament held at the Borgata and the majority of WSOP events. Getting to play with some of great players from around this area has definitely made me make some changes in the way I approach live tournaments. The majority of these players are from the online world, and have successfully made the transition. However, there are more than a few successful local players out there who do not have an online background. I think having a mix of these two styles is extremely important if you want to have success in live tournaments.
LH: Being an online and a live player, how do you approach the differences in the these settings? Which game would you say you have the bigger advantage in, personally?
DB: Online and live poker really aren’t that much different. There are only a few key differences. The first is the actual physical presence of your opponents. I find it a lot easier to figure out how my opponents are playing live, versus online. It is a lot easier to focus on one table of players as opposed to multiple tables that you would be playing online. Picking up on live tells is also a key difference in the two. A lot of recreational players give off information that you would not be able to gather online.
The stack depths in live poker are usually much deeper than online. This is usually true for both cash games and tournaments. Online tournaments usually play a lot more shallow, and it’s a much more preflop game than it is post-flop. It was very difficult for me to make the transition from online to live because of this major change. I used to have a much bigger advantage online because I just wasn’t as comfortable playing live yet. Over the past few years though, I have a bigger edge live just because the tournaments I usually play in are more passive. I’m curious to see how the online game has changed since Black Friday, and see if I can make the adjustments needed to succeed there now.
LH: Describe your feelings about the controversy that is online poker past and present. How has your lifestyle changed because of Black Friday, if at all?
DB: It was such a huge part of my life for about seven years. I devoted so much time and energy to it, that it doesn’t seem fair that it could be just taken away from me one day, just like that. I think the worst part for me is just the uncertainty of it all. No one knows what’s going to happen over the next few years with online poker, and when you play poker for a living, that kind of poses a bit of a problem. I almost am to the point where I don’t even care if online poker comes back in this country or not. I just want someone to tell me that though so I can move on and stop thinking about it.
LH: Your biggest cash in 2012 was at the $5,000 buy-in WPT main event in Jacksonville. Talk a little bit about that tournament, and your mindset as you approached the final table. Is there anything specific you try to keep in mind as the field starts thinning?
DB: The WPT Jacksonville was one of the craziest tournaments I probably will ever play in my life. We were down to the final two tables, and all I could think about was making good decisions. I was in this same position at WPT Borgata a few months before, with a good stack with two tables to go. I didn’t play very well leading up to the final table. I managed to get to the final table but was last in chips. I didn’t want the same thing to happen and was focused on being patient and picking good spots.
Playing online poker prepares you for these situations. You are going to take your fair share of bad beats and coolers because you are playing so many hands. You become numb to the pain. You move on. It’s over. One positive about being this short is that
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2006/12/07
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One of TV’s perverse beauties is that we can see for ourselves. We don’t need anyone’s help. We don’t need social scientists, statistics or the Parents Television Council.
Roughly 10 years ago, poker, in the form of “Texas Hold ’Em,” arrived on American TV, and with a rush and a crush. Soon, in any week, six, seven networks, including the Travel Channel, NBC and Fox — any network that wanted to buy in — carried what was pitched as “high-stakes” poker.
On Disney’s ESPN and its brand networks, the casino-based “World Series of Poker” became all-day, all-night programming. At first, poker players who were invited to play on TV or had won their way past preliminary tables were almost all middle-aged-to-senior-citizen males. Some appeared as if they could afford to lose; others looked as if they’d been forever grinding and grinded — sleep-deprived, unshaven sunglass-wearing (to hide their glances and enhance an aura of mystery that often wasn’t worth the cost of the sunglasses).
Many looked as shot and as creepy as they were, as desperate as they pretended they weren’t. As slick as they were, after all, they couldn’t beat the eventuality that it would come down to the turn of a card.
But that was their business.
Within a few years, however, as TV mainstreamed “Hold ’Em,” the demographics at the World Series and other casino-run events began to radically change, to where they are now: The tables are packed with minimum-aged kids and young men.
These chasers, fully inspired by TV, turn their caps backwards, slip on the requisite sunglasses and, although too young to be considered unshaven, have devoted their lives to poker.
A few cash in, and big. And for a little while, at least, become famous.
The downside is never spoken, not on TV. But it’s huge. Numbers-smart but impressionable young men and some women — boys and girls, if they begin in high school, and many do — pursue their place at “The Final Table.”
The stories pile up and collide. I’ve heard all of them, many times from many people. Pick one, all or any combination:
Kid had no social life in high school beyond basement Hold ’Em games. Spent hours, every day, playing online poker. Quit playing ball. Never had a date. Suddenly, he and his friends had money issues: kids owed, kids were owed. Began to talk like a junior wise-guy.
Went to college, but played poker all day, all night. Claimed to have won a lot — despite persistent credit card debt and the immediate need for cash. Dropped classes. Dropped out. Owes money to ex-friends. Caught stealing (just a big misunderstanding).
And now he’s off to become a professional poker player. He just needs enough to buy in to the next tournament. He and thousands of others.
In 2005, an HBO “Real Sports” segment on the proliferation of Hold ’Em taped a tournament that was held on the campus of Indiana University — with the full, misguided sanctioning of the school. I was there. It was packed. Sign up early or be shut out. It was appalling.
And now, when you tune to the “World Series of Poker” on ESPN, you see a casino stuffed with tables packed with those young gold prospectors — those, on this day, still alive, barely, among the legions of vulnerables who TV, just 10 years ago, began to feed and water.
You don’t even have to believe your eyes. Ask the local council on compulsive gambling about the biggest change, over the last 10 years, among those seeking and needing help. They’ll tell you:
The average age has plummeted. The gamblers who wrecked their spouses’ and kids’ lives have been joined, and in a big way, by those who wrecked their parents’ lives.
Ten, 12 years ago, few even heard of Texas Hold ’Em. Then TV took over. From there, you could see it coming.
No easy wins at ‘World Series of Poker’ - NYPOST-com
Roughly 10 years ago, poker, in the form of “Texas Hold ’Em,” arrived on American TV, and with a rush and a crush. Soon, in any week, six, seven networks, including the Travel Channel, NBC and Fox — any network that wanted to buy in — carried what was pitched as “high-stakes” poker.
On Disney’s ESPN and its brand networks, the casino-based “World Series of Poker” became all-day, all-night programming. At first, poker players who were invited to play on TV or had won their way past preliminary tables were almost all middle-aged-to-senior-citizen males. Some appeared as if they could afford to lose; others looked as if they’d been forever grinding and grinded — sleep-deprived, unshaven sunglass-wearing (to hide their glances and enhance an aura of mystery that often wasn’t worth the cost of the sunglasses).
Many looked as shot and as creepy as they were, as desperate as they pretended they weren’t. As slick as they were, after all, they couldn’t beat the eventuality that it would come down to the turn of a card.
But that was their business.
Within a few years, however, as TV mainstreamed “Hold ’Em,” the demographics at the World Series and other casino-run events began to radically change, to where they are now: The tables are packed with minimum-aged kids and young men.
These chasers, fully inspired by TV, turn their caps backwards, slip on the requisite sunglasses and, although too young to be considered unshaven, have devoted their lives to poker.
A few cash in, and big. And for a little while, at least, become famous.
The downside is never spoken, not on TV. But it’s huge. Numbers-smart but impressionable young men and some women — boys and girls, if they begin in high school, and many do — pursue their place at “The Final Table.”
The stories pile up and collide. I’ve heard all of them, many times from many people. Pick one, all or any combination:
Kid had no social life in high school beyond basement Hold ’Em games. Spent hours, every day, playing online poker. Quit playing ball. Never had a date. Suddenly, he and his friends had money issues: kids owed, kids were owed. Began to talk like a junior wise-guy.
Went to college, but played poker all day, all night. Claimed to have won a lot — despite persistent credit card debt and the immediate need for cash. Dropped classes. Dropped out. Owes money to ex-friends. Caught stealing (just a big misunderstanding).
And now he’s off to become a professional poker player. He just needs enough to buy in to the next tournament. He and thousands of others.
In 2005, an HBO “Real Sports” segment on the proliferation of Hold ’Em taped a tournament that was held on the campus of Indiana University — with the full, misguided sanctioning of the school. I was there. It was packed. Sign up early or be shut out. It was appalling.
And now, when you tune to the “World Series of Poker” on ESPN, you see a casino stuffed with tables packed with those young gold prospectors — those, on this day, still alive, barely, among the legions of vulnerables who TV, just 10 years ago, began to feed and water.
You don’t even have to believe your eyes. Ask the local council on compulsive gambling about the biggest change, over the last 10 years, among those seeking and needing help. They’ll tell you:
The average age has plummeted. The gamblers who wrecked their spouses’ and kids’ lives have been joined, and in a big way, by those who wrecked their parents’ lives.
Ten, 12 years ago, few even heard of Texas Hold ’Em. Then TV took over. From there, you could see it coming.
No easy wins at ‘World Series of Poker’ - NYPOST-com
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2006/12/07
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Michael Mizrachi, aka “The Grinder” has signed up with Lock Poker to become a member of its LockPRO team of players. The agreement was faciliated by Title 3 Management Group, which sent representatives to witness the signing between the professional player and the top online poker site.
“Title 3 Management Group is pleased to have worked with Lock to help create this partnership with our client, Mr. Mizrachi,” noted the President and Chief Executive Officer of Title 3, Chris Torina. “This relationship is a very exciting opportunity for both parties and we look forward to seeing how much it can grow.”
Michael Mizrachi became a household name when he won two World Poker Tour titles in 2006, a feat which see him take home the Card Player of the Year title in the same year. In addition, Mizrachi has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and two WSOP Players Champion title holders.
In 2010, Michael Mizrachi came fifth in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Throughout his iconic career, Mizrachi has earned over $14 million in prize money and is considered 8th in the world for overall lifetime earnings.
The owner and Chief Executive Officer of Lock Poker, Jennifer Larson said about the deal signed between the online poker room and Michael Mizrachi: “Michael is a pioneer of this industry. He is the perfect combination of dedication, passion, insight, perseverance and unbelievable skill. Players like Michael are the the back bone of this industry and what makes it great. We will integrate him into all aspects of the company. We continue to bring in these exceptional people to enable us to innovate and change the world of online poker. We intend on being the first choice for players around the world. LockPRO will be at the helm of that!”
“Title 3 Management Group is pleased to have worked with Lock to help create this partnership with our client, Mr. Mizrachi,” noted the President and Chief Executive Officer of Title 3, Chris Torina. “This relationship is a very exciting opportunity for both parties and we look forward to seeing how much it can grow.”
Michael Mizrachi became a household name when he won two World Poker Tour titles in 2006, a feat which see him take home the Card Player of the Year title in the same year. In addition, Mizrachi has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and two WSOP Players Champion title holders.
In 2010, Michael Mizrachi came fifth in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Throughout his iconic career, Mizrachi has earned over $14 million in prize money and is considered 8th in the world for overall lifetime earnings.
The owner and Chief Executive Officer of Lock Poker, Jennifer Larson said about the deal signed between the online poker room and Michael Mizrachi: “Michael is a pioneer of this industry. He is the perfect combination of dedication, passion, insight, perseverance and unbelievable skill. Players like Michael are the the back bone of this industry and what makes it great. We will integrate him into all aspects of the company. We continue to bring in these exceptional people to enable us to innovate and change the world of online poker. We intend on being the first choice for players around the world. LockPRO will be at the helm of that!”
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Marco “AgentMarco” Valerio is joining the Global Poker Index (GPI), it was announced on Monday. His role will be promoting the GPI brand in the United States.
Marco rapidly became a respected poker interviewer after starting his media career on QuadJacks, a Nevada-based online poker radio station, in 2010. He announced his resignation at the beginning of 2013.
At GPI he will be responsible for “monitoring and assisting” the growth of the new site which spun out of Pinnacle Entertainment following the bankruptcy of its former owner Federated Sports & Gaming.
The “patent-pending” ranking system was bought by Malta-based Zokay Entertainment, founded by Alex Dreyfus, the ex-CEO of ChiliGaming.
“I could not be more excited to join the amazing GPI team,” Valerio said in a statement. “I have nothing but faith in Alex’s vision for the company and what it can do for poker, in America and across the world.” Italian born, Marco relocated to Las Vegas from Rome and developed his own idiosyncratic interview style as he door-stepped famous players immediately after they busted out of the WSOP tournaments.
In his farewell message on Facebook, he declared: “QuadJacks has changed my life, and leaving it is not easy. I am a better person today than I was two and a half years ago, and without a doubt, I have QJ to thank for that.”
Dreyfus stated in that past that he wanted to use the GPI to raise the public profile of poker, so that poker should take its place in the public’s perception alongside “other competitive contests of skill.”
Former QuadJacks Frontman Marco Valerio Joins Global Poker Index | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
Marco rapidly became a respected poker interviewer after starting his media career on QuadJacks, a Nevada-based online poker radio station, in 2010. He announced his resignation at the beginning of 2013.
At GPI he will be responsible for “monitoring and assisting” the growth of the new site which spun out of Pinnacle Entertainment following the bankruptcy of its former owner Federated Sports & Gaming.
The “patent-pending” ranking system was bought by Malta-based Zokay Entertainment, founded by Alex Dreyfus, the ex-CEO of ChiliGaming.
“I could not be more excited to join the amazing GPI team,” Valerio said in a statement. “I have nothing but faith in Alex’s vision for the company and what it can do for poker, in America and across the world.” Italian born, Marco relocated to Las Vegas from Rome and developed his own idiosyncratic interview style as he door-stepped famous players immediately after they busted out of the WSOP tournaments.
In his farewell message on Facebook, he declared: “QuadJacks has changed my life, and leaving it is not easy. I am a better person today than I was two and a half years ago, and without a doubt, I have QJ to thank for that.”
Dreyfus stated in that past that he wanted to use the GPI to raise the public profile of poker, so that poker should take its place in the public’s perception alongside “other competitive contests of skill.”
Former QuadJacks Frontman Marco Valerio Joins Global Poker Index | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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2006/12/07
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Poker has its established rules, but that doesn't mean you always have to follow them.
It would be impossible to put a hard number on the list of different games that a deck of cards allows, because a new variant can be created with the snap of a finger.
The invention of a new game requires just three elements - the rules have to be clear and equal for everybody in the game; it must have an established rank of hands; and there has to be enough cards in the deck to account for every possible scenario (i.e. never play seven-card stud with eight players).
And if you are lucky, the game will be fun and possibly generate some staying power in your local game.
The lowball games such as Razz or 2-7 Triple Draw probably were created by players plagued with negative energy. Who else would craft rules where the worst traditional hands, absent of paint, drags the pot? The best hand in Triple Draw is 7-5-4-3-2.
Wild cards and jokers often are incorporated into games with ease, although it's easy to destroy the fluidity of a game when you do.
An interesting twist that my late grandmother used to incorporate into the poker game she hosted on a monthly basis was the use of a "royal deck." Two separate decks were used at each table but were merged to create a 48-card deck that only included painted cards, tens and nines.
The structure, which was used both in Stud and Hold 'Em games, created some amazing hands. The only time I ever sat in on this game, I was taken to the cleaners by a bunch of old ladies.
Imagine a game where you have to at least entertain the idea of folding aces full because of the odds of being up against quads? Or folding quads out of fear of being up against a straight flush or even a royal?
I have been logging serious poker hours for more than a dozen years and only have seen two legitimate royal flushes. I hit one with diamonds in a random online tournament hand. The other was made by a player in a home game that couldn't get paid off in an otherwise forgettable hand.
Granny's game produced three that I remember in about four hours.
Tournament calendar: Local players hoping to earn a cheap ticket to the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event this summer won't find a better opportunity than the Feb. 9 "All-In for the Hungry" tournament at the Seekatz Opera House in downtown New Braunfels, scheduled for a noon start.
Cost to enter the event, sponsored by the New Braunfels Downtown Rotary, is $250 if purchased before the day of the tournament and includes lunch and dinner or $300 at the door the day of. Players will start with 10,000 in chips but will have the option of purchasing an extra 10,000 before the first deal for an additional $60.
The tournament has been a huge success the past two years, with the club donating more than $50,000 to local food banks. Tournament numbers will be capped at 200, providing favorable odds at a well-stocked tentative prize pool for the top-10 finishers that ranges from $600 in value all the way up to $10,000.
Read more: The flexibility of poker rules adds to the fun - San Antonio Express-News
It would be impossible to put a hard number on the list of different games that a deck of cards allows, because a new variant can be created with the snap of a finger.
The invention of a new game requires just three elements - the rules have to be clear and equal for everybody in the game; it must have an established rank of hands; and there has to be enough cards in the deck to account for every possible scenario (i.e. never play seven-card stud with eight players).
And if you are lucky, the game will be fun and possibly generate some staying power in your local game.
The lowball games such as Razz or 2-7 Triple Draw probably were created by players plagued with negative energy. Who else would craft rules where the worst traditional hands, absent of paint, drags the pot? The best hand in Triple Draw is 7-5-4-3-2.
Wild cards and jokers often are incorporated into games with ease, although it's easy to destroy the fluidity of a game when you do.
An interesting twist that my late grandmother used to incorporate into the poker game she hosted on a monthly basis was the use of a "royal deck." Two separate decks were used at each table but were merged to create a 48-card deck that only included painted cards, tens and nines.
The structure, which was used both in Stud and Hold 'Em games, created some amazing hands. The only time I ever sat in on this game, I was taken to the cleaners by a bunch of old ladies.
Imagine a game where you have to at least entertain the idea of folding aces full because of the odds of being up against quads? Or folding quads out of fear of being up against a straight flush or even a royal?
I have been logging serious poker hours for more than a dozen years and only have seen two legitimate royal flushes. I hit one with diamonds in a random online tournament hand. The other was made by a player in a home game that couldn't get paid off in an otherwise forgettable hand.
Granny's game produced three that I remember in about four hours.
Tournament calendar: Local players hoping to earn a cheap ticket to the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event this summer won't find a better opportunity than the Feb. 9 "All-In for the Hungry" tournament at the Seekatz Opera House in downtown New Braunfels, scheduled for a noon start.
Cost to enter the event, sponsored by the New Braunfels Downtown Rotary, is $250 if purchased before the day of the tournament and includes lunch and dinner or $300 at the door the day of. Players will start with 10,000 in chips but will have the option of purchasing an extra 10,000 before the first deal for an additional $60.
The tournament has been a huge success the past two years, with the club donating more than $50,000 to local food banks. Tournament numbers will be capped at 200, providing favorable odds at a well-stocked tentative prize pool for the top-10 finishers that ranges from $600 in value all the way up to $10,000.
Read more: The flexibility of poker rules adds to the fun - San Antonio Express-News
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2006/12/07
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Most American companies screen and court MBA graduates the same way:
They dispatch teams to elite business schools to schmooze and talk up their companies. They host mixers with free food and drinks. Members of the companies' development departments screen students, often with problem-solving tests, then invite a chosen few to corporate headquarters for more interviews.
The best of the best land internships that could lead to full-time jobs and, possibly, corner offices.
Caesars Entertainment does it differently. It screens job candidates during a poker tournament.
Last weekend, as it has for the past eight years, Caesars hosted its MBA Poker Championships and Recruitment Weekend at Planet Hollywood. More than 500 people, most looking to join the company's management corps, attended.
"The cool thing about this is you can be exposed to companies for a whole weekend, meet and talk with recruiters and executives, and play a little poker," said Ashish Gupta, 29, a student at USC's Marshall School of Business.
In Caesars' experience, the MBAs who best understand poker are likely to be the same people best suited to run casinos and hotels.
"Look at the skills required of quality poker players," said Paul King, corporate director of talent and recruiting for Caesars, which runs the World Series of Poker. "They are the same types of qualities we look for in candidates. They are analytical in nature, strategic in approach to the game and savvy in the way they play. What we're looking for is a critical eye and analytical thinking skills."
Of the hundreds who play in the three-day tournament, only a handful win positions with the company. Last year, 12 candidates from the poker weekend received invitations to work in Caesars' President's Associate Program.
The two-year apprenticeship offers associates a chance to interact with senior executives and participate in business decisions and analysis. It's the first step toward being offered a permanent position managing table games, slot machines, hotels, restaurants, and marketing or finance departments. Four of the 12 president’s associates hired at last year’s MBA poker event were given full-time jobs.
The idea came out of a poker game among students at the University of Chicago's business school. The friends began playing, then invited students from other business schools to play. King's predecessor, Brad Warga, learned about the game and brought the concept to Caesars. He called it the MBA World Series of Poker.
"When it first started, it was much more a brand-building event, not as focused on recruiting," King said. "In the last few years, we've changed that. We are interviewing people, and some are leaving with offers. We're not a boring company, and what better way to expose people to the fun culture of our company and Las Vegas than a poker tournament?
"It's now a pretty well-known event across the MBA universe. It has really become a huge part of our recruiting brand in this market."
It also makes Caesars stand out from crowds of companies, including its competitors on the Strip. Caesars says it is the only casino company that markets itself this way.
"Every time I go out and talk about this, they say this is the most creative event they've seen," King said.
The company imposes only one restriction: Poker players must be in the process of earning an MBA or have recently graduated to qualify for the tournament, which draws people looking to enter the workforce, as well as those who want to change careers.
"You'd be surprised how many people we get out of consulting companies like McKinsey or Bain," King said.
The weekend also has spawned satellite tournaments. Students at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, for instance, hold their own tournament, with the winner receiving a free trip to the Caesars recruitment weekend.
It isn't all fun and games, though. Besides playing poker, candidates meet with Caesars executives, attend company presentations and participate in interviews.
On Sunday, invitations were handed out to those who met the company's expectations.
"We get people who just want to come and play, hang out with their grad school buddies and enjoy Vegas," King said. "But we also get a good majority who ... are very actively looking for work."
It's easy to spot the job seekers, King said.
"The people who are just here for fun show up in shorts and flip-flops," he said. "Those wanting jobs bring suits."
Caesars doesn't limit potential hires by school, but it does focus on a few key campuses. There's Harvard, of course — the alma mater of Caesars chief Gary Loveman — as well as MIT, Duke, Vanderbilt, the University of Chicago, Northwestern, UCLA and USC.
John Payne, Caesars' president of enterprise shared services, is the highest ranking executive to have come out of the program. Others alumni, according to their LinkedIn profiles, include Matthew Heiskel, assistant general manager of Bally's, Atlantic City (2007); Jacqueline Beato, director of investor relations (2008); Neera Chanani, head of Caesars' South Asia division (2010); and Chirag Tasker, regional vice president of marketing in Philadelphia (2010).
Caesars also opens the poker tournament to recruiters from other companies. On Saturday, the company hosted a Recruiters' Lounge, where businesses that sponsor the tournament could meet candidates and collect resumes. This year, game manufacturer IGT signed on and sent executives to Planet Hollywood.
The weekend also raises money for charity. Players buy into the tournament for between $85 and $225. The top 10 players or so take home prize money from about 70 percent of the tournament fees. The rest is donated to Keep Memory Alive at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
"We make it productive, and at the same time, it's really, really fun," King said. "It's unique to Las Vegas and our company."
They dispatch teams to elite business schools to schmooze and talk up their companies. They host mixers with free food and drinks. Members of the companies' development departments screen students, often with problem-solving tests, then invite a chosen few to corporate headquarters for more interviews.
The best of the best land internships that could lead to full-time jobs and, possibly, corner offices.
Caesars Entertainment does it differently. It screens job candidates during a poker tournament.
Last weekend, as it has for the past eight years, Caesars hosted its MBA Poker Championships and Recruitment Weekend at Planet Hollywood. More than 500 people, most looking to join the company's management corps, attended.
"The cool thing about this is you can be exposed to companies for a whole weekend, meet and talk with recruiters and executives, and play a little poker," said Ashish Gupta, 29, a student at USC's Marshall School of Business.
In Caesars' experience, the MBAs who best understand poker are likely to be the same people best suited to run casinos and hotels.
"Look at the skills required of quality poker players," said Paul King, corporate director of talent and recruiting for Caesars, which runs the World Series of Poker. "They are the same types of qualities we look for in candidates. They are analytical in nature, strategic in approach to the game and savvy in the way they play. What we're looking for is a critical eye and analytical thinking skills."
Of the hundreds who play in the three-day tournament, only a handful win positions with the company. Last year, 12 candidates from the poker weekend received invitations to work in Caesars' President's Associate Program.
The two-year apprenticeship offers associates a chance to interact with senior executives and participate in business decisions and analysis. It's the first step toward being offered a permanent position managing table games, slot machines, hotels, restaurants, and marketing or finance departments. Four of the 12 president’s associates hired at last year’s MBA poker event were given full-time jobs.
The idea came out of a poker game among students at the University of Chicago's business school. The friends began playing, then invited students from other business schools to play. King's predecessor, Brad Warga, learned about the game and brought the concept to Caesars. He called it the MBA World Series of Poker.
"When it first started, it was much more a brand-building event, not as focused on recruiting," King said. "In the last few years, we've changed that. We are interviewing people, and some are leaving with offers. We're not a boring company, and what better way to expose people to the fun culture of our company and Las Vegas than a poker tournament?
"It's now a pretty well-known event across the MBA universe. It has really become a huge part of our recruiting brand in this market."
It also makes Caesars stand out from crowds of companies, including its competitors on the Strip. Caesars says it is the only casino company that markets itself this way.
"Every time I go out and talk about this, they say this is the most creative event they've seen," King said.
The company imposes only one restriction: Poker players must be in the process of earning an MBA or have recently graduated to qualify for the tournament, which draws people looking to enter the workforce, as well as those who want to change careers.
"You'd be surprised how many people we get out of consulting companies like McKinsey or Bain," King said.
The weekend also has spawned satellite tournaments. Students at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, for instance, hold their own tournament, with the winner receiving a free trip to the Caesars recruitment weekend.
It isn't all fun and games, though. Besides playing poker, candidates meet with Caesars executives, attend company presentations and participate in interviews.
On Sunday, invitations were handed out to those who met the company's expectations.
"We get people who just want to come and play, hang out with their grad school buddies and enjoy Vegas," King said. "But we also get a good majority who ... are very actively looking for work."
It's easy to spot the job seekers, King said.
"The people who are just here for fun show up in shorts and flip-flops," he said. "Those wanting jobs bring suits."
Caesars doesn't limit potential hires by school, but it does focus on a few key campuses. There's Harvard, of course — the alma mater of Caesars chief Gary Loveman — as well as MIT, Duke, Vanderbilt, the University of Chicago, Northwestern, UCLA and USC.
John Payne, Caesars' president of enterprise shared services, is the highest ranking executive to have come out of the program. Others alumni, according to their LinkedIn profiles, include Matthew Heiskel, assistant general manager of Bally's, Atlantic City (2007); Jacqueline Beato, director of investor relations (2008); Neera Chanani, head of Caesars' South Asia division (2010); and Chirag Tasker, regional vice president of marketing in Philadelphia (2010).
Caesars also opens the poker tournament to recruiters from other companies. On Saturday, the company hosted a Recruiters' Lounge, where businesses that sponsor the tournament could meet candidates and collect resumes. This year, game manufacturer IGT signed on and sent executives to Planet Hollywood.
The weekend also raises money for charity. Players buy into the tournament for between $85 and $225. The top 10 players or so take home prize money from about 70 percent of the tournament fees. The rest is donated to Keep Memory Alive at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
"We make it productive, and at the same time, it's really, really fun," King said. "It's unique to Las Vegas and our company."
Join:
2006/12/07
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Next-gen poker room PKR launched its first real-money poker app for the iPad last week. The tablet version of its award-winning poker software features fully rendered 3D avatars and environments, retaining many of the unique features which sets PKR apart from its rivals.
The poker app is available as a free download from the Apple App Store, with players able to participate in real-money ring games and Sit & Gos, or try the game for free via practice tables. This initial version is available to U.K. players, with the introduction of multi table tournaments and a raft of additional features anticipated in the future.
COO Leon Walters led the team responsible for the development of the new app. “I’m very pleased to have launched the poker app after several months of hard work by the team. This release represents one of the most significant steps forward for PKR since our inception in 2006. We aim to quickly follow this first phase of our efforts to reach the growing mobile poker audience with iPhone and Android versions.”
The new poker apps will form part of a suite of mobile games alongside existing mobile roulette and Blackjack app, whose downloads have soared during PKR’s recent U.K. TV advertising campaign.
PKR launches iPad poker app
The poker app is available as a free download from the Apple App Store, with players able to participate in real-money ring games and Sit & Gos, or try the game for free via practice tables. This initial version is available to U.K. players, with the introduction of multi table tournaments and a raft of additional features anticipated in the future.
COO Leon Walters led the team responsible for the development of the new app. “I’m very pleased to have launched the poker app after several months of hard work by the team. This release represents one of the most significant steps forward for PKR since our inception in 2006. We aim to quickly follow this first phase of our efforts to reach the growing mobile poker audience with iPhone and Android versions.”
The new poker apps will form part of a suite of mobile games alongside existing mobile roulette and Blackjack app, whose downloads have soared during PKR’s recent U.K. TV advertising campaign.
PKR launches iPad poker app
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2006/12/07
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After six days of competition, the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure had finally its finalists. The final table of the edition 2013 of the PCA Main Event began with talented players who can win the title, who are Joao Nogueira, Dimitar Danchev, Andrey Shatilov, Owen Crowe, Jerry Wong, Jonathan Roy, Joel Micka and Yann Dion. At the start of the final, the American Jerry Wong held the chip lead with a big stack of 7,400,000 chips. But from the beginning of the day, Jerry Wong began losing most of his stack, 2 million chips against Dimitar Danchev. Meanwhile, Joel Micka took the chip lead with more than 8 million chips and ended up alongside Dimitar Danchev. The final round really began when players left one by one the table, leaving only Dimitar Danchev and Joel Micka fighting for the head's up of this poker tournament. The short stack Joao Nogueira was the first player to leave the final table after having been beaten by Joel Micka. He pocketed $ 165,900 for his eighth place.
Everything went quickly then in the poker room of Atlantis with the elimination of Yann Dion ($ 230,000), Andrey Shatilov ($ 325,000), Owen Crowe ($ 435,000) and Jonathan Roy ($ 560,000). At this stage of the tournament, Jerry Wong was the best placed until Dimitar Danchev put the three remaining players at the same level. Wong lost his advantage and became the short stack before Micka gives him the final hit. Micka began the head's up with 20,195,000 chips against 8,875,000 for Danchev but the latter has taken quickly the top lead before winning the title and $ 1,859,000. Joel Micka pocketed $ 1.19 million while Jerry Wong settled for his third place of $ 725,000.
www-poker777-com/20130121/pca-main-event-the-title-for-the-bulgarian-dimitar-danchev-php
Everything went quickly then in the poker room of Atlantis with the elimination of Yann Dion ($ 230,000), Andrey Shatilov ($ 325,000), Owen Crowe ($ 435,000) and Jonathan Roy ($ 560,000). At this stage of the tournament, Jerry Wong was the best placed until Dimitar Danchev put the three remaining players at the same level. Wong lost his advantage and became the short stack before Micka gives him the final hit. Micka began the head's up with 20,195,000 chips against 8,875,000 for Danchev but the latter has taken quickly the top lead before winning the title and $ 1,859,000. Joel Micka pocketed $ 1.19 million while Jerry Wong settled for his third place of $ 725,000.
www-poker777-com/20130121/pca-main-event-the-title-for-the-bulgarian-dimitar-danchev-php
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Online casino and slots specialist Vera&John are adding a Live Dealer Casino to their huge range of table games and slots, supplied by Bodog Gaming, which includes Baccarat, Sic Bo, Roulette and Dragon Tiger.
VeraJohn-com's Johan Königslehner Director, commented: "As we move the business forward and into different regions across the world we realised the need for a Live Dealer offering to compliment our suite of RNG games. We started out as predominantly Scandinavian facing but with the addition of Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish languages we have seen phenomenal growth in Latin America and Asia. Inevitably, different players want different things and this addition is in line with our customer's needs."
Will Hu, Managing Director of Bodog Gaming, added: "Vera&John have a outstanding 'soft gaming' platform whose growth has caught the eye of many operators recently and we hope our Live Dealer software will help them continue that upward trend."
Read more here: LONDON, January 21, 2013: Vera&John Launch Live Dealer Casino | PRNewswire | Rock Hill Herald Online
VeraJohn-com's Johan Königslehner Director, commented: "As we move the business forward and into different regions across the world we realised the need for a Live Dealer offering to compliment our suite of RNG games. We started out as predominantly Scandinavian facing but with the addition of Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish languages we have seen phenomenal growth in Latin America and Asia. Inevitably, different players want different things and this addition is in line with our customer's needs."
Will Hu, Managing Director of Bodog Gaming, added: "Vera&John have a outstanding 'soft gaming' platform whose growth has caught the eye of many operators recently and we hope our Live Dealer software will help them continue that upward trend."
Read more here: LONDON, January 21, 2013: Vera&John Launch Live Dealer Casino | PRNewswire | Rock Hill Herald Online
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had promised Nevada’s gambling industry a federal law to legalize Internet poker by the end of 2012, calling it the state’s “most important issue” since the nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain was scuttled.
But in the end, Reid rolled snake eyes. And as the 113th Congress gets under way, the odds of legislation passing are even worse.
Now, questions are mounting over Reid’s handling of the issue, which would legalize Internet poker but bar almost all other online wagering. Why, critics ask, did Reid antagonize Republicans at a critical juncture by attacking the efforts of his Senate colleague Dean Heller to garner GOP support? Why did Reid and former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) draft a measure so certain to anger powerful stakeholders — from lottery directors to Native American tribes to gaming officials — in states other than Nevada?
They say Reid had the best shot ever to have pushed the bill through Congress last year. But he never formally introduced legislation — not because he lacked GOP support, some say, but because he didn’t have enough Democrats with him.
Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman insisted the senator will try again this year and said he “has sufficient Democratic support.”
But even Reid’s longtime backer, American Gaming Association CEO Frank Fahrenkopf, is skeptical. “Heller and Kyl went to Republican senators, and most of them agreed something had to be done about the problem, but until we see a bill and look at it, we can’t say for certain we’re going to vote for it,” Fahrenkopf said. “Sen. Reid had the same problem on the Democratic side.”
The problem, as defined by the gaming industry, is that the Department of Justice in December 2011 reinterpreted the Wire Act, concluding it prohibits only betting online on sports.
Soon after, more than a dozen state legislatures began mulling over their versions of legalized Web gambling. Delaware, for instance, will allow the sale of lottery tickets and video versions of various casino table games for residents later this year. An online gambling legalization bill has already passed both houses in New Jersey and awaits Gov. Chris Christie’s signature, although he vetoed the same measure in 2011. Others, such as Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and California are looking into variations.
Most of the large casino companies, represented by the AGA, want Congress to ban betting on games of chance online but leave a carve-out for online poker, which they argue is a game of skill.
Without that, they warn, the nation will see an explosion in online gambling of all sorts, from lotteries to roulette, that would discourage players from visiting brick-and-mortar casinos in Nevada and elsewhere.
Reid tried to move online poker legalization before — it had been all but prohibited by a 2006 law that barred financial institutions from moving funds from American accounts into those of Internet gambling sites. He’d failed to get anywhere until the 2011 DOJ action, which brought staunch gambling opponent Kyl to Reid’s side. Kyl told POLITICO in August that he remained opposed to Web poker but was willing to accept it in a compromise that would prevent all the other forms of gambling.
“One man’s online poker legalization bill is another man’s Internet gambling ban,” Kyl said at the time. “I don’t like this, but I can live with it.”
Yet that comity began to break down in September when Reid returned from August recess to assail Heller, who was appointed to finish the term of disgraced Sen. John Ensign, for not wrangling enough GOP votes to make introducing a poker bill viable.
The move, seen as an effort to make Heller appear ineffectual to constituents in advance of his election matchup for a full term with Reid protégé Rep. Shelley Berkley, instigated an unusual internecine feud between senators of the same state, which prompted Kyl to defend Heller and express ire toward Reid.
“A lot of the things Sen. Reid did I don’t think were done with the singular objective of passing the bill. It was really about getting Shelley elected,” said a key tribal lobbyist who requested anonymity so as to not run afoul of the nation’s most powerful Democratic legislator. “He failed on both fronts.”
In late October, the only version of the Reid-Kyl bill ever to surface was leaked to POLITICO. It would have made the Nevada Gaming Control Board the de facto issuer of Web poker licenses, the sale of lottery tickets online a cumbersome experience that permitted just one drawing a day and left Native American tribes at the mercy of their state legislatures if they wish to enter the market.
“The poker bill was rife with points that were going to raise objections that were going to kill the bill,” said Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business and several other gaming-industry trade magazines. “Native Americans didn’t see how their role would be advantageous to them. Sovereignty is their biggest issue. It was a mess right from the start.”
In late October, the only version of the Reid-Kyl bill ever to surface was leaked to POLITICO. It would have made the Nevada Gaming Control Board the de facto issuer of Web poker licenses, the sale of lottery tickets online a cumbersome experience that permitted just one drawing a day and left Native American tribes at the mercy of their state legislatures if they wish to enter the market.
“The poker bill was rife with points that were going to raise objections that were going to kill the bill,” said Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business and several other gaming-industry trade magazines. “Native Americans didn’t see how their role would be advantageous to them. Sovereignty is their biggest issue. It was a mess right from the start.”
In late October, the only version of the Reid-Kyl bill ever to surface was leaked to POLITICO. It would have made the Nevada Gaming Control Board the de facto issuer of Web poker licenses, the
But in the end, Reid rolled snake eyes. And as the 113th Congress gets under way, the odds of legislation passing are even worse.
Now, questions are mounting over Reid’s handling of the issue, which would legalize Internet poker but bar almost all other online wagering. Why, critics ask, did Reid antagonize Republicans at a critical juncture by attacking the efforts of his Senate colleague Dean Heller to garner GOP support? Why did Reid and former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) draft a measure so certain to anger powerful stakeholders — from lottery directors to Native American tribes to gaming officials — in states other than Nevada?
They say Reid had the best shot ever to have pushed the bill through Congress last year. But he never formally introduced legislation — not because he lacked GOP support, some say, but because he didn’t have enough Democrats with him.
Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman insisted the senator will try again this year and said he “has sufficient Democratic support.”
But even Reid’s longtime backer, American Gaming Association CEO Frank Fahrenkopf, is skeptical. “Heller and Kyl went to Republican senators, and most of them agreed something had to be done about the problem, but until we see a bill and look at it, we can’t say for certain we’re going to vote for it,” Fahrenkopf said. “Sen. Reid had the same problem on the Democratic side.”
The problem, as defined by the gaming industry, is that the Department of Justice in December 2011 reinterpreted the Wire Act, concluding it prohibits only betting online on sports.
Soon after, more than a dozen state legislatures began mulling over their versions of legalized Web gambling. Delaware, for instance, will allow the sale of lottery tickets and video versions of various casino table games for residents later this year. An online gambling legalization bill has already passed both houses in New Jersey and awaits Gov. Chris Christie’s signature, although he vetoed the same measure in 2011. Others, such as Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and California are looking into variations.
Most of the large casino companies, represented by the AGA, want Congress to ban betting on games of chance online but leave a carve-out for online poker, which they argue is a game of skill.
Without that, they warn, the nation will see an explosion in online gambling of all sorts, from lotteries to roulette, that would discourage players from visiting brick-and-mortar casinos in Nevada and elsewhere.
Reid tried to move online poker legalization before — it had been all but prohibited by a 2006 law that barred financial institutions from moving funds from American accounts into those of Internet gambling sites. He’d failed to get anywhere until the 2011 DOJ action, which brought staunch gambling opponent Kyl to Reid’s side. Kyl told POLITICO in August that he remained opposed to Web poker but was willing to accept it in a compromise that would prevent all the other forms of gambling.
“One man’s online poker legalization bill is another man’s Internet gambling ban,” Kyl said at the time. “I don’t like this, but I can live with it.”
Yet that comity began to break down in September when Reid returned from August recess to assail Heller, who was appointed to finish the term of disgraced Sen. John Ensign, for not wrangling enough GOP votes to make introducing a poker bill viable.
The move, seen as an effort to make Heller appear ineffectual to constituents in advance of his election matchup for a full term with Reid protégé Rep. Shelley Berkley, instigated an unusual internecine feud between senators of the same state, which prompted Kyl to defend Heller and express ire toward Reid.
“A lot of the things Sen. Reid did I don’t think were done with the singular objective of passing the bill. It was really about getting Shelley elected,” said a key tribal lobbyist who requested anonymity so as to not run afoul of the nation’s most powerful Democratic legislator. “He failed on both fronts.”
In late October, the only version of the Reid-Kyl bill ever to surface was leaked to POLITICO. It would have made the Nevada Gaming Control Board the de facto issuer of Web poker licenses, the sale of lottery tickets online a cumbersome experience that permitted just one drawing a day and left Native American tribes at the mercy of their state legislatures if they wish to enter the market.
“The poker bill was rife with points that were going to raise objections that were going to kill the bill,” said Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business and several other gaming-industry trade magazines. “Native Americans didn’t see how their role would be advantageous to them. Sovereignty is their biggest issue. It was a mess right from the start.”
In late October, the only version of the Reid-Kyl bill ever to surface was leaked to POLITICO. It would have made the Nevada Gaming Control Board the de facto issuer of Web poker licenses, the sale of lottery tickets online a cumbersome experience that permitted just one drawing a day and left Native American tribes at the mercy of their state legislatures if they wish to enter the market.
“The poker bill was rife with points that were going to raise objections that were going to kill the bill,” said Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business and several other gaming-industry trade magazines. “Native Americans didn’t see how their role would be advantageous to them. Sovereignty is their biggest issue. It was a mess right from the start.”
In late October, the only version of the Reid-Kyl bill ever to surface was leaked to POLITICO. It would have made the Nevada Gaming Control Board the de facto issuer of Web poker licenses, the
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Already available in Apple’s App Store, the app offers real money ring-game and sit-n-go tournament games. Multi-table tournament play is not yet available but is expected in the near future.
Android and iPhone versions of the new poker app are also in the pipeline.
PKR is the one in a long string of sites now offering mobile access to its real-money online gaming products. Last month PartyPoker added an Android app joining the likes of PokerStars, 888Poker, Switch Poker and select skins on the iPoker, Microgaming and Ongame networks.
According to PKR Chief Operating Officer Leon Walters, “This release represents one of the most significant steps forward for PKR since our inception in 2006. We aim to quickly follow this first phase of our efforts to reach the growing mobile poker audience with iPhone and Android versions.”
PKR Limited, which specializes in the creation of 3D gaming apps, has already released two previous related titles for mobile, PKR Blackjack 3D and PKR Roulette 3D.
PKR Debuts iPad App for UK Customers | Pokerfuse Online Poker News