March 11 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

We know you want to get off to your weekend, so there’s no sense in you poking around on the Internet for the latest in poker news. An announcement is coming next week from Full Tilt Poker. We’ll tell you about that, Darvin Moon’s new sponsor and more in tonight’s Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Flight one of The Big Event Bounty Shootout went down on Thursday with 36 players taking their seats in hopes of winning their tables and making it to the final table. Find out who made it and who’s leading the way with the most bounties in the Bounty Shootout recap.

Did you just take down a MiniFTOPS and want to treat yourself to some stylish bling? Check out the latest edition of Sin City Series and find out how to blow your bankroll on Shamballa Jewels.

After five days of play, the Main Event of The Big Event has crowned a winner. Victor Ramdin has pocketed $500,000 for the win. Check out The Big Event recap for a look at the final-table action.

With a handful of states already considering legalizing Internet poker, we were sure more would follow suit. The latest is Nevada, and the bill being considered, is one of the most player-friendly we’ve seen.

While there is plenty of tournament action for you to keep up with in the poker industry, you might want to keep up with some news outside poker, like, which restaurant (a favorite among poker players) is taking over the Centurion Tower at Caesars Palace. Find out in Inside Gaming.

Online high-stakes cash game player XWINK added a significant chunk of change to his bankroll this week. The Online Railbird Report has the scoop on who’s roll is a little lighter.

Full Tilt Poker’s Big Announcement

Be on the lookout for a big announcement from Full Tilt Poker soon. Allegedly, the announcement is supposed to come on Monday regarding the online poker site’s plans to launch land-based poker events.

PokerNews reached out to Full Tilt Poker when news of this announcement broke, but the site’s spokesperson could not confirm anything at that point.

So far, all that has been leaked to Wicked Chops Poker, which first broke the story, is that the events would run in direct competition with other tours, and Full Tilt pros would not be able to play in competing tours if they coincide with the dates of the Full Tilt events.

Read more on WickedChopsPoker.com.

Finally Patched Up

We can’t say we didn’t see this coming, because we kind of did. We knew eventually that the man who didn’t want a sponsor, Darvin Moon, would change his tune. So which site has snatched up the 2009 November Niner? No site. He has signed on as the official ambassador of the Heartland Poker Tour.

“I’m very comfortable with the HPT folks. They’re like family…I also love the work they do for veterans,” Moon said.

Moon began playing on the HPT at the Iowa stop, and since then, hasn’t missed a stop.

“In a short period of time, he’s become a close friend,” HPT Executive Producer Greg Lang said. “Like most of our players, Darvin enjoys the lively atmosphere of our tour.”

Check out the press release on HPTpoker.com.

A Message from The Micros

To tide us over until the fourth episode of The Micros, the gang decided to send out a special message to Erik Seidel and any other pro that wants a piece of Micro karma.

Sahara Shuts Its Doors

For all you out-of-town poker players who were hoping to find a reasonably priced hotel on the strip for the World Series of Poker this summer, one of your options is shutting its doors. The Sahara Hotel will close on May 16. Owners said it was “no longer economically viable” to keep the 60-year-old resort in operation any longer. SBE Entertainment, the company that owns Sahara, is exploring other options for the 18-acre parcel.

“We are working with our partners to assess a variety of options for the property, including a complete renovation and repositioning,” SBE Entertainment CEO Sam Nazarian said. “While no final decisions have been made at this point the continued operation of the aging Sahara was no longer economically viable.”

The Las Vegas Review Journal has more.

Catching Up with Chad Brown

Three weeks after major surgery, Chad Brown is back at the felt, playing in the Bounty Shootout at The Bike. Kristy Arnett caught up with him to find out how he’s feeling, and more.

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March 11 2011, Matthew Kredell

An Internet poker bill introduced in the Nevada state assembly Thursday is the most player-friendly bill ever proposed in the United States.

The measure specifies that it would not discriminate against existing operators. Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas said he has heard online poker leader PokerStars is supporting this bill and that he believes PokerStars would be in good position to get a license should it pass.

“Nevada wants to be on the forefront of this,” Pappas said. “They saw what’s happening in New Jersey and said, ‘Anything you can do, we can do better.’”

All of the problems that poker players had with the proposed Harry Reid federal legislation, like the 15-month blackout or the exclusion of existing operators, are not an issue with this bill.

The bill also specifically mentions that the Nevada Gaming Commission would be authorized to enter into compacts with other jurisdictions where interactive gaming is not prohibited, and that Nevada and these other jurisdictions would share tax revenues. Pappas said Nevada would rely on these other jurisdictions in order to have the liquidity for successful online poker, beginning with compacts with foreign governments that already authorize online poker. New Jersey had a similar idea but removed the wording after objections from the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Some of the issues regarding liquidity are much better addressed in this legislation than any other state legislation,” Pappas said. “They are not seeking to exclude anybody. They are seeking an open, competitive license system and I think that is in the best interest of the consumer. We are honestly inclined to be favorable to this legislation but we have not yet made an official position.”

The bill already is running into the same problem that may have derailed the New Jersey legislation — opposition from Caesars Entertainment, which supports Internet poker but is focused on a federal solution. New Jersey State Sen. Raymond Lesniak said he believed Caesars’ opposition was one of the main reasons the New Jersey bill was vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie. Caesars has even more influence in Nevada.

But supporters of this bill are looking to do more than create intrastate poker in Nevada. The plan is to grow into a national and even international Internet poker network with the gaming mecca at its center. Other states could authorize Internet poker and join the program already being offered by Nevada to bring in tax revenue with no start-up required. Eventually, any states that would choose to be part of a federal bill could get involved, although it could be slow going. There’s also the possibility that states like California and New Jersey wouldn’t want to join with Nevada but rather create their own, competing systems.

“Our strong preference remains a federal solution for this,” Pappas said. “We hope it is something that the U.S. Congress sees and says, ‘We need to act quicker.’ They are not acting quickly enough. We hope this can speed up action on the federal level. Nevada may pass a bill this year, but we’ll still have a problem in the other 49 states and the PPA’s interest lies in making licensed and regulated poker for all our members, not just those who live in Nevada.”

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