August 05 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

It seems like the controversy surrounding A-Rod and his poker playing wasn’t totally correct, and Sports Illustrated is reporting that he might not be suspended like previously thought. That’s not really what you came to read about though. To take you into your weekend, we’ve got the latest from the AGCC on Full Tilt Poker’s overdue license fees, Michael Mizrachi’s newest sponsor, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Team PokerNews is in Punta del Este, Uruguay, for the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour. In her two days there, Lynn Gilmartin has seen Casapueblo, eaten expensive food that was not worth the price, and even “jinxed” some players.

Sarah Grant and Laura Cornelius have decided to recap the some of the week’s top stories. Their Weekly Turbo touches on A-Rod, Huck Seed, FairPlayUSA, and more.

There was some speculation that PokerStars was helping its U.S. Supernovas move to continue to play online poker. We decided to talk to the PokerStars VIP manager to get the scoop on player relocation.

Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom’s week on the virtual felts did not go as well as his previous week. Phil Galfond had a great week online however, banking $176,993 and taking the title of “week’s biggest winner.”

Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Tallinn is in the books and 24 players remain. Ronny Kaiser is the man at the top of the chip counts, but plenty more are vying for the “275,000 first-place prize.

AGCC’s Statement on FTP’s Overdue License Fees

Friday afternoon, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission released a statement regarding Full Tilt Poker’s overdue license fees. According to reports, the fees were around $410,000.

“The recent payment of overdue licence fees by FTP is also in players’ best interests since it allows commercial negotiations to take place that might result in a successful refinancing deal.”

The AGCC reiterated that the reason for the adjournment of the hearing on July 16 was because the Commissioners felt it was “in the best interest of the players using Full Tilt Poker’s services.”

There is still no date or venue set for the next hearing, which will be held no later than Sept. 15.

For more, go to GamblingControl.org.

Off to the Races

Breeders’ Cup Ltd announced Friday that it established a sponsorship deal with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. No, Grinder didn’t buy a race horse recently, the sponsorship is for him. To answer your next question (why?), the Breeders’ Cup is hoping this sponsorship will attract poker players to pari-mutuel wagering and introduce them to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships that take place Nov. 4 through 5 at Churchill Downs.

“We believe that there is a strong cross-over between poker and horse racing, which has not yet been realized,” said Peter Rotondo, vice president of media and entertainment for Breeders’ Cup. “We’re thrilled to have a relationship with The Grinder which will allow for one of poker’s superstars to reach out to the poker world and educate them about the Breeders’ Cup and the over $160-million in liquidity during our two-day event.”

To promote the sponsorship, a promotional sweepstakes is being held where the winner will attend the Breeders’ Cup with Mizrachi.

“It’s an honor to be associated with such a well-known name as the Breeders’ Cup,” Mizrachi said. “I’ve long been a huge horse racing fan and I am pleased to have this opportunity to align myself with the richest horse racing event with such large wagering pools.”

ThoroughbredTimes.com has more.

Traffic Falls

Last week, thanks to PokerScout, we reported that online poker had seen an 8 percent rise in traffic. Things are a bit different this week with online poker traffic dropping 6.5 percent. According to PokerScout, eight of the top ten sites saw drops in traffic.

PokerStars took the biggest hit this week, dropping 13 percent. While that may seem drastic, the online poker giant is sill 7 percent ahead of where it was two weeks ago.

For five weeks in a row, the top three online poker sites, PokerStars, PartyPoker, and iPoker, have held their ground in the top three. PartyPoker and iPoker each saw a 3 percent decline in traffic.

There was some significant movement in the top 20. PokerStars.it jumped from seventh to fourth and Ongame.fr found its way into the top 20, in 20th place. The Ongame Network slid from fourth to sixth and IPN dropped from 12th to 14th.

Online poker traffic has seen a decrease of 24 percent in the last year according to PokerScout’s ACES guide.

Find more online poker traffic numbers at PokerScout.com.

Listen Up M Lifers

We’re sure you guys are swiping your M Life cards each time you sit down at the tables at Aria or the Bellagio, so there’s no reason to keep you in the dark about M Life’s August promotion.

You have the entire month of August to participate in this promotion – we know how poker players tend to put things off. All you have to do is visit and like M Life’s Facebook page or any MGM Resorts’ property Facebook page for that matter. Then just fill out the entry form, and boom, 5,000 tier credits.

M Life members have access to pre-sale tickets, hotel offers, upgrades, and VIP services, depending on which Tier Level card they’re holding.

So go like the M Life Facebook page and get your 5,000 credits, it’s free and easy.

You Can’t Win Every Pot

Sarah Grant caught up with players at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Tallinn to find out the best poker advice they’ve ever gotten.

Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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