October 16 2011, Brett Collson

It was a quiet week on the Full Tilt front, which allowed us to delve into some fun stories – like seizures of online poker funds. In this edition of the Weekly Turbo, you’ll get a look into the millions of dollars seized in South Carolina and Switzerland, NBC cancelling the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and more.

$20 Million Seized in Swiss Bank

On Wednesday, a daily newspaper in Switzerland learned that the Justice of Geneva has seized more than 18 million Swiss francs (around $20 million) in connection with online poker sites. La Tribune de Geneve reports that the money was seized on Sept. 26, and could possibly be tied to the 10 men indicted by the Department of Justice on Black Friday.

On Sept. 19, the Manhattan United States Attorney’s Office amended its April 15 complaint against online poker companies to include charges against the board members of Full Tilt Poker, including Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Ray Bitar, and Rafe Furst.

The Department of Justice then issued a warrant in rem to seize the bank accounts of Ferguson, Lederer and Furst, leaving their property at risk. The FBI was given authorization to take control of any funds discovered a number of accounts, one of which was held at Pictet & Co Bankers in Switzerland.

Wednesday’s report in La Tribune de Geneve is written in French, so we’re doing our best to get to the bottom of this. Stay tuned.

Secret Service Seizes $2M from Online Poker Shell Companies

The Secret Service and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office have seized more than $2 million tied to online poker operations following an investigation that uncovered two shell companies connected to money-laundering schemes.

U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said Thursday that Prime Investment, LTD and Trading 24/7 LTD were used as fronts to transfer large amounts of money into the country in order to process online poker transactions. The sheriff’s office had five officers work with the Secret Service to contact online poker players in Upstate South Carolina who were receiving payouts. Nettles said the focus of the investigation was not on the players, but to prevent any money laundering from taking place.

“The companies used a scheme of deception to hide the true source of the money, a violation of federal laws including bank fraud, money laundering and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act,” Nettles said in a press conference.

Nettles also said in a press release that two foreign companies sent more than $40 million into the United States to make payments to players in South Carolina and elsewhere in the country. The names of the two companies were not mentioned.

For its help in the investigation, more than $700,000 was given to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. Nettles said the money will be used for local law enforcement purposes, such as the K9 program and forensic computer lab, which aren’t funded by taxpayer money.

Get more on this story at FoxCarolina.com.

NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship Won’t Return in 2012

NBC has cancelled the popular National Heads-Up Poker Championship for 2012, adding another poker show to the list of casualties caused by Black Friday. The 64-player heads-up event posted a respectable 1.5 rating during its seven years on NBC, but the network pulled the plug after PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, two of the show’s biggest advertisers, were removed from the U.S. market.

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is the third poker show to hit the chopping block in the wake of Black Friday. Earlier this year, NBC dismissed Poker After Dark (NBC), sponsored by Full Tilt, and Fox put an end to the PokerStars Big Game. The Big Game can still be found on PokerStars.tv.

Find out more about NBC Heads-Up being cancelled.

James Bord: “Europeans Are Far Superior To Americans”

The World Series of Poker Europe Main Event got underway on Saturday, and defending champion James Bord officially threw down the gauntlet to American players from across the pond.

Bord offered to refund any losing bets on the WSOPE Main Event (up to $500) on the sports betting site Matchbook.com if an American wins the tournament. Bord, who won last year’s event for £830,401 and now plays in some of the biggest cash games in the world, says he believes Europeans have surpassed Americans in terms of talent at the table.

“I don’t think an American can win the bracelet; Europeans are now far superior,” Bord said this week. “We used to look up to the U.S. players back in the day, but those days are now long gone. I’m prepared to put my money where my mouth is and refund any losing bets up $500 if an American wins.”

Not surprising, several American pros weren’t thrilled with Bord’s comments.

Let the games begin.

Two Americans have claimed victory in the first four years of the WSOPE Main Event. Norway’s Annette Obrestad took it down in 2007, and then Americans John Juanda (2008) and Barry Shulman (2009) won bracelets before Bord won it in his home country last year.

Read more at UK.PokerNews.com.

The Grinder And The Breeder’s Cup

Former November Niner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi has joined forces with the Breeder’s Cup to host the First Annual Breeders’ Cup Celebrity Invitational.

The event, presented by the The Deepstacks Poker Tour, will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana. Among the notables expected to participate are Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener, as well as NBA players Brian Cardinal, Jermaine Taylor and Carl Landry.

Team DeepStacks Pros expected in attendance include Robert Mizrachi, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, Randal “Randallin” Flowers, Karina Jett, Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade and Team Pokerstars Pro David Williams.

The $230 buy-in charity tournament features unlimited $100 rebuys and one $100 optional add-on, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Breeders’ Cup official charity, The V Foundation.

“Poker and horse racing are a natural fit as there’s action, excitement and high stakes in both,” Mizrachi said. “I’m really excited to host this event and to help connect the horse racing and poker communities.”

To register for the event or for more information, visit the Deepstacks website.

Hellmuth Adds Mercier, Lamb to Caesars Cup Team

When selecting his “Team Americas” roster for the upcoming Caesars Cup event at the World Series of Poker Europe in Cannes, Phil Hellmuth went with experience. A lot of experience. The team boasted 39 WSOP bracelets and none of the team members were under the age of 35.

However, with the news that 10-time bracelet-winner Doyle Brunson won’t be making the trip to France this month, the Poker Brat took to Twitter Wednesday looking for an alternate.

Later in the day, Hellmuth made his decision.

Mercier, 24, has arguably accomplished more in the past four years than anyone in the game. He has two WSOP bracelets, a European Poker Tour title, several High Roller victories, and nearly $6 million in earnings. He’s the No. 1-ranked player in the world in both the Global Poker Index and ESPN’s The Nuts. #whenwillitend.

Minutes after selecting Mercier, it was announced that Huck Seed also wouldn’t be making the trip. In staying with the “young gun” theme, Hellmuth replaced Seed with the player he’s currently chasing for WSOP Player of the Year, 26-year-old November Niner Ben Lamb.

Mercier and Lamb join Hellmuth, Johnny Chan and Daniel Negreanu as part of Team Americas. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier’s Team Europe squad features Jake Cody, Gus Hanson, Dario Minieri and Maxim Lykov. The two sides will face off in the Ryder Cup-style poker event on Wednesday, Oct. 19 in Cannes.

For more info on the Caesars Cup, visit WSOP.com.

Bet on the November Nine

The November Nine will reunite in Las Vegas in less than a month, and poker fans will now have the opportunity to bet on the outcome in the City of Sins. Nevada gaming regulators have allowed sports books to offer six different bets on the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.

In addition to betting on which player will win, bettors can wager on who will be the first to bust, which hand will determine the champ, how many hands will be dealt at the final table, and whether the first dealt flop will contain more black or red cards.

When asked if he ever thought he would be listing betting odds on the WSOP, Caesars regional Vice President of Specialty Gaming Howard Greenbaum said, “Ten years ago, no. But I also didn’t imagine the thousands of fans seeking autographs from players or the live television. This shows you how popular the World Series of Poker has become. Our objective was to give people something to bet on.”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has the full story.

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

October 15 2011, Chad Holloway

The first PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour event continued Friday at the Allegre Casino in Medellin, Colombia. Day 1b saw another packed house and, with a few alternates, attracted 351 players, surpassing Day 1a’s capped-field of 330. Combined, the two starting days created a field of 681 players, which makes LAPT Colombia the largest LAPT Main Event in history (surpassing the 621 entries of Chile’s Vina del Mar in March).

After ten levels of play, 108 players survived Day 1b, including Team PokerStars Pro (Brazil) Andre Akkari, Engelberth Varela, Jorge Alvarado, Tulio Bertoli, Cesar Mejia Medina, and Pablo Gonzalez. However, they’re all chasing Leandro Csome, who appears to be the Day 1b chip leader with 149,000. All of those players will return on Saturday for Day 2 and join the 101 survivors from Day 1a, who included Humberto Brenes, Daniel Ospina, and Fredy Torres.

All of these players will be competing for the C$288,329,000 first-place prize, which amounts to USD$151,027.03. Some players who won’t be making a run at the grand prize are Day 1b casualties: Team PokerStars Pro (Argentina) Leo Fernandez, Oded Minond, Jesus Bertoli, James Honeybone, Carlos Zapato, Julio Belluscio, Joao Henrique Lima, and Gaston Catzman.

One survivor, Varela, was active throughout the day, and his stack seemed to be on a perpetual roller-coaster ride. Then, toward the end of the evening, he hit a hand that helped carry him through to Day 2. It happened when he opened from middle position and Zapato three-bet from the button. Action folded back to Varela and he called, leading to a flop. Varela checked, Zapato bet 6,000, and after about 90 seconds of counting out his chips, Varela moved all-in for 37,600. Zapato tanked for about three minutes before calling with , which was behind Varela’s . Neither the turn nor the river changed a thing, and Varela doubled to nearly 90,000.

Likewise, the Day 1b chip leader, Leandro Csome, was the beneficiary of a late-night heater. With about 40 minutes left in the night, action folded to a player in middle position and he put in a raise to 3,000. Csome was next to act in the hijack and he three-bet to 7,000, which cleared the field all the way back the original raiser. A four-bet to 23,000 ensued, Csome called, creating a 50,000-chip pot preflop When the flop came down , the middle-position player moved all-in for around 40,000 and Csome snap-called for about the same amount.

Showdown
Csome:
Opponent:

The fell on the turn followed by the river and when the stacks were counted down, it was discovered that Csome was the one all-in, which meant he doubled to around 130,000.

One of the more interesting story lines as play headed into Day 2 is the race between Pablo Gonzalez and Daniel Ospina, who sit atop the LAPT Player of the Year Leaderboard with 1,125 points and 990 points respectively. These men played on separate starting days, but they’ll be in the same room on Day 2 looking to distance themselves from the rest of the pack.

Day 2 action is set to kick off at 1200 COT (1000 PDT) on Saturday, and we expect it to be a long day because the remaining field is set to play down to a final table, or at least come as close as possible.

Join the PokerNews Live Reporting then for all the latest hands, action, and eliminations from the LAPT Colombia.

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Follow Chad Holloway on Twitter – @ChadAHolloway