September 16 2012, Brett Collson

Did you miss any of the top poker news stories this week? Well you’ve come to the right place to get caught up. We’re covering the latest in Full Tilt Poker’s relaunch efforts, the 10 finalists for the 2012 Poker Hall of Fame, and more.

Poker Business

Preparing For (Re)Launch

With the official relaunch of Full Tilt Poker less than two months away, the company is now looking for a number of new employees to fill its marketing and information technology departments.

Rational FT Services, which provides technology, marketing and comprehensive consulting services for Full Tilt Poker, is seeking “talented professionals for a range of jobs in areas including information technology, marketing, design, customer support, finance and administration.” Nearly a dozen job listings have been posted, all of which will require relocation to FTP headquarters in Ireland.

“As a member of one of our specialist teams, you’ll have the opportunity to work in a fast-paced environment alongside some of the industry’s most experienced innovators and visionaries,” the listing says.

According to members of the online poker community, Full Tilt Poker has been also sending emails to customers requesting ID verification ahead of the site’s upcoming relaunch.

Customers have been asked to send in photo identification and address verification in accordance with the “anticipated Isle of Man regulatory requirements.” According to the email, once Full Tilt Poker’s relaunch is complete and players have provided the necessary documents, they will have unrestricted access to their account, including all cashier functionality and poker games.

The emails are totally legit and have been confirmed by Shyam Markus, Poker Room Manager at Full Tilt Poker. So far, it seems that only a small percentage of Full Tilt Poker customers have been notified, but the wheels are certainly in motion in order for the site to open its doors by Nov. 6, 2012, as promised.

More info can be found at TwoPlusTwo.com.

Gold Room Closes

Less than seven months after its grand opening, Tropicana Las Vegas has pulled the plug on the poker room named after 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Jamie Gold.

“As part of our continuing transformation of Tropicana Las Vegas, we have decided to close our poker room in order to move forward with our construction plans for that section of our property,” the casino said in a statement on Tuesday. “The hard work by our outstanding team members in the poker room has not gone unnoticed and we are currently seeking alternative opportunities for them at Tropicana Las Vegas.”

The Tropicana closed its poker room in 2008 but re-opened its doors in April 2011. Late last year, it hired Gold to be its poker spokesperson and ambassador and named the room after him. Gold made regular appearances at the room to play cash games and tournaments.

The casino hasn’t said what it plans to do with the space previously occupied by the poker room.

Read more at the Las Vegas Journal-Review.

Justice Department Issues Second Amended Complaint

On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a second amended civil complaint in the case involving =poker indictments filed on April 15, 2011.

The amended complaint introduces new forfeiture charges against Howard Lederer, alleging he purchased assets with “illegal proceeds” from Full Tilt Poker. Records indicate that Lederer used illegal funds for retirement funds, mortgage payments, property taxes, and to purchase numerous vehicles, including a 2008 Maserati GranTurismo, 2008 Audi Q7, and a 2012 Audi A8L, which was purchased on or about June 30, 2011 – two and a half weeks after Black Friday.

Because the listed expenditures can be traced to an “illegal enterprise,” the Department of Justice is seeking forfeiture of $42.5 million from Lederer. Forfeitures have also been listed for former FTP board members Chris Ferguson ($42 million), Ray Bitar ($40.8 million) and Rafe Furst $40.8 million).

In addition, the second amended complaint added the Travel Act 18 U.S.C. § 1952 as a Federal criminal statute in support of their forfeiture request. The Travel Act essentially forbids the use of “interstate and foreign travel of transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.” The inclusion of the Travel Act gives the DOJ another statute to rely on in addition to the IGBA and Wire Act.

Read more in the story here at PokerNews.com.

Venetian Opens New Poker Room

The Venetian Las Vegas has officially launched the largest poker room on the Las Vegas Strip. The brand new Sands Poker Room at The Venetian boasts 59 tables across a plush 14,000 square feet of space, giving poker players one of the best atmospheres in all of Las Vegas to play their favorites games.

“The new Sands Poker Room at The Venetian is a player’s room in every way,” said Kathy Raymond, Venetian executive director of poker operations. “We have carefully integrated new poker room features and services – keeping poker player needs front-of-mind. We believe that the atmosphere and addition of innovative and value-centered promotions and tournaments will give players of all levels a poker experience like no other.”

As part of the grand opening, the Venetian is offering a number of new promotions. From 10 to 11 a.m. and from 5 to 6 p.m., every Sunday through Thursday, the Venetian Happy Hour program allows players to take advantage of rake-free play at the tables. And beginning Sept. 17, the poker room will infuse “Bad Beat” Jackpots into the daily schedule.

Additional promotions will be announced later this month, along with full details of the celebratory Grand Opening Event. See the Sand Poker Room website for more details.

Poker Players

Poker Hall of Fame Finalists

On Wednesday, the World Series of Poker announced the 10 finalists for the 2012 Poker Hall of Fame. The finalists were chosen via a public nomination process on WSOP.com, and it will now be up to the current Hall of Famers and a panel of media members to select new members for induction next month during the WSOP Main Event final table festivities.

Here’s a look at the finalists:

• Chris Bjorin
• David Chiu
• Eric Drache
• Thor Hansen
• George Hardie
• Jennifer Harman-Traniello
• John Juanda
• Tom McEvoy
• Scotty Nguyen
• Brian “Sailor” Roberts

Up to two of the aforementioned nominees will join an elite list of Hall of Famers like Johnny Moss, Puggy Pearson, Doyle Brunson, Jack Strauss, Benny Binion, David “Chip” Reese, Thomas Austin “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Stu Ungar, and Phil Hellmuth. Last year, Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson were added to the prestigious club.

For more info on each nominee, read the story here at PokerNews.com.

Tony G Invests in Jungleman

On Tuesday, Tony wrote in his blog that he will be fronting Cates’ buy-ins for live and online tournaments and cash games. Cates has reportedly won more than $6 million playing online poker in his brief career and is considered among the best heads-up no-limit cash-game players in the world.

“I think this guy could turn $5 million into $100 million – he’s a genius,” Tony wrote. “I started off by backing him for the WPT Grand Prix de Paris and intend to back him live but predominantly online.”

Read Tony’s blog in its entirety at PartyPoker.com.

Poker Tournaments

Au Revoir, Partouche

The Partouche Poker Tour crowned its final champion last Sunday. Three days after CEO Patrick Partouche announced the end of the series due to a controversy involving the prize pool, Germany’s Ole Schemion took down the “8,500 Main Event for “1,172,850.

Schemion outlasted a field of 489 players, including a tough group of players at the final table. Poker pros Dan O’Brien and Aaron Lim finished in fourth and third place, respectively, leaving Ole Schemion heads-up with Karen Sarkisyan. Schemion held a 13.5 million to 3.5 million chip advantage when the match began, and it was over after just 20 minutes. On the final hand of the match, Sarkisyan was all-in with on a board against Schemion’s . Schemion’s king-high flush held up on the river and he claimed the honor of being the last winner in the tour’s history.

With the victory, Schemion joins Alain Roy, Jean-Paul Pasqualini, Vanessa Selbst, and Sam Trickett as Main Event winners of one of France’s most popular poker tournaments over the past five years. Unfortunately, the circuit now bids adieu to the Partouche Poker Tour.

Here’s a look at the final table results of the final Partouche Poker Tour Main Event:

Get more details from the final table at the Partouche Poker Tour website.

ISPT Gets Stronger

The International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT) has added another superstar to its growing list of ambassadors, announcing this week that David Benyamine is endorsing the Europe-based tour. Benyamine joins Sam Trickett, Michael Mizrachi, Patrik Antonius and Liz Lieu as reps for the ISPT, which is set to kick off next May at Wembley Stadium in London.

Benyamine is known best as a cash-game specialist but has also enjoyed success in tournaments, cashing for more than $6.3 million around the world. He has wins at the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour, and is a European Poker Tour win shy of the Poker Triple Crown.

Benyamine, Antonius and Lieu were donning ISPT patches during the Partouche Poker Tour last week. The ISPT team was on hand to shoot a promo with its newest recruits.

For more info about the International Stadiums Poker Tour, visit ISPT.com.

Poker Legislation

Summary of Federal Online Poker Bill

A summary of a federal online gaming bill put forth by Sens. Harry Reid and Jon Kyl has been circulating through the online poker community this week. The bill, entitled the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012, calls for a restriction of most forms of online gambling, with the exception of online poker.

The Reid/Kyl bill would look to modify the 1961 Wire Act and the 1970 Illegal Gambling Business Act so that they “clearly apply to modern technologies and to all forms of unlicensed Internet gambling.” However, the measure would permit licensed online poker, in addition to off-track horse-race wagering and online lottery tickets.

Should the bill become a law, it would take a minimum of 15 months before an online poker market would be open in the U.S. The activity would be allowed only in states or on tribal lands that opt in to the law. A tribe can only opt in if the state in which it resides also opts in.

Despite recent optimism about the prospect of a federal online poker bill, the future of the measure was threatened this week because of a heated conflict between Reid and Senator Dean Heller, who has been working with Kyl to coax Republican leaders and GOP senators into supporting the bill. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Reid had given Heller a deadline of Sept. 10 to secure the 60-vote majority in the Senate to move the bill through Congress before it recesses in November. Heller responded by saying that it would be beneficial for the House of Representatives to first address this issue. Kyl sided with Heller, and questioned Reid’s motives in creating the deadline.

For a closer look at the bill, read the summary right here at PokerNews.com.

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September 15 2012, Chad Holloway

The 2012 Winstar World Casino River Poker Series Main Event is in the books, but the effects of the tournament will be long lasting for Aaron Massey, who topped a field of 1,396 players to capture the $651,559 first-place prize.

For the past two years, Massey has been grinding the circuit in search of a big score. Along the way he amassed a little more than $350,000 in winnings, including wins in the 2011 Indiana State Poker Championship $300 Re-Entry No-Limit Hold’em for $60,461 and 2012 Chicago Poker Classic $350 Pot Limit Omaha Rebuy for $40,940. However, it wasn’t until 2012 Winstar World Casino River Poker Series that he struck it big, almost doubling his career earnings in one fell swoop and bringing his lifetime earning to $1,035,448!

The win clearly meant a lot to Massey, as evidenced by his emotion-filled winner’s interview, so PokerNews reached out to the game’s latest millionaire to find out how he’s dealing with the win.

Can you start by telling us a little about yourself?

I’ll try and make this brief and not sound like a sob story because it’s not; in fact, it’s a great story. My brother and I grew up with a single mom. Our dad lived in a different state, was in and out of our lives, and then disappeared for good when I was 15. We were broke but grew up in a very nice neighborhood, which was both a gift and a curse. It was very beneficial because I was able to go to great schools but also sucked because our friends had so much more than us.

I always knew I wanted to have the finer things in life and was willing to work hard for it. I went to Fenwick High School for two years and Elmwood Park High School for two years. I wrestled at both and was a two-time conference champion. After that I went to NIU where I got a degree in finance, and it’s where I found poker. Well, not exactly, but its where I found no-limit hold’em. I first learned poker from my grandma who played five-card draw and always cheated. She always lied about having an ace so she could draw four.

Funny story, she actually tried to cheat my brother, Ralph, on her death bed two days before she died, but he wouldn’t let her get away with it. Swear to God, he called her out and made her show her hand on her death bed! As expected, she showed a , and grinned at Ralph as he dealt her three cards.

As a sophomore some friends and I rented a townhouse just off campus, next to the bar – yeah buddy. My friend, Mike Costello, walked in the first day with a silver briefcase of poker chips. He taught me how to play and everyday we would play four to eight handed tourneys at the table for beers and for fun.

Sometimes I would have marathon heads-up matches with my buddies, Chris and Kamal. Soon I was playing these freeroll bar tourneys – I had a fake ID – and playing a small cash game at this kid Scott’s apartment. It was legit, $.25/$.50 no-limit. He took a small rake and offered drinks and snacks. Then at 19, I started frequenting the casino to play $5/$10 limit hold’em. I graduated to $1/$2 no-limit and then eventually found tournaments.

How does it feel to tin the 2012 Winstar World Casino River Poker Series Main Event?

Winning the Winstar Main Event was genuinely the best moment of my life. It still hasn’t really set in yet. People are asking me how it feels, I can only respond “I don’t even know yet.” I really don’t. Everything is happening so fast right now it is kind of overwhelming – for real.

What are your thoughts on the Winstar?

The tournament series at the Winstar is a ridiculously good value. Every tourney is good and the Main Event is beyond great. I bet next year the fields are even bigger. The staff was great, the dealers were great, and everything was just great. I can’t believe I got first place. It’s so sick.

Can you tell us a little bit about the tournament and more specifically the final table? Any memories/big hands/tough opponents/etc.?

The tournament didn’t start off great for me. After bricking Day 1a and 1b, I made the money on the last try. I was down to 5,100 at 150/300 and I even took a pic of my stack of two chips on my phone. The next pic on my phone is my stack when I got to a million. When I got to the final table I was very confident and prepared. I have come up short at the final table several times. Some have been my fault, and I have left a lot of money on the table in my short career. Some haven’t, and as I have had to continue the humble grind.

You busted on both Day 1a and 1b before entering for a third and final time on Day 1c. Did you go to the WinStar with the intention of firing three bullets if necessary? What are you thoughts and strategies for these reentry events?

As far as this reentry goes, I always planned on firing three barrels. I always fire every barrel in the chamber wherever I go. Bang, bang, bang!

Prior to this score, which was your first six-figure score, you had $357,709 in winnings. You nearly doubled that at WinStar. What does that sort of money mean to you and how will it change your life?

I can’t lie the money is definitely going to change my life. There will be a lot less pressure on me, that’s for sure. Having a little security for the first time in the 28 years I have been on this earth may actually help me play better in the future. I’ll most likely be super relaxed now, and will not have as many emotional highs and lows. Who I am I kidding? I too competitive, I’m still gonna go out there and play for souls. It’s the only way I know how.

Did you have backers or sell pieces of yourself, or did you have all of your action?

I do have a backing deal. I play for the best of the best. I play for Cliff “Johnnybax” Josephy. The deal I play for is 50/50 with makeup. Luckily for me, I have been very consistent the last two years and don’t play many big buy-in tournaments, so my makeup has never been high at any point. My number with “Bax” was very small when I won, so that’s good.

Do you have any big plans for the money? Will you be making any big purchases?

I do not have any plans for the money at this point except to earn more. I’m a workhorse, I’m a mule. I wanna roll this up, I don’t wanna go in the other direction. The one thing I am obligated to do is take Kurt Jewell and Jake Bazeley, sigh, and my brother, to Hawaii for an all expenses paid skydiving trip. We made a deal on the way to Vegas this summer. If anyone of us wins a bracelet, he has to take the other two on the trip and pay for it.

Well, that loser Bazeley only managed a second in the first $1,500 bracelet event of the World Series of Poker. He didn’t win so he didn’t have to take us on the trip even though he chopped the money. What a loser. As for us, we bricked the summer ourselves. When the three of us were driving to Winstar from Biloxi, we made the same deal, only this time it was based on this Main Event. Well, I won and they just luck boxed themselves a little vacation. Kurt keeps bugging me by showing prices for the flights he keeping researching. “Look how cheap it is! We could leave this day!” Shut up, Kurt.

What was the reaction of your family and friends after your win?

I have gotten an overwhelming influx of support and love from the friends and family that really matter. There are several people who have been so supportive of me through the good times and bad. There are others who I expected to be there for me but weren’t. For the ones that were, it is you, and you know who you are, that I humbly thank. Thank you for sticking it out with your boy. Thank you for believing in me.

Can you comment on what life is like traveling the circuit, who you room and spend time with, and what you like about it?

Life traveling the circuit is great for the most part. Some of the stops are boring as hell outside of poker but I love being on the road, living in hotels and meeting new people, more specifically new women in every city. My mom calls my brother and me gypsies who live out of suitcases. I usually travel with Kurt Jewell, Jake Bazeley and my brother.

Kurt and I have been doing it together for two years straight, and we always have a blast talking poker strategy, making fun of each other and kicking each other out of the room when one of us brings a girl back. Not Jake though, he has a girlfriend. There’s usually non-stop laughs and non-stop ball busting. It’s great.

What’s next for Aaron Massey? Will you be playing any bigger buy-in events? Will you be on the WSOP Circuit looking to qualify for the National Championship?

What’s next for me is basically the same thing I’ve been doing for the last two years. I don’t plan on playing that many bigger buy-ins. I’ve seen people have big scores like this then rack up huge make-up figures by playing $5,000 and $10,000 buy-ins. Maybe I will after my next big score but for now I’m still the same old circuit grinder.

I’m gonna get my first ring and make sure I’m back in that National Championship this year because, as far as I’m concerned, I could have won that event last year if I didn’t lose that massive pot to David “ODB” Baker. I have unfinished business on the circuit this year that I need to take care of and I plan on getting it done. I’m on a mission.

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