October 09 2012, Brett Collson

Were you excited about the relaunch of Full Tilt Poker before this week? If so, you’ll love the news released on Monday and Tuesday. We’ll bring you that, plus October Niners preparing for the WSOP Main Event final table, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Would the federal online poker bill introduced by Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl be the best option for poker players in the U.S.? PokerNews’ Matthew Kredell gives his take.

On Tuesday, Full Tilt Poker announced that it has received an operating license in the Isle of Man. Read the full story here at PokerNews.com.

What steps did Full Tilt Poker need to take before it received its Isle of Man gaming license? PokerNews’ Rich Ryan spoke with Gambling Supervision Commission CEO Steve Brennan to find out that and more.

Dan Heimiller won the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event on Monday. Read about his road to victory in our WSOPC recap.

Many pros had success during the side events at EPT Sanremo. Chad Holloway takes a look at all of the winners.

Russell Thomas Hires Somerville

Since the inception of the November Nine in 2008, we’ve heard many stories about the training and studying players have done in the months leading up to the World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table. Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and other high-profile players have even been hired as coaches for November Niners.

This year is no different. Chip leader Jesse Sylvia told the PokerNews Podcast crew last week that he’s hired Vanessa Selbst to give him pointers ahead of the final table. And on Tuesday, we learned that Russell Thomas has appointed Jason Somerville as his October Nine coach.

To make the experience more memorable, Somerville is filming the entire process and sharing it with the poker community. Said Somerville via Twitter, “I’ve spent more time on this project than anything else I’ve ever done and I’m really proud of it. My sincere thanks to all who’ve contributed!”

Thomas will enter the final table fourth in chips with 24.8 million. Here’s a look at Part I of his training process with Somerville and others:

FTOPS XXI Coming in December

With an operating license in its pocket and a relaunch set for Nov. 6, Full Tilt Poker is gearing up for the next edition of the popular Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) in December.

According to FTP poker room manager Shyam Markus, FTOPS XXI is scheduled to run from Dec. 2 through 16. The quarterly series became a staple on the poker site’s annual calendar and the company is wasting little time in restoring it to the schedule.

The official slate of events for FTOPS XXI hasn’t been announced, but players can likely expect a similar variation of games and buy-in, as well as the flagship Main Event to round out the series. Earlier this year, more than $9 million was awarded in the $640 buy-in FTOPS IX Main Event alone, with Blair Hinkle collecting the largest share ($1.1 million) after negotiating a deal at the final table. The most recent series, FTOPS XX, ran post-Black Friday and saw much small prize pools because of the absence of U.S. players.

For more information on the relaunch of Full Tilt Poker, visit Shyam Markus’ thread at TwoPlusTwo.com.

ESPN’s The Nuts

The latest edition of ESPN’s The Nuts was released on Tuesday. The monthly blog post ranks the best poker players in the world at the moment. The 10-person panel includes Elaine Chaivarlis, PokerNews’ editor in chief; Don Peters, PokerNews‘ tournament reporting manager; and ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, among others.

Phil Ivey maintained the top spot again this month, but his reign is being threatened by the game’s all-time WSOP bracelet leader. Phil Hellmuth won his 13th bracelet at the WSOP Europe Main Event last week, giving him two bracelets in 2012 and an excellent shot at WSOP Player of the Year. Hellmuth received two first-place votes from The Nuts‘ panel; Phil Ivey received seven, and Jason Mercier earned one after his victory in the $10,300 WCOOP 8-Game Championship at PokerStars last month.

Antonio Esfandiari climbed into the top 10 this month following his own second bracelet win of 2012. Esfandiari sits at No. 6 in the rankings after winning the ” 1,100 re-entry event at the WSOP Europe. Esfandiari won the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop this summer for $18 million, making him the game’s all-time tournament money winner.

Here’s a look at the top 10 for October.

For more analysis on The Nuts rankings, check out ESPN.com.

Lo Toney Leaves Zynga

On Tuesday, PokerNews learned that Laurence “Lo” Toney has left his position as general manager of Zynga Poker. Toney spent three years at Zynga, two as the manager of the poker division, before making his exit this year.

In an interview with All Things D, Toney said his departure is less about Zynga and more about other opportunities that have been offered to him. “I have been approached by several organizations to lead teams and companies that I find exciting and compelling,” he said. “It is the right time for me in my career to move on.”

Toney leaves the company while it is still a free-play service, but Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said earlier this year that that real-money gaming would be a “natural fit.” The company, which currently raises revenue through advertising and the sale of virtual goods, has been in discussions with several partners about a shift into the real-money online gambling market.

Read more at AllThingsD.com.

WSOP on ESPN

ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker continues Tuesday night with action from the penultimate Day 7 of the Main Event. The broadcast begins at 9:30 p.m. ET and will focus on the remaining 27 players battling for a spot at the final table.

The coverage will feature two women – Elisabeth Hille and Gaelle Baumann – reaching the final 27 players for the first time since 2000, when Annie Duke and Kathy Liebert made deep runs, only to fall short of the final table. They’ll begin the broadcast chasing French-Canadian Marc-Andre Ladouceur, who began Day 7 as the chip leader. Others still in the field entering the day were Greg Merson, Paul Volpe, Jamie Robbins, Daniel Strelitz, Yuval Bronshtein and Steven Gee.

If you happened to miss any of the action during our Day 7 coverage in July (spoiler), here’s a teaser of tonight’s broadcast:

ElkY, Katchalov Pedal into Sanremo

A lot of players made the trip from Cannes to Sanremo to play in the European Poker Tour Main Event. But Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Eugene Katchalov did it on bikes! Sarah Grant caught up with Katchalov, Grospellier, and their trainer to discuss the unusual trip to Italy.

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

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October 09 2012, Matthew Kredell

The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of PokerNews.

Since the leaking of summary text of a Senate bill that would regulate online poker, the poker community has debated whether this legislation from Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ari.) is the best option for poker players.

There is another possibility that already is under way, and that is letting online poker spread at the state level without a federal umbrella.

If the issue is solely the future of online poker in America, there should be nothing to debate. The Reid-Kyl bill, even if all player fears from the summary text are realized in the final bill, is by far the superior option.

There is, however, a legitimate reason to oppose the Reid-Kyl bill in favor of going state by state. The Reid-Kyl bill is good for poker but bad for freedom.

In the first interview I did with Barney Frank three and a half years ago, the Congressman from Massachusetts told me: “I’m in favor of people doing a lot of things I don’t do. It’s a matter of personal freedom. It’s my fundamental principle that it’s not my business if people gamble, and the government should not be intruding.”

At that time, the main online poker bill in Congress was Frank’s legislation, which included all forms of gambling except sports betting (which he also wanted to include but gave in to the NFL’s opposition). Then we moved on to the poker-only bill from Rep. Joe Barton. It abandoned casino games to focus only on poker. This was the sensible thing to do, as there was more political support for poker.

The Barton bill wouldn’t hinder the freedom of anyone who wants to participate in other forms of gambling online, and a successful run of regulated online poker in the U.S. could have helped other forms of Internet gambling eventually gain acceptance. But neither of these bills ever came close to passing.

The Reid-Kyl bill is different. The summary text reads: “Under the bill, all Internet gambling, whether interstate or intrastate, would be prohibited, except off-track horse-race wagering under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 and licensed poker.”

It has a lot in common with the dreaded Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which is even in its title – “The Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012.” Two-thirds of the bill is about restricting the freedom of Americans to gamble online.

That the other third of the bill sets up regulation for Internet poker is a credit to the poker community and the Poker Players Alliance. That is our victory for all the outcry, letters, phone calls, emails, tweets and Facebook posts. Six years ago, the poker lobby and poker players weren’t strong or united enough to get the exception from UIGEA that horse racing obtained. Now, in this new and more potent version of UIGEA, not only does poker get its carve out but also the legitimacy of licensing.

The Las Vegas casinos that influence Reid have accepted Internet poker for the most part but are fearful of casino gambling being available online and how that would affect their business. Kyl and his moralist branch of the Republican party want to stop states from getting full Internet gambling up and are willing to make an exception for poker to do so.

Our real debate should be if the licensing and regulation of online poker is worth supporting a bill that allows the government to restrict what we can do in our own homes. That is a complicated issue.

As a skill game, poker deserves to be separated from other forms of gambling. I don’t consider myself a gambler. When I go to Las Vegas, the only time I play blackjack or any other casino game is to be social with friends. I have no interest in playing a game where the odds are against me. I’ve never even bought a lottery ticket. Poker is different. At least in certain games or tables, I feel the odds are in my favor.

The Reid-Kyl bill undoubtedly is better for the future of poker in the U.S. than going state by state.

As the various state proposals made thus far have shown, states can’t be trusted to provide an open marketplace, and tax rates that won’t be passed on to consumers. Going state by state will produce varied and inconsistent outcomes.

The opt-in requirement of the Reid-Kyl bill should not be held against it. Without federal encouragement, the states will move to legalize at a much slower pace, and they likely will do so in a way that fragments the national player pool. States will form interstate compacts for increased liquidity, but it will produce competing networks. Nevada is likely to lead one group, with New Jersey leading another, California a third group, and perhaps other states being on their own or forming another coalition. Someone in California likely won’t be able to play online with a friend nearby in Nevada or on the East Coast.

The PPA is confident that player penalties will not be in the final Reid-Kyl bill, but that cannot be said about future state legislation. California and Florida already have included penalties in their proposals.

If all you care about is the future of online poker at any cost, it should be an easy decision to support the Reid-Kyl bill.

Personally, I don’t plan to participate in any form of online gambling other than poker, so the bill makes sense for me. However, I agree with Barney Frank. Just because I don’t do something doesn’t mean I think the government should be infringing on the rights of people who do want to do it. I don’t see why the government should be allowed to deem that it’s OK to gamble on stocks from your computer but not on cards.

Las Vegas casinos and Kyl are pushing for the bill because they know that states will move forward with full Internet gambling without it. Delaware already became the first state to approve full-scale Internet gambling. New Jersey is expected to do the same, perhaps before the end of the year.

So perhaps it’s worth the long and unpredictable road of going state by state to allow states to decide whether or not they want to allow casino games. My moral compass points in this direction.

Honestly, I’m not sure our opinion matters at this point. Reid and Kyl, two of the most powerful members of their respective political parties, either will generate the support to attach this bill to must-pass legislation during the lame-duck session or they won’t. It’s not a good bill for individual freedoms, but we’ve done our part in getting poker regulation included. Now it will either happen or it won’t, with or without our support.