February 17 2012, PokerNews Staff

If you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for the top poker news stories of the day, so you can get on with your weekend. There’s plenty to talk about, so we’re not going to waste any time. It seems that federal online poker legislation won’t be on the docket until 2013. Keep reading to find out more on that, what cities All In – The Poker Movie is coming to, and what fashionable poker item didn’t appear on the runways of Fashion Week.

In Case You Missed It

We get it, sometimes you’d rather watch something than read about it. That’s why we bring you the PokerNews Weekly, and in the latest edition, Kristy Arnett is bringing you all the news from São Paulo, Brazil.

We’re only one and a half months into 2012 and already two players have crossed the $1 million profit mark online. Who are they, you ask? You’ll have to read the Online Railbird Report to find out.

Earlier this month, the D.C. Council voted to repeal the district’s online poker legislation. Matthew Kredell talked to council member Michael A. Brown to find out if he’s going to reintroduce his legislation.

We talk a lot of poker here at PokerNews HQ, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have our eye on gaming news in general. In the latest Inside Gaming, we tell you about the Wynn’s SEC investigation, the Las Vegas Strip’s 2011 annual growth number, and more.

Last week, at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop in Tunica, Drew McIlvain was disqualified for alleged chip dumping. We sat down with McIlvain to get his side of the story, and talked to the vice president of Corporate Communications at Caesars Entertainment, Seth Palansky, to find out more about the hand in question and the appeals process.

No More Online Poker Legislation Outs For 2012

According to a report by Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, it seems that federal online poker legislation is more thank likely off the docket until 2013. There were rumors that an online gaming bill was going to be attached to the payroll tax extension, but Harry Reid dispelled those rumors on Thursday.

Chad Beynon, from Macquarie Securities believes that Nevada could benefit from the shelving of the federal online poker legislation debate.

“We think the standards were written in a way that will allow for small adjustments as the process moves forward,” Beynon said. “At this point, no firm date has been set, but 13 companies have now submitted for an operating license.”

Beynon expects three states – New Jersey, Iowa, and California – to follow Nevada’s footsteps and pass online gaming legislation in 2012. And believes states will use Nevada’s regulations as a template.

LVRJ.com has more.

All In – The Poker Movie

Remember when we told you about All In – The Poker Movie? We understand if you don’t, it was a while ago. Well, next month, it’s coming to a movie theater near you. A sneak preview of the movie will be shown at the Avon Theatre in Stamford, Connecticut, which will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Doug Tirola, Susan Bedusa, and Danielle Rosen. The movie opens in New York on March 23, and in Los Angeles on April 13.

The movie focuses on the resurgence of poker in recent years. Matt Damon, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Chris Moneymaker are among those who appear in the movie.

For more, check out All In – The Poker Movie’s Facebook page.

Shuffle Master to Buy Ongame?

According to a report at Casino City Times, bwin.party is looking to sell its recently acquired Ongame Poker Network. Todd Eilers, a gaming analyst from Roth Capital Markets, believes Shuffle Master might be a possible buyer.

“We view the interactive gaming opportunity as the most underappreciated aspect of Shuffle’s growth story,” Eilers said. “Both opportunities could begin generating meaningful revenue this summer.”

MacauBusiness.com is reporting that Shuffle Master CEO Gavin Isaacs said the company “has the ability to buy companies” but is unlikely to spend a large sum of money on one transaction.

“We buy games, we buy intellectual property all the time; that’s our strategy,” Isaacs said.

The Sunday Times is also reporting that Shuffle Master is in talks with bwin.party to buy the Ongame Poker Network for $20 million.

UKIPT Galway Update

Day 1b of the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour Galway attracted 400 players on Friday, bringing the total number of players from both Day 1 flights to 698. Liv Boeree, Sam Holden, Steve O’Dwyer, Nick Abou Risk, and Kevin MacPhee were among those who entered on Day 1b.

PokerStars Qualifier Joris Ruijs leads the Day 1b field with 108,100. Not only that, he has claimed the title of overall chip leader when both Day 1 fields combine on Saturday.

Kevin MacPhee, Ross and Barny Boatman, and Team PokerStars Online’s Mickey Petersen will all advance to Day 2, looking to capture a portion of the nearly half-million euro prize pool.

Who else is moving on? Read the updates on the PokerStars Blog to find out.

Bet24 Adds to the Team

2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event champion Thomas “Kallllle” Pedersen is the latest superstar to join Jesper Hougaard and the team of pros at Bet24.com. Pedersen, who won $1.26 million in the WCOOP Main Event, will don his new Bet24 patch at EPT Copenhagen next week.

“I have had conversations with three different poker sites and eventually chose Bet24, who I see as the strongest player, particularly in the Danish market,” said Pedersen. “This choice is based on my good relationship with Bet24, their professional behavior and crucially, on the extent of the sponsorship and its potential.

“I look forward to an exciting year together with Bet24 and I hope there will be a lot of great enriching experiences for both parties, on and off the poker scene. It’s a dream come true.”

Casper Toft and high-stakes cash player Gillian Epp were also added to the Bet24 team this week.

For a closer look at each of the team members, check out Bet24.com.

Duhamel’s Bracelet Recovered

On Friday, reports surfaced that Jonathan Duhamel’s 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet had been recovered – well, what was left of it anyway. The bracelet was found by a street sweeper in Montreal last Wednesday.

“The sentimental value [of the bracelet] is priceless. We are giving the bracelet to the police, because it is still a piece of evidence, and should help the police with the investigation. We are happy, and Jonathan is doing very well,” said Philippe Jette, Duhamel’s manager.

Read more, and see images of the damaged bracelet on PokerNews.com.

Midas Touch

In December, we told you that the poker room at the Tropicana was getting a name change. Jamie Gold was signed on as the spokesperson and ambassador of the poker room. Gold was making daily visits to the room after the announcement. This weekend marks the room’s grand opening.

If you’re in Las Vegas and want to party with Gold and his friends, there’s a red-carpet event Friday night at RPM Nightclub. On Saturday and Sunday, you can rub elbows with Gold and his friends in two poker tournaments that are being held to celebrate the room’s opening.

PokerNews.com has more.

Designer Chips

Did you forget to get your poker-playing Valentine a gift this week? Fear not, Giorgio Armani can help you out. As a part of their Spring/Summer Collection, Giorgio Armani recently released a custom poker set.

The Delphi poker set comes complete with 138 chips, 5 dice, and 2 decks of personalized Giorgio Armani playing cards. The set comes housed in a red leather box with a magnetic clasp, and can be yours for “786 or just over $1,000.

We never said it was cheap.

Purchase your designer poker set at Armani.com.

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

February 14 2012, Brett Collson

The World Poker Tour has seen consistent growth in several areas since poker was flipped upside down on Black Friday. In addition to the tour’s expansion into Europe with several new stops in Season X, the television ratings on Fox Sports Net climbed by 30 percent, and the online poker traffic at ClubWPT has increased considerably.

World Poker Tour CEO Steve Heller sat down with PokerNews recently to discuss the changes made to the WPT business model and how it could potentially change if online poker is legalized in the U.S.

Many poker players flocked to ClubWPT.com after Black Friday. How has business changed at the site since April?

ClubWPT was already doing very well [before Black Friday]. It certainly did add an additional layer of players who wanted somewhere to come and play competitive poker online. It’s helped the business, but it was a very healthy business beforehand. The integration and sponsorship of the show have exposed the brand and the model to a lot of people, which has really been the key factor.

We still see several real-money online poker rooms operating in the U.S. today. What does ClubWPT offer players that they can’t find at these other sites?

There are a series of things you’ll find at a legal operation as opposed to one that is, quoting the government, violating the law. We run a very professional operation as a subsidiary of bwin.party with a lot of people in the company who have operated in large online poker operations. I think the poker experience is outstanding.

And very importantly, regardless of the service itself, being WPT branded brings with it all of the WPT attributes. Not only do you have the ability to win seats to WPT events, but then you have what we call the ClubWPT VIP experience where you meet the cast, get invited to the parties, you get interviewed, and put on television.

Right now, ClubWPT is a subscription site. Could we see a change in the business model if online poker is legalized in the states?

I think you’ll always see a subscription offering. I think there’s a market for subscription that fits a lot of people’s lifestyles quite well. However, if there are other forms of poker that are legalized and of interest to the poker playing community, then of course we would look to offer that service using the WPT brand and applying the WPT assets. I’d say it would add to [the subscription site] rather than replace it.

Would bwin.party have any influence on that?

Well, bwin.party is the parent company, but we very much run an independent entity here. We have relationships with a variety of online sites in Europe and a variety of casinos. We would make decisions that would be best for the WPT brand and the WPT business.

What do you think will happen in the next year in regards to online poker legislation in the U.S.?

I’m not sure I’m the person to be predicting what the government is going to do, or any one of 51 or 52 governments is going to do in the United States. But we certainly have some optimism that you will see regulated online poker in some form somewhere during 2012. It think it feels to most of the industry like there’s a lot of momentum toward the government understanding that regulated online poker is the best solution for online poker.

What we’re really focused on is getting quality legislation and encouraging the government to interact with the industry and make sure that the legislation integrates all of the knowledge in the industry on how to best serve players, protect players, and satisfy the consumer interest.

Switching to the live circuit, what has attendance been like at WPT events since Black Friday?

The attendance has been excellent since Black Friday. It is very difficult, frankly, to assess the year-to-year numbers in general, but there are a variety of influences on live event attendance. It’s difficult to isolate one influence, and we even believe Black Friday has had conflicting influences. In other words, there have been some positive influences and some negative influences on tour attendance.

For example, you have the pros in the U.S. who will be interested in showing up for an event in a casino and playing in the cash games and other tournaments before and after because that’s now the primary place that they’re going to play poker. The downside is that some players who were maybe “fringe” players have stopped being poker pros and decided to either find another interest or only play on occasion. The factors go in multiple directions, but in general, the attendance has been fantastic. We had our biggest event ever in September at Borgata with over 1,300 entries.

The World Poker Tour has expanded into Europe with more stops overseas in Season X. Do you expect more growth in Europe during Season 11?

There’s been great demand for WPT in Europe and we’ve taken the tour from having two events a couple years ago to having 10 or 12 in the calendar year. I do expect to continue to see additional events on the tour and WPT branded. There are a lot of casino partners that continue to come to us that have interest; it’s a matter of finding the right venues and the right calendar. But Europe continues to be a vibrant and growing market, and certainly WPT will continue growing there.

Season X is set to hit television screens this month. Can you talk about the changes to the coverage and what you have in store for viewers this season?

Last year, we made a lot of major changes in not only the way that WPT is broadcast, but in a way that we think poker programming is thought of. This year, we’re continuing that path. I think one of the big things that’s changing is we’re now offering three hours of coverage of each event, which allows for extended coverage of the play-down days.

Coverage of the play-down [from Season IX] got tremendous feedback from viewers and players and really gives a much fuller sense of what goes on at the event. So we decided to expand that substantially. It allows us to show more hands of poker, but also gives us some time to add more context to the players at the final table and the event in general.

We’ve also added a segment called “On The Road” which shows life on the World Poker Tour from the cast perspective and the player perspective to give viewers a little bit of a look behind the scenes.

We’re also celebrating our tenth season as a milestone and anniversary. You’ll see some look-backs into some of the most famous and most dramatic final table moments from the first nine seasons.

What are some of your plans for the WPT in the future?

We see the WPT’s role in the industry as very much of an ambassador to bring poker to people’s lives. So we’re going to continue to look for ways to expand geographically. We’ll look for ways to expand poker to make it of greater interest to those who have been historically engaged in poker. And we’ll try to allow viewers in particular to get a greater understanding of what playing in one of these events and being on the tour is like, and who these people are so [viewers] can root for them or root against them. That way they’ll have a more entertaining and deeper experience.

One important development is that the viewership has become more sophisticated. In Season IV we had a segment called the “Raw Deal” where you’re going into great depth and very sophisticated analysis. I think we’ll continue on that path to allow people to get deeper and deeper analysis and discussion of what goes on on the tour.

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Follow Brett Collson on

January 27 2012, PokerNews Staff

Download PokerStars now to participate in the PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) from Jan. 19 through 29.

The inaugural PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) is coming to a close, but PokerNews players still have a chance to become one of the first-ever champions of the brand new series! PokerStars is offering more than $4 million in guarantees across 15 Turbo and Hyper Turbo tournaments this weekend, with buy-ins starting as low as $33 and ranging all the way to the $2,100 High Roller.

The TCOOP schedule includes a huge selection of PokerStars’ most popular games, including Texas hold’em, Omaha, stud, H.O.R.S.E. and 8-game mix. The series culminates on Sunday, Jan. 29, with a $700 buy-in Main Event that features a $1.5 million guarantee!

Satellites for each TCOOP event are running non-stop, which means that anyone can play for their share of the cash and the chance to be crowned one of the first TCOOP champions. You can view a live schedule of the satellite tournaments at PokerStars.com or in the PokerStars lobby under the “TCOOP” tab.

Here’s a look at the remaining schedule of events for the Turbo Championship of Online Poker (All times Eastern):

Friday, Jan. 27, 2012
08:00 – $82 NL Hold’em 6-Max ($250K Gtd)
10:00 – $55 PL Omaha 6-Max 2R1A ($100K Gtd)
12:00 – $55 NL Hold’em Ante Up! ($100K Gtd)
14:00 – $109 FL Hold’em 6-Max ($100K Gtd)

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012
10:00 – $109 HORSE ($25K Gtd)
12:00 – $109 PL Omaha Heads-Up ($50K Gtd)
14:00 – $33 NL Hold’em 2x Turbo w/ Rebuys ($300K Gtd)
16:00 – $109 NL Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max Hyper-Turbo ($100K Gtd)
19:00 – $33 TCOOP Special ($100K Gtd)

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012
06:00 – $109 NL Hold’em ($100K Gtd)
11:00 – $215 NL Hold’em ($750K Gtd)
12:00 – $2,100 NL Hold’em High Roller ($500K Gtd)
13:30 – $320 8-Game ($100K Gtd)
15:30 – $700 NL Hold’em Main Event ($1.5M Gtd)
18:30 – $215 Hyper-Turbo ($300K Gtd)

The Turbo Championship of Online Poker is in full swing so if you don’t have a PokerStars account, be sure to sign up through PokerNews. Remember to use the marketing code “POKERNEWS.COM” and the bonus code “STARS600″ and you can receive a very generous 100% up to $600 first-deposit bonus.

If you experience any problems with this or any of our promotions, please contact our Ticketed Promo Support System.

*Photo courtesy of PokerStars Blog