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 intense high-stakes action at Full Tilt Poker, promising news for online poker players in New Jersey, and more.

Online Poker

Dwan’s Online Poker Marathon

Where has Tom Dwan been lately? We’d been wondering that ourselves.

Since the relaunch of Full Tilt Poker last November, Dwan had been virtually absent from the high-stakes games on the site while the other two members of FTP’s pro team, Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom and Gus Hansen, were putting in major volume. In fact, entering Thursday, Dwan had played just 7,575 hands since the start of the year. Blom had played 38,800 hands; Hansen had logged more than 31,000.

But late this week, Dwan put in a marathon session reminiscent of the ones we saw in years’ past. According to HighStakesDB.com, Dwan logged into FTP Thursday afternoon and sat down at a few no-limit hold’em tables on FTP. Nearly 7,000 hands and 25 hours later, Dwan had profited more than $1.25 million.

Dwan’s session began with brief $300/600 NLHE heads-up matches against “SanIker” and “bbvisbadforme,” where he made about $17,000 in 70 minutes. But that was it for the hold’em games; Dwan then moved on to pot-limit Omaha and no-limit 2-7 triple draw, and that’s when the chips really starting moving in his direction.

Dwan faced off against the likes of Ben “Sauce1234″ Sulsky, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Hac “trex313″ Dang, Alex “Alexonmoon” Leneau at the $200/400 no-limit 2-7 tables. Unfortunately, HighStakesDB.com doesn’t track individual 2-7 hands in its database, but we can tell you he profited more than $1.3 million playing the popular draw game.

Dwan also matched talents against Ben “Bttech” Tollerene, one of the biggest online poker winners of last year. The two high-stakes regs sat down at two heads-up tables of $300/600 pot-limit Omaha late Thursday night, and didn’t quit until 18 hours later. Dwan held the lead for most of the match, but Tollerene went on a rush Friday afternoon and finished on top by around $30,000.

At one point during the session, Dwan had more than $1.8 million spread across five tables. It’s safe to say that the “durrrr” we’ve come to know is officially back.

Keep an eye out for more action from Full Tilt Poker’s nosebleed games. And be sure to read the Online Railbird Report for an in-depth look at the largest pots and biggest winners in online poker over the past week.

Antonius Accepts Another Challenge

With the “Durrrr Challenge” on hiatus for more than two years, Patrik Antonius is finding other players to face off against at Full Tilt Poker. On Wednesday, Antonius and Rui Cao kicked off a cash game challenge that will see one of them walk away with $1 million. The heads-up freezout will consist of three poker variants: pot-limit Omaha ($350,000 match), no-limit hold’em (350,000) and 2-7 triple draw ($300,000).

Cao initiated the challenge last Friday in a chat box after Antonius swept him clean during a triple draw match. Five days later, the duo had already completed their 2-7 challenge playing at $1,500/$3,000 limits on Wednesday morning. According to HighStakesDB.com, Cao controlled the table from start to finish taking Antonius for his $300,000 chip stack in only three hours and 350 hands.

We have yet to witness Antonius and Cao playing the second stage of the three-session match, but we’ll have updates as soon as it resumes.

HighStakesDB has more.

Play Against The Professionals

Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom is recognized as one of the most fearless high rollers in all of poker. The Swede has taken shots at the biggest online cash games in existence, and his name is tagged to each of the 10 largest pots in online poker history.

So why was Blom playing $.50/$1 pot-limit Omaha cash games on Monday?

Confirmed busto? Nah, not even close. After all, Blom is the biggest cash-game winner in the world so far this year.

Blom’s appearance at the micro tables this week is part of Full Tilt Poker’s Challenge Tables, giving low-limit players a chance to test their skills against two of The Professionals – Blom and Gus Hansen. According to Full Tilt Poker, Hansen and Blom will sit down at one or more of their designated Challenge Tables a few times each week and face players already seated or anyone else willing to accept the challenge.

Challenge Tables are identified within the game software as Gus Hansen’s Table or Isildur1′s Table, and various games types are available: Omaha hi, Omaha hi/lo, razz, stud hi/lo, draw poker games, and mixed games. The stake levels encompass both micro-stake and low-limit games, starting at the $0.05/$0.10 tables and working up through the levels to the $3/$6 games.

For more info on how to play against Blom and Hansen, visit FullTiltPoker.com.

Poker Legislation

Gov. Christie Backs Online Gambling in New Jersey

It wasn’t the result the online poker industry was hoping for on Thursday. But New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision regarding Internet gambling was still deemed a victory.

Christie waited until the final moments of his 45-day window to conditionally veto an online gambling bill that would allow real-money online poker to be played inside state lines. Although the veto denies the state the ability to move forward with online gambling plans, Christie says he fully supports online gambling in the state. First, though, he needs to see some changes to the measure before he can sign off on it.

Among Christie’s recommendations include a tax increase from 10 to 15 percent, with part of the additional proceeds going to compulsive gambling programs, and a time limit of 10 years for the authorization of Internet gaming unless re-established by law.

“With these goals in mind, I have concluded that now is the time for our State to move forward, again leading the way for the nation, by becoming one of the first states to permit Internet gaming,” Christie said in the statement.

Sen. Ray Lesniak, the chief sponsor of the bill, called it “great news” for the state – especially in Atlantic City. Lesniak expects the senate to approve amendments to the bill on March 18 before handing it off to Christie for a final signature.

“I’m pleased that the changes he made are minor and will allow it to get up and running, hopefully achieving my ultimate goal for New Jersey to become the Silicon Valley of Internet gaming,” Lesniak told PokerNews in a phone interview.

Read the full story right here at PokerNews.com.

Movement in Delaware

Legal, real-money online poker could make its way to Delaware by Sept. 30, 2013, according to a recent proposal by the Delaware State Lottery.

On Monday, iGaming Business reported that Delaware issued a request for proposal for implementing an Internet gaming system and associated services solution. The proposal also calls for companies to bid for the rights to provide the technology platform alongside operations manager services. The state wants the Internet system up and running no later than Sept. 30.

“The Delaware State Lottery is issuing this request for proposal to invite interested vendors to submit proposals for the implementation of an Internet gaming system and services solution, which is a turnkey offering inclusive of a back-end technology platform, operations management and support services, as well as an array of game content from multiple vendors to offer casino table games, video lottery games, poker, bingo and keno,” read a statement from the Delaware State Lottery.

“The solution may at some point in the future integrate with the Delaware State Lottery’s future Internet lottery system and Internet sports wagering system, which does not currently exist and is not included in this request for proposal.”

Gaming is a large part of Delaware’s budget, generating more than $250 million annually in tax dollars compared to a state budget of about $3.4 billion. The new forms of online gambling are expected to generate an additional $7.75 million for the state in 2013.

Delaware and Nevada are the only two states to authorize interstate online poker. New Jersey could join the list this week if Gov. Chris Christie elects not to veto the online gambling bill that was placed on his desk last month. Christie has until Thursday, Feb. 7 to act on the bill.

iGaming Business has more.

Mississippi Bill Dies Again

It wasn’t all good news for Internet gambling efforts in the U.S. this week. A bill in Mississippi that would have legalized real-money online poker was killed in committee, nearly a year after similar bill failed in the state last February.

Rep. Bobby Moak reintroduced the Mississippi Lawful Internet Gaming Act of 2013 (House Bill No. 254) just last month. According to the bill, Internet games would be taxed at 5 percent of gross revenues and would restrict licenses to those companies already holding land licenses to operate in the state.

Moak’s vested interest came after the Department of Justice concluded that forms of gambling other than sports betting fell outside of the Wire Act of 1961. However, despite receiving support from big casino operators, Moak had to tug through the state’s churches that opposed any expansion of legal gaming of any kind for religious purposes. Ultimately, the bill failed to make its way through the Ways and Means committee this week.

Nevada and Delaware remain the only states to authorize real-money wagering online while New Jersey, California, and other states continue to work on legislation.

For more, read the story at the Hattiesburg American.

Online Poker Delays in Nevada

While New Jersey waits for Christie’s eight-ball to decide the state’s online gambling future, companies in Nevada continue to prepare for the launch of its own interstate market. On Wednesday, the state Gaming Control Board (GCB) held its monthly meeting in Carson City and discussed the issue of technology testing for online poker sites.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, three companies requested extensions to complete laboratory testing as provisions of interactive gaming licenses approved last year. South Point Poker, ACEP Interactive and Monarch Interactive were given preliminary approval for extensions by the GCB, and if approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Feb. 21, the three companies will have until August to complete testing on their software.

Many pundits believed the first real-money online poker site would launch in Nevada by the end of 2012, but the testing by third-party labs has taken longer than anticipated. On Tuesday, PokerNews learned through a source that the Station Casinos and Ultimate Gaming were aiming to debut their Ultimate Poker product for real-money play by March 9, 2013. However, when asked for a confirmation of the launch date, an Ultimate Gaming spokesperson told PokerNews that the company is still “working with gaming regulators to ensure a successful launch and regulation process” for the product. Ultimate Poker is expected to launch some time in 2013.

The Las Vegas Sun has more.

Poker Business

PokerStars on Facebook

On Tuesday, PokerStars announced that its free-to-play site, PokerStars.net, has launched on Facebook. The product will now compete with Zynga Poker and other poker applications on Facebook’s social platform, potentially cutting into Zynga’s sizable lead in the play-money realm.

“This is part of our ongoing research and development efforts, and is just one of a whole range of areas that we are working on,” Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars’ head of corporate communications, told PokerNews on Tuesday.

Hollreiser added that the product was launched it in beta to test it and ensure that it is up to PokerStars’ high-standard. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, and while the beta testing is just beginning, we will allow new participants to join as and when we are able to do so,” he said.

PokerStars’ Facebook application has a similar look and feel to the PokerStars.net platform, even offering the popular Zoom Poker format. Players who already have a PokerStars account can access the PokerStars.net application using their existing login information, and they’ll find their accounts’ play-money chip balance upon login.

More information on the PokerStars Facebook app can be found at PokerStars.net.

World Poker Tour on FSN

The 11th season of the World Poker Tour will debut on Fox Sports Net on Sunday, Feb. 24, bringing viewers the same level of exciting broadcasts they’ve seen in recent years. Season XI, which is once again sponsored by ClubWPT.com, will continue the tradition by providing viewers with 33 original, hour-long episodes from events such as the WPT Legends of Poker, the WPT Borgata Poker Open, the WPT Grand Prix de Paris, the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, and the WPT World Championship at Bellagio.

WPT commentators Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will be calling all the action for the 11th consecutive year while Kimberly Lansing returns as the show’s anchor. Raw Deal analyst Tony Dunst and the Royal Flush Girls round out the cast, along with sideline reporter Matt Savage. In addition to the popular Raw Deal segment, this season’s programming will feature a new crop of the World Poker Tour’s Ones to Watch, focusing on the lives of some of the game’s hottest young stars and rising prospects.

“Viewers have responded very positively to the changes we’ve made in the show over the past two seasons, rewarding us with historic viewership numbers and ratings,” said WPT President Adam Pliska. “This year, we’re continuing to push the envelope with even more compelling improvements that complement what is turning out to be a record-breaking season with some of the greatest poker moments we’ve seen in the WPT’s television history.”

The WPT Blog has more.

And The Winner Is…

On Monday night, members of the gaming community gathered in London for the 2013 International Gaming Awards. PokerStars was among a list of winners who took home an award, specifically the Online Poker Operator of the Year.

PokerStars defeated 14 nominees to be named best global poker operator. “This has been a year of great achievement for PokerStars and this award is recognition of the hard work and dedication of our employees around the world who are setting the standard for quality in the industry,” said Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars’ head of corporate communications.

A list of developments in 2012 contributed to PokerStars being recognized at Monday’s event. In 2012, PokerStars released a mobile app that allowed players to play anywhere and anytime. PokerStars also launched a new gaming format, Zoom Poker, which enabled players to play faster. The MicroMillions tournament series was also created and launched in March last year, as well as the Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP).

PokerStars also expanded with new regulated licenses in Malta (PokerStars.EU), Denmark (PokerStars.DK), and Spain (PokerStars.es), which led to the signing of Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal to Team PokerStars.

Other winners at the event included Melco Crown Entertainment, which was awarded Casino/Integrated Resort of the Year, and Skrill, which won Payment Solutions Provider Company of the Year.

PokerStars was also a finalist for Socially Responsible Operator of the Year, Mobile Poker Operator of the Year, and Gaming Industry Fair Play.

The PokerStars Blog has more.

PokerNews Wins Affiliate Award

PokerStars wasn’t the only company scooping an award this week. We’re proud to announce that PokerNews.com was named the Best Poker Affiliate at the 2013 iGB Affiliate Awards. The honor recognizes the poker affiliate that excelled most in 2011-2012, taking into account criteria such as volume of traffic, innovation, reputation with players, and brand power.

More than 500 members of the iGaming affiliate community crammed into The Brewery in London on Friday, Feb. 8. Among the other winners were bet365 (Best Overall Affiliate Program), Unibet Affiliates (Best Poker Affiliate Program), Skrill (Best Payment System), and Paddy Power (Best Sports Affiliate Program).

Check out the full list of winners and video highlights of the event at CalvinAyre.com.

Poker Tournaments

EPT London Schedule

On Thursday, PokerStars announced that the European Poker Tour will return to London from March 5 through 16. The festival, which is returning to its roots at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, will combine the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) and the EPT for the first time with 37 events spread across 11 days with various buy-ins to attract all players.

“I am very excited that EPT London is returning to the Vic, where it began,” said EPT Season 3 winner and Team PokerStars Pro Victoria Coren. “I think the atmosphere there will be fantastic. It’s where I won my own EPT title, so I hope it’ll be lucky for me.”

On top of the £770 UKIPT Grand Final Main Event, which will kick-start the festival, players can also expect nightly turbo events starting from £110 along with a host of side events including a £2,150 High Roller event.

When the UKIPT Grand Final comes to a close, the EPT will begin with the £5,250 Main Event, followed by events like the £330 Spring Fling Turbo with a guaranteed prize pool of £25,000. Other tournaments on the slate include the £10,300 EPT High Roller, a £550 No Limit Deepstack event, the £550 PokerStars Women event, and the £2,100 No Limit Turbo.

Side events and cash games will take place at the Hippodrome Casino, home to the soon-to-launch PokerStars live poker room.

EPTLive will be broadcasting the EPT London Main Event, with coverage running from March 10 (Day 1a) through the final table on March 16.

The entire EPT London schedule can be seen at EuropeanPokerTour.com.

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

Check out the original source here! Originally from PokerNews.com

The presents have been opened, champagne bottles have been emptied, and Antonio Esfandiari has survived two New Year’s Eve parties. Now, it’s time to get back to the daily grind here at PokerNews. In the first Nightly Turbo of 2013, we’re covering a proposed Texas bill that would ban online poker, the nominations for the European Poker Awards, and more.

In Case You Missed It:

The 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is set to kick off later this week. Chad Holloway takes an all-inclusive look at the first 10 years of the Main Event.

What can the poker world expect in 2013? Rich Ryan makes 10 bold predictions for the coming year.

Another year is in the books, and little progress was made in legalizing online poker in the U.S. Matthew Kredell examines in his 2012 Legislative Year in Review.

A number of 2012 Player of the Year awards are being handed out this week. Dan Sun received the honor from the Mid-States Poker Tour.

Texas Considers Online Poker Ban

The Texas Gaming Act of 2013 will be up for discussion once again when the state’s legislation reconvenes on Jan. 8, 2013.

Originally proposed in December 2012, the revised bill would regulate land-based poker rooms while banning online poker. The measure also prohibits electronic poker tables, which were supported in the earlier bill.

Sponsored by State Sen. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin), the Texas Lottery Commission would get a new poker division that would permit licenses to existing pari-mutuel facilities, bingo halls and tribes. Tribes and pari-mutuels could offer poker around the clock, while bingo halls would be limited to having poker games only during normal hours of operation.

In the proposed bill, tournaments would have a suggested $100 max buy-in that would eliminate any major series from passing through the state. Also included are provisions for bad-beat and promotional jackpots.

According to the bill, operators would be taxed a mere maximum of 18 percent of gross revenues with a portion going to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to aid homeless and low-income residents of the state.

Having similar proposals in the past, Texas remains conservative to gambling interests despite the state lending its name to poker’s most popular game.

CalvinAyre.com has more.

Mad Marvin Leads European Poker Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 2013 European Poker Awards have been announced and the list is loaded with talented poker pros.

Marvin Rettenmaier, who already won the honor of 2012 European Global Poker Index Player of the Year, tops the list with nominations for Best Tournament Performance and Poker Personality of the Year.

Also receiving nods for various awards are Chris Moorman, Viktor Blom, Gus Hansen, Bertrand Grospellier, and Tony G.

Hosted by Kara Scott, who is also up for Poker Personality of the Year, the ceremony will take place at the Elysee Biarritz in Paris on Jan. 22, 2013 as part of the Euro Finals of Poker Series in the French capital. The ceremony will be sponsored by the Global Poker Index, which partnered with the European Poker Awards in the latter half of 2012.

The winners will be selected by a panel chaired by Nic Szeremeta, creator of the event. The panel will also include Stephan Gollubits, Jérôme Schmidt, Barry Carter, Joe Beevers, Alexandre Dreyfus, Michael Michelin and Jesse May.

The full list of nominations is as follows:

Rookie of the Year – Gaëlle Baumann, Lucille Cailly, Aubin Cazals, Ole Schemion

Best Tournament Performance – Davidi Kitai, Rocco Palumbo, Marvin Rettenmaier, Ole Schemion, Sam Trickett

Europe’s Leading Lady – Gaëlle Baumann, Liv Boeree, Lucille Cailly, Elisabeth Hille

Internet Player of the Year – Viktor Blom, Jens Kyllönen, Chris Moorman, Ilari Sahamies

Poker Staff Person of the Year – Dave Brannan, Nicolas Fraioli, Neil Johnson, Simon Trumper

Rob Gardner Memorial Award for the Poker Personality of the Year -
Neil Channing, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Tony Guoga, Gus Hansen, Marvin Rettenmaier, Kara Scott

Best European Event of the Year – EPT Barcelona, Irish Poker Open, Prague Poker Festival, WSOPE Cannes

Read more about the event at GlobalPokerIndex.com.

PokerStars Launches Zoom Poker Tournaments

Zoom Poker tournaments are the new craze at PokerStars after the world’s leading online poker room launched a beta test of the new format on New Year’s Day.

Similar to Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker tables, Zoom Poker is a fast-paced poker format that allows players to play hundreds of hands per hour and (potentially) increase profits. The game plays exactly the same way as any other online cash game except for one huge difference – as soon as you fold, you are removed from the table you were seated at and placed at a new table with different players. You can fold at any point when you are facing a bet, or click “Fast Fold” to fold even when it is not your turn to act.

While Zoom tournaments are still in the developmental stage, the events offered since New Year’s Day proved to be a hit among players. As many as 12 real-money Zoom Poker tournaments are on the daily schedule throughout this week. All of them can be found in the Micro stakes tab in the PokerStars lobby.

Zoom Poker has been very popular since it launched last spring. Said Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu: “Zoom Poker offers people a different way to play poker. Recreational players, who want more constant action, will be able to fold instantly and wait for better hands, while pro grinders will be able to get in hundreds of more hands an hour and win more. On top of all that, it’s just so much fun to play!”

More Records in Macau

Macau’s casinos set more records in 2012, raking in $38 billion in gambling revenue – a 13.5 percent increase over 2011 ($33 million).

The number was boosted by a monthly revenue growth of 19.6 percent in December, a new record for the Chinese gambling mecca. According to the Macau government, the $3.43 million generated in December was the highest ever.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the $38 billion yearly figure is higher than the $35.64 billion collected by the entire U.S. commercial casino industry in 2011. Last year, Macau pulled in about 5.5 times the gaming revenue of Las Vegas.

Macau has been the home to many of poker’s biggest cash games and tournaments over the past two years. Top pros like Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen and Sam Trickett have been regulars at the Poker King Club, playing cash games as high as HKD $30,000/$60,000 (USD $3,850/$7,700). In August 2012, Stanley Choi won the biggest-ever buy-in tournament in Asia, the $260,000 buy-in Macau High Stakes Challenge, for $6.5 million.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has more.

PPC at Aruba

In May, the DeepStacks Poker Tour will make its first trip outside the U.S. for the 2013 DeepStacks Poker Tour Players Poker Championship at Aruba. The $2,500 Main Event will run from May 6 through 9 and boasts a $200,000 guarantee.

On Wednesday, the PPC unveiled a promo for the event:

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Check out the original source here! Originally from PokerNews.com

On Thursday, Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc. was approved for an online poker license in Nevada per Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review. Caesars will launch the site as a World Series of Poker brand alongside their partner 888 Holdings. The site will not launch until 888 Holdings is approved for a license as well.

In a previous interview with PokerNews, Ty Stewart, the Executive Director of the WSOP, was asked what the legalization of online poker would mean for the company. His response:

“I think that we could absolutely revolutionize the category. Obviously, I feel we’ll be successful because we’ve got smart and genuine people like [Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO] Mitch Garber, who led the No. 1 poker site in the world [PartyPoker], and we have great brands.

“Of the big casino gaming companies, we have more customers in our database, more consumer traffic through our floors, more properties in more territories than anywhere else. Obviously, one would hope we could offer an exciting product and regularly host games with significant liquidity – potentially the softest games with the highest ROI for players. I think consumer confidence has always been the No. 1 barrier to entry for online customers, and Caesars has buildings all over the world. People will know where to find us. And we’re never going to turn our back on customers.”

Today, Seth Palansky, the Vice President of Corporate Communications for Caesars, added, “We want to thank the Commission for all their efforts throughout this process. There’s no doubt they do a thorough review and will ensure that Nevada is the best regulated market for online poker. We look forward to the opportunity to serve Nevadans when we complete the necessary steps to do so.”

During the meeting, Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Pete Bernhard admitted that he had signed up to play for free on the Caesars Playtika site. Bernhard also admitted that he has played slot games on Slotomania, citing that he wants to further understand how social gaming works.

Caesars is the 17th company to receive a license for pay-to-play online poker in Nevada. Caesars and 888 Holdings currently operate real money gaming in the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.

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Check out the original source here! Originally from PokerNews.com