October 17 2012, Brett Collson

How long will Nevada have to wait for its first online poker site? We’ll cover that story, plus a sponsorship deal for a member of the October Nine, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Has poker lost the luster it had a few short years ago? Donnie Peters discusses his thoughts on the current state of the game.

With the World Series of Poker Main Event final table on the horizon, members of the October Nine are entering the spotlight. Rob Salaburu joined this PokerNews Podcast this week to discuss the break, his thoughts on the ESPN coverage, and the upcoming final table.

Did you miss ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker on Tuesday night? Get caught up in our weekly recap.

South Point Launch Delayed

South Point Poker’s plans to launch the first real-money intrastate online poker site in Nevada could be in jeopardy due to technology testing delays and ongoing negotiations with gaming regulators.

South Point, which received interactive gaming licenses from the Nevada Gaming Commission in August, intended to have the online poker room up and running by October – months ahead of any other competitors in the new market. However, according to a report by VegasInc on Monday, the launch could be delayed until December or early 2013.

“We feel we could launch today,” South Point Poker CEO Lawrence Vaughan told VegasInc. “But you’ve got to go through the independent testing labs, you have to satisfy the State Gaming Control Board and because we are the first, we’re going to be under the microscope. They’re going to prod us every which way, and that’s good. We don’t want to come out and fall flat on our face and be an embarrassment for Nevada.”

South Point had an edge on competitors because it acquired its own interactive gaming system rather than relying on a service provider, allowing it to receive licenses both as an operator and a service provider of interactive gaming systems in Nevada. Companies like Bally Technologies and IGT, which were the first to receive licenses in the state, can only serve as business-to-business providers.

Boyd Gaming, Fertitta Interactive and the Golden Nugget are scheduled to meet with the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday to receive licenses. We’ll be providing a full report from the hearing, so stay tuned to PokerNews.com.

For more on South Point Poker’s delay in Nevada, check out VegasInc.com.

Ausmus Inks Sponsorship Deal

When the World Series of Poker presented the November Nine concept in 2008, it gave final table members the opportunity cash in on sponsorship deals leading up to their appearance on ESPN’s popular WSOP programming.

Obviously, most of those sponsors were online poker rooms that were forced to exit the U.S. on April 15, 2011. But the post-Black Friday players are still finding ways to make a little extra money.

On Wednesday, social media company TTAGIT Social Networks Inc. announced that it has sponsored Jeremy Ausmus for the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event final table. Ausmus, who enters the final table last in chips, will compete for the $8.5 million top prize from Oct. 29 through 30 in Las Vegas.

“TTAGIT.com, a revolutionary leading-edge social media company, is ready to win the world over just like me in the world series of poker,” Ausmus said in a press release.

In addition to Ausmus, October Niner Steve Gee was able to ink a deal with PokerAce.com in August, and Jesse Sylvia and Russell Thomas have been donning 888poker gear in recent tournaments overseas. We’ll keep an eye on any new sponsorship as the Main Event final table approaches.

For more on Ausmus, read the press release at Yahoo.com.

Global Poker Index Player of the Year

The Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings were released on Wednesday with Dan Smith occupying the top spot for the eighth consecutive week.

There were no changes in the top five of the standings as Smith maintained a sizable lead over Kyle Julius, Marvin Rettenmaier, Phil Hellmuth and Andrew Lichtenberger, respectively. Justin Bonomo climbed back into the top 10, jumping five spots to No. 6 thanks to a deep run in the European Poker Tour Sanremo Main Event. Bonomo’s biggest result in 2012 also came on the EPT; he won the Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final “100,000 buy-in Super High Roller in April for “1,640,000.

Appearing in the top 10 for the first time this week was Joseph Cheong, who recently finished fourth in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for “292,320. He also took fourth in a “10,000 buy-in side event at EPT Sanremo for “74,100. Cheong bumped Daniel Negreanu out of the top 10, leading “Kid Poker” by less than one point.

Here’s a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:

The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, presented by PokerNews, honors the player who has the strongest performance in live tournaments during the calendar year, according to the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.

For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, head on over to GlobalPokerIndex.com.

Champ Crowned at HPT Daytona Beach

Andrew Denick won the $1,650 buy-in Heartland Poker Tour Daytona Beach Main Event on Tuesday, outlasting a field of 374 players to earn a payday of $138,187.

Dennick, a salesman from Rockledge, Florida, defeated local poker pro Jeremy Joseph heads-up for the title to collect the biggest payday of his career. On the final hand of the tournament, Joseph moved all in with on a flop of and Dennick snap-called with a set of sevens. Joseph missed his double-gutter straight draw on the turn and river, securing the title for Dennick.

Several notables made the money in the event, including October Niner Rob Salaburu, Darvin Moon, Harrison Gimbel, and Chad Batista. Salaburu, who will compete for the title of World Champ at the WSOP Main Event final table this month, barely missed out on a chance to get some final table prep as he finished in eighth place for $14,796.

Here’s a look at the final table results from the Heartland Poker Tour Daytona Beach Main Event:

Read the full event recap at HPTPoker.com.

Negreanu Has a Clue

On Tuesday, PokerStars announced that it will be adding a new pro to its Team online roster. Yesterday, Team Online member Randy “nanonoko” Lew offered a clue for the Guess the Next Member of Team PokerStars Online promotion. If that didn’t help, today’s clue comes from Team PokerStars’ Daniel Negreanu. Although, you may want to to grab some earmuffs.

Find out more about the next Team Online pro at the PokerStars Blog.

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October 11 2012, Rich Ryan

On Sunday, PokerTube.com released an interview between Rikard Aberg and Tom “durrrr” Dwan. Akberg was able to snag a few minutes with Dwan in Cannes, France, after he busted from the World Series of Poker Europe Majestic High Roller, and the two talked about a handful of topics including live tournament stops, Macau, and Dwan’s return to online poker.

According to the interview, Dwan no longer considers Las Vegas “home.” When asked if he still resides in Sin City, he answers, “I have my mail sent to Vegas, but I’m not there as much. I’m overseas way more than I’m in Vegas. I’m in Macau more than Vegas too.”

Dwan also tells Aberg that he hasn’t played online for “a year and a half now.” He says he has yet to change his online poker account’s (the site is not specified) location to Macau, but he plans to.

“Yeah I think I’m going to get my account set up where it’s from Macau so I can play from there because I have a place there.”

Aberg then asks Dwan to talk about the games in Macau, citing that they are “mysterious” and there is not much said about them.

“I think there’s a bunch of information out there,” Dwan tells him. “There’s a whole load of games. It’s usually no-limit and the stakes just vary a lot.”

Dwan also admits that he has “no idea” whether or not poker will continue to thrive in Macau, but he hopes it will.

The subject then changes to Full Tilt Poker, and Aberg asks whether or not Dwan was involved in the sale process.

“There was a bit of stuff, especially early on, that I was involved in, but it didn’t, the ways I thought I could help didn’t end up materializing and that’s – and it made me really unhappy.”

Check out the entire interview at PokerTube.com.

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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.