March 11 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

We know you want to get off to your weekend, so there’s no sense in you poking around on the Internet for the latest in poker news. An announcement is coming next week from Full Tilt Poker. We’ll tell you about that, Darvin Moon’s new sponsor and more in tonight’s Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Flight one of The Big Event Bounty Shootout went down on Thursday with 36 players taking their seats in hopes of winning their tables and making it to the final table. Find out who made it and who’s leading the way with the most bounties in the Bounty Shootout recap.

Did you just take down a MiniFTOPS and want to treat yourself to some stylish bling? Check out the latest edition of Sin City Series and find out how to blow your bankroll on Shamballa Jewels.

After five days of play, the Main Event of The Big Event has crowned a winner. Victor Ramdin has pocketed $500,000 for the win. Check out The Big Event recap for a look at the final-table action.

With a handful of states already considering legalizing Internet poker, we were sure more would follow suit. The latest is Nevada, and the bill being considered, is one of the most player-friendly we’ve seen.

While there is plenty of tournament action for you to keep up with in the poker industry, you might want to keep up with some news outside poker, like, which restaurant (a favorite among poker players) is taking over the Centurion Tower at Caesars Palace. Find out in Inside Gaming.

Online high-stakes cash game player XWINK added a significant chunk of change to his bankroll this week. The Online Railbird Report has the scoop on who’s roll is a little lighter.

Full Tilt Poker’s Big Announcement

Be on the lookout for a big announcement from Full Tilt Poker soon. Allegedly, the announcement is supposed to come on Monday regarding the online poker site’s plans to launch land-based poker events.

PokerNews reached out to Full Tilt Poker when news of this announcement broke, but the site’s spokesperson could not confirm anything at that point.

So far, all that has been leaked to Wicked Chops Poker, which first broke the story, is that the events would run in direct competition with other tours, and Full Tilt pros would not be able to play in competing tours if they coincide with the dates of the Full Tilt events.

Read more on WickedChopsPoker.com.

Finally Patched Up

We can’t say we didn’t see this coming, because we kind of did. We knew eventually that the man who didn’t want a sponsor, Darvin Moon, would change his tune. So which site has snatched up the 2009 November Niner? No site. He has signed on as the official ambassador of the Heartland Poker Tour.

“I’m very comfortable with the HPT folks. They’re like family…I also love the work they do for veterans,” Moon said.

Moon began playing on the HPT at the Iowa stop, and since then, hasn’t missed a stop.

“In a short period of time, he’s become a close friend,” HPT Executive Producer Greg Lang said. “Like most of our players, Darvin enjoys the lively atmosphere of our tour.”

Check out the press release on HPTpoker.com.

A Message from The Micros

To tide us over until the fourth episode of The Micros, the gang decided to send out a special message to Erik Seidel and any other pro that wants a piece of Micro karma.

Sahara Shuts Its Doors

For all you out-of-town poker players who were hoping to find a reasonably priced hotel on the strip for the World Series of Poker this summer, one of your options is shutting its doors. The Sahara Hotel will close on May 16. Owners said it was “no longer economically viable” to keep the 60-year-old resort in operation any longer. SBE Entertainment, the company that owns Sahara, is exploring other options for the 18-acre parcel.

“We are working with our partners to assess a variety of options for the property, including a complete renovation and repositioning,” SBE Entertainment CEO Sam Nazarian said. “While no final decisions have been made at this point the continued operation of the aging Sahara was no longer economically viable.”

The Las Vegas Review Journal has more.

Catching Up with Chad Brown

Three weeks after major surgery, Chad Brown is back at the felt, playing in the Bounty Shootout at The Bike. Kristy Arnett caught up with him to find out how he’s feeling, and more.

Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for up-to-the-minute news.

Tweet and Poke your way to riches in our exclusive $11,000 Social Media Freerolls on Bulldog777. Open to anyone who is our friend on Facebook or Twitter.

2011 January 11, Martin Harris

While much of the poker world continues to remain focused on happenings down at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, there’s a lot else of note going on to report. In tonight’s Nightly Turbo, we not only point you to the latest from the Bahamas, but also fill you in on PokerStars’ latest innovation, a couple of new tournament series upcoming at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and in Reno, and more.

In Case You Missed It

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event continues, with Adam Geyer ending Day 2 with the most chips of the remaining 173 players. Here’s a recap of all of the action from Day 2, and be sure to check in over at Pokernews’ live reporting for continuing coverage of the PCA Main Event.

Of course, the Main Event is only part of the story this week down at the Atlantis Resort & Casino, with a number of side events taking place as well. Donnie Peters shares the latest from these many other events happening at the 2011 PCA.

For still more from the PCA, check out the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast in which the gang talks with PokerNews video hostess Sarah Grant and player Allen Bari. Listen in.

Back in the U.S., the state of New Jersey yesterday became the first state to pass legislation to license and regulate online poker when the State Assembly voted 63-11 in favor of a bill that permits wagering for NJ residents. That vote followed the State Senate having passed the bill back in November. Next up, Gov. Chris Christie must either sign the bill into law, veto it, or send it back to the legislature for changes. Matthew Kredell gives the full scoop, additionally exploring possible consequences should the bill become law.

In the Online Railbird Report, Mickey Doft fills us in on the latest big battle online between Scott “URnotINdanger2″ Palmer and Tom “durrrr” Dwan. See who came out on top.

Finally, in the latest installment of Inside Gaming Chad Holloway reports on the growth of gaming in Macau, possible expansion to occur in Illinois, and a legal brouhaha happening at the Palms Casino in Vegas. Read all about it.

PokerStars Announces New Home Games

Quite a buzz yesterday as PokerStars introduced its newest innovation, PokerStars Home Games. Currently only available on the dot-net side, the new Home Games enable players to set up their own private online poker games with friends and/or other invited players. And best of all, creating your own online “poker club” is absolutely free.

When setting up a home game, players can create a club, name it, then issue invitations to other players by sending them a special invitation code. The club’s administrator then gets to set up the lobby, adjust stakes for cash games, set up tournaments, and more.

As of now each player can only create one club, and one can only participate in a maximum of three clubs. Also, a maximum of 50 players will be allowed per club. Word is that PokerStars Home Games will move over to the dot-com site sometime later this week.

Head over to PokerStars for FAQs and other info on how the Home Games work.

Caesars Palace Winter Poker Classic Kicks Off Jan. 17

Caesars Palace has announced a new poker series running from Jan. 17 through Feb. 4 that will include more than two dozen events, including a $230 buy-in satellite tournament for a seat in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in March.

Events will cover a variety of games and buy-ins, with numerous no-limit hold’em events (full ring, six-handed, and heads-up), multiple Omaha Hi/Low and pot-limit Omaha events, a Ladies event, and a Seniors event. The winner of that latter event will be given an entry into the 2011 WSOP Seniors event to go along with the first-place prize money.

The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship satellite tourney will be a two-day event beginning on February 1st. That tourney will play as a regular MTT until 16 players remain, at which point those remaining will be arranged into a bracket to play heads-up matches until a winner is determined.

Click here for the full schedule of events from the Caesars Palace Winter Poker Classic.

I Shot a Show in Reno…

More Nevada tournament news to share, this time from further north in Reno where the Atlantis Poker Room has announced a new series scheduled for March 18-26. Of special note is the fact that the $1,060 buy-in Main Event will be shot by Red Deck Productions, with the two episodes to be aired on a yet-to-be-determined outlet.

Additionally, a high-stakes, invitation-only cash game will be shot as well, to be subsequently aired as a series of 13 episodes called “High Stakes Hold’em.”

According to David Farahi, Atlantis’ Executive Director of Gaming, this marks “the first time a poker show [will be] 100 percent filmed in Reno.”

See the story in the Northern Nevada Business Weekly for more on the Atlantis’ plans.

Slides and Sharks

Finally, while many of us in other parts of the world continue to endure an unending mix of snow and ice, let’s all take a few minutes to envy those enjoying the outdoors down in the Bahamas. PokerNews‘ Kristy Arnett and Sarah Grant were joined by Team PokerStars Pros Maridu Maryinck and Andre Akkari for some watersliding fun. And like at the poker tables, there were sharks about!

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