September 06 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

We hope you all didn’t miss us too much over the holiday. We’ve had our rest and now we’re back to bring you the top poker news stories of the day. Full Tilt Poker has a date for its hearing with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, so we’ll give you those details. We’ve also heard that the Department of Justice and PokerStars have reached an agreement over funds held in an account. Keep reading to find out more.

In Case You Missed It

The World Poker Tour kicked off its stop in Paris on Monday with Day 1a of the Grand Prix de Paris. A total of 140 players ponied up the “7,500 buy-in for the event, but only half made it through to Day 2.

Day 2 of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker crowned five champions on Monday. Among them was Aussie pro Jonathan “MONSTER_DONG” Karamalikis. Find out who else took home WCOOP glory in our daily recap.

With the 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit just days from kicking off, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at some of the stories from the 2010-2011 Circuit. Who made it to the top of the WCOP-C edition of our PokerNews Top 10?

September got off to a somber start with the passing of Thuy Doan. There are some bright spots on the horizon though in our Five Thoughts.

We sat down with Randal Flowers recently to discuss poker, prop bets, and pick up lines. How does he woo the ladies? Find out in the latest edition of Off the Felt.

Hearing Set for Sept. 19

On July 26, PokerNews was in London for the first Alderney Gambling Control Commission hearing for Full Tilt Poker. If you recall, that hearing was adjourned and scheduled for a later date. The AGCC then released a statement announcing that the hearing would reconvene no later than Sept. 15. They changed their minds.

According to a press release, the AGCC scheduled the hearing for Sept. 19 (four days later than the deadline) at 0900 BST (0100 PDT). It will take place in the Plaza Suite at the Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel in London.

That’s all the information the AGCC has provided at this time, but the press release does state that a full update is pending.

Read the entire press release at GamblingControl.org.

Some Money Released

According to eGaming Review, the U.S. Department of Justice released money from a frozen PokerStars account. The sum was unspecified but EGR is reporting that the money was held in the Hapoalim Bank in Luxembourg. Hapoalim Bank, one of the banks named in the civil complaint that goes with the April 15 indictments, is tied to Sphene International Limited, PokerStars’ payment company.

“[T]he Government and PokerStars have reached an agreement pursuant to which PokerStars consents to the restraint of US$5.5m in the Account…and the Government agrees that it does not object to PokerStars’ use of the remaining funds in that account,” the release said.

The order will remain in place until the conclusion of the U.S. v. PokerStars case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York or an order which supersedes it is issued. The order, filed on Sept. 2, also states that the consent to it by PokerStars does no constitute admission of liability.

If you want to find out more, read the article at EGRMagazine.com.

WSOP on ESPN

“Why are you here? Are you here to say you made it past Day 1? Are you here to say you made it past the money or are you here to become the next World Series of Poker Main Event champion?” Those are the questions Lon McEachern asks in one of the teaser trailers for ESPN’s coverage of Day 4 of the World Series of Poker.

In another sneak peek, players discuss the toll that the long days take on their minds and bodies.

Don’t forget to set your DVR Tuesday night at 8 p.m. EDT for the latest episode of the WSOP on ESPN.

Omaha Cup

Over the weekend, the 2011 Rendez-Vous à Paris held the “5,000 Omaha Cup at the Aviation Club de France. The event attracted 65 players, creating a prize pool of “312,000. Sorel Mizzi, Jason Mercier, Jeff Lisandro, Freddy Deeb, Rui Cao, Ludovic Lacay, and Patrick Bruel were among the players who played in the event.

None of the players mentioned above made the final table, but that doesn’t mean it was an easy road to victory. Antony Lellouche, Davidi Kitai and Tristan Clémençon were all seated at the final table. Clémençon finished in seventh place for “15,600. When play was three handed — between Lellouche, Kitai, and Vadim Kursevich — the three made a deal. In the end, it was Lellouche who outlasted the field to take home the title.

Omaha Cup Results

1. Antony Lellouche (France) – “99,840 (Deal “71,760)
2. Davidi Kitai (Belgique) – “65,520 (Deal “70,200)
3. Vadzim Kursevich (Biélorussie) – “43,680 (Deal “67,080)
4. Pascal Leyo (France) – “31,200
5. Juha Vilkki (Finlande) – “24,960
6. Petteri Vanhapelto (Finlande) – “18,720
7. Tristan Clemencon (France) – “15,600
8. Michael Fratty (France) – “12,480

For more, check out FR.PokerNews.com. (Yes, we Google translated it for you.)

Annie Duke on The Late Late Show

On Monday night, Annie Duke was a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. We’re never up late enough to watch the show, but we caught the episode online. If you also missed it, you should know that Duke discussed the Epic Poker League, as well as her new book, Decide to Play Great Poker. We have to say, Duke kept her composure and tried to keep the interview on track while Ferguson was all over the place. And the two played the harmonica at the end. Go figure.

Apparently CBS doesn’t want us to embed the video, so you’ll have to watch it at CBS.com. Duke’s interview comes in around the 30-minute mark.

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

Follow Elaine Chaivarlis on Twitter – @LaneyLV

Mon, 07/25/2011 – 12:00 – PokerPages Staff

A strongly-worded letter to the Attorney General from two senior Senators expressing ostensibly hostile views about online poker hardly sounds like good news for poker players. But it’s the message between the lines which might be the most important one to consider on this occasion.

Senators John Kyl and Harry Reid posted their letter to Attorney General Eric Holder July 14th – and they didn’t mince any words. They vigorously condemned the Department of Justice’s apparent laxity over allowing internet poker sites to operate in the US without repercussion for too long and trenchantly urge it to pursue illegal internet gambling consistently and aggressively. Reid and Kyl also asked that Holder re-state the DOJ’s “longstanding position” that internet gambling is prohibited by Federal law in the US. Not much comfort there for the poker community, huh?

Well, think again. It’s the fact of the letter (and who drafted it) that matters more than the content (which we agree is hardly designed to bring much cheer to poker devotees). Reid is widely known for his support for the legalization, licensing and regulation of online poker, while Kyl is known for his dogged desire to strengthen the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Strange bedfellows they may appear to be, but their collaboration may actually be a sign that properly licensed and regulated online poker is getting closer, not further away.

The letter’s existence suggests that these two politicians, who appear to have diametrically opposed inclinations, may actually try working together toward more balanced and rational legislation for online poker. Kyl, for all his anti-gambling commitments, nonetheless signalled on his website earlier this year that he was willing to consider plans to legalize online poker as many believed it to be a game of skill. However, he also made it clear that he wanted to keep wider prohibitions on online gambling firmly on the statute book.

Commenting on the letter, the Executive Director of the Poker Player’s Alliance, John Pappas, said he believed it to be a “trust-building exercise” between Kyl and Reid. “Them working together on this letter means there is some opportunity for cooperation down the road. I think it’s clear that Reid would like to have regulated internet poker, and it’s clear that Kyl would like to strengthen the UIGEA. From a player’s perspective the letter may be viewed as hostile, but I think it may be the start of a very beneficial relationship between Kyl and Reid on this issue,” he added.

He went on to accept that some parts of the letter were “highly objectionable,” saying, “To be clear, the PPA does not agree with everything in the letter. Some of the assumptions that internet poker is illegal are something that the PPA does not agree with. We’ve made those positions clear and continue to stand by that.”

Pappas conceded that online poker in the US would remain in a “very precarious position” until either state or preferably federal law unambiguously permits it.

But here’s the rub: if Kyl and Reid – two of the most powerful politicians in the Senate – were to collaborate further in drafting legislation that would license and regulate online poker but strengthen the UIGEA against other types of online gambling, legal internet poker in the US suddenly gets much, much closer. Pappas cautions against jumping too quickly to optimistic conclusions – he sees the letter as a first step, but one which could yet take us in the right direction.