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

August 05 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

It seems like the controversy surrounding A-Rod and his poker playing wasn’t totally correct, and Sports Illustrated is reporting that he might not be suspended like previously thought. That’s not really what you came to read about though. To take you into your weekend, we’ve got the latest from the AGCC on Full Tilt Poker’s overdue license fees, Michael Mizrachi’s newest sponsor, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Team PokerNews is in Punta del Este, Uruguay, for the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour. In her two days there, Lynn Gilmartin has seen Casapueblo, eaten expensive food that was not worth the price, and even “jinxed” some players.

Sarah Grant and Laura Cornelius have decided to recap the some of the week’s top stories. Their Weekly Turbo touches on A-Rod, Huck Seed, FairPlayUSA, and more.

There was some speculation that PokerStars was helping its U.S. Supernovas move to continue to play online poker. We decided to talk to the PokerStars VIP manager to get the scoop on player relocation.

Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom’s week on the virtual felts did not go as well as his previous week. Phil Galfond had a great week online however, banking $176,993 and taking the title of “week’s biggest winner.”

Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Tallinn is in the books and 24 players remain. Ronny Kaiser is the man at the top of the chip counts, but plenty more are vying for the “275,000 first-place prize.

AGCC’s Statement on FTP’s Overdue License Fees

Friday afternoon, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission released a statement regarding Full Tilt Poker’s overdue license fees. According to reports, the fees were around $410,000.

“The recent payment of overdue licence fees by FTP is also in players’ best interests since it allows commercial negotiations to take place that might result in a successful refinancing deal.”

The AGCC reiterated that the reason for the adjournment of the hearing on July 16 was because the Commissioners felt it was “in the best interest of the players using Full Tilt Poker’s services.”

There is still no date or venue set for the next hearing, which will be held no later than Sept. 15.

For more, go to GamblingControl.org.

Off to the Races

Breeders’ Cup Ltd announced Friday that it established a sponsorship deal with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. No, Grinder didn’t buy a race horse recently, the sponsorship is for him. To answer your next question (why?), the Breeders’ Cup is hoping this sponsorship will attract poker players to pari-mutuel wagering and introduce them to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships that take place Nov. 4 through 5 at Churchill Downs.

“We believe that there is a strong cross-over between poker and horse racing, which has not yet been realized,” said Peter Rotondo, vice president of media and entertainment for Breeders’ Cup. “We’re thrilled to have a relationship with The Grinder which will allow for one of poker’s superstars to reach out to the poker world and educate them about the Breeders’ Cup and the over $160-million in liquidity during our two-day event.”

To promote the sponsorship, a promotional sweepstakes is being held where the winner will attend the Breeders’ Cup with Mizrachi.

“It’s an honor to be associated with such a well-known name as the Breeders’ Cup,” Mizrachi said. “I’ve long been a huge horse racing fan and I am pleased to have this opportunity to align myself with the richest horse racing event with such large wagering pools.”

ThoroughbredTimes.com has more.

Traffic Falls

Last week, thanks to PokerScout, we reported that online poker had seen an 8 percent rise in traffic. Things are a bit different this week with online poker traffic dropping 6.5 percent. According to PokerScout, eight of the top ten sites saw drops in traffic.

PokerStars took the biggest hit this week, dropping 13 percent. While that may seem drastic, the online poker giant is sill 7 percent ahead of where it was two weeks ago.

For five weeks in a row, the top three online poker sites, PokerStars, PartyPoker, and iPoker, have held their ground in the top three. PartyPoker and iPoker each saw a 3 percent decline in traffic.

There was some significant movement in the top 20. PokerStars.it jumped from seventh to fourth and Ongame.fr found its way into the top 20, in 20th place. The Ongame Network slid from fourth to sixth and IPN dropped from 12th to 14th.

Online poker traffic has seen a decrease of 24 percent in the last year according to PokerScout’s ACES guide.

Find more online poker traffic numbers at PokerScout.com.

Listen Up M Lifers

We’re sure you guys are swiping your M Life cards each time you sit down at the tables at Aria or the Bellagio, so there’s no reason to keep you in the dark about M Life’s August promotion.

You have the entire month of August to participate in this promotion – we know how poker players tend to put things off. All you have to do is visit and like M Life’s Facebook page or any MGM Resorts’ property Facebook page for that matter. Then just fill out the entry form, and boom, 5,000 tier credits.

M Life members have access to pre-sale tickets, hotel offers, upgrades, and VIP services, depending on which Tier Level card they’re holding.

So go like the M Life Facebook page and get your 5,000 credits, it’s free and easy.

You Can’t Win Every Pot

Sarah Grant caught up with players at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Tallinn to find out the best poker advice they’ve ever gotten.

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

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