March 15 2012, Brett Collson

We’re glad you took a few minutes out of your busy basketball watching to catch up on the day’s biggest poker stories. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we’re bringing you the latest on Iowa’s chances at legalized online poker, Bodog Poker adding a new feature to prevent collusion, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Many poker pros weren’t happy with things at the Wynn Classic Championship this week. Rich Ryan touches on that topic and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.

In honor of March Madness, we decided to run our own version of the popular tournament. Check out The Muck to find out how to vote on your favorite poker players from the Round of 64 all the way to the championship!

Ron Rose and Chris Bigler burst onto the poker scene with victories during Season 1 of the World Poker Tour. Find out what they’ve been up to lately in the latest edition of Where Are They Now.

Are you still confused about how to claim your poker winnings in your tax return? Kristy Arnett sat down with tax expert Theresa Fox to get some answers in the Strategy with Kristy podcast.

David “Doc” Sands entered the Top 5 of the Global Poker Index this week. Mickey Doft takes a look at the biggest movers and shakers on the GPI.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. announced this week that O’Sheas is set to be demolished in two months. What will be replacing the popular Vegas party spot? Find out in the latest Inside Gaming.

Is Iowa Online Poker Bill Dead?

On Tuesday, the Iowa Senate approved a bill to legalize and regulate intrastate online poker by a vote of 29-20. The next step for the measure is to move through the Iowa House, but House Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) told KCRG on Thursday that there has been a “general lack of interest” regarding online poker among his GOP caucus members.

Not encouraging news for poker players in the state.

The issue has been a hot one in the Iowa Senate for months, but Paulsen says there has been very little conversation about the bill in the House. “What are we in? Week 10?” said Paulsen. “I don’t know if I’ve had three members mention this subject to me … until this week when the big hub-bub was.”

A study by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission showed that the legalization of online poker in the state could generate between $3 to $13 million in state tax revenue. However, a recent poll by the Des Moines Register that showed 69 percent of Iowa residents opposed legalization of online poker.

Read more at KCRG.com.

Bodog Exposes Hole Card Info

On Thursday, Bodog addressed concerns about collusion on its anonymous poker tables by allowing players to request the hole card information of everyone at a table 24 hours after a game ends. The software update was announced in December but finally implemented this week.

“The fact that we can now offer players this information is another advantage of our anonymous tables and something nobody else can offer,” said Jonas Odman, VP of the Bodog Poker Network. “Collusion is a natural concern for any poker room but this new additional feature puts the player in full control. This makes the Bodog Poker Network the fairest place to play poker online in the world.”

Bodog’s traffic had seen a slight surge since it introduced anonymous tables last November, but the site has seen a sudden drop since the Bodog.com domain was seized and the brand’s founder was indicted last month. According to PokerScout.com, Bodog’s traffic has declined by 13 percent since those events.

Read more at PokerNews.com.

BestBet Opens Largest Poker Room in Florida

In April, the newly branded BestBet Jacksonville casino in Florida will host a $1 million guaranteed televised World Poker Tour event at the venue’s brand new poker room, which opened earlier this month. Formerly called Jacksonville Poker, BestBet’s poker room boasts 70 poker tables, making it the largest in the state and one of the largest in the world.

“We are very excited with the opportunity to open BestBet Jacksonville,” said CFO Jamie Shelton. “BestBet Jacksonville will complement our existing facilities and serve as a platform for our larger events like the upcoming WPT televised tournament. While proud to house the largest poker room in the State of Florida, our continued focus and attention to our customers is our number one priority.”

BestBet says the new room has already attracted many of the top poker players in Florida like Jason Mervier, Matt Glantz, John Racener, Shaun Deeb and Andrew Robl. Later this month, former World Series of Poker Main Event champ Greg Raymer will be hosting seminars before Jacksonville’s first 600-player, $10,000-added tournament on March 24.

“BestBet Jacksonville will certainly enhance our standing in the international poker scene as well as with our North Florida player base,” said head of poker Deborah Giardina. “Our mission was to create one of America’s premier poker tourism destinations. Given the response so far, we are well on the way to realizing that goal.”

Check out pictures of BestBet’s new poker room at bestbetjax.com.

More Operators Apply for Nevada Licenses

The list of operators seeking Nevada Internet gaming licenses grew longer on Thursday as Spielo and GTECH G2 submitted paperwork to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). The two companies make up the new gaming division of Lottomatica Group, which provides a full range of player-focused games, products and services across every gaming channel.

“Applying for these licenses in Nevada is an important step in our iGaming strategy for the US,” said Spielo International president and CEO Walter Bugno. “Spielo International and GTECH G2 are names that are trusted in regulated markets around the world. We have an established track record as providers of end-to-end gaming products to more than 1,500 customers on five continents.”

eGaming Review also reported Thursday that Playtech is planning to submit an application with the NGCB soon. Read more at PokerNews.com.

March Mania at the Trop

If you’re looking for a fun environment to watch the NCAA Tournament in Las Vegas, HeadsUp Entertainment and Tropicana Las Vegas have partnered with Cantor Gaming to create the March Mania Poker Series and Ultimate Players’ Party.

From March 15 through 25, poker players can participate in daily tournaments at Tropicana while getting the full March Madness experience in the tournament area. During the 23-event poker series, Cantor Gaming will be providing convenient walk-up betting stations and state-of-the-art wireless Samsung tablets, which allow players to wager without leaving the poker table.

“We are redefining how poker tournaments and players’ experiences are created by providing an amazing lineup of poker tournaments daily at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and a state-of-the-art party area for participants to watch and wager on the NCAA games,” said HeadsUp President and CEO Kelly B. Kellner.

The $1,500 March Mania Poker Series Main Event will run from March 23 through 24 and boasts a starting stack of 40,000 in chips. For more information, check out troplv.com.

Calling the Clock

Kristy Arnett caught up with Kevin MacPhee at EPT Madrid to ask him about his guilty pleasure, his biggest regret, and more.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today!

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March 01 2012, Brett Collson

Phew. We made it through a day without an indictment, a guilty plea or a bankruptcy filing. However, there was still plenty going on around the poker world, including the release of ESPN’s The Nuts rankings, WPT Magazine’s Readers’ Awards winners, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian continued to unload shares of MGM Resorts International this week. For the latest on MGM, as well as Caesars’ 4Q revenues, check out Inside Gaming.

Vanessa Selbst surged into the top 5 of the Global Poker Index this week. Mickey Doft takes a look at the biggest movers and shakers on the GPI.

Last year, several participants of the Montreal Open were left empty-handed after the event’s sponsor, Full Tilt Poker, failed to pay the winners. Chad Holloway recently spoke with Morden C. Lazarus who played a major role in organizing the event.

The 2012 World Series of Poker Circuit Africa came to a close this week. For a complete look at all the winners, check out our recap.

What adjustments need to me made when transitioning from online cash games to live cash games? In the latest Strategy with Kristy podcast, Kristy Arnett talks to two live poker coaches, along with their current student, about the major differences between the two settings.

ESPN’s The Nuts

The latest edition of ESPN’s The Nuts was released Thursday. The monthly blog post ranks the best poker players in the world at the moment. The 10-person panel includes PokerNews’ Editor in Chief Elaine Chaivarlis, PokerNews’ Tournament Reporting Manager Don Peters, ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, among others.

Jason Mercier held the top spot in the rankings for the ninth consecutive month, receiving seven of the 10 first-place votes from the panel. Mercier has been quiet on the tournament scene in 2012 but he has supposedly booked some major cash game wins during his travels, most recently at the Commerce Casino in L.A.

Erik Seidel and Phil Ivey landed at No. 2 and No. 3 in the rankings, respectively. Seidel has been slumping a bit this year, at least by his standards, but Ivey stormed back onto the live tournament scene by taking 12th place in the Aussie Millions Main Event and winning the $250,000 buy-in Aussie Millions Super High Roller. Ivey made his return to the U.S. last week at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic but bubbled the Main Event in 55th place.

Rounding out the top five in this month’s rankings were Eugene Katchalov and Jonathan Duhamel. The 2011 WSOP Main Event champ moved up three spots following an impressive finish at the LAPC $5,100 no-limit hold’em event last week.

If you want to find out what the rest of the list looks, check it out at ESPN.com.

The Votes Are In

The World Poker Tour Magazine readers have spoken. On Thursday, the U.K. publication unveiled the winners of the 2011 WPT Poker Readers’ Awards, which will be featured in the March issue of World Poker Tour Magazine.

Among the honorees were November Niner Sam Holden for Best British Player, Ben Lamb for Best International Player, and Tatjana Pasalic for Best Poker Personality. Probably the biggest surprise went to the U.K.’s Kevin “kevsteele” Steele for Best Online Player. Steele, who won the PokerStars Sunday Million twice within a four-month period last year, beat out top online grinders like Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman, Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen and Jordan “jymaster11″ Young.

According to reports out of Cyprus, a group of elderly women have been summoned to court to face gambling charges stemming from a 2009 police raid.

It’s estimated that 40 women were playing a friendly small-stakes game of poker and bridge when police arrived to break up the game, according to the daughter of a 98-year-old woman who received a court summons this week. The women now face up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine, but most of the women are “amused” by the matter, according to reports.

“My mother has never done anyone harm and we hope she continues playing because it keeps her mind sharp,” said Yioula Diakantoni, the daughter of the 98-year-old.

Kudos to the Cyprus police for getting these scallywags off the streets.

The Associated Press has the story.

Chiligaming Merges with Poker770

It’s been an eventful three weeks at Chiligaming headquarters. The French online gaming operator has been working hard to enhance its brand in the U.S., and on Thursday the company announced that its iPoker-based platform ChiliPoker.com was being moved over to Poker770.com.

Chiligaming CEO Alexandre Dreyfus announced on his blog that the migration over to Poker770 is expected to be complete by Friday, March 2. All Chilipoker accounts will automatically be transferred over to Poker770 as soon as players log in to the Chilipoker client, and Dreyfus assured players that all bankrolls and player points will be safe

The announcement comes just weeks after the company agreed to provide a free-to-play poker platform for the Las Vegas Golden Nugget, followed by a deal to offer its business-to-business gaming platform to Bally Technologies.

Read more at PokerNews.com.

Duhamel Leads Global Poker Index Player of the Year

Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel increased his lead in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings this week. The award, which is 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.

Duhamel finished second to Vanessa Selbst in the $5,100 no-limit hold’em event at the 2012 L.A. Poker Classic for $121,115, marking his fourth six-figure score in 2012. Duhamel has 552.10 points in the GPI POY, nearly double the total of his closest competitor, Faraz Jaka.

Jaka jumped three spots to No. 2 in the rankings after third place finish in the same $5,100 LAPC event. Jaka has now made three final tables in 2012, including a third-place finish at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event for $755,000.

Sam Chartier, Jason Koon and Ruben Visser rounded out the top 5, respectively. Here’s a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:

GPI Player of the Year Top 10

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

The Country Club Murders

Last May, former professional poker player Ernie Scherer III was sentenced to life in prison after a judge found him guilty of murdering his parents. Authorities believed Scherer killed his parents because he faced financial pressure from gambling debts in Las Vegas and stood to collect a $1.5 million inheritance once his parents passed away.

On Saturday, Scherer will be the focus of a 48 HOURS MYSTERY story called The Country Club Murders on CBS. The show will air at 10 p.m. and feature interviews with Scherer’s wife and sister, both of whom helped investigators uncover the mysterious second life of their loved one.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Life Rolls On

On March 10, Life Rolls On founder Jesse Billauer will join Annie Duke and others for the 2nd Annual “A Night of Poker” at the Hustler Casino in Gardena, Calif. The event will benefit Billauer’s Life Rolls On Foundation, which works to provide the inspirational message of achievement for those with spinal cord injuries.

The $225 No-Limit Hold’em charity tournament will award a 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event seat to the winner. Several other prizes will be handed out during the evening, including a Corum watch to the second- and third-place finishers.

Billauer founded the Life Rolls On Foundation in 1996 after suffering a tragic spinal cord injury while surfing.

More information on the event and the foundation can be found at liferollson.org.

Sh#t Poker Bloggers Say

The “Sh#t People Say” craze on YouTube has spread faster than KevMath retweet. Last month, Sarah Grant brought you Sh#t Poker Players Say. Today, commentator Jesse May posted a “Sh#t Poker Bloggers Say” meme on the PartyPoker Blog:

We’re pretty sure all the bases have been covered now. Unless, of course, Howard Lederer wants to record “Sh#t Board Members Say.”

One time?

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