June 26 2012, Brett Collson

The World Series of Poker is on fire right now, especially with the $50,000 Poker Players Championship in full swing. But there are other stories around the world, as well. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we’re covering a poker player who has gone missing, a poker site that has closed its doors, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Who won World Series of Poker bracelets on Monday? And who’s leading the $50,000 Poker Players Championship after Day 2? Find out in the Day 30 WSOP recap.

Another woman was closing in on a WSOP title Tuesday. We take a look at that story and more in Tuesday’s WSOP What to Watch For.

A controversial hand took place during the $50,000 Poker Players Championship on Monday. Donnie Peters was on hand to cover the chaos from beginning to end.

2011 WSOP Main Event champ Pius Heinz joined the PokerNews Podcast on Monday. Find out what he had to say about his new image at the table, bluffing, and more.

How did Brett Richey discover his passion for poker? Find out that and more in the latest Seat Open.

Looking for a fun, behind-the-scenes perspective of life at the WSOP? All Mucked Up has daily stories from inside the Rio, so check it out!

Help Find Peter Lap

The sudden disappearance of a popular poker player has several members of the poker community on alert this week.

Peter Lap, better known to Blonde Poker members as “Boldie,” mysteriously went missing last Tuesday after he left for work, according to Blonde Poker forum member “Laxie.” The disappearance is out of character for Lap, prompting his friends to react quickly.

“He left his car, mobile and laptop at the hotel he’d checked in to and was last seen taking a taxi to Manchester airport” Laxie said. “His wife, Wendy, has been in contact with the police and they’ve a missing person’s report filed.”

Police found Lap’s belongings at the hotel. Some forum members indicated that Lap could have flown into Las Vegas sometime last week. However, because flight records are confidential, police will not look into that matter at this time.

Lap, 37, is 6-foot-3, about 200 pounds, bald, and has a Dutch accent. He was last seen in Cresta Best Western Altrincham booking a shuttle bus to Manchester Airport.

UPDATE: Thanks to the investigative work of his friends, Lap was located in Las Vegas and will be heading home soon! We’re glad to hear he’s OK.

Read the thread at Blonde Poker for more information.

Hollywood Poker Folds

Ongame Network skin Hollywood Poker was shut down on Monday, much to the chagrin of players who were given no warning. All player accounts and balances were transferred to Red Kings, another Ongame-based poker room.

Reason for the closure wasn’t given, but the following message can be found on the Hollywood Poker website:

HollywoodPoker has stopped offering online poker. So that you can continue playing on the Ongame Network we have arranged to transfer your account with your entire account Balance to RedKings.com, a leading Ongame Network gaming site offering superb casino and poker games in a secure environment. Please be informed that your HollywoodPoker account, along with your entire account balance, has been transferred over to RedKings.com. Your nickname and password will remain the same. Simply log into Redkings.com with your HollywoodPoker username and password.

Hollywood Poker opened in 2004 and has been endorsed by World Poker Tour commentator Vince Van Patten and actor James Woods, among others. However, the endorsements ended when Hollywood poker left the U.S. market in 2006 after the signing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

PocketFives has more.

Online Poker Traffic

PokerScout.com released its weekly online poker traffic rankings on Monday. The tracking site reported an overall drop of 0.9 percent, marking the sixth straight week of declines worldwide.

There were two changes in the top 10 this week. PokerStars.es passed PokerStars.fr for eighth place and continues to build in the new regulated Spanish market. Meanwhile, the Merge Gaming Network recaptured the No. 10 spot from new rival Revolution Gaming. The two networks have been battling for prominence in the U.S. since Lock Poker left Merge on June 1 and formed Revolution Gaming.

As for year-over-year traffic numbers, online poker has seen a worldwide decline of 18 percent since this time last year, much of that caused falloff by Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network. As PokerScout notes, this week marks the one-year anniversary of Full Tilt Poker losing its operating license, so we’ll likely see a significant change in the numbers next week.

Some of the biggest gainers since this time last year were Revolution Gaming (up 72 percent) and 888poker (up 16 percent). The International Poker Network (down 51 percent), PKR (down 34 percent) and the Merge Network (down 13 percent) were among the notable decliners.

Read the full report at PokerScout.com.

Who Would You Rather?

Poker pro Matt Glantz was seated at a stacked table in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship on Monday. Lynn Gilmartin asked Glantz about his tablemates for the latest edition of Who Would You Rather.

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

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June 24 2012, Donnie Peters

Sunday is set to be a big day at the 2012 World Series of Poker. Two more events have reached Day 3 as both Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em is down to 30 players and Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better is down to 22 players. These events will be featured in this edition of the PokerNews What To Watch For.

Normally, the focus here is only on events that reach their final scheduled day of play, but there’s a little something extra for Sunday. Event #45: $50,000 Poker Players Championship will be kicking off at 1700 PDT (0100 BST), and that is surely something you’ll want to be watching for as only the biggest names in the game plop down the massive buy-in and look to be crowned the best all-around player in the world.

American Gold for Fox?

Elio Fox officially became a face in the industry when he conquered the 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event. Other than that massive “1.4 million score, Fox has never cashed in a WSOP event – until now.

Fox will be looking to take his top-five chip stack and turn it into a second piece of gold jewelry. He has one bracelet from Europe, but not one from American soil and this one would come with a prize of $742,072.

Kelly Goes for Third Bracelet

JP Kelly has two gold bracelets, with one coming from the WSOP in Las Vegas and the other from the WSOP Europe. Very few people have accomplished the feat of winning multiple bracelets on different continents and Kelly will be able to add a third piece of hardware to his collection if he can find his way to the top of the final 30 players.

For much of Day 2, Kelly kept his stack in the top three. He’ll enter Day 3 in third place overall and is playing on top of his game. Focused and determined, it’ll be fun to watch Kelly try and work his way to a third WSOP title.

Glazier Representing the Women

The women at the 2012 WSOP are crushing it and every event there seems to be a new female face deep in the mix. This time it’s Australia’s Jackie Glazier who’s found her way to Day 3 of Event #41. She’ll begin the day second in chips and her competition better not underestimate her.

Glazier is one of the premier tournament players in Australia. She only has one WSOP cash on record, coming from an in-the-money finish in the 2012 Main Event, but her results from Down Under stretch far and wide. Glazier has never had a six-figure score, but finishing sixth or higher will check that off her list.

Will Lisandro Earn Another Bracelet?

How many reading this can correctly guess how many gold bracelets Jeff Lisandro has? If you guessed five, you’re right on the money. Only 11 players have more gold bracelets than Lisandro and he’ll be able to join the likes of Layne Flack, TJ Cloutier and Jay Heimowitz with six if he’s able to win Event 42.

Down to the final 22 players, Lisandro has the chip lead by a sizable margin. For much of Day 2, he looked in the zone as his stack is evidence of that. The last time Lisandro won a bracelet was in 2010, but all of his five pieces of WSOP gold have come in the last six years. If he’s able to win this one, Lisandro will have an average of one bracelet per year dating back to 2007. That’s quite an amazing accomplishment.

Huge Buy-In, Elite Field, Prestigious Title

On Sunday, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship kicks off at 1700 PDT (0100 BST). Among the top players in the game, this is often the one they want to win the most as it’s held with the highest amount of prestige within their small community. The field is only expected to be around 100 players for this year’s event, but it’s going to be 100 of the most well known and greatest players in the game – literally walking legends.

Last year, Brian Rast defeated Phil Hellmuth to win the title. Things should be just as exciting this year and PokerNews has all of the live coverage kicking off later this evening.

As always, you can find PokerNews’ coverage of the 2012 WSOP on our Live Reporting Pages. We look forward to having you follow along and stay tuned for plenty more from our What To Watch For series.

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