The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of PokerNews.

Numbers are unbiased. You can sabotage a formula and move variables around to manipulate numbers, but if the math is right, then numbers are unbiased. If a roulette wheel comes up red 50 times in a row, that doesn’t mean that “black is due.” If you’re playing poker and there has been a on the flop for three hands in a row, that doesn’t mean that “sixes are hot.” The numbers don’t change.

On Thursday, Alexandre Dreyfus, the CEO of the Global Poker Index, announced that the GPI suspended Jean-Paul Pasqualini and Cedric Rossi. The two players were removed from the rankings, and the suspension is “clearly stated on their player profile page.” Dreyfus goes on to say he believes poker still has its best years ahead of it.

“I’m not simply a believer. I’m investing a lot of money into this goal, to make the GPI a respectable tool for promoting poker players and poker playing performance.”

PokerNews reached out to Dreyfus for a few questions after the suspensions were announced, and Dreyfus discussed further the dangers of “opening Pandora’s Box.”

“Indeed, the GPI is a poker ranking authority. We are not an ethics committee or a body able to judge morality. Whatever is done outside the table or not related to the game doesn’t affect the GPI.”

I love Dreyfus’ attitude and his ambition. I also love his idea of developing a private “Player Trust Rating” that would be shared among casinos, because player protection and safety are paramount. However, because you simply can’t deny numbers, I wholeheartedly disagree with removing Pasqualini, Rossi and anyone else from the GPI rankings. You can blackball a player from the community, and you can warn casinos of their shady doings, but you can’t make a player’s statistics disappear into thin air.

In 1961, Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record by one. New York sportswriter Dick Young suggested that an asterisk be placed next to the record because Maris played in 162 games while Ruth played in 154, but the asterisk was omitted. For 37 years the record stood, and then the steroid era in Major League Baseball began.

In 1998, Mark McGwire (70) and Sammy Sosa (66) both broke the single-season home run record. In 2001, Barry Bonds hit an incredible 73 home runs, snatching the record away from McGwire, and after the 2007 MLB season, Bonds retired as the all-time home run king with 762. All three players have been connected to performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), and McGwire admitted to using steroids in 2010.

Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa have not been removed from the record books. You can find their names on MLB.com and in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. None of these players are members of the Hall of Fame, and that’s perfectly OK.

It would be absurd for MLB to deny that these seasons happened or that Bonds destroyed 73 baseballs in 2001, captivating all of baseball in the process. It is acceptable and sensible for the baseball writers to deny Bonds’ entry into the Hall of Fame, and they have. They have also denied McGwire, Sosa, Roger Clemens, and other suspected users.

Subjectivity is welcomed when selecting members for the Hall of Fame, but there can only be objectivity when dealing with statistics.

Team sports, particularly in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), are more susceptible to statistical punishments. In 2012, the Ohio State Buckeyes football program was hit with a myriad of sanctions. Their entire 2010 season, including their Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas, was vacated, and the university’s share of revenue from the Sugar Bowl win was forfeited. The Buckeyes were banned from post-season play in 2012, including the B1G Championship Game, and Urban Meyer’s team finished a perfect 12-0.

Despite breaking NCAA rules and having previous wins vacated, the Associated Press didn’t ignore Ohio State. The AP ranked the Buckeyes throughout the season, and the team finished third in the country at the end of the season behind only Oregon (2) and Alabama (1).

The greatest example for Dreyfus, and anyone else who believes that players can be removed from the rankings, is Lance Armstrong. Armstrong, who participated in arguably the dirtiest sport on the planet and competed against teams and countries that absolutely hated him, had his seven Tour de France victories vacated by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the International Cycling Union. Armstrong’s 14-year cycling career vanished into thin air. If you go to LeTour.com, you’ll see they don’t even list race winners from before 2010. The only tab you can click is “Race Winners Since 2010.”

The entire website has been de-Armstrong’d.

Is that justifiable, though? If you follow me on Twitter, you know I am completely anti-Armstrong. I think he’s arrogant, I think his appearance on Oprah was a joke, and I think it takes a real scummy person to hide behind this large of a lie for a decade. Having said that, can his seven wins be erased that easily? When cycling enthusiasts discuss the history of the sport they love, do they just omit an entire decade?

Armstrong will never cycle again – nor should he. But his seven wins, many of which came against other cyclists who were using PEDs, can’t fade into oblivion.

Dreyfus is great for poker. The GPI has revolutionized the way we rank players. The GPI Player of the Year will soon become – if it hasn’t already – the most important annual award in our industry. The Fantasy Poker Manager is ingenious, and has already become very popular on Facebook. But there is no need to remove Pasqualini and Rossi from the rankings unless you want to send some kind of message to the community. The rankings are the rankings. If players are found to be cheating and are no longer allowed to play in tournaments, then their ranking will plummet anyway.

I encourage Dreyfus to continue to better our community, and again I love the idea of a private “Player Trust Rating” that would be shared among casinos, but removing players from the rankings is unnecessary.

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Antonio Esfandari’s battles with Phil Hellmuth at the poker table always make for good entertainment. Much to our delight, the two superstars will soon be facing off in London at the PartyPoker Premier League. We’ll bring you that story, plus a new online poker site in the U.S., in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It:

A new crew of poker players in Germany has been dominating the high-stakes scene lately. Rich Ryan discusses that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.

Cash game player and CardRunners instructor Matt “mdorand” Dorand recently moved up in stakes. To help Dorand with his transition, fellow CardRunners instructor Grant “balbomb” Coombs critiqued his play for the latest training video at CardRunners.

A final table was reached at the 2013 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open on Monday. Former WPT champs Matt Salsberg and Matt Giannetti are both eyeing their second title.

Often, tournament circuit regulars fall under the radar of poker media outlets. We’re here to change that. In the latest edition of Circuit Grinders, Chris “Biloxi Bomber” Conrad discusses his recent WSOP Circuit win, life as a poker pro, and more.

Hellmuth and Esfandiari Join Premier League

Let the needling begin.

On Monday, PartyPoker announced that Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari will participate in the $125,000 buy-in PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker VI at Aspers Casino in London from March 17 through 23. They will also compete at the World Poker Tour Venice Main Event from March 25 through 30.

Esfandiari, who’s taken every chance to provoke the temperamental Hellmuth in the past, will be participating in the Premier League for the first time. Hellmuth has been a regular fixture in the popular event, but returns in 2013 after missing Premier League V in Vienna last year.

Said Esfandiari, “For years I have been hearing about Premier League Poker – it’s nice to finally make it over there to play in it!”

“I am looking forward to competing in the Premier League: 16 players, one winner,” Hellmuth added.

Esfandiari and Hellmuth join Daniel Negreanu and Scott Seiver as the first four confirmations on the Premier League VI lineup. The 16-player tournament will award the winner with entry into the $25,000 WPT World Championship at Bellagio, in addition the league’s top cash prize. Seiver won last year’s tournament for $500,000.

According to a press release, “the event will feature 16 players split up into two groups of eight in the Main Event, each competing in four league matches showcasing the famous point system ($2,000 per point). The top three from each group will automatically go through to the final table, while the fourth and fifth seeds will square off in a series of heads-up matches (best of three) for spots in the eight-handed finale.”

The PartyPoker Blog has more.

ACEP Launches Ongame-Powered Poker Site

On Tuesday, American Casino & Entertainment Properties (ACEP) Interactive officially launched its free-to-play poker website, acePLAYpoker.com. The site will use the Ongame poker software recently acquired by Bally Technologies.

The new website allows players the opportunity to play free online poker 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The site provides online players with exclusive promotions, including show tickets to critically acclaimed shows at the iconic Stratosphere Casino, which is owned by ACEP. Other prizes include opportunities to experience Stratosphere’s thrill rides at the top of the Tower, including SkyJump, a controlled free fall from 108 floors above the Las Vegas Strip.

“With the launch of this free to play website, we can now bring the excitement of play found at our properties to anyone with Internet access, no matter their location,” said Alec Driscoll, director of gaming development for ACEP. “We are also positioning ACEP and acePLAYpoker.com for the potential approval of legalized online gaming.”

Last September, the Nevada Gaming Commission approved ACEP as an interactive gaming operator ahead of the state’s real-money online poker market. ACEP’s software platform is provided by Bally Technologies, which recently acquired Amaya Gaming and will incorporate Amaya’s Ongame software into Bally’s iGaming platform.

Bally was approved for a Nevada gaming license as a service provider last June. ACEP and Bally teamed up on Sept. 25, 2012, shortly after ACEP was approved for its license.

Visit acePLAYpoker.com for more information on the new site.

New Jersey’s iGaming Efforts Moving Quickly

After an interstate online gambling bill (A2578/S1565) was conditionally vetoed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week, state legislators say they are planning to vote on amendments to the bill on Feb. 26 before putting it back on Christie’s desk for signature.

“The Senate will move forward to adopt the governor’s conditional veto on Feb. 26,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney on Monday. “The sooner we bring Internet gaming to New Jersey, the better off Atlantic City is going to be.”

State Sen. Ray Lesniak, the chief sponsor of the bill, said he will work on making the recommended changes to the measure and get it returned to the governor. Among Christie’s recommendations include a tax increase from 10 to 15 percent, with part of the additional proceeds going to compulsive gambling programs, and a time limit of 10 years for the authorization of Internet gaming unless re-established by law.

“The sooner we get Internet gaming in place, the sooner we will begin to see the economic benefits that will come with it,” Lesniak said.

Lesniak told PokerNews last week that he expects the assembly to have already passed the revisions during its voting session on Feb. 14 or Feb. 21. Then, following six months to finalize regulations and review casino applicants, Lesniak anticipates the first virtual hands to be dealt in New Jersey this fall.

New Jersey is attempting to become the third state to legalize online poker in the U.S. Nevada authorized Internet poker in December 2011, and Delaware passed legislation last June.

Read more in the press release at PolitickerNJ.

Washington State Lawmaker Aims to Lessen Online Gambling Penalties

Online poker has been illegal in Washington State since a prohibition bill was signed into law in 2006. Since then, online gambling within state lines has been a class C felony, which calls for up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines. As a result, several Washington-based poker pros relocated to more gambling-friendly areas of the world.

On Monday, however, Washington State Rep. Paul Harris proposed a bill that would reduce the penalties for online gamblers who play recreationally. House Bill 1824 changes language to lessen the crime to a “class 3 civil infraction,” easing the maximum penalty to $50.

According to the proposal, recreational purposes means “solely for the defendant’s own enjoyment and not as part of an enterprise that derives income from operating an internet web site that transmits or receives gambling information.”

Outside of Utah, which prohibits all forms of gambling, Washington has been the staunchest opponent of Internet gambling in the U.S. In 2010, following a ruling that Washington State’s online gambling statute did not violate the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker blocked real-money players from playing in Washington State. PokerStars said in a statement that the policy will remain in place until the laws change.

PokerFuse has more on the latest from Washington.

acePlay Poker Celebrity Charity Championship

As we reported above, ACEP Interactive launched a free-to-play online poker site on Tuesday, and has plans to run a real-money version in the near future. Earlier this year, the Stratosphere Casino held the first annual acePlay Poker Celebrity Charity Championship. Among the celebs in attendance were 2011 Playboy Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair, UFC fighter Frank Mir, and poker pro and WPT Raw Deal host Tony Dunst. The winner earned $5,000 toward the charity of their choice. Here’s a brief look at the event:

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