September 25 2011, Chad Holloway

It seems like the poker headlines have been dominated by negative stories for the past couple of weeks. From the Mike DiVita and Epic Poker situation to the recent Full Tilt Poker “ponzi scheme,” poker has been dealt a blow in the eyes of the public, which is unfortunate given all the good poker has done, especially for charities. Thankfully, the value of poker was reassured to me this week when it was announced that $50,000 was raised for cancer research with the Playground Poker Club’s “NHL Faceoff” event.

From Sept. 10 through 12, 2011, stars of past and present, from both hockey and poker, joined forces in Kahnawake, Quebec, for a three-day tournament designed to raise money for the Jodi Taiger Lazarus Fund for Hereditary Breast Cancer Research at McGill University. Day 1a of the event featured five teams, each captained by a legendary National Hockey League player, including Guy Lafleur, Guy Carbonneau, Mike Bossy, Bobby Dollas and Steve Shutt. The second leg on Day 1b featured current Montreal Canadiens Carey Price, Josh Gorges, Travis Moen and PK Subban along with the legendary Pete Mahovlich.

Joining the hockey stars were a plethora of poker professionals including Canada-native and World Poker Tour Player of the Year for Season IV, Gavin Smith, Antonio Esfandiari, who emerged as the chip leader after Day 1a, 2006 World Series of Poker Player of the Year, Jeff Madsen, Trishelle Cannatella, Jennifer Leigh; and WSOP bracelet winner, Pascal Lefrancois, just to name a few.

The unique team format allowed the NHLers to consult with their poker pro co-captains for advice, which ensured some top-notch action. This was especially useful to the men accustomed to the ice, not the felt. According to the official press release: “In one particular hand, Montreal-born professional poker player Marc Karam was called on by his Team Captain, Steve Shutt to analyze a hand and Karam quickly gave him his calculated overview. Shutt pushed all-in with pocket tens and doubled his stack.”

With 293 entrants, a $120,000 prize pool was created, which generated a $50,000 donation to the Jodi Taiger Lazarus Fund. In the end, it was Jason Smith who emerged victorious and took home $25,000 along with a coveted NLH Faceoff Cup and a gold Playground Poker Club Champions bracelet. In addition, the winning “team” was the one captained by Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price and Montreal-native Pascal Lefrancois, with the team earning the opportunity to compete in a winner-take-all Freeroll for $5,000.

NLH Faceoff Charity Poker Final Table Results

The hockey players who played in the event are very notable on the ice, and it was extremely generous of them to devote their time to such a worthy cause. The same can be said of the poker pros that made the trip to Quebec. I wish all professional sports leagues would allow their athletes to use their superstardom to help bring awareness to charities by teaming up with poker.

I recall writing an article back in March that focused on the National Football League’s decision to ban some of its players from playing in a charity event in Las Vegas. This was a legitimate, highly-publicized charity tournament that drew the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Steve Martin, Don Cheadle, Jordin Sparks, and Kevin Sorbo, not to mention the dozens of poker pros. By not allowing its players to participate, the NFL was doing the charity a disservice not only by reducing the prize pool and donations, entries were down after all, but also because it suggested that there was something negative associated with the event.

Fast forward six months and I find myself writing that article’s counterpart, one that applauds a professional sports league for wising up and accepting the legitimacy and power of poker. This particular charity event was created specifically to utilize hockey’s popularity in Canada, and it was refreshing to see it get the support of the sport. Not only did everyone have a great time with no harm done, but $50,000 was raised for a great cause. Poker brings out the worst in a few, but I like to think it brings out the best in more.

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August 21 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

If you’re looking for the best place to find the week’s top poker news stories, then you’ve come to the right place. Find out more about the reintroduction of NJ state senator Lesniak’s intrastate online poker bill, a new Full Tilt Poker class action lawsuit, and more.

Try Again

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

That’s what New Jersey state Sen. Raymond Lesniak is doing. Rather than giving up after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed his bill for intrastate online gaming, Lesniak is planning on reintroducing it.

“Both industries are dying a slow death and they need the additional revenues that online gaming will provide for them,” Lesniak said of Atlantic City casinos and horse racing.

The state senator says that online gaming would create 1,900 new jobs and tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue. According to reports, one reason Gov. Christie vetoed the bill was because he was worried that Internet cafes would pop up around the state and exploit it.

In the new version of the bill Lesniak said, “They will be strictly prohibited from doing that.”

According to NJ1015.com, the bill will be reintroduced on August 25.

Read more on Lesniak’s reintroduction on NJ1015.com.

Another Lawsuit

According to EGRMagazine.com Full Tilt Poker has another class-action lawsuit on its hands. EGRMagazine is reporting that two Canadian players, Zayn Jetha and Donald Whelan, are responsible for the suit. The two have named Ray Bitar, Nelson Burtnick and Howard Lederer, as well as Full Tilt Poker Ltd and a few other companies associated with Full Tilt Poker. Tiltware was on that list.

This lawsuit comes one month after professional poker player Todd Terry and three other plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf on “a nation-wide class of Full Tilt account holders residing in the United States.” That suit named both Bitar and Burtnick, but also 13 members of Team Full Tilt.

You can read more at EGRMagazine.com.

Cates Multi-Accounting

Last week, Daniel Cates was interviewed by Noah Stephens-Davidowitz and Vanessa Selbst for Subject:Poker. In the first interview with the two, Cates told Stephens-Davidowitz and Selbst that he witnessed Haseeb Qureshi playing under Jose Macedo’s account.

“No, I basically witnessed it happen. Like, I just assumed it wouldn’t really matter. In my opinion, the way multi-accounting is unethical is if there’s some sort of information that leads the…It’s difficult to explain, but basically if there’s some sort of deception involved. Deception involved where, like, some read someone has on a player but if the player is not who they are, the read will be misused. Deception like that. But if that doesn’t really happen then multi-accounting, in theory, is harmless. If that makes sense.”

Subject:Poker was then contacted by Cates’ publicist, who said Cates lied about who actually multi-accounted and that it was actually Cates. He was then interviewed again by Subject:Poker where he clarified the situation.

Listen to the interview at SubjectPoker.com.

Could Bwin Be Wynning?

On Tuesday, numerous reports were circulating that Wynn Resorts had its eye on Bwin.party. The reports were enough to shoot Bwin.party’s share prices up. Rumors are saying a possible bid could reach as high as 170p per share, according to Independent.co.uk. The rumors surrounding Bwin.party and Wynn Resorts come on the heels of speculation that buyers could come from companies closer to home, like William Hill.

This isn’t the first time Wynn Resorts has been linked to an online poker site. In March, PokerStars and Wynn Resorts announced a strategic alliance. The alliance was set to seek a license to jointly operate a U.S. online poker site, but disbanded after Black Friday.

Find out more at Independent.co.uk.

Online Poker TV Ads

With only one business-month left for the California legislature, the push is on to get Sen. Lou Correa’s Senate Bill 40 passed. The California Online Poker Association has released a series of radio and television ads asking the legislature to pass the bill that would make online poker legal and taxed in California.

With ominous music in the background, the ad says, “California is facing a real emergency. A $4 billion budget shortfall that will result in cuts to police and fire departments, health care and state schools among other. Online poker will provide California with billions of dollars including $250 million immediately, create thousands of jobs and will ensure that the state’s online poker market, the largest in the nation, won’t be taken over by Nevada and its casinos.”

The bill is opposed by other gaming tribes and they issued a letter urging the legislature not to take action.

“Even though there have been hearings on the matter of intrastate internet poker, many fiscal, legal, technical and policy related questions must be resolved before adoption of any intrastate internet gaming legislation. There are numerous stakeholders who stand to be irreparably harmed should legislation be ‘ram-rodded’ through this legislative year and this surely would be a disservice to ALL Californians, Tribal and Non-Tribal, alike,” says the letter from Robert H. Smith, Chairman of the California Tribal Business Alliance.

The Sacramento Bee has more.

Bonomo on the Move

We tried to come up with a funny Magic the Gathering anecdote about Justin Bonomo moving to Malta to continue playing online poker, but we know nothing about MTG. However, this is the perfect story to link to our favorite video about Malta.

Back to the story at hand. According to his Facebook page, Justin Bonomo is moving to Malta. He’s hoping to be settled in time to check out the World Poker Tour stop in Malta on Sept. 20.

Bonomo is one of quite a few professional poker players who have decided to move from the U.S. to continue playing online poker. Phil Galfond, Vanessa Selbst, Jon Aguiar, and Supernova Elite Mike “MeleaB” Brooks are among those who have made the move.

EPT President Appointed

Global Poker Tours Limited, the poker tour production company behind the PokerStars European Poker Tour, on Thursday announced that the PokerStars EPT appointed Edgar Stuchly president.

According to the press release, Stuchly will “act as an official spokesperson of the EPT, helping refine the vision for the tour, working to further improve the customer experience for the many thousands of players from around the world who participate in the events, and growing the brand across more countries in Europe.”

“The EPT is the richest and most prestigious poker tour in Europe, and I’m delighted to be joining a much-loved and well-run live tour,” said Stuchly. “The goal now is to take the EPT to another level, in terms of improving the experience for players and expanding the tour into burgeoning poker markets in Europe. It’s a big challenge but one that I’m relishing.”

Stuchly is the former head of poker for Casinos Austria. During his four-year tenure there, he managed poker rooms at 12 casinos, founded the Casinos Austria Poker Tour, and managed the European Poker Championships.

“Edgar’s extensive live poker experience and vision for the EPT eased his appointment significantly. I’m sure that players, fans and anyone connected to the EPT will feel the benefits of his leadership over the coming months and years,” EPT chairman John Duthie said.

Find out more at PokerStarsBlog.com.

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