September 30 2012, Brett Collson

Did you miss any of the top poker news stories this week? Well you’ve come to the right place to get caught up. We’re covering the Tom Dwan’s comments about The Lederer Files, Rafael Nadal’s newest PokerStars promotion, and more.

Online Poker

Tom Dwan on The Lederer Files

When PokerStars completed the deal to purchase the assets of Full Tilt Poker in July, former FTP Team Pro Tom Dwan seemed ready to discuss his thoughts on the demise of his former employer. In fact, Dwan promised his Twitter followers that he would write a blog or do an interview to talk about the issue. Neither happened.

On Tuesday, though, Dwan discussed his views on Full Tilt Poker after watching The Lederer Files here at PokerNews.com and reading the recent Andy Bloch interview at DiamondFlushPoker.com. Surprising to many, Dwan said he believes most of what the two former FTP owners said, and that their comments lined up with independent information that he knew.

Still, Dwan admits that he made a mistake by not speaking up when he should have.

As we reported in Tuesday’s Nightly Turbo, Howard Lederer will be joining the TwoPlusTwo PokerCast Wednesday for a follow-up interview to The Lederer Files. He’ll also be speaking with Diamond Flush later this week.

Read all of Dwan’s comments at his Twitter page.

Poker and Tennis with Rafael Nadal

On Tuesday, PokerStars announced an exciting new promotion that gives players the chance to play tennis and poker against Rafael Nadal.

From Sept. 24 through Oct. 21, PokerStars will run Rafa Dream Day freerolls five times per day, plus $1.10 qualifiers available on the hour, every two hours. The Rafa Dream Day Final takes place on Oct. 21 at 12:00 ET; the winner will meet Nadal in Spain, spend time with him on the tennis court, and receive poker lessons from his personal poker coach.

“It’s always an amazing experience when I meet my fans, but I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Nadal, who signed with PokerStars in June. “I’ve spent time with (fans) signing things and posing for photos but here they will actually be trying to beat me. This is something totally new for me.”

“I’m a very competitive person, you know, so if I’m on court, playing computer games or playing poker, I just don’t like losing and I always try to win. I’m still a beginner at this sport but I’ve got my poker coach so by the time I get to play against my fans I hope I’ll be prepared. It’s going to be a lot of fun but I’ll be honest, I don’t want to lose!”

The Rafa Dream Day experience will be held on the Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 in Majorca. The prize will include flights and accommodation for winners along with all meals and refreshments during the trip.

For more information, visit PokerStars.com.

Howard Lederer Joins TwoPlusTwo PokerCast

After ending his 15-month silence in an exclusive interview with PokerNews this month, former Full Tilt Poker executive Howard Lederer joined the TwoPlusTwo PokerCast on Wednesday to answer follow-up questions from co-hosts Adam Schwartz and Mike Johnson, and the poker community.

Among the topics discussed during the four-hour phone interview were the lack of responsibility taken by the four-member board of directors; the role of CFO Gil Coronado in the financial downfall of the company; and the decision to continue owner distributions despite the knowledge of a nine-figure backlog.

Lederer also discusses the decision of owners not to return distributions after Black Friday. Lederer said the idea was brought up, but it was “never a possibility.” Other than the $14 million Chris Ferguson lent to the company after Black Friday, not a single owner – including Lederer – offered to return distributions to the company.

“You have to realize we couldn’t get members to return their loans,” said Lederer. “So the idea of getting them to return their distributions was just a pipe dream.”

Lederer said he considered repaying some of his dividends but didn’t have a lot of cash on hand. When asked if he tried to liquidate assets, Lederer said he would’ve had problems trying to sell one of his seven homes in Las Vegas.

To listen to the full interview, visit TwoPlusTwo.com or iTunes.

“Maratik” Speaks

When Russian microstakes grinder “maratik” won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event this week, it created one of the most inspiring stories poker has seen in recent years. At the time, little was known about the player who turned 40 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) into more than $1 million. But that changed on Thursday when the PokerStars spoke with the man behind the “maratik” moniker, Marat Sharafutdinov.

Sharafutdinov navigated a field of 1,825 to win the $5,200 WCOOP Main Event, outlasting a handful of world-class players along the way. It isn’t often you see a microstakes regular playing with the world’s best, but qualifying into PokerStars’ flagship tournaments has apparently become one of Marat’s talents over the years.

“I noticed that with enough luck you can qualify for just a small amount of FPPs so I began to play them often,” he told the PokerStars Blog. “It was the same way I won a couple of seats in the $215 Sunday Million and in one of the nightly $150 tourneys.”

Despite sitting beside some of the game’s top talents, Sharafutdinov didn’t shy away from playing big pots, as he explained in one key hand around the money bubble. “There was a hand where I had queens and the big blind three-bet me and then bet all three streets,” he said. “It was not far from the money and I understood that it was a regular who was trying to push out a micro-limits player. He thought I would be afraid of elimination, but I called without much doubt. He had bluffed and after that sat out for some time.”

From there, Marat was patient, playing a “maximum of five hands in four hours,” and eventually approached the final table. It was then that he really started opening up his game. “I started using my rock image to start opening with bluffs,” he explained.

Sharafutdinov’s story is one for the ages, and he was kind enough to offer some advice for players wanting to following in his footsteps, saying, “Take risks, but remember about bankroll management.”

To read the full interview, check out the PokerStars Blog.

Poker Business

Full Tilt Poker Repayment Plan

On Monday, PokerStars announced that it will relaunch Full Tilt Poker during the first week of November and detailed its plan to repay $184 million to former customers of Full Tilt Poker outside U.S.

PokerStars closed a deal with the Department of Justice to acquire Full Tilt Poker’s assets on Aug. 6 and specified that it would relaunch FTP and repay players outside the U.S. within 90 days. Those plans have not changed according to Monday’s press release.

Once the newly managed Full Tilt Poker opens, non-U.S. players will have different withdrawal processes depending on their jurisdiction. In segregated markets like France, Spain, Denmark, Estonia and Belgium, former Full Tilt Poker players will be repaid through the locally-licensed PokerStars platform. In all other non-U.S. markets Full Tilt Poker players will have full access to their accounts when www.FullTiltPoker.com re-launches during the first week of November.

PokerStars is still working with regulators in Italy and details will be released as soon as possible.

In the U.S., Full Tilt Poker customers are still waiting on the Department of Justice to provide details of a remission process for the estimated 1.3 million people in the U.S. who had money stuck on Full Tilt Poker. As of last month, the government was seeking help from a third-party “claims administrator” to oversee the procedure. Applications for the position were due on Aug. 31.

For more, read the article here at PokerNews.com.

BOOM Documentary Update

The highly-anticipated BOOM Documentary could be finished by this November, co-producer Jay Rosenkrantz wrote in his blog on Monday. Rosenkrantz says he doesn’t know exactly when the film will be released, but he expects the final cut to be finished by the November deadline date for the South by Southwest Film Festival.

Rosekrantz is co-producing the documentary with former high-stakes poker pro Taylor Caby. The feature-length film, directed by Ryan Firpo, captures the growth of poker during the “boom” of the Chris Moneymaker era, and then the trials and tribulations of Black Friday. The film includes interviews with several poker pros who have long been involved with the game.

In his blog, Rosenkrantz touches on the steps that need to be taken in the final stages of production. He says there’s still “a long road ahead,” but the finish line is in sight.

“We have submitted an edit to Sundance, but we’re still absorbing feedback, contemplating improvements, and polishing the rough edges,” Rosenkrantz said on Monday. “When/where can you see our movie? We don’t know yet, but stay tuned!”

Read Rosenkrantz’s blog at JayRosenkrantz.blogspot.com.

ACEP Partners with Bally Technologies

Less than a week after American Casino & Entertainment Properties LLC was a granted an interactive gaming license in Nevada, the company joined forces with business-to-business provider gaming Bally Technologies to provide online poker within state lines.

“We are excited about the opportunity to partner with a premier gaming operation and a globally recognized brand like the Stratosphere,” said Bally Technologies’ Vice President of Business Development John Connelly. “What makes this even more significant is the fact that ACEP is located in Nevada, one of the only approved and regulated markets within the United States.”

Earlier this year, Bally became the first company licensed in the United States as an interactive gaming system manufacturer and service provider. Bally will provide its poker platform for all of ACEP’s properties, including the Stratosphere Casino in Las Vegas and the two Arizona Charlie’s properties.

“We are pleased to be involved in the leading edge of this emerging segment in the U.S.,” said ACEP CEO Frank Riolo. “This partnership with Bally will allow us to establish a play-for-free poker site by the end of the year, which we plan to use to further enhance our brands and enable us to be poised to launch a real money poker site at such a time as permitted.”

Read the full press release at DailyFinance.com.

Bwin.Party Sells Ongame

After months of negotiations with potential buyers, bwin.party has reportedly come to an agreement to sell the Ongame Network to Montreal-based Amaya Gaming Group Inc.

Pokerfuse reported Friday that Amaya will pay between $6.5 million and $8 million for Ongame, an asset that bwin.party has been trying to unload for nearly a year. An announcement could be made as early as next week, according to the Pokerfuse report.

In February, gaming provider Shuffle Master signed a definitive agreement to buy Ongame for “19.5 million, but the company withdrew its offer in June because of declining industry conditions. Bwin.party had since been speaking with numerous companies interested in the poker network, including social gaming giant Zynga.

According to PokerScout.com, Ongame ranks fifth worldwide in real-money ring game traffic, trailing ony PokerStars, iPoker, PartyPoker and 888poker. The network, which hosts poker rooms like Betfair and Betsson.com, climbed past PokerStars.it and Winamax.fr in PokerScout’s rankings but will lose Bwin’s poker offering to PartyPoker.

Pokerfuse has more.

Poker Tournaments

High Roller in London

While most of the attention of the poker world was on the World Series of Poker Europe and World Championship of Online Poker this week, a £100,000 buy-in High Roller tournament was held at Aspinall’s private gambling club in London. The tournament wasn’t publicized by many media outlets, but several high-stakes regulars made their way to London for the costly event.

According to co-organizer Jim Preston, there were 20 players to start, creating a prize pool of close to £2,000,000. Phil Ivey, Sam Trickett, Philipp Gruissem, JC Tran, Jonathan Little, Nam Le and Erik Seidel were among the pros in the field. However, it was the illustrious Asian businessmen who emerged as the top performers

After all of the top pros hit the rail, Richard Yong and Paul Phua battled heads-up for the £1,000,000 top prize. Phua ultimately took it down, and Yong collected £570,000 for his runner-up result. Winfred Yu (£300,000) and Terje Augdal (£200,000) placed third and fourth, respectively, to round out the in-the-money finishers.

John Juanda sent out his congrats to Phua, Yong and Yu via Twitter on Wednesday:

Global Poker Index Player of the Year Update

The Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings were released on Wednesday with Dan Smith again on top of the standings.

Smith maintained his lead for the sixth consecutive week thanks to his five major victories on the circuit this year. With 1,010 points, Smith leads his next closest competitor, Andrew Lichtenberger, by nearly 200 points. Lichtenberger, Marvin Rettenmaier and Kyle Julius round out the top four, respectively.

The only movement in the Top 10 this week came from David Baker and Jonathan Duhamel, who swapped places in the rankings. Baker jumped one spot to No. 5 after his 14th place finish in World Series of Poker Europe Event #1. Duhamel, who spent the first 13 weeks atop the GPI Player of the Year rankings, dropped to No. 6.

Others making moves outside of the top 10 were Roberto Romanello (up 13 spots to No. 17), Phil Hellmuth (up 16 spots to No. 29), Kyle Bowker (up 39 spots to No. 88), Govert Metaal (up 52 spots to No. 55), Vyacheslav Igin (up 30 spots to No. 63), and Micah Raskin (up 45 spots to No. 72).

Here’s a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:

The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, 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.

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

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

Follow Brett Collson on

No comments yet. Be the first to post one!

July 22 2012, Brett Collson, Elaine Chaivarlis

Did you miss any of the top poker news stories this week? Well you’ve come to the right place to get caught up. We’re covering Rafael Nadal’s debut at PokerStars, Phil Galfond’s blog about happiness, and more.

Poker Players

Phil Galfond is Happy

Rarely does a poker blog get more attention than the one written by Phil Galfond. The admired high-stakes poker pro submitted a new entry this week that immediately received a great response from his peers and the community.

The blog, titled Poker and Your Life, touches on several issues poker players face during their career. Among other things, Galfond explains his discovery of the true meaning of happiness:

What I now realize is that I’m sacrificing happiness for… happiness! Once I made this realization (recently), I started seeing how much happier I could be in my day to day life by sacrificing some EV. I used to feel like I HAD to work hard, and I was doing the “right” thing by maximizing my earn rate rather than being my happiest. It almost felt like a duty… like it was honorable. But now when faced with a decision of making a sacrifice in happiness for more $EV in poker, I’m no longer comparing apples to oranges. I’m choosing apples (happiness) or apples (happiness). So really, all I need to do is decide what (which apple) will make me more happy (apple).

As always, Galfond’s blog is tl;dr a must-read for every poker fan. You can find it at PhilGalfond.com.

Fault!

Tennis icon and newest Team PokerStars Pro Rafael Nadal recently made his debut at the world’s leading online poker site. Last week, Nadal was introduced to the PokerStars Mobile app and then quickly learned how not to play a small pocket pair.

Rafa’s first lesson: Don’t trust anybody. Not even a poker coach.

Clearly, he still has a lot to learn about the game. Nadal recently pulled out of the London Olympic games, so maybe we’ll see him give it another go at the tables before the U.S. Open next month. We’re excited to see the eight-time French Open winner at the PokerStars tables in the near future.

The PokerStars Blog has more.

End of an Era

Last Sunday, poker pro Adam Junglen announced he will be taking an extended break from the game after a “disappointing” end to his 2012 World Series of Poker.

Junglen, who has close to $1 million in live tournament cashes, says he wants to focus on “finding happiness” rather than continue his career on the felts. Junglen played in 20 events this summer, cashing three times without any final tables.

“It’s completely normal to be burnt out from the tourney grind after the (World Series), but this year I’ve slowly noticed the enjoyment level just isn’t quite as high as it used to be,” Junglen wrote in his blog. “My backer and friend for over 5 years now, Daniel Negreanu, had noticed and we agreed it’d be in my best interest to take an extended break from poker. Basically just work on finding happiness, something I’ve unintentionally set aside for quite some time now.”

Read Junglen’s full blog entry at AdamJunglen.com.

Baker’s Recipe for Success

Fresh off winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet and running deep in the WSOP Main Event, David “ODB” Baker is the new man to catch in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race.

Baker was nowhere to be found in the top 10 of the rankings entering this week, but he climbed 13 spots to overtake Jonathan Duhamel for the top spot. Baker won the $2,500 8-Game Mixed event in June, and followed that up with three more final tables before placing 56th in the Main Event for $128,384. His eight cashes at the 2012 WSOP amounted to nearly $800,000.

World Poker Tour Championship winner Marvin Rettenmaier jumped one spot to No. 2 in this week’s rankings, dropping Duhamel two spots to No. 3. Dan Smith and Kyle Julius were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Phil Ivey (sixth) was knocked out of the top five for the first time in four weeks.

Another big mover this week was Erik Cajelais, who moved up 15 spots to No. 10 after an 86th-place finish in the WSOP Main Event. Cajelais also had a runner-up finish in a WSOP this summer and also took fifth in the WPT Bay 101 Main Event in May. Cajelais is just a few points ahead of superstars Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier and Eugene Katchalov for 10th in the standings.

Here’s a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:

The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, 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.

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

Doyle Updates Us on His Summer

After more than a month, Doyle Brunson has graced us with another blog. We can’t blame him for the wait, he’s “on the best heater” that he’s had in years. We’d probably do the same thing, but we’re not really familiar with “heaters” except for the kind that keep you warm in the winter, so on we go, writing away.

In his blog, Brunson tells us that the WSOP was “pretty uneventful,” that he didn’t really get into the bracelet race, and thinks the “tournaments are for younger players.”

He also says that Vanessa Selbst “is not only the best female player in the world, she is one of the top players, male or female.”

Brunson then reflects on his lost scooters (three scooters lost, all during the WSOP) and an interesting turn of events that occurred at the Bellagio one night.

“Some kid that looked like he might not be old enough to be in the casino walked into Bobby’s Room. He looked at all the cash and large denomination chips then turned back and walked to the door as if he was leaving. He made a quick spin and came back to our game and looked directly at me. He then looked again at the money, turned and went out the door where several players at a different game heard him say, ‘I’m going to come back with a gun and take that money.’”

Brunson being the old-school poker player that he is said that he told security if they let him get his gun from his car, he’d stay and keep playing. “I didn’t like the idea of being a sitting duck for some nut case,” Brunson wrote. (No, they didn’t let him get his gun.)

Read about the Bellagio encounter and the rest of Brunson’s summer in his blog on DoyleBrunson.com.

Online Poker

The Race Is On

The South Point Casino is poised to launch the first licensed real-money online poker site in the United States.

The casino, which created a free-to-play site last October, is set to meet with the Gaming Control Board next month to discuss recommendation for an operating license in Nevada. If approved, South Point will seek final license approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission.

South Point owner and CEO Michael Gaughan told eGaming Review that a real-money online poker site would be ready to launch as early as September. Gaughan says his gaming platform has already been approved by an independent testing laboratory, meaning it can go live as soon as it is licensed to do so.

“We’re finishing up our second wave of testing and so far no problems,” Gaughan told eGamng Review. “I may not be the biggest or the best but hopefully I’ll have a head start by two or three months.”

Last month, slot machine suppliers IGT and Bally Technologies became the first companies to receive licenses to act as service providers for Internet poker operators. However, it could take up to six months for their technology to be tested by the board and the state. The providers also need to wait on partnering casinos to receive license approval from the NGC.

Read more about South Point Poker at eGR North America.

High Stakes Cash Games on PartyPoker?

They gone.

On Thursday, PokerNews obtained a statement from PartyPoker regarding the removal of its high-stakes cash games.

“We have removed some of our super high stake games, this decision has been taken to make improvements to our poker ecology and in our players best interests. We believe this change will improve the action at our tables and is in the best interest of the poker room as a whole.”

The cash games that have been removed include all no-limit and pot-limit games with blinds of $10/$20 and higher, and fixed limit games with blinds of $50/$100 and higher.

If you want to find out more, head on over to UK.PokerNews.com.

PKR v. 2.08

On Wednesday, PKR.com unveiled a new version of its innovative 3D software that will bring smiles to the faces of online grinders.

The biggest change in the software is the ability to open up to nine separate 3D real-money table windows, allowing players to fill their monitor with tables if they so choose. The windows can be set to tile, cascade or custom to your liking.

Other software enhancements include improved table chat, revamped remote controls for your avatar, a new “My Seat” camera angle, and tableside virtual drinks including tequila shots and mojitos.

PKR also announced it will be releasing a revolutionary Hand Replay Tool that will allow players to export their hand histories to YouTube and other social media platforms.

Here’s a closer look at PKR version 2.08:

Read more at PKR.com.

Poker Tournaments

Hairabedian Wins WPT National Series Mazagan

Poker pro Roger Hairabedian won the World Poker Tour National Series Mazagan last weekend, besting a field of 158 players to earn “63,890 and his first WPT title.

Hairabedian was near the top of the leaderboard on each day of the “1,650 buy-in event. It came down to him and Hicham Zaakour for the title, and after a three-hour duel Hairabedian emerged as champion. On the final hand of the match, Hairabedian’s bested Zaakour’s when the board rolled out .

With the win, Hairabedian also earned a trip and a seat to the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris in September.

WPT National Series Mazagan Results

Read more at fr.PokerNews.com (Google Translate is your friend).

Who You Takin’?

Now that the final table is set for the WSOP Main Event, sports books all over the globe are giving poker enthusiasts a chance to bet on the next world champ.

Betting giant Ladbrokes opened lines for the “Octo-Nine” shortly after the final table was reached Monday night. Not surprisingly, Ladbrokes listed chip leader Jesse Sylvia as the favorite, giving the American poker pro 3-to-1 odds to win the tournament. He’s followed by Andras Koroknai and Greg Merson, both at 5-to-1.

Here’s a look at Ladbrokes’ odds for the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event final table:

Last year, Pius Heinz was sixth in chips with 16,425,000 going into the Main Event final table. Many sports books had him listed at 11-to-1 to win the bracelet – a great value for bettors.

In previous years, Jonathan Duhamel (2010) held a significant chip lead over the rest of the field and was a 3-to-1 favorite to win it all; Joe Cada (2009) was fifth in chips coming into the final table and opened at 18-to-1; Peter Eastgate (2008) was fourth and listed at 13-to-2; and Jerry Yang (2007) was eighth in chips and priced at 19-to-1.

Keep those numbers in mind when placing your bets. You can find this year’s odds at Ladbrokes.com.

PokerStars Macau Expands

PokerStars has announced two new events to be included in 2012 Asia Player of the Year season. The Macau Poker Cup Championship will take place from September 7 through 16, and the inaugural APPT: Asia Championship of Poker is scheduled for Oct. 26 through Nov. 11. Both events will take place at the Grand Waldo Entertainment Complex.

The Macau Poker Cup Championship is the annual finale for Asia’s premier poker series and will feature a HKD $20,000 buy-in Main Event that has a HKD $4.5 million guarantee. Meanwhile, the much anticipated APPT: Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) will feature a HKD $100,000 buy-in Main Event with a massive HKD $10,000,000 guarantee. The 17-day poker festival will have 18 official Asia Player of the Year events, including a HKD $25,000 buy-in ACOP Warm-up (HKD $5,000,000 guarantee) and a HKD $250,000 buy-in High Roller event.

“ACOP is the next evolution of tournaments in Asia,” said Danny McDonagh, director of live operations for Asia-Pacific. “This is an exciting step towards reaching the success of major international tournaments like the PCA, EPT, and WSOP.”

Here’s a look at the remaining PokerStars Macau schedule for 2012:

For more information, check out PokerStarsMacau.com.

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

Follow Brett Collson on

Follow Elaine Chaivarlis on

No comments yet. Be the first to post one!