January 13 2012, Brett Collson

What a busy day in the world of poker! We have news about Freddy Deeb’s victory at a World Series of Poker Circuit event, and a “poker pro” was sentenced to 28 years in prison for murder. Read about those stories and more in the Friday edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

We get it, sometimes you would rather watch than read. That’s why we bring you PokerNews Weekly every week. In this Friday the 13th edition, Kristy Arnett and Sarah Grant bring you the latest news from the tournament circuit, and even break into a dance to congratulate Lynn Gilmartin.

A final table was reached at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event on Thursday. Faraz Jaka retained the chip lead, moving him one step closer to the $2 million top prize.

The $25,000 High Roller got under way at the PCA on Thursday. Many top pros chipped up nicely on Day 1, but an unfamiliar face finished atop the chip counts.

This week, MGM Resorts International CEO James Murren told CNBC that online poker will be available in the U.S. at some point this year. Matthew Kredell discussed Murren’s comments on Friday.

Peter Costa won the 2003 Aussie Millions Main Event, but hasn’t been around much lately. We caught up with Costa to find out what he’s been up to for the latest edition of Where Are They Now.

How was the high-stakes action at the PokerStars tables this week? Read the Online Railbird Report to find out the week’s biggest winners and losers.

Freddy Deeb took down the first World Series of Poker Circuit event at The Bike on Thursday. Get all the details in our final table recap.

The 2012 Aussie Millions Championship continued on Friday with Day 1b of the $1,100 Opening Event. Aussie superstar Brendon Rubie was among the chip leaders when play concluded.

The weekend is almost here and that means football. Check out our picks for the NFL’s Divisional Weekend in the latest Pigskin Diaries.

The Award Goes to…

Jake Cody, Eugene Katchalov, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Pius Heinz are among the many poker pros nominated for 2011 European Poker Awards. The 11th year of the prestigious event is set to take place on Jan. 25, 2012 at the Aviation Club de France in Paris.

The awards feature nine categories, including Rookie of the Year, Internet Player of the Year, Leading Lady of the Year, Best Tournament Performance of the Year, and the newly added Best Event of the Year.

The most coveted honor of Player of the Year will be given to one of the following six players: Jake Cody, Bertrand Grospellier, Pius Heinz, Eugene Katchalov, Andrey Pateychuk and Sam Trickett.

In addition, a Lifetime Achievement Award will be handed out during the festivities. Some of the previous winners of the honor include Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, John Duthie, Thomas Kremser, Marcel Luske, Bruno Fitoussi, and last year’s winner Nic Szeremeta, best known as the creator of the popular Late Night Poker television series.

To find out all the nominees for each category, visit the European Poker Awards website.

Joran van der Sloot Gets Prison Sentence

Self-described professional poker player Joran van der Sloot has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder of Stephany Flores, whom he met at a Lima, Peru, casino in 2010.

It has been alleged that Van der Sloot was in Peru for the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) when the murder of Flores took place. Despite never cashing in a poker tournament tracked by the major poker databases, Van der Sloot is known to have traveled to many live tournaments around the world.

Van der Sloot, 24, was also the prime suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in 2005. The Dutchman was never formally charged with Holloway’s death in Aruba, but he was arrested and held for questioning in the matter twice.

USA Today has more.

What’s in a Name?

On Friday, betting site Victor Chandler announced it will be rebranded to BetVictor in the United Kingdom. The bookmaker, which has operations running across Europe, said the decision to change the brand name is “to ensure consistency and instant recognition across all international markets.”

“As a company we are always innovating and moving forward, as well as extending our brand across new territories,” said BetVictor Chairman Victor Chandler, whose grandfather founded the company in 1946.

“The UK will continue to be the fulcrum of our international business and it makes perfect sense that the same brand name is used here as in foreign territories.

“I personally guarantee that we will continue to provide our superb range of betting opportunities across a comprehensive range of sporting events.”

Poker players can find the new home of BetVictor at betvictor.com. Read the full press release at Marketwatch.com.

Get Your Sports News and Betting Lines at SportMoose

While the world continues to wait on a potential fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, another championship bout has been announced for this year. SportMoose.com reported Friday that the World Boxing Association has ordered a rematch between British light welterweight Amir Khan and American Lamont Peterson.

Petersen defeated Khan for the WBA and IBF titles in December, but Khan complained that there may have been some influence on one of the judge’s scorecards. The WBA investigated the fight and determined that there was in fact some wrongdoing taking place. Therefore, the two boxers will duke it out once again in 2012.

SportMoose will have more details when they become available. You can also find the all the latest boxing odds, as well as betting lines for 20 other sports, at SportMoose.com.

Welcome to Oz!

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is providing updates from all over the globe this week. While Kristy Arnett has been working hard reading Twitter updates at the PCA, Nicki Pickering toured Melbourne for the Aussie Millions.

Here’s Pickering with a preview of what to expect from Down Under this month.

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

Follow Brett Collson on Twitter – @brettcollson

January 03 2012, Brett Collson

If you’re looking for the latest news news around the poker world, you’ve come to the right place. Online poker regulation is heating up in Europe with Belgium awarding licenses to a select group of operators. In other news, Spain has delayed the timetable on its new online gambling market. We’ll cover those stories and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

In December, Ilari Sahamies battled Rafi Amit and Viktor Blom for the honor of being the biggest cash-game winner on PokerStars in 2011. We tell you who finished on top and break down the year’s biggest winners and losers.

What can we expect to happen in the poker world this year? Rich Ryan makes his 12 Predictions for 2012.

Spain Delays Regulated Online Gambling Market

The new regulated online gambling market in Spain has been delayed six months to allow regulators time to review license applications. The setback will allow Spanish gamblers to continue playing on international sites until June 30, 2012.

Spain introduced a new gaming law in February 2011 with hopes of adopting a licensing system by the end of the year, but the process stalled in December. Poker-Red reported that 61 operators submitted applications before the Dec. 14, 2011 deadline, including Groupe Bernard Tapie, which is in the process of purchasing the assets of Full Tilt Poker.

The official list of applicants has yet to be revealed, but PokerStars, bwin.party, 888 and Ladbrokes all showed interest in the market.

For more, check out the Spanish Association of Online Gamblers website (Google Translate is your friend).

PokerStars, John Duthie Part Ways

U.K. poker pro John Duthie, perhaps best known as the creator of the European Poker Tour, is no longer a member of Team PokerStars. Duthie, 53, decided not to renew his contract when it expired at the end of December.

Duthie announced his departure on TwoPlusTwo on Monday, and a representative at PokerStars confirmed the news to PokerNews on Tuesday morning.

Duthie worked in the television industry becoming one of the most important figures on the European poker circuit. He gained fame as a player in 2000 by winning the inaugural Poker Million for more than $1.4 million. In 2004, Duthie made his biggest mark on the poker world by creating the EPT.

Together with PokerStars, Duthie helped turn it into the premier tour in Europe. Now in its eighth season, the EPT features 12 stops in ten countries, including the popular PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which kicks off on Jan. 7, 2012 in the Bahamas.

Read more about Duthie’s split with PokerStars at PokerNews.com.

PokerStars Approved for Real-Money Poker in Belgium

According to a report by iGamingBusiness.com, the Belgian Gaming Commission approved three operators for real-money poker and will block all other unauthorized sites from providing games to residents inside the country. Going forward, Belgian poker players can play online at PokerStars.be, Partouche.be and Casino777.be. Four casino websites and two sportsbooks were also given licenses.

Among the blacklisted sites were PartyPoker and iPoker, two of the three largest online poker operators in the world. The two sites are still allowing Belgians to play on their networks, calling the new laws “unenforceable.”

Unlike regulations set in other European nations like France and Italy, the Belgian player pool is not segregated, meaning online poker players won’t be restricted to playing against others located within the country. Belgians on PokerStars and Casino777 will play on the international sites, and Partouche players will be permitted to play on the site operated within the French regulated market.

Read more at PokerNews.com.

Matt Glantz Calls for Responsibility

How much responsibility should poker players take for their actions? And how far is too far? Those are just a few of the questions poker pro Matt Glantz tackled in his most recent blog titled Responsibility in Poker.

Glantz, who is on the Epic Poker League Standards and Conduct Committee, feels that poker players should present themselves as role models, especially in front of television cameras. The way poker players act or speak in a public forum trickles down to the professional and amateur players around the world.

“The things you say and do reflect on all of us,” Glantz wrote. “Regardless of your intentions, your actions shine a light not just on you, but on all professional poker players. That light will shine dark or bright for all of us. When any one of us acts poorly in the spotlight, the ripple effect is typically immeasurable.”

The blog is definitely worth a read. You can find it at mattglantzpoker.com.

Online Poker Traffic Report

On Monday, PokerScout.com released the first online poker traffic rankings of 2012. Worldwide traffic held steady over the previous week, declining by just .01 percent during the traditionally slow holiday season.

PokerStars saw a drop of 2 percent of the previous week, but the world’s leading online poker room continued its dominance over the market. The iPoker Network held a slim margin over PartyPoker for the second slot in the rankings, and 888poker and the Ongame Network rounded out the top five, respectively.

One shift in the top 10 came between two sister sites. PokerStars.it surged past PokerStars.fr to move into sixth place in the rankings. In addition, Winamax.fr moved up one spot to eighth, shifting the Merge Gaming Network into ninth.

As for year-over-year numbers, PokerScout’s ACES indicator reports that online poker traffic (with the exception of Italy) has decreased by 30 percent in the past year. Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network are responsible for much of that decline, but the Entraction Network (down 51 percent) and the International Poker Network (down 42 percent) have seen significant drops since last year. The biggest climbers since January 2011 are the Merge Network (up 90 percent), 888poker (up 86 percent) and Bodog (up 57 percent).

Read the full report at PokerScout.com.

Preview of PartyPoker Mixed Game Championship

The PartyPoker Premier League Mixed Game Championship is set to premiere on Sky Sports on Tuesday, Jan. 10. PartyPoker unveiled a sneak peek on Tuesday that looks a bit more like Flavor of Love than a poker tournament, but we still look forward to watching for the entertainment value. Here’s a look:

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

Follow Brett Collson on Twitter – @brettcollson