September 30 2011, Brett Collson

Another day, another huge Full Tilt Poker development. One day after having its license revoked by the Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC), FTP released a statement announcing an acquisition agreement with a French investment group. Meanwhile, Betfair admitted to hiding identity fraud from its customers, PokerStars revealed the schedule for the PCA, and more.

In Case You Missed It

There were huge headlines all week long and we’re afraid you may have missed something. Catch up on all things Full Tilt Poker and get your tournament results in the PokerNews Weekly.

On Friday, Full Tilt Poker announced it had come to an acquisition agreement with the Bernard Tapie Group. Read the press release and find out more about the key players behind the acquisition.

Ray Bitar also made headlines on Friday. We learned that the Full Tilt Poker CEO had filed a claim against the U.S. Department of Justice’s forfeiture allegations.

Sunday is almost here and that means football. Find out which NFL trends you can trust in the latest Pigskin Diaries.

The high-stakes cash games at PokerStars are still going strong after the conclusion of the World Championship of Online Poker. The Online Railbird Report fills you in on this week’s biggest winners and losers.

Betfair Reveals Data Hack After 18 Months of Silence

Online gambling giant Betfair admitted Friday that it failed to notify customers that their personal details had been stolen by cyber hackers 18 months ago.

The criminals, believed to be from Cambodia, reportedly stole 3.15 million account usernames with encrypted security questions, 2.9 million usernames with one or more addresses and 89,744 account usernames with bank account details, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Betfair said it was able to recover the information without harm to customers and that its security measures made the information unusable for fraud. The Daily Telegraph reports that the theft wasn’t detected until a computer server malfunctioned in May 2010, leading to the discovery that “at least nine servers [had] been compromised in the UK and two in Malta.”

Read more about the Betfair scandal at the Daily Telegraph.

PokerStars Announces 2012 PCA Schedule

The official tournament schedule for the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was released on Thursday. The flagship series of the PokerStars live circuit is set to take place in the Bahamas from Jan. 5 through 14, with the Main Event running from Jan. 7 through 13.

As usual, PokerStars has put together a schedule that offers something for every type of player. Forty-one events are scheduled during the 10-day festival, including a $5,000 8-Game Championship, a $2,100 Battleship event, and even a Dealer Button Choice tournament. The $100,000 Super Higher Roller and $25,000 Higher Roller events will be back, too, to the delight of top pros in the game.

“I’ve never missed the PCA and never will,” said Team PokerStars member Daniel Negreanu, who finished second in last year’s $100,000 Super High Roller Event to fellow PokerStars pro Eugene Katchalov. “It’s grown each year and has become a must-play poker festival for every serious poker player. It’s not just about the Main Event, because there is a full schedule of events for both high- and low-rollers. There isn’t a better way to start off your 2012 than heading out to the PCA.”

A full complement of satellite qualifiers to the series are now running at PokerStars.com.

Visit the PCA website for an extensive look at the schedule.

New Bling at the EPT

European Poker Tour champs will be donning some new bracelets in Season 8. On Thursday, Global Poker Tours Limited announced a new partnership deal with luxury jeweler Shamballa Jewels, making the company the Official Bracelet Sponsor of EPT Main Events.

The new sponsorship deal will see Shamballa Jewels provide EPT Main Event bracelets, each one valued at an estimated “10,200 retail value, plus one EPT Grand Final bracelet valued at “25,000, for the winners of the events. The new-look bracelets have black engraved ceramic balls, three 18k white gold balls, and one 10mm diamond pavé made on an 18k rose gold ball.

The first Shamballa Jewels bracelet will be awarded at EPT London, which kicked off on Friday at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel. The first two event winners of Season 8 in Tallinn (Ronny Kaiser) and Barcelona (Martin Schleich) will also receive their customized jewelry at a later EPT venue.

“The EPT is delighted to welcome on board Shamballa Jewels as the Official Bracelet Sponsor of the tour for a second time,” said EPT President Edgar Stuchly. “The tour continues to go from strength to strength, attracting highly-renowned companies as sponsorship partners, highlighting the broad appeal of the European Poker Tour to companies outside the poker sphere.”

Have a look at the new bling at the PokerStarsBlog.

Festa al Lago Classic Kicks Off at Bellagio

The Festa al Lago Classic at Bellagio got under way on Thursday with the first of 16 tournaments on the schedule. The series, which is no longer a part of the World Poker Tour, runs through Oct. 14 and concludes with a $5,000 Main Event starting on Oct. 11.

The Main Event buy-in has been reduced from $10,000 and tournament officials are expecting a bigger turnout as a result. Last year, Randal Flowers bested a field of 335 players to win his second WPT title along with a top prize of $831,500.

This year’s Festa al Lago Classic features 15 no-limit hold’em events plus a $500 Omaha eight-or-better Event on Oct. 3.

Visit the Bellagio website for the full schedule.

Calculate the Odds with … Phil Hellmuth?

Phil Hellmuth has always believed in his “reads” more than in the math in poker. So we were a little surprised to discover that the Poker Brat had teamed up with app developer MEDL Mobile to create the Phil Hellmuth Poker Odds Calculator, which was announced this week.

The app calculates the odds of any hand and even allows users to put opposing players on a range of hands. It will then calculate the user’s chances of winning, losing and tying with that particular hand.

“You need to have solid control over your game to win,” said the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner. “If you want that control, you need to make better decisions, and that comes from having the best information you can get!

If nothing else, this should make Hellmuth’s insurance negotiations a lot easier.

The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

London, baby!

Team PokerNews is in London for the latest PokerStars European Poker Tour stop. After arriving, Sarah Grant found some time to explore the city – and show us a number of different looks.

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

September 29 2011, Brett Collson

Full Tilt Poker was all over the news on Thursday after its license was revoked by the Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC). If you haven’t been following story, go grab some popcorn and we’ll get you caught up. In other news, the Team Europe and Team Americas rosters were selected for the WSOPE Caesars Cup, Dennis Phillips is bringing High Stakes Poker games to the Midwest, and more.

In Case You Missed It

On Thursday, the AGCC released a statement announcing that it revoked Full Tilt Poker’s license. FTP responded with its own statement, and then the Department of Justice updated the status of FTP and player funds. Pokernews’ Chad Holloway was all over the Full Tilt Poker scope.

Poker players have been very open about their feelings toward Full Tilt Poker. Find out what players were saying after the DOJ added Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst to its civil indictment last week.

Canadian poker pro Mike “goleafsgoeh” Leah won his first bracelet at the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker this month. Then, he chopped the Main Event for $560,000. Leah discussed his WCOOP success in our one-on-one interview this week.

Olivier Busquet is a poker wizard. Don’t believe us? Have a listen to Busquet answering questions from listeners and analyzing some difficult spots in the latest Strategy with Kristy podcast.

The Global Poker Index released its rankings as of Sept. 26. Phil Ivey’s absence from the tournament circuit has resulted in his removal from the Top 300. Find out who replaced him.

The PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour will make its inaugural stop to the Colombian city of Medellin next month. Lynn Gilmartin provides everything you need to know about the city in the PokerNews Jet Set.

Team ElkY vs. Team Hellmuth

The rosters have been drawn for the upcoming Caesars Cup at the World Series of Poker Europe in Cannes, France. The Ryder Cup-style poker event pits teams of the best players from both sides of the Atlantic against each other for bragging rights and the coveted Caesars Cup.

The event was last played in 2009 and won by Team Europe, which was captained by former WSOPE Main Event champion Annette Obrestad. That team easily defeated the Team Americas squad captained by Daniel Negreanu.

This year, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier leads Team Europe against Phil Hellmuth’s Team Americas crew. Grospellier decided to go with youth as he selected five players with a combined five WSOP bracelets, including recent Triple Crown winner Jake Cody. Gus Hansen, Dario Minieri and Maxim Lykov were also included on the squad.

“I am very confident in my team,” said Grospellier. “We will show the Americas that 2009 was not an upset!”

Hellmuth, on the other hand, will have experience on his side. Including Hellmuth, Team Americas will boast 39 WSOP bracelets won by Doyle Brunson (10), Johnny Chan (10), Daniel Negreanu (four), and Huck Seed (four) round out the team.

“These idiot Northern Europeans think they know everything about the game of poker,” Hellmuth joked . “Well, we plan to show them that decades of experience are much more valuable than clicking a mouse while sitting in your pajamas. In all seriousness, we look forward to the challenge and the opportunity to return the Caesars Cup to American soil.”

Read the press release at WSOP.com.

Dennis Phillips Brings High Stakes Poker to the Midwest

Next month, former WSOP November Niner Dennis Phillips will take part in the largest cash games ever played in St. Louis. Phillips and St. Louis radio man Paul Harris, hosts of KFNS’ Final Table Poker Radio Show, are set to participate in the Harrah’s St. Louis Big Game from Oct. 28 through 30.

The nine-handed cash game will feature $25/$50 blinds with a $10 ante and a minimum buy-in of $15,000. A combined estimated minimum of $270,000 will be on the table at any given time, and, depending on who shows, there’s the potential for much more.

“As a player, there really is no better place in St. Louis to play poker,” said Phillips, who won $4.5 million for his third-place finish at the 2008 Main Event. “I’m excited to be a part of bringing a game of this size to my hometown.”

The public is welcome to watch all the action when the cards go in the air at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.

Interested players can contact the Harrah’s WSOP Poker Room at (314) 770-7600.

Chiligaming to Enter U.S. Market

French online gaming operator Chiligaming is set to enter the U.S. poker market with the launch of a free-to-play social-gaming poker network.

The new legal, nongambling poker network includes a wide range of social gaming features including virtual currency, multiple language options, and availability on multiple devices including PCs, MACs, iPhone, Android, tablets and social networks.

The company will also open offices in San Francisco, Calif., as part of its expansion into new markets. Chiligaming plans to use the free-play platform as a launch pad into real-money play when legislation occurs in the States. It remains one of a small number of international online gaming operators never to have taken a bet in the U.S.

“The gaming market is evolving and Chiligaming is evolving with it by expanding its operation to become an active social gaming player in addition to an established online gaming operator,” said founder Alexandre Dreyfus. “Chiliplay.com will be the first brand to launch on the network and we will be welcoming more partners now that all the devices for access are ready.”

Read the press release for more.

A New Professor in Town?

Dutch Boyd has started a new poker training site, and the community is already on red alert. Boyd tweeted on Wednesday that his new training site at PokerClinic.com had been launched and players could get a one-on-one lesson with the former WSOP bracelet winner.

However, because of his past, the response to Boyd’s new training site hasn’t been overly welcoming. For those who don’t remember, Boyd was the president and co-founder of an online cardroom that went under in 2001. The cardroom did not refund an estimated $400,000 in player funds, causing a massive backlash across the poker community.

He was also sued by TwoPlusTwo founder Mason Malmuth in 2009 for trademark infringement after allegedly registering a domain name using the phrase “Two Plus Two.”

How does community feel about Boyd’s latest venture? Check out the reaction at TwoPlusTwo.

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