September 16 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

We know you want to get your weekend kicked off just as bad as we do, so we’re going to get straight to the point today. First we’ll give you an update from the Partouche Poker Tour, then we’ll tell you what Manny Pacquiao has to do with the Asian Poker Tour, and after that, we’ll sprinkle in a few other news.

In Case You Missed It

We know you miss the PokerNews hostesses when there aren’t live tournaments running, but we’ve remedied the situation this week. Kristy Arnett and Sarah Grant discuss the top poker news stories in the newest edition of the PokerNews Weekly.

You get daily recaps of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, but what about the high-stakes online cash games? Don’t worry, not everyone is grinding tourneys, the Online Railbird Report has the scoop on the heavy hitters.

On Day 12 of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, Shane Schleger added his name to the list of Team PokerStars members to win a gold bracelet. He wasn’t the only one to win a bracelet though, read our daily WCOOP recap for all of the results.

Who are you going to start on your fantasy team this week? Should you bet that team with that spread? The Pigskin Diaries attempts to help you out for week two of the 2011-2012 NFL season.

There’s has been a bit of controversy surrounding poker player Michael DiVita and the Epic Poker League. We sat down with DiVita, and EPL’s Standard and Ethics chair Stephen Martin, to get their stories.

*Photo courtesy of TheAsianPokerTour.com

Une Mise à Jour (an update)

Our French is getting better. If the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event doesn’t end soon, we may be writing the Nightly Turbo in French every night – not. Day 4 of the PPT began with 47 of the original 579 entrants.

It was a bad day for start-of-the-day chip leader, Juan Maceiras he began the day in the “penthouse,” but was eliminated in 36th place, taking home “20,000. Ludovic Lacay, who began Day 4 second in chips fared a little better. He has moved on to Day 5, but bagged up the third-shortest stack in the room – 365,000.

Sam Trickett (512,000), Juha Helppi (366,000), and Will Failla (775,000) are also part of the 18 who moved on to Day 5.

The “5,000 buy-in heads-up event also kicked off on Friday at the Partouche Poker Tour in Cannes. Thirty-two players entered, including Phil Hellmuth, Sorel Mizzi, Alex Kravchenko, Olivier Busquet, Daniel Cates, James Bord, Andrew Feldman, Jake Cody, and JP Kelly.

To find out who advanced in the heads-up event, check out the PPT chip counts.

PartouchePokerTour.com has all the updates from the Main Event.

Let’s Get Ready to Ruuummmbbblllleeeee!

Manny Pacquiao and the Asian Poker Tour are joining forces. From Dec. 7 through 12, the APT is holding Manny Pacquiao World Poker Event at the Pan Pacific Hotel’s Asia Poker Sports Club in Malate, Philippines. The deal was signed last week, and will become an official APT Accredited Event given the approval from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

“The APT is obviously proud to be ensuring its popular and trusted protocol is followed at the Manny Pacquiao World Poker Event. I’m sure it will be a pleasure working with such a respected personality as Manny and we’re looking forward to seeing a large turnout come December 7,” said APT tournament director Lloyd Fontillas.

Pacquiao, who is a ten-time world boxing title holder, is a supporter of poker in the region. The event will feature a PHP 500,000 High Roller, PHP 11,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event, and PHP 50,000 buy-in Main Event.

If you want to find out more, check out TheAsianPokerTour.com.

It’s Tiiiimmmmeeeee

Was there ever a day we thought we’d use both of Buffer’s catchphrases in headlines in the same piece? No, but it happened. There are two big fights going down this weekend: Floyd Mayweather is fighting Victor Ortiz, and Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger are headlining the UFC’s Battle in the Bayou.

You may be concerned with those fights because you plan on dropping serious dough on them, but you should also know that fellow poker player Terrence Chan is making his fighting debut at Battlefield Fight League 11. The fights take place Sept. 17 at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Chan was busy cutting weight on Friday, but for the last few weeks, he’s been answering questions in a TwoPlusTwo thread dedicated to his fight.

To find out more about the Battlefield Fight League 11 card, check out BattlefieldFight.com and you can read about Chan’s MMA journey on his blog.

LGA on LockPoker.eu

Last month, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta announced that LockPoker.eu had “no connection whatsoever with the Authority” and the LGA logo on LockPoker’s website was “false and misleading.”

The LGA issued another announcement regarding LockPoker on Thursday, clarifying some things.

“Lockpoker.eu is a website which has now been notified to the Authority as an intermediary of Alfard Malta Ltd (holder of a Maltese Remote Gaming Licence LGA/CL3/694/2010) which is to be operated on the Merge Gaming Malta platform (holder of Licence LGA/CL4/693/2010). Although duly licensed in Malta Alfard Gaming Ltd does not yet have the authorization to go live from Malta as currently Merge Malta Limited is in the process of finalising its technical setup in accordance with the Maltese Regulations, a process to be concluded shortly.”

“The Authority, however, denies spins by certain sections of the media. This was a case of having failed to notify the Authority of an intermediary arrangement in a timely fashion. The Authority, ever vigilant in the public interest, took immediate action as it does in all similar cases, irrespective of the nature of the infringement.”

It seems as though it was all a misunderstanding.

Read more at LGA.org.mt.

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Follow Elaine Chaivarlis on Twitter – @LaneyLV

September 15 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

We’re at it again, just like we are every day of the week (well Monday through Friday, not counting holidays). We look for the news so you don’t have to. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we’re bringing you an update from the Partouche Poker Tour. Not only that, but we’ll tell you which German state has legalized online poker, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Thinking about relocating so that you can continue to play online poker? Having a problem figuring out where you want to go? In our latest edition of Packing Up to Play, we give you the scoop pubs, fish and chips, the Queen – or London, England.

If you want to better your pot-limit Omaha game, we suggest getting tips from the pros. Oh look! In the newest Strategy with Kristy podcast, Lex Veldhuis discusses pot-limit Omaha. It must be your lucky day.

The 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker is trucking right along and has officially reached the halfway point. On Day 11, three bracelets were handed out, but to find out to who, you’re going to have to read our daily WCOOP recap.

The Global Poker Index released its rankings for the week ending Sept. 12. It’s not the same old song and dance this week! There’s a new GPI No. 1.

In the Money

Every day we sift through the Partouche Poker Tour blog, it’s like a French lesson for us – except it’s not really. We just look for words that look like English words and cross our fingers.

On Day 3 of the Partouche Poker Tour, 100 players took their seats in the hopes of making the money (only 63 would), and positioning themselves for a run at the final table. By the end of the day, 47 players remained.

Freddy Deeb and Arnaud Mattern were eliminated in 62nd and 60th place respectively, and each earned “12,000.

Remaining in the field and heading on to Day 4 are Joe Cassidy, Juha Helppi, and Tristan Clemencon. Sam Trickett also made it to Day 4, bagging 535,500 in chips. That puts him in the 10th spot on the chip leaderboard. Ludovic Lacay bagged up the second biggest stack in the room, with 771,700, and sits just behind Juan Maceiras who is leading the Day 4 charge with 800,000.

PartouchePokerTour.com has more updates from the event.

German State Legalizes Online Poker

Germany has 16 states, or Länder. One of them, Schleswig-Holstein, recently passed legislation that will legalize and regulate online poker.

The new legislation allows for betting exchange, sports books, poker and all casino games except roulette, blackjack, and baccarat, according to eGaming Review. The law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012, and licenses will be valid beginning March 1. The state will also impose a 20 percent tax on gross profits.

After the news, Befair released a statement saying, “Schleswig-Holstein’s new online gambling treaty is a welcome piece of legislation geared towards creating a genuinely open, transparent and responsible online gambling market in Germany. We are pleased that it has today passed through the state parliament and we look forward to applying for a license to operate there.”

“We are now hopeful that the other 15 German states will make the required amendments to their proposed State Treaty, in order to bring it into line with EU law and with the law passed in S-H today,” it continued. “Betfair is committed to participating in the online gambling market in Germany, ready and willing to pay taxes there and offer German consumers competitive, innovative and safe products.”

Read more at EGRMagazine.com.

Gut Für Bwin.Party

Speaking of Schleswig-Holstein’s new online poker legislation, it wasn’t just good for poker players in the Länder, it was good for bwin.party’s stock. According to the Wall Street Journal, after the announcement that Schleswig-Holstein approved online gambling legislation, bwin.party’s stock rose 12 percent.

Ivor Jones, an analyst at Numis, believes the “Schleswig Holstein move greatly reduces the regulatory risk to bwin.party, which generates 22 percent of its revenues in Germany.”

In a note to clients, Numis said, “At best this represents the opening up of Germany to online gaming, in due course, on reasonable commercial terms. At worst it will greatly delay the introduction of a more restrictive regime.”

If you want to read more, you can do so at Online.WSJ.com.

Former FBI Director Joins FairPlayUSA

FairPlayUSA announced Thursday that former FBI director Louis Freeh had joined its advisory board.

“Current federal laws fail to provide U.S. law enforcement vital tools to address illegal internet gambling, enabling a ‘wild-west’ atmosphere,” Freeh said. “I am joining FairPlayUSA to improve this environment by clarifying these laws, better empowering law enforcement agencies to crack down on violators and using licensing and regulation to ensure safe and legal online poker.”

Freeh joins professional poker players Mike Sexton and Greg Raymer, Internet safety expert Parry Aftab, and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on the advisory board.

FairPlayUSA is a grassroots coalition that has set out to educate the public and policymakers about online poker.

“States and tribes have rights that must be protected by authorizing them to decide for themselves whether to accept or prohibit online poker and make use of sophisticated technologies already in use in other industries to enforce those decisions,” said Tom Ridge.

Read the press release for more.

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Follow Elaine Chaivarlis on Twitter – @LaneyLV