April 19 2012, Brett Collson, Donnie Peters

It was a busy Thursday in the world of poker. The AGCC set a hearing to discuss a Full Tilt Poker gaming license, PokerStars ended its long feud with a data mining site, and a Massachusetts lawmaker is urging the state to adopt an Internet poker platform. We’ll cover those stories and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

The World Poker Tour returned to Hollwood, Florida, on Wednesday. For a look at Day 1 of the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, check out our daily WPT recap.

All In: The Poker Movie is still generating buzz in theaters across the world. Writer and producer Doug Tirola recently sat down with PokerWorks’ Linda Geenen to discuss the documentary.

Looking for some podcasts to help your day move along quicker? You’re in luck. The PokerNews Podcast and Strategy With Kristy both hit the airwaves on Thursday. You can find them both, along with all of our other podcasts in the PokerNews Podcast archives.

Day 3 of the 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Berlin Main Event came to a close on Thursday evening. Only 24 players remain, and several notables are still in contention for the “825,000 top prize.

For the first time since the inception of the Global Poker Index, Erik Seidel was not ranked in the Top 20. Mickey Doft breaks down this week’s shift in the rankings.

The Big One for One Drop at the upcoming World Series of Poker will be stacked with wealthy amateurs. Rich Ryan explains why poker pros should be harvesting funds together to compete in the $1 million buy-in event.

Before Black Friday, Blair Hinkle won the FTOPS XIX Main Event for more than $1.1 million. How much was he able to cash out before the site was seized? We asked him that and more in the Black Friday Chronicles.

Massachusetts Lawmaker Pushes for Online Poker

Nevada, New Jersey, California, and Delaware are currently in the process of developing intrastate online poker platforms. Is Massachusetts next?

On Thursday, the Boston Herald reported that Rep. Dan Winslow is urging Massachusetts to create three licenses for intrastate internet poker. Winslow is promoting the idea that online poker will infuse revenue and new jobs into the state. He hopes the recent Department of Justice opinion on the Wire Act will allow his plan to gain traction before Congress breaks for recess.

The Herald reports that each license would require a minimum $10 million, and operators would pay a 25 percent tax on proceeds.

“Internet poker is a game of skill that fits our high tech job profile perfectly,” Winslow said in a statement, according to the Herald. “We can create new, high paying tech jobs by leading the launch of this new industry in the United States.”

The Boston Herald has more.

AGCC Hearing on Full Tilt Poker License

Laurent’s Tapie’s goal to re-launch Full Tilt Poker by the end of this month may have been a pipe dream. But his vision might not be far off.

Over the past few months, Tapie has been working with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) to resurrect FTP’s operating license. On Thursday, the AGCC set a public hearing for a Category 2 license application submitted by Full Tilt Poker subsidiary Orinic Limited. Orinic had its non-operating Category 1 license suspended for six months last year. A Category 2 license would allow the new Full Tilt Poker to operate a gambling business.

The hearing will take place on Thursday, May 3 at the Braye Beach Hotel in Alderney.

With the pending deal between Groupe Bernard Tapie and FTP growing closer by the day, many are wondering what Full Tilt Poker will look like under new management. Daniel Negreanu gave his take on the latest news over at Full Contact Poker on Thursday.

For more on the license hearing, check out the story at PokerNews.com.

Advantage: PokerStars

The legal battle between PokerStars and data-mining website PokerTableRatings.com has apparently come to a close. On Wednesday, Poker Table Ratings announced in a blog that it will fully comply with the cease and desist order issued by PokerStars. All PokerStars player profiles and statistics have been removed from the website, and searches are met with the following message:

“Stars has requested that you not view your poker player profile on PokerTableRatings.com. Please contact Stars support if you would like to see your profile made public again on PTR.”

The decision ends a multi-year war between the two sides. PTR tracked millions of hands on PokerStars and provided data that gives its users an advantage at the online poker table. After it failed to block PTR’s data mining at a technical level, PokerStars enforced legal action against PTR, which resulted in the decision to adhere to the cease-and-desist order.

Read more at PokerNews.com.

Judge Accepts John Campos’ Guilty Plea

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan accepted the guilty plea of Utah banker John Campos, one of the 11 men indicted by the Department of Justice on Black Friday. Campos pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor bank gambling charge last month, but Kaplan refused to accept the plea until the prosecution explained why they let Campos plead guilty to a misdemeanor rather than a felony.

The judge accepted the plea agreement after prosecutors submitted a letter saying Campos’ involvement in illegal online poker transactions was minor. Campos was facing six charges and up to 35 years in prison, but he entered a last-second plea agreement with prosecutors in March.

Campos is the sixth Black Friday defendant to enter a guilty plea. The others are Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Beckley and payment processors Ira Rubin, Ryan Lang, Bradley Franzen, and Chad Elie, who was set to go to trial with Campos this month.

Read more at the Salt Lake Tribune.

Voting is Open!

Season 8 of the European Poker Tour will wrap up in Monaco next month, which means the EPT awards are right around the corner. This week, the EPT released its short list of nominees for the Players Choice Award, which will be voted on by players who competed on the tour throughout the season.

The nominees include a number of Team PokerStars Pros, as well as several others who had success on the EPT during the past year. Here’s a look:

If you played any events on the EPT during Season 8 (including side events), you’re eligible to vote! Voting is open until April 23, the first day of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final Festival of Poker. Visit the EPT Awards ballot website to submit your vote.

Stacked Final Table at Borgata

The 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open $2,500 Championship Event played down to the final table on Wednesday evening. From the starting field of 520, there were just 10 players remaining vying for the $312,483 first-place prize. Jia Liu held the chip lead heading into Thursday’s final table, and he was joined by notables Chad Batista, Matt Woodward and Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy.

Borgata Spring Poker Open Final Table Seat Draw

Everyone at the final table locked up a minimum payday of $16,315. Last year, Russell Crane won the event for $276,949 after besting a field of 447 entries.

For more information, please visit the Borgata Spring Poker Open blog.

Pierre Neuville’s Poker Champs

Team PokerStars Pro Pierre Neuville busted from the EPT Berlin Main Event on Day 2. So, why was he roaming the halls with board games on Day 3? PokerNews’ Lynn Gilmartin found out.

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

Follow Brett Collson on

Follow Donnie Peters on

November 23 2011, Brett Collson

Thanksgiving is a time to indulge in the best things in life. But before you rush out to scope out the stores for your shopping spree on Black Friday, we’re bringing you all of today’s poker news in the Nightly Turbo.

We’ll be off on Thursday and Friday, so check back in on Monday for the latest news, views and gossip in the world of poker. Happy Thanksgiving!

In Case You Missed It

Day 1a of the 2011 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Main Event completed on Wednesday. Shih-Chieh Su was the chip leader at the end of the day, but Phil Ivey stole the show.

Why is it important for poker players to maintain a healthy diet? PokerNews’ Lynn Gilmartin explains in the latest edition of the Stay Stacked series.

With the holiday season upon us, it’s time to reflect on what we’re thankful for. Rather than give you Five Thoughts this week, we’re offering Five Thanks.

Massachusetts is now officially a casino state. Find out more in the latest Inside Gaming.

On Tuesday, Anthony Ruberto won the WPT Jacksonville Main Event to collect the $325,928 first-place prize. Get all the details in our recap.

Poker World Remembers Barry Tanenbaum

On Tuesday, the poker world was saddened to learn that admired poker player and writer Barry Tanenbaum, 66, had passed away. Tanenbaum was hospitalized with health problems earlier this month and lost his battle with kidney disease on Nov. 22.

For those who didn’t know Tanenbaum, he was a respected mid-stakes limit hold’em player who was a regular fixture in the $30/$60 and $40/$80 games at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. He was also a long-time contributor for CardPlayer magazine and wrote a book about limit hold’em called Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, which is still a go-to resource for players learning the game today.

Jan Fisher, a close friend of Tanenbaum for many years, wrote the following in remembrance of Barry on Wednesday:

“The poker world has lost a true hero, a real champion of the game, who ‘had it all’ going on. Always a gentleman, even during his rare defeats, he inspired me to be a good person both at and away from the table. He always respected the game and the people around him. A class act, he will be missed more than words can describe.”

The PokerNews team offers its sincere condolences to Barry’s wife, Betty, and those who knew him well. You can read more about Tanenbaum in Fisher’s column at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

PokerStars Signs Another Online Wizard

On Wednesday, Team PokerStars Online revealed Bjorn “Bjoerni89″ Schneider, 22, as the latest addition to its roster of sponsored pros. With his elevation to the PokerStars team, Schneider joins a team of talented German teammates including Sebastian Ruthenberg, Sandra Naujoks and 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Pius Heinz.

Schneider almost exclusively plays $5,000 head-up sit-and-gos on PokerStars and is on pace to break fellow Team PokerStars Online member Kevin “WizardofAhhs” Thurman’s all-time VIP Player Points record. Last year, Thurman earned 3,055,385 VPPs. Schneider has more than 2,700,000 so far in 2011 with more than a month left to break the record.

The heads-up specialist has zoomed up the levels in stakes since beginning his PokerStars career two years ago. He began playing $5 nine-man sit-and-gos and by the start of 2011 was playing $100 heads-up matches. Now, Schneider is one of the most feared high-stakes players on the site, even facing off against Team PokerStars Pro Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom in a series of heads-up sit-and-gos.

Read more about Bjorn “Bjoerni89″ Schneider at the PokerStars Blog.

Qualify for the 2012 Aussie Millions

With the 2012 Aussie Millions is less than two months away, you still have many ways to qualify for the $10,600 Main Event other than asking Santa Claus to front your entry fee.

Crown Poker, the host of the Aussie Millions, is offering several options for players to satellite into the Main Event on Jan. 22, 2012. You can win your entry fee through a variety of avenues: a direct entry event; a “Fast Track Satellite; a $550 Deepstack qualifier; or a Phase 3 Supershot Satellite. Each qualifier will run daily at Crown from the end of November, which means there will be up to five tournaments a day sending players either into the Phase 2 and Phase 3 tournaments, or directly into the Aussie Millions Main Event.

Players can also qualify online at PartyPoker, 888poker, Titan Poker, Mansion Poker, Winner Poker, or Poker770. Learn more about the satellites to the 2012 Aussie Millions here at PokerNews.com.

SportMoose Has Your Sports Betting Needs

The end of November and early December offer many betting opportunities for fans of the UEFA Champions League, and SportMoose.com is a fantastic source to get advice on which side to place a wager.

On Wednesday, the new online gambling site ran a preview of each game on the Champions League slate. The site’s expert writers picked their favorites and provided insight into each matchup, including the anticipated matchup between AC Milan and FC Barcelona, where Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic faced off against his former team for the first time.

Also covered at length was the game between Chelsea and Bayern Leverkusen, which played host to a Chelsea squad that had only lost one of its past nine Champions League matches. SportMoose projected that a draw seemed the most likely outcome of this particular match.

In addition to soccer coverage, you can find daily articles and updated odds on up to 20 sports around the world at SportMoose.com.

Exploring Macau

Macau is considered by many to be Asia’s version of Las Vegas. The city is currently hosting the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Main Event, so PokerNews’ Lynn Gilmartin gave us a tour around town before the tournament began in the Grand Lisboa Hotel & Casino.

Are you following PokerNews on Twitter? Like us on Facebook while you’re at it, and sign up for the newsletter. You know you want to.

Follow Brett Collson on Twitter – @brettcollson