Dan Bilzerian, Sheldon Adelson and Phil Ivey: The Year in Gambling 2014 Top Stories
It’s that time of year that everybody dreads – the Top 10 Stories of the past 12 months. But everyone is doing it, regardless of the industry, so we shall as well.
These are the Top 10 Gambling Stories of 2014 from Gambling911.com in order of relevance based on a combination of popularity and influence.
But first, not quite cracking our Top 10 but deserving of mention are a few stories that topped the headlines here at Gambling911 in 2014.
There were the tragic deaths including that of popular poker pro Chad Brown, who finally succumbed to cancer. A beloved poker dealer penned Elvis Joe was murdered in his Vegas home by a mentally ill woman he tried to help. German poker Johannes Strassmann’s body was recovered in the Ljublijianica River. The 29-year-old presumably fell into the river and drowned.
Then there was comedienne Joan Rivers, who died of "therapeutic complications" during a procedure to evaluate her "voice changes" and stomach reflux.
Rivers made a name for herself in the world of poker by bashing the poker community during her stint on “Celebrity Apprentice”. The irony in all of this being that Rivers was somewhat celebrated by that very same community due in part to her arch nemesis on the show, female poker pro Annie Duke, a woman many in the world of poker have since come to loath. Rivers once compared Duke to Hitler then apologized to Hitler for the comparison. Ouch!
And as with most years there are a handful of crime stories involving gambling that make the headlines, one of which is well positioned within our Top 10.
The Brett Parker and Tiffany Stevens stories were more localized, carried nationally via the Web primarily by Gambling911.com (though the Parker story has now been prominently featured on the CBS Investigative Series “48 Hours”). Parker and his dad were convicted of running one of South Carolina’s biggest bookmaking operations (if not the biggest). Of course, that in itself might not come close enough to making the Top 10 gambling stories of 2014 if not for the fact that Brett was already serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife and an associate.
Stevens, a Connecticut resident, went on trial last month for attempting a murder-for-hire of her husband. She failed and he became the key witness. But the jury was hardly swayed by a man who threatened to expose his wife literally through the release of naked photos.
“The town of Great Neck, New York is going to get an eyeful of your precious daughter with her legs wide open.” he told his father-in-law.
The hubby, Eric Stevens, also had a nice little gambling addiction. His wife’s family provided him with the $1.8 million to settle his gambling debts. In return he threatened to kill her.
A mistrial would ultimately be declared but they’ll all be back in court and more salacious details of this story are sure to surface, as if enough hasn’t already been covered. The murder-for-hire plot and gambling actually take a back seat to the $50 million trust fund and child custody battle, sex with transvestites, bribery, and cars being blown up. So stay tuned.
10. Explosions and Attacks Cripple Online Poker Sites – A massive explosion rocked the online gambling enclave of Gibraltar this past summer, knocking out some of the biggest poker sites on the planet including Party Poker. But by year’s end, sites were being subjected to a more ominous force, that being sophisticated Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that, during the month of December, crippled the likes of Americas Cardroom and Carbon Poker during major tournaments. The former had to cancel a highly touted Million Dollar tournament after it had already begun. This was billed as the biggest online tournament of its kind for North American players since 2011.
9. Floyd Mayweather Jr’s “Big Pay Days” – There were a number of stories over the course of this year featuring Floyd Mayweather’s alleged million dollar bets on various sporting events. Most of these were never acknowledged by Mayweather himself. In October, however, the colorful undefeated boxer finally revealed he had won $1.4 million betting the Colts and provided a bet ticket via Twitter as proof.
“Before I went on a 2-week vacation, I bet $720,000.00 and I walked away with $1,405,714.28. When you’re betting on Andrew, it’s never Luck.”
It appears we are getting closer to the much discussed yet-to-happen match between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in 2015, which would likely become one of the most wagered on events of the year should the fight ever come to fruition. With that said, Mayweather is practically a lock to show up in our 2015 Top 10 Gambling Stories.
8. Atlantic City Collapses While Macau is on the Verge – We mentioned an explosion as part of our 10th biggest story of 2014. How about an implosion? That being the USA’s second biggest gambling destination of Atlantic City. The New Jersey seaside resort saw nearly half its casinos shut down including the brand new Revel. Likewise, New Jersey’s year-old online gambling industry has practically gone bust. Attempts to bring legalized sports betting to the Garden State (more than likely an instant revenue generator) turned into an epic fail.
But what’s happening in Atlantic City may pale in comparison to what is currently occurring in what has been the world’s biggest gambling hub (no we are not talking about Las Vegas).
For years, even following the world economic collapse in 2008, Macau routinely produced record revenue numbers….until the later part of 2014 that is.
Macau casino stocks plunged in Hong Kong trading after the South China Morning Post reported in mid-December that China will start cracking down on illicit money channeled through the city’s casinos. This is a story that is sure to resonate through 2015 so be sure to check back with Gambling911.com regularly.
7. Amaya Gaming Acquires PokerStars – In an obvious move to make the red-headed step child PokerStars more attractive to the regulated US market place, a plan was put in motion to have Canada’s publicly traded Amaya Gaming take over PokerStars.
While the company is sure to enjoy short term success with a number of newly implemented policies such as doing away with much of their professional poker player sponsorships while seemingly discouraging the very high stakes players that helped boost Stars over the years, the long term viability of this strategy could prove grim, at least that’s what some industry analysts are predicting. This is especially true should PokerStars continue to venture into other areas such as the online casino and sports betting sectors. What’s next? Daily Fantasy Sports?
Oh, we here at Gambling911.com do suspect that Amaya/PokerStars will make our Top 10 again with the purchase of Bwin.Party (PartyPoker). Just a prediction but one we think will come true in 2015.
And, yes, they'll probably dive into the Daily Fantasy Sports sector too.
6. The Daily Fantasy Sports Craze Comes Into Its Own – There has been a seismic shift in the world of Fantasy Sports in the form of Daily Fantasy Sports sites that sort of mimic sports betting but are legal and mostly based out of the United States.
Daily Fantasy Sports are contests based on skill and strategy and, most importantly, they are exempt from 2006 legislation banning other forms of gambling including poker. Still, DFS as it is often referred to as, falls into a grey area in about a half dozen states including Kansas and Arizona.
The big Kahunas like FanDuel.com and Draftkings.com have been around a few years but only this NFL season have they really begun to make an impact thanks to the millions of dollars spent on television commercials conveniently airing during football games and NFL pregame shows. Willing investors are jumping on the Fantasy bandwagon and new sites are popping up every day. FanDuel and DraftKings are likely to become the introductory sites for this blossoming new industry. Newcomers are hoping to capitalize on the overflow as Fantasy players find they can win more on sites a quarter the size with fewer players.
Gambling911.com predicts the growth of Fantasy Sports in 2015 will continue to be a massive story.
5. Poker Pro Paul Phua and Son Charged With Running an Illegal Sports Betting Ring But it is the FBI Being Scrutinized – Paul Phua is a popular, well liked Asian gambler, so well liked in fact that big name poker pro Phil Ivey and another player posted up bond for the Phuas.
Prosecutors say the two headed an global Internet sports gambling operation from their Vegas suites that focused heavily on this past summer’s FIFA World Cup.
A judge wasn't told that agents had Internet service intentionally disabled to the Phuas suites at Caesars Palace, then posed as repair technicians to gain entry.
Defense attorneys Thomas Goldstein and David Chesnoff want U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen to throw out evidence against the Phuas as the tainted result of an unconstitutional search.
This will be a hot story during the early part of 2015 for sure.
4. Phil Ivey “The Cheat” – Poker pro Phil Ivey was featured in many a headline on the pages of Gambling911.com during the year in the wake of a mini-baccarat card counting scandal at the Borgata.
In April, the Borgata sued Ivey claiming he and an accomplice exploited a defect in cards that provided them with an opportunity to sort and arrange good cards.
Noted gaming attorney I. Nelson Rose dismissed the notion of Ivey cheating in an exclusive interview with Gambling911.com’s Thomas Somach.
"It is up to the casino to make sure that there are no readable markings on the backs of cards," Rose said. "I remember touring the Sands Casino in Macau the month it opened and looking into the room where employees destroyed cards after a single use.
"Ivey used information available to all players," he said. "By definition that was not cheating."
Later in the year, Ivey lost his suit against another casino, Crockford’s in London. They withheld baccarat winnings from Ivey, also claiming he had cheated them out of £7.8m.
3. Dan Bilzerian – The so-called “King of Instagram” continued to make news throughout 2014 and it all came to a head by December when Bilzerian learned he was being sued by a woman who claimed he kicked her in the face while dancing at a posh Miami Beach nightclub. Worse, days later, Bilzerian was arrested in Los Angeles on a warrant out of Nevada for allegedly trying to make a bomb.
Back in May, Bilzerian reportedly threw a porn star off a roof.
It’s easy to forget that Bilzerian made a name for himself playing poker….well sort of.
2. Sheldon Adelson Goes All In – In any other year Sheldon Adelson’s efforts to ban all forms of online gambling would have topped our list but, yes, there was a much bigger story in 2014.
Adelson, one of the biggest donors to the GOP party, went as far as to get his cronies in Congress to draft a prohibition bill. A last-ditched effort to attach said bill to a “must pass” piece of legislation during the lame duck session of 2014 failed.
Oh, if you think he’s done with his efforts and won’t dust himself off and try again in 2015, we have a bridge to sell you. He’ll be back! And many fear he might be more successful with a Republican-controlled House and Senate.
And now the number one story of 2014…
1. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Changes His Stance Regarding Sports Betting – Silver had heads scratching when he seemingly came out of nowhere to declare that betting on the NBA (and presumably other sports) should be legalized.
"It's inevitable that, if all these states are broke, that there will be legalized sports betting in more states than Nevada," Silver said, per Bloomberg News. "We will ultimately participate in that."
But alas it is Silver and the National Basketball Association (NBA) that joined forces with the other professional sports leagues to prevent New Jersey from offering legalized sports betting via a successful lawsuit.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has in turn called Silver a hypocrite.
With ESPN.com now promoting a Sports Betting section, coupled with the popularity of Daily Fantasy Sports, the question of whether wagering on sports should be legalized and regulated will likely continue to be a hot button topic in 2015.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
