Poker

What are some of the hottest headlines in the world of poker? Here you will find all the latest juicy stories along with other important news and tournament results. A must read for the poker enthusiast with articles published throughout the day.

Zynga Shares Rise With UBS Upgrade to ‘Buy’

Social gaming giant Zynga witnessed its biggest share price surge in nearly a year Tuesday thanks to a positive upgrade.

UBS raised its rating on the game maker's stock to "buy" from "neutral," saying Zynga's core operations had begun to stabilize under the new management team and that its $527 million acquisition of mobile game developer NaturalMotion would result in more scale and innovation at Zynga.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/04/2014

Rumors Abound: Zynga and BWin.Party to Join Forces in New Jersey

With Bwin.party’s social sports betting product nearing an initial beta-launch ahead of a full launch planned before the end of Q1, some stock forecasting sites are suggesting a possible partnership between both these big name firms in the state of New Jersey.

Bwin.Party is already the market leader in real time online gambling in the state of New Jersey since its launch in late November.  The company enjoyed a head start over much of its competition.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/04/2014

Companies That Accept Bitcoin – Including Online Gambling

This week, NASDAQ.com released a listing of companies that accept bitcoin and these mainstream (some not-so-mainstream like Virgin Galactic perhaps) are listed below.  But we also list online gambling companies that currently accept the anonymous digital currency as of February 1, 2014.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/04/2014

2014 Black Diamond Poker Open Promises $3 Million Guarantee

The 2013 Black Diamond Poker Open (BDPO), sponsored by Bodog Poker, reached record levels with $1,200,000 in prize money and, this, 3rd year of the event is set to see prize money more than double with $3,000,000 up for grabs. Qualifying starts on Tuesday, 9th February.

Submitted by Press Release on, Feb/04/2014

Wynn Approved for Online Gambling License in New Jersey: Uncertain of Plans

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Associated Press) - In the decades since he left Atlantic City for the more prosperous sands of Las Vegas, casino mogul Steve Wynn has repeatedly considered a return here, only to decide against it.

This may be another one of those instances.

New Jersey gambling regulators have approved Wynn to offer an Internet gambling site in the state where he once ruled the roost. But a Wynn spokesman said plans by Wynn Interactive to offer online gambling in New Jersey are on hold as it studies the fledgling market.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Feb/03/2014

Poll Finds More New Jersey Residents Prefer Pot Over Online Gambling

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Associated Press) - A new poll finds more New Jersey residents want to smoke pot than gamble over the Internet.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll finds 41 percent of respondents would support smoking marijuana recreationally if it became legal.

That compares to only 32 percent who support gambling over the Internet, which is legal in New Jersey now.

The poll finds support for online gambling has fallen, even as it enters its third full month and more than 150,000 online gambling accounts have been set up in the state.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Feb/03/2014

Disgraced Poker Blogger ‘Who Jedi’ is Now ‘Where Jedi’: Pulls Blog

A poker reporter charged with stealing from dealer chip jars at the Mohegan Sun no longer has his blog up, Thomas Somach reports.

Submitted by Ace King on, Feb/03/2014

2014 EPT Monaco Schedule and ‘Grand Final for Everyone’ Announced

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – February 3, 2014 – The PokerStars.com and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final today announced a spectacular 11 day 48-event schedule, featuring more tournaments with buy-ins of €500 or less than ever before.

Submitted by Press Release on, Feb/03/2014

Sotirios Koutoupas Wins EPT Deauville 2014 for €614,000

Sotirios Koutoupas has won EPT Deauville for €614,000 and become the first ever Greek EPT champion.

Koutoupas, who was runner-up to Ramzi Jelassi at EPT9 Prague, beat Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov heads-up today thus thwarting the Ukrainian’s bid to secure poker’s Triple Crown. Katchalov, 32, already has a WSOP and WPT title and came close to an EPT title when he finished third in Barcelona in Season 8. He got €379,500 for second place.

Submitted by Press Release on, Feb/01/2014

WSOP Main Event 2014 May Have $10 Million First Place Prize

World Series of Poker officials may have accidentally leaked that their will be a $10 million guaranteed 1st place prize awarded to the winner of the WSOP 2014.

If true, this would be the second largest cash prize given out during the main event.

Submitted by Ace King on, Feb/01/2014

Final Eight of EPT Deauville High Roller Determined

Lebanese player Albert Daher is chip leader for the final of the record-breaking EPT Deauville €10k High Roller. Daher has 1,300,000, nearly twice as much as his nearest rival – EPT Barcelona champion Martin Schleich from Germany, who is in second place with 762,000. EPT8 Player of the Year Ondrej Vinklarek from the Czech Republic lies in third with 737,000.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/31/2014

More Major Retailers Poised to Start Accepting Bitcoin in Wake of Overstock Success

On the heels of Overstock.com, the Sacramento Kings, two Las Vegas casino establishments and the popular online poker room Americas Cardroom each now embracing the anonymous digital currency bitcoin, other major retailers are about to follow suit.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Jan/30/2014

Canada Using Super Bowl to Help Promote Legalizing Sports Betting

(Canadian Press) - Supporters of proposed federal legislation that would legalize single-event sports betting are using this weekend's Super Bowl XLVIII to pressure senators to give final approval to a private member's bill.

Submitted by Canadian Press on, Jan/30/2014

Sit & Crush Race Follows in Footsteps of Online Poker’s The Beast

San Jose, Costa Rica – It's not just The Beast's roar that's making big noise each week at Americas Cardroom. Just days after announcing that The Beast is moving to a weekly format beginning February 1st, the leading online poker site today announced that its Sit & Crush tournament points race is also moving to a weekly format.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/29/2014

Ole Schemion Wins 2013 European Poker Player of the Year Award

DEAUVILLE, France – PokerStars today congratulates Ole Schemion on winning the European Player of the Year at the GPI European Poker Awards 13th Edition sponsored by PokerStars.  The awards were held in conjunction with Casino Lucien Barriere and the PokerStars European Poker Tour Deauville.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/29/2014

British Poker Pro Nigel Goldman Vanishes Amidst Embezzlement Fears

Nigel Goldman, a British poker pro popular on the big name tournament circuit, has gone missing from his Costa Del Sol, Spain mansion.

It’s not just Goldman who has gone missing, however.  Some by £2.5m in clients funds have also vanished.

The warning signs may have been there from the get-go.

Submitted by Ace King on, Jan/29/2014

Neteller customers Targeted in Phishing Scheme

Customers of the popular online wallet Neteller were targets of an apparent phishing scheme, it was revealed this week.

Numerous customers received emails over the weekend notifying them that their accounts would be closed if they did not provide pertinent personal details.  Those emails turned out to be fake.

The email appeared as such:

Dear [e-mail address]

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Jan/28/2014

California Online Poker Bill Sponsor Sen. Rod Wright Convicted of Felony

The man most responsible for bringing the discussion of legalized online poker to the state of California has been convicted of perjury and voter fraud.

A Los Angeles jury on Tuesday convicted state Sen. Roderick D. Wright on all eight counts in his perjury and voter fraud trial.

Submitted by Ace King on, Jan/28/2014

Poker Pro Dario Sammartino Leads at EPT 10 Deauville Main Event

Italian pro Dario Sammartino is leading the remaining 137 players as we go in to Day 3 of the EPT Deauville Main Event. The 26-year-old, who was third in the FPS High Roller a few days ago for €63,800 and fourth in the UKIPT London Main Event in October, has 427,200, closely followed by EPT Loutraki champion Zimnan Ziyard with 392,500. His biggest live cash to date was runner-up at IPT Sanremo in October for €95,000.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/28/2014

Poker Players Alliance Urges Massachusetts to Include Online Poker in Legislation

Washington, DC John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with 1.2 million members nationwide and more than 22,000 PPA advocates in Massachusetts, submitted a statement today urging the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure to consider including an amendment to license and regulate Internet poker in SB 101, legislation proposed to bring online lotteries to the state.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/28/2014

PokerStars.IT IPT Nova Gorica 1 Season 6 – Vincitore Marko Mikovic

Clicca qui' per visualizzare il payout di tutti i Side events e del Main Event dell'IPT Nova Gorica.

Clicca qui' per visualizzare alcune foto del tavolo finale.

Un giocatore Serbo, Marko Mikovic, ha vinto il primo premio di €89,000 (deal finale a tre) dopo un intenso Heads up al tavolo finale dell’IPT Nova Gorica, che si e’ protatto fino alla tarda serata di Martedi'.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/27/2014

Chris Day Leads at Even of Day 1A of EPT 10 Deauville Main Event

British player Chris Day has a super-narrow lead over Finland's Jorma Nuutinen at the end of Day 1a of the EPT Deauville Main Event tonight. Day has 154,100 to Nuutinen's 154,000. There are 134 players who made it through today from the 234-strong starting field including Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov and Marcin Horecki.

The EPT has joined forces with the national France Poker Series to create a mega ten-day, 45-event EPT Deauville Poker Festival, running January 22 - February 1, 2014 at Casino Barriere.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/26/2014

Delaware’s Foray Into Online Gambling Arena: Casinos Don’t Have a Clue

Three states entered the world of real money online gambling last year – Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware.  Nevada was first, New Jersey has proven the most successful and tiny Delaware, well…..

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Jan/26/2014

Pennsylvania Explores Online Gambling, Keno

HARRISBURG — (Associated Press) - With top Pennsylvania state lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett seeking ways to plug a projected budget deficit, they are considering expanding lottery gambling and, possibly, legalizing online gambling.

The Senate Finance Committee will hear testimony Wednesday that focuses partly on adding keno to the Pennsylvania Lottery's game lineup.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Jan/26/2014

Royal Flush: $2.7 Mil in Counterfeit Poker Chips Found Clogged in Borgata Pipe

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – (Associated Press) -  A clogged pipe at an Atlantic City, N.J., casino has led to the discovery of $2.7 million in counterfeit poker chips that had been flushed down a toilet.

Authorities say a Fayetteville, N.C., man sneaked fake chips into a poker tournament at Atlantic City's Borgata casino, leading to the cancellation of one of its events last week.

Christian Lusardi was arrested Friday on charges including theft and rigging a public contest. It's unknown if he has a lawyer.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Jan/24/2014

Online Poker: The Beast Changes Weekly Format at Americas Cardroom

Poker players with big appetites for winning are going to love this. The US-friendly online poker site Americas Cardroom today announced that their popular points race, The Beast, is taking on a new weekly format. The move to a 7-day points race comes just a few months after The Beast morphed from a monthly event into a twice-monthly one on October 1st, 2013.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/24/2014

New Jersey Looking at Massive Online Gambling Expansion Beyond its Borders

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — (Associated Press) - Two New Jersey lawmakers have introduced a bill that would drastically expand Internet gambling in the state, allowing it to take bets from other states and countries.

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/23/2014

PayNoRake.com Review is In and the Feedback Has Been Super Positive

The new management of the Chico Poker Network are thrilled to announce that, after their acquisition of the network almost a year ago, the feedback that they are receiving from affiliates and players alike is very positive, particularly with regards to their unique rakeback brand, PayNoRake.com, which is fast becoming the online poker room of choice for poker players and affiliates alike!

Submitted by Press Release on, Jan/23/2014

Cubeia Online Poker Network Latest to Incorporate Bitcoin

The latest online gambling company to begin accepting bitcoin transactions is Swedish-based Cubeia, an Internet poker network.  They follow in the footsteps of Americas Cardroom, which announced two weeks ago they too have begun offering the anonymous digital currency as a payment alternative.  

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Jan/23/2014

Man Sentenced to Five Months in Russian Mob-Tied High Stakes Poker Case

NEW YORK (Associated Press) — A federal judge in Manhattan has given prison to another defendant in a massive high-stakes poker games case.

Edwin Ting of New York City was charged in April 2013 along with 33 other alleged members and associates of two Russian-American organized crime enterprises.

Ting was sentenced Tuesday to five months in prison and ordered to forfeit $2 million.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Jan/23/2014

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