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.
Carbon Poker Removes Bad Beat Jackpots: Move is to Improve ‘Healthier Room Ecology’
Carbon Poker, and the entire Merge Gaming Network for that matter, has announced they will no longer be offering Bad Beat Jackpots effective once the final BBJ goes off.
From the Carbon Poker website:
Surgeon Thought he Would be “Mowed Down With a Machine Gun” During Poker Game Raid
A prominent surgeon testified in court on Tuesday that he believed a robbery was about to take place during a high stakes poker game in Chattanooga, Tennessee last April when in fact police had commenced a raid on the property.
Dr. Neil Spitalyn said he feared being “mowed down with a machine gun”.
“It sounded like the front of the building had collapsed," he added.
Spitalyn claims he hid behind a garbage can before police came over and handcuffed him. Another officer shot one of the card players.
This Sucks! Dracula Poker The Latest Online Card Room to Abruptly Shut Its Doors
Another one bites the dust and this time it’s none other than the online poker room known as Dracula Poker. Dracula Poker închis.
‘Hangover’ Director to Take Over ‘The Gambler’ From Martin Scorsese
Todd Phillips has been announced as the replacement for Director Martin Scorsese of the upcoming Paramount Studios film “The Gambler”.
Phillips is perhaps best known for directing “The Hangover”.
Thiel Sells 20 million Facebook Shares After IPO Lockup Expired
NEW YORK — (Associated Press) - Peter Thiel, one of Facebook’s earliest investors and a member of its board, was among the insiders selling stock in the social network after a lockup expired last week.
A regulatory filing on Monday said that Thiel, a former CEO at PayPal sold about 20 million shares of Facebook through affiliates such as his Founders Fund and other entities last week. The shares were sold on Thursday and Friday for between $19.27 and $20.69, for a total of about $396 million.
Heritage Sportsbook Joins the Winning Poker Network: First Time to Offer Online Poker
One of the oldest online sportsbooks, the member referral Heritage Sports, has just joined the Winning Poker Network. A number of top sportsbooks utilize the network including Bookmaker.com, BetDSI.com, betCRIS.com and 5Dimes. Americas Cardroom is Winning Poker Network’s marquee brand.
‘Run It Twice’ Could Debut on PokerStars in September: Reduces All-In Variance
PokerStars, the world’s largest real money online poker room, is reportedly set to introduce “Run It Twice”, a popular feature of high stakes poker games.
From PokerFuse.com:
Unshuffled Cards a Costly Headache for Atlantic City
Wayne Parry, Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Associated Press) — At first, it seemed like a coincidence, the kind of thing that happens from time to time at a casino, where the same number or same sequence of cards happens twice in a row.
But when the players at an April game of mini-baccarat at the Golden Nugget Atlantic City kept seeing the same sequence of cards dealt, over and over and over again, their eyes grew wide and their bets grew bigger, zooming from $10 a hand to $5,000.
Professional Poker Player Nancy Todd Wants Control Over Arkansas Casinos
Professional poker player Nancy Todd is looking to control casinos in four Arkansas counties via a ballot proposal, the Associated Press was reporting on Monday.
Todd said that she was required to submit a new proposal after Secretary of State Mark Martin found that the measure improperly omitted a reference to a state gambling law that would be repealed.
The ballot wording was ruled to be “unfit” by Martin’s office last week and will issue a new ruling on the amended ballot wording within the next 15 days.
Playtech, iPoker Internet Poker Network’s Teddy Sagi to Float Energy Company Genesis
Teddy Sagi, the Israeli billionaire who founded online gambling software firm Playtech and its Web poker network iPoker, is set to float his energy company on London’s AIM this week.
Genesis Energy, a Middle East focused gas explorer, is 40 percent owned by Sagi.
It is his intent to raise between $90m-$120m through the Initial Public Offering, valuing the group’s equity at as much as £500m.
If successful, the IPO would be the largest on Aim this year.
9th Ranked Poker Pro Dan Smith Wins 2012 EPT Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller
American Dan Smith has been declared the winner of the 2012 EPT Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller event.
Smith takes home over US$1 million for his efforts.
The win means Smith, a Las Vegas resident, has pocketed just shy of $3 million in lifetime tournament earnings offline. He has 6 cashes and this is Smith’s second 1st place victory.
Aku Joentausta Leads After Day 1A of 2012 EPT Barcelona Main Event
A total of 222 players made it through Day 1a of the €5,000 EPT Barcelona Main Event today, from the 403 who started at lunchtime. The chip leader is Finnish PokerStars qualifier Aku Joentausta with 236,200.
Seven members of Team PokerStars Pro are still in: Lex Veldhuis, Juan Manuel Pastor, Pius Heinz, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Henrique Pinho, Marcin Horecki and Matthias De Meulder.
The cap for Day 1b is set at 630.
Lorenzo Sabato Wins 2012 Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona
After five intense days of poker action, Italian player Lorenzo “bovediroma” Sabato has become the first Estrellas Barcelona Main Event champion. Sabato won the €200,000 first prize after defeating Russian player Andrey Demidov heads-up; Demidov took €122,500 for his runner-up place and Sweden’s Niclas Svensson took home €76,500 for third.
Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom on Fire With Another $317k Online Poker Win
The Swedish poker wunderkind is on fire these days, winning yet another $317k.
That’s the take Viktor “Isildur1” Blom walked away with over the weekend playing against Great Britain’s Alex "Kanu7" Millar.
Blom engaged in an eight hour $100/$200 NLHE heads up marathon match with PokerStars leading NLHE money winner for the past two years.
EPT Barcelona 2012 Super High Roller Final Table Sees Eric Seidel, Ilari Sahamies
One of poker’s biggest earners, Eric Seidel, is looking to tack on another $1 million and change as he has made the EPT Barcelona 2012 Super High Roller Final Table.
Also making the cut is online Finnish phenom Ilari Sahamies
American Dan Smith previously won three €5k NL events in a row during last season's EPT Grand Final and is among those who has made the EPT Barcelona 2012 €50,000 Super High Roller.
JC Alvarado of Mexico leads the pack.
Steve O’Dwyer Leads at EPT Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller 2012
America pro Steve O’Dwyer is leading the EPT Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller with 36 players remaining from the 54 who started the day. After eight levels of play, O’Dwyer was in good shape with a massive chip stack of 1,249,000, almost double his next rival, fellow American Erik Seidel. O’Dwyer, who hails from Pennsylvania, had a stonking year during last year’s EPT season, including runner-up finishes in the EPT London Main Event and the EPT Campione €10,000 event.
Facebook Freeroll: 4 Packages to Punta Cana Poker Classic Guaranteed Sunday
August 19, 2012 Americas Cardroom customers can take part in a massive Facebook Freeroll online poker tournament. The reward will be one of four free entries into the magnificent Punta Cana Poker Classic this coming November.
Jake Gyllenhaal to Star in Latest Gambling Flick ‘Mississippi Grind’
Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal is getting set to film the latest gambling themed film, “Mississippi Grind”.
The directing duo of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden are behind the project. Both previously directed Ryan Gosling to a best actor Oscar nomination for “Half Nelson”.
Hollywood Reporter provided a description of the upcoming film:
Friends: ‘All Michael Phelps Thinks About is Gambling’
Friends of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps claim the record gold medal winner “only thinks about gambling” these days, more specifically about playing poker.
Gambling911.com just the other day featured a report on Phelps desire to become a poker pro.
Zynga Poker Coming to Nokia Asha Touch Devices
Nokia today announced they will bring Zynga Inc.'s global hit games, Draw Something and Zynga Poker, to Nokia Asha Touch devices in Q3 2012 as part of their partnership announced earlier this summer. Nokia Asha Touch users can soon challenge their friends to a round of the popular social drawing and guessing game, or enjoy their own virtual poker match. Zynga's Draw Something and Zynga Poker will both be free to download from the Nokia Store.
Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona 2012 Beats All Records With Total Prize Pool €1,004,920
The Estrellas Poker Tour 2012 continued today as an astonishing 664 players started on day 1b, of which 41 qualified online with PokerStars.com. Casino Barcelona plays host to this event, and for its first time in the Catalan capital, the tour has broken all the previous records: - A total of 1036 players which makes Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona the biggest poker tournament ever organised in Spain and the second biggest PokerStars.com European regional tournament of all time.
Howard Lederer Parties it Up in Las Vegas as DOJ Now ‘Flush With Full Tilt Poker Money’
Wendeen H. Eolis of Poker Player Newspaper was the first to reveal that great news was on tap for those owed monies by Full Tilt Poker. She’s proven to be an excellent resource for the poker community.
On Thursday, Ms. Eolis reveals that the “face behind Full Tilt Poker” over the past several years, Howard Lederer, was seen partying it up in Las Vegas after the deal was made official.
English Poker Open 2012 Online Qualifiers Continue Into September at Cake
Cake Poker has announced a series of online qualifiers for the English Poker Open 2012 that will go straight into September.
The prize consists of a guaranteed seat to the live tournament along with a generous travel and accommodation allowance, totaling $5000.
Zynga Adds Real Money Gambling: Spends $75k on Lobbying Efforts
The Wall Street Journal late Wednesday reported that Zynga, the publicly traded social gaming behemoth, has spent upwards of $75,000 lobbying in the United States to legalize online gambling. The primary focus up to this point appears to be in the state of California, where a current measure to legalize Web poker in the Golden State is expected to die by month’s end.
Estrellas Poker Tour in Barcelona had 135 Players Remaining
The Estrellas Poker Tour is once again underway, this time in Catalunya, where Casino Barcelona plays host to the last event of the season. The €1,000 + €100 main event takes place from the 15th to 19th of August. On Wednesday’s day 1a, a record-breaking number of 372 players began their tournament, including 65 who qualified online at PokerStars.com.
When play concluded for the day, after nine levels of play, there were 135 players remaining.
Facebook Insider Lockup Ending, Share Impact to be Seen Thursday
On Thursday (August 16, 2012) we will get to see how Wall Street reacts to a deluge of Facebook shares hitting the market following the end of a so-called “lockup period”.
Since the largest social media network went public back in May, the share price has fallen from a peak of $45 to Wednesday’s closing price of $20.74.
Reuters Doris Frankel suggests the stock's slump may actually work in Facebook’s favor this week as insider’s may be less inclined to dump the 271 million shares that are unlocked on Thursday, hopeful of a fast recovery.
Swedish Motorcycle Gang Ties to Alleged Matt Marafioti Online Poker Hacking Scandal
The alleged Matt Marafioti/Samer Rahman online poker account hacking scandal gets more crazy by the day.
Book on Absolute Poker to be Written by Ben Mezrich (Video)
Appearing on CNBC’s “The Squawk Box” Wednesday, author Ben Mezrich revealed he is writing a book about Absolute Poker, an online poker site caught up in a series of indictments last year.
The author of “Bringing Down The House” and “The Accidental Billionaires” sure will have plenty of material to work with. In addition to last year’s indictments that resulted in the ultimate shutdown of Absolute Poker and its sister site, UB.com, the online poker room was once embroiled in an “insider cheating scandal” that would later be profiled by the CBS news magazine show “60 Minutes”.
Online Poker CAP Tables Expanded to Include All Limits at Americas Cardroom
Just one week after introducing CAP tables at low stakes tables in its latest software update, Americas Cardroom has expanded CAP tables to include all limits. CAP tables will be available at low, medium and high-stakes tables, and no software update is needed to access the latest expansion.
Friends Fear Michael Phelps Wants to Become Poker Pro, Will Squander His $45 Mil (Video)
With one of the greatest poker players to ever live, Phil Hellmuth, gushing all over one of the greatest Olympians who has ever lived, Michael Phelps, it’s no wonder the rumor mill is alive with talk that Phelps is preparing to embark on a professional poker career.
