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This new weekly feature will cover all aspects of the poker world, including
new developments in online poker, results and schedules for the biggest live
poker tournaments, and other interesting news. Sit tight while we bring the
entire poker world directly to your screen!
September 15: Peter Dicks freed from custody
Peter Dicks, then chairman of Sportingbet plc, was released from custody by
Queens criminal court judge Gene Lopez. Dicks was detained on his arrival in
the United States on an extradition warrant issued by the state of
Louisiana. Louisiana authorities had issued arrest warrants for some fifty
executives of online gaming companies with clients located in that state,
including 888.com (Pacific Poker) and Party Gaming (Party Poker, Empire
Poker).
In a move considered to be a defeat for opponents of online gambling, the
judge ruled that the extradition warrant was too weak to continue to detain
Dicks. He was originally arrested by the Port Authority of New York upon his
arrival in the United States, but had been freed on $50,000 bond, pending
extradition to Louisiana.
Mr. Dicks has since resigned his position with the company in an effort to
prevent further legal troubles.
September 15: Card Player video podcast reaches 100th show milestone
The increasingly popular video podcast show The Circuit, featuring insightful
poker talk with a good mix of humor, reached its 100th show milestone. Hosts
Scott Huff, Joe Sebok, and Gavin Smith keep the show lively, and regular
guests Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, and Joe
Hachem keep it educational.
The show is available for download from the Cardplayer.com homepage and the
iTunes website.
September 16: WCOOP debuts at Poker Stars
Poker Stars offered a $100,000 guarantee to Event #1 of the fifth annual World
Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). Presumably this was to attract enough
players to the field for a fixed-limit Razz tournament. They miscalculated.
Almost 1300 players entered this tournament, pushing the prize pool to
$259,400.
The tournament lasted almost thirteen hours until “Nabokov” filled an eight
low on sixth street to beat his opponent’s nine low. The win was good for
$58,365. Recent World Series of Poker champions Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem
competed. Raymer finished just out of the money and Hachem finished 60th for
$648.50.
September 17: WCOOP event 2 awards $320,865
Again Poker Stars shattered any notions of a guaranteed prize pool. With the
guarantee set at $1.5 Million, the $500+30 tournament drew 4495 entries to
exceed the guarantee by 50 per cent.
Two noted online tournament players fared well. Eric “Rizen” Lynch made it to
89th place for almost $3400. Bryan “micon” Micon bubbled the final table.
His 10th place finish was good for $10,788.
Thirteen-plus hours after the start, it was down to two players for the
bracelet. The leader offered a $290,000 - $250,000 chop, with first place to
receive the remaining $30,865. This was apparently a big mistake, since
“Rambo5” had a 4-1 chip lead over LUNOID, and first place would have awarded
$365,000 without a deal. Mistake or not, the tournament ended a few minutes
later, and Rambo5 was $320,000 richer (or $45,000 poorer than he should have
been).
September 17: Nobody wins Full Tilt Poker $500,000?
Apparently Full Tilt Poker programmers have a sense of humor, or at least a
sense of irony. Full Tilt’s monthly $500+30 $500,000 Guaranteed tournament
awarded more than $115,000 to the winner. Full Tilt Poker professional
endorser Toto Leonidas made the final table to the delight of the railbirds,
but managed only eighth place. The screen name of the winner? “or not.”
The greeting to players logging in to the tournament lobby? “Congratulations,
or not.”
September 17: Party Poker exceeds guarantee, UltimateBet falls short
Online poker players looking for an overlay in a large tournament might want
to watch UltimateBet’s $200+15 $200,000 Guaranteed tournament. Only 764
players signed up, so the tournament had a $35,740 overlay even if the entry
fees are considered. We wonder if Phil Hellmuth is required to make this up
personally?
Party Poker fared much better in its big weekly tournament offering. Despite
the same start time as the Poker Stars WCOOP event, Party still attracted
5015 players, just exceeding the required number for an overlay. First place
winner gnash cashes for over $155,000.
September 18: Carlos Mortensen makes quarterfinals
Carlos Mortensen outlasted Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu to snag the last seat
in the quarterfinals of the Poker Superstars Invitational, shown on Sundays
on Fox Sports Net. Mortensen joins Johnny Chan, Todd Brunson, Jeff Shulman,
Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, and Freddy Deeb in the final
eight.
The Poker Superstars Invitational format will then divide the eight into two
tables of four. Each table plays a separate tournament. Each winner advances
to the semifinals. The three non-winners from each table then play each
other again to determine the third and fourth semifinalists. Mortensen will
be matched with Deeb, Esfandiari, and Chan. Brunson, Shulman, Matusow, and
Hansen form the other group of four.
Weekly
Poker News Continued
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