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February 7, 2012 - 6:15pm
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February 7, 2012 - 8:43am
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January 31, 2012 - 10:34am
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January 26, 2012 - 4:11pm
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January 19, 2012 - 12:32pm
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By Shari Geller
The seemingly endless process of bringing legal and regulated online poker to the U.S. encountered a significant setback today when the District of Columbia Council voted to repeal the city’s controversial Internet gambling law.
Last year, Internet gambling was added to the city’s existing 2009 lottery contract as a “non-traditional games” option. Internet gambling was subsequently legalized in the district through first-in-the-nation language added to a 2010 spending bill, making DC the first to have a law legalizing online poker on the books.
by Wendeen H. Eolis
50 MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION
JOHN JUANDA AND TOM DWAN MAN UP
REPAYMENT REQUESTS DISSECTED
TAPIE INVESTORS HAVE YET TO PONY UP
Last week Full Tilt Poker and Group Bernard Tapie took their proposed deal to the next level of drama, with a Poker Stars pro known as the Robin Hood of Poker entering from stage right-- as a wild card.
Unlikely protagonists raised and re-raised each other in a frenzy of sensational but substantively incomplete statements to suit their respective purposes of the moment. As a new week gets under way, the big picture is all too clear. Tapie’s proposed acquisition of Full Tilt assets is spinning on a slippery slope.
By Shari Geller
The World Series of Poker released its schedule for 2012 and it has the most events and widest range of buy-ins of any WSOP to date. The 2012 WSOP schedule features 61 WSOP bracelet events running from May 27 through July 16 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. From the $500 Casino Employees’ event to the exclusive $1,000,000 buy-in tourney, the WSOP has something for every bankroll and every player.
New events for this year include the first-ever $1,500 NLHE re-entry event (Event 9) where players eliminated on the first day of play may re-enter the following day. Another new event is the $5,000 Mix-Max (Event 6) which debuted at the 2011 WSOP Europe and gave Michael Mizrachi his second WSOP bracelet. This summer, the Mix-Max will play nine-handed on Day 1, six-handed on Day 2 and heads-up from that point on.
by Wendeen H. Eolis
Tapie-Full Tilt Update Bulletin at High Noon:
GROUP BERNARD TAPIE EXPOSES PLAYER NAMES
Tapie counsel, Behn Dayanim has revealed to PPN the names of several high profile players who owe Full Tilt Poker millions of dollars. All but one of the players, is publicly associated with Full Tilt. The names of these players is being withheld by PPN pending efforts to obtain further information and/or statements from the players named by Dayanim in his further advisory at noon.
Two of the well-known players who owe significant monies are in negotiations with GBT in apparent good faith efforts to to resolve their debt, according to Dayanim. He has not made these names available for publication, at this time.
By Wendeen H. Eolis
BULLETIN: TAPIE LAWYER EXPOSES FTP PRO DEBT
This morning, Group Bernard Tapie lawyer, Behnam Dayanim acknowledged to Poker Player Newspaper that multiple hurdles will need to be overcome for the deal to acquire Full Tilt to go through. He notes one key issue is outstanding debt by players to FTP. Poker Player Newspaper has separately learned that the debt is in the range of 15 million dollars and that most of those players have made no effort to arrange for repayment. GBT has counted on these monies as real and viable assets, and does not envision having to litigate to obtain them . Information is now coming in to indicate other specific hurdles that could imperil the deal, as well.
Full Tilt Update Bulletin at High Noon:
GROUP BERNARD TAPIE EXPOSES PLAYER NAMES
by Shari Geller
Heartland Poker Tour announced a tour stop in the company’s home state of Minnesota. The nationally-televised poker show will film two episodes at Canterbury Park Racetrack and Card Casino in Shakopee April 20-30, 2012. The event, which could offer the largest poker tournament prize pool ever in the state, is open to the public.
Players can take a shot at life-changing money for as little as $65. The two-day main event begins April 28 and concludes on April 29 when the field is reduced to six, with qualifying rounds beginning April 20. The remaining six players will advance to HPT’s TV on site production set on April 30 where thirteen high-definition cameras will capture all of the no-limit Texas hold’em action.
by Wendeen H. Eolis
No formal confirmations of additional investors yet, but the noise is ever louder today; Group Bernard Tapie has lined up at least one moneyman "ready to punt." According to several generally informed sources familiar with weeks of efforts to raise more funds, GBT has locked up a commitment with at least one and maybe two substantial participants to nail the acquisition of the Full Tilt brand. Additional funding might not be crucial, but for Tapie's reluctance to put in more capital of his own than suits his taste.
A lawyer close to one purported investor says, "The deal should get done." He estimates the time table for a re-launch of the FTP site as before the end of the first quarter." Another lawyer, with strong ties in the current Full Tilt brouhaha says; "The die is cast; Full Tilt is effectively out of control; the deal is now unstoppable unless Tapie fails to deliver the necessary checks to the Court."
By Shari Geller
According to news reports, two brothers and their cousin coming back to the U.S. from the Bahamas had their poker winnings seized by Bahamian authorities for failure to declare the money. All three pleaded guilty to charges and had to forfeit the money, but were not sentenced to any jail time and were allowed to return to the U.S.
Michael and Sean Ruane and their cousin Thomas Freeman, Jr., were attempting to return home from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure when they went through pre-clearance at the at Lynden Pindling International Airport. Asked as part of the normal screening process to declare if they were carrying cash in excess of $10,000, the brothers signed a statement denying they had that much money on them.
by Wendeen H. Eolis
PokerStars Chief Executive Officer Gabriel Campos Woslovsky’s current whereabouts are murky; only his closest associates may know his GPS location. But the buzz emanating from the Isle of Man offices of Poker Stars is loud and clear; Gabi Campos, as he is better known within Poker Stars, has left the building-- after a reign of less than two years.
By Shari Geller
The president of M Resort, Anthony Marnell III, recently joined Sheldon Adelson, Chairman of the Sands Corporation, in announcing his opposition to the legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States. In a time when the efforts towards bringing online poker back to the U.S. is under attack from the religious right, the morality police and skittish lawmakers, opposition from those within the gambling family comes as a heavy blow.
The interview with Marnell was conducted Nevada Newsmakers, a statewide public affairs television program, on December 13, just a few days before the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) issued a statement reversing its earlier position that the Wire Act made online poker illegal. In the DoJ’s published opinion letter, the federal government claimed that the Wire Act did not apply to online poker.
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