Poker News: John Juanda; Kentucky Poker Domain Seizure; WPT; Colorado Wager Vote

While downward-trending business items about poker are not surprising in light of the global economic downturn, these news items were joined in recent weeks by a surprising legal case in Kentucky and big doings on the other side of the pond-as major poker events gravitated to Europe during September. Here's your top-down view of the recent biggest poker stories.

JUANDA DOMINATES LONDON SCENE

It's two-for-two in having a big poker name walk away with the main event title at the World Series of Poker Europe. American John Juanda ended a personal four-year bracelet drought by defeating a fearsome final table that included Daniel Negreanu and the upcoming WSOP November Nine's Ivan Demidov. Juanda, Demidov, and Demidov's Russian counterpart, Stanislav Alekhin, were the last three players standing, and Juanda and Alekhin squared off in a record-setting heads-up duel for the championship.

The final table stretched for 22 hours and 484 hands, exactly half of which (242) were heads-up between the two final players. Juanda didn't have long to celebrate, however, as he immediately began action in the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour event elsewhere in London. That event featured many of the same international stars, and Juanda only managed a second, after Jason Mercier (himself a two-time EPT winner) came from behind during heads-up play. It was still a remarkable week for Juanda, who reestablished himself among the game's elite.

THE KENTUCKY REEL

As we go to press, poker players continue to wait for a ruling in the court-ordered forfeiture of 141 domain names associated with many forms of online gambling, including poker. Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear orchestrated the seizure in an announced hearing-with no opposing legal counsel present-then saw the online industry swiftly react. Twenty or so lawyers descended upon the Frankfort, KY Circuit Court for the forfeiture hearing in the matter, arguing whether Kentucky has jurisdiction over the Internet and international businesses, whether a domain name is a gambling "device," and whether free-speech and free-commerce concerns trump Gov. Beshear's protectionist interests. Beshear quite boldly proclaimed that the move was designed to protect Kentucky's horseracing industry, though outside observers predict that the case will eventually be thrown out-if not on the state level, then at the federal one.

LAKES ENTERTAINMENT GIVES AWAY WPTE SHARES

Call it a corporate parting of the ways. Lakes Entertainment, the casino holdings group chaired by Lyle Berman (a well-known poker player in his own right), plans to pay out its entire shareholdings in World Poker Tour Enterprises stock to its own shareholders. They will do this to remove WPTE interests from their books. It's the latest bit of bad news for the World Poker Tour, which saw its parent company, WPTE, delisted from NASDAQ after its shares dropped below $1 and into the land of penny stocks.

Shares of WPTE have traded in the 50-cent range as of early October. The WPT's once-lucrative broadcast deals with Travel Channel and Game Show Network are a thing of the past, and the tour's current Season VII will be seen under a "pay for play" deal with FOX Sports Net. Lakes was a majority shareholder in WPTE, owning 61 percent of all outstanding stock.

MENENDEZ INTRODUCES "INTERNET SKILL GAME LICENSING AND CONTROL ACT"

The latest federal bill regarding poker's interests and the Internet is the "Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act of 2008," introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The bill was championed by, and created with the assistance of, the million-member Poker Players Alliance, poker's de facto spokesperson at the federal level. Menendez's bill clearly defines poker as a game of skill and would put in a category comparable to fantasy sports leagues, while clearly distancing poker from sports betting, which is illegal under the 1961 Wire Act, and casino-style games that require little or no skill. Congressional consideration of Menendez's bill is unlikely to begin until 2009.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHER POKER?

Colorado voters can allow increased wagering at casino games (including poker) at venues within their state. The referendum on the November ballot would allow stakes to be increased from $5 to $100 at casinos in Cripple Creek, Blackhawk and Central City.