Poker continues to gain ground on Capitol Hill! On Monday, Gambling Compliance reported some excellent news (click here, subscription required) in an article entitled Reid Says DoJ Opinion Gives Congress Incentive for Internet Poker Bill.
The article quotes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as follows: “It [the Department of Justice’s clarification of its interpretation of the scope of the Wire Act as not including online poker] (will) give us an incentive to get something done. We cannot have a series of laws around the country related to [Internet] gaming, I know a lot about gaming. I’m a former chairman of the Nevada [Gaming] Commission, and I think it’s very important that we have a national law.” The article further states that Sen. Reid has confirmed that he is negotiating with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on a federal online poker bill bill!
When articles like this goes public, lawmakers always look at public reaction. So, let’s all do our part and tell both that we wish for them to push forward with appropriate online poker legislation! Fortunately, we can do this quickly and easily.
Take Action
Let’s send Senators Reid and Kyl prewritten, editable tweets requesting action on poker legislation. They are HERE and HERE.
Please be sure to visit the PPA Take Action page.
Interviews
PPA comes before poker media to take on the tough questions as often as possible. I hope you will find these interesting and informative. This past week’s interviews focused on the Justice Department’s Wire Act decision and its impact on Capitol Hill momentum.
Recent appearances:
OnTilt Radio: Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny, with guest PPA Board Member Linda Johnson (1/16/2012) (listen here).
Short Stacked Radio: I come on at time point 1:29:55 (1/10/12) (listen here).
Short Stacked Radio: I come on at time point 1:31:05 (1/3/12) (listen here).
Website: Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny, with webcast archive (here)
I wish to thank the entire poker community for the outstanding work in telling our elected officials that we demand action on the online poker issue. We as individuals have sent more than 100,000 letters and made countless phone calls to lawmakers this year alone. Let’s keep it up!
Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has ASKED for questions via Twitter for an upcoming town hall. You can send him pro-poker questions in under thirty seconds:
Send a prefilled, editable pro-poker Twitter question: CLICK HERE
Send a second Twitter question for good measure: CLICK HERE
You can track the pro-poker messages here.
I also wish to discuss the ongoing issue with player funds locked up at Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, and Full Tilt Poker. As someone with around five figures locked up on Full Tilt Poker, I certainly empathize with the situation.
PPA has issued statements demanding that Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, and Absolute Poker refund player balances. Additionally, PPA representatives – including me – have made statements in several interviews with various poker media sources with demands for repayment. PPA does not accept the Department of Justice fund seizures as an excuse. We have also publicly praised PokerStars for doing the right thing in refunding its U.S. players.
Additionally, PPA’s legal team prepared a legal analysis of the options available to individual players who still have not been able to access their online poker funds held on account. The document — “Legal Rights of Players with Unpaid Balances – A PPA Information Guide” — provides our membership with facts and information about steps individuals can seek to take to claim their online poker account balances.
That being said, PPA is neither a regulatory body nor an enforcement agency. We are a player advocacy group, so our ability to force these sites to comply with our calls for action is limited. In fact, this is why PPA is pushing for legislation that gives us the rights we need as players.
The PPA-supported legislation now in Congress focuses strongly on consumer protection. It mandates protected and segregated player accounts, a U.S. presence (to allow for law enforcement action if needed), and many other provisions that protect our rights as players.
I am hopeful that reports of potential suitors lined up to purchase Full Tilt Poker, along with the recent enforcement actions by their regulators, will help generate positive steps toward player repayment. Full Tilt Poker recently released a statement on this. While it is noncommittal, it is moderately encouraging that they are again speaking publicly on the issue:
Full Tilt Poker, August 30th, 2011
As is obvious from the events that have transpired since April 15th, Full Tilt Poker was not prepared for the far-reaching, US government enforcement effort of Black Friday.
The events of Black Friday came on the heels of prior government enforcement activities and significant theft. Over the two years preceding Black Friday, the US government seized approximately $115M of player funds located in U.S. banks. While we believed that offering peer-to-peer online poker did not violate any federal laws—a belief supported by many solid and well-reasoned legal opinions — the DOJ took a different view. In addition, as was widely reported, a key payment processor stole approximately $42M from Full Tilt Poker. Until April 15th, Full Tilt Poker had always covered these losses so that no player was ever affected. Finally, during late 2010 and early 2011, Full Tilt Poker experienced unprecedented issues with some of its third-party processors that greatly contributed to its financial problems. While the company was on its way to addressing the problems caused by these processors, Full Tilt Poker never anticipated that the DOJ would proceed as it did by seizing our global domain name and shutting down the site worldwide.
Over the last four months, Full Tilt Poker has been actively exploring opportunities with outside investors in order to stabilize the company and pay back our players. At least six of those groups, including hedge funds, operators of other internet businesses and individual investors, have visited Dublin to inspect the operation. We have recently engaged an additional financial advisor through an investment banking group to assist us in our search for an infusion of cash as well as a new management team to restore the site and repay players. While any deal of this nature is necessarily complex given the current regulatory environment, our players should know that Full Tilt Poker is fully committed to paying them back in full and restoring confidence in our operations.
Noah Stephens-Davidowitz of Subject:Poker wrote a nice analysis of the statement and overall situation: click here to read.
Interviews
PPA comes before poker media to take on the tough questions as often as possible, as the questions we receive at these interviews are representative of the issues in which the poker community is most interested. I hope you will find these interesting and informative:
Wicked Chops Podcast with John Pappas (09/07/2011)
Short Stacked Radio (9/6): I come on at time point 0:41:00
PokerGob Poker Show (9/4) (scroll down to “September 4th Poker Show”)
Welcome to the Poker News Daily Weekly update, as always I am your host Sean Gibson, and I’ll be recapping the week that was in the world of poker. Lets get to the top headlines!
Our first story follows up on the Bellagio heist that occurred months ago. You might remember a man dressed in motorcycle gear with a helmet on came in and stole casino chips and zipped away on a bike.
It was estimated that he walked away with one point five MILLION dollars. Well, a man has been arrested in connection with the crime. His name is Anthony Michael Carleo who is 29 and the son of a Las Vegas judge.
Police picked up Carleo after he met undercover officers and tried to sell them the high-value chips taken in the heist.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, he faces charges of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, burglary with use of a deadly weapon and trafficking a controlled substance.
Well we have more news in the world of crime and this time it’s over PLAY MONEY CHIPS. An IT expert from England is potentially facing jail time after stealing billions of play money chips worth in the real world around $12 million dollars from Zynga’s Texas Hold’em application inside FACEBOOK.
Ashley Mitchell, who like our Bellagio Burglar is 29 years old, pled guilty to five charges. You might think this is a petty crime but Mitchell was able to sell those play money poker chips on eBay for over eighty five THOUSAND DOLLARS before getting caught. If he had been able to sell them all on eBay at his rate he would have made over three hundred thousand dollars. Zynga sells those play money chips which is where the $12 million dollar estimation came from.
Merge Gaming Network flagship site Carbon Poker is getting a major overhaul and releasing a new software client on March first. According to information publically released, Carbon poker will go live with a brand new site, look and logo. The room will be formally changing out all of its banner advertising the day before as part of a one-week transition. Also set to change is the site’s VIP program. Atil Singh, head of the USA friendly site told us at Poker News Daily,
“Big things are coming at Carbon Poker. The brand is ready to make some moves with a new VIP program, website, and logo. It’s an exciting time for players, affiliates, and management. “
Former Player of the Year winner Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin has signed an endorsement extension deal with UB.com this week which is set to last for two years. Baldwin has been one of the most consistent high-level tournament players in the last few years and has started to gain fame via televised events. Baldwin was very happy about the outcome of the negotiations and stated he plans to be a big part of the UB.com brand,
“I’m looking forward to helping improve the software a bit and making it a better experience for players. I’m also looking forward to having more hands-on interaction with players.”
On the topic of UB.com they recently wrapped up their UBOC 6 series with the Championship event played out last Sunday. The $1,050 buy-in monster stack tournament had a one million dollar guarantee and was eventually won by “THEDECANO” who took in $231,000 for the win. It represented the largest price shelled out during the two week event’s run. UB.com’s own Brandon Cantu finished a very respectable 12th place in that event.
Speaking of tournament play, Full Tilt Poker is ready to ramp up another FTOPS starting on Sunday. FTOPS 19 kicks off with a $216 buy-in tournament that will have a one million dollar guarantee. The tournament series will run through February 20th with the Mult-Entry Main Event which will have a three million dollar guarantee and be hosted by bracelet winner Erick Lindgren.
Well, that wraps up this week in poker. As always, thanks for tuning in here at Poker News Daily and be sure to come back every day for the latest poker news. I’m Sean Gibson, wishing you deep runs in your tournaments this weekend!
Five players remain in the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem, with original November Niner Scott Montgomery moving into the chip leader with 3,200,000. Adam Richardson is close behind with 2,700,000. See who comes out on top at PokerNews.
Obrestad, Tran make early exits in shootout
The two big names in the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem Shootout, Annette Obrestad and JC Tran, both were eliminated short of the final table, finishing in 11th and 13th respectively. Derric Haynie (1,365,000) leads the remaining 9 players, follow the updates and see who wins at PokerNews.
Final five in Razz
The $2,500 Razz is down to five players with the most recent elimination being Jennifer Harman in 6th place. Melville Lewis (945,000) leads the field with Maxwell Troy (545,000), Vladimir Shchemelev (455,000), Frank Kassela (390,000) and Mikko Pispala (385,000) rounding out the field as they take their dinner break and/or play in the $10,000 HORSE. Updates available at wsop.com.
Baker leading $1,500 PLO 8 day 2
Jeffrey Baker (no relation to the dueling David Bakers) holds the chip lead with 160,000 chips with about 60 players remaining in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better. Notables still in the field include Barry Greenstein (153,000), Kevin MacPhee (89,000), Mike Matusow (68,000) and Phil Hellmuth (60,000). Find more updates and chip counts at wsop.com.
Another large field in $1,500 NL
The first of Wednesday’s tournaments drew a field of 2,521 players for the latest $1,500 No-Limit Holdem tournament. Less than 1,000 players returned from dinner break with the early chip leader Arnaud Mattern reported as leading with 46,000 in chips. Other notables: Eric Lynch (33,000), Shane Schleger (25,500), Jon Friedberg (22,700), Bernard Lee (17,000) and Lauren Kling (14,000). More information on the happenings in this tournament at PokerNews.
High stakes HORSE underway
The 5pm tournament was the debut of the $10,000 HORSE World Championship, which drew a field of 241 players. The top 24 players make the money, with the winner earning $611,666. David Oppenheim is the early leader with 52,000 chips, followed by Jimmy Fricke (44,000), Maria Ho (40,000), Team Pokerati’s Tom Schneider (36,000), Erik Seidel (34,000) and Joe Hachem (31,000). More updates and info at wsop.com.
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