Posts Tagged ‘Belgium’
Poker News in Brief: Jan. 4-10, 2010
The 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure drew a record 1,529 players to generate a $14.8 million prize pool – the seventh biggest in poker history.
Plus, there was some poker news that happened outside of the Bahamas and we’re breaking it down for you below in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.
This week we’ll look at a new poker film coming to DVD, Pennsylvania legalizing live poker and table games, Belgium moving to nationalize online poker and Bodog making a big brag.
Legal Poker for Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania legalized poker, blackjack and other table games at Casinos this week in an attempt to generate extra revenue for the State.
Previously, casinos in Pennsylvania had been restricted to slot machines only.
It will be six months before games start being dealt in Pennsylvania, but the State stands to make millions in licensing fees.
Several neighboring states are taking notice and Indiana is considering allowing riverboat gambling in Lake Michigan and the Ohio River. Back in November, Ohio voters passed a law that will see four casinos constructed in four cities.
The Pennsylvania law change could have a potentially negative effect on neighboring Atlantic City if Pennsylvania residents opt to gamble closer to home.
Poker Film “Shark City” to See DVD Release
Indie poker flick Shark City is scheduled to be released on DVD on Feb. 16 though Morningstar Entertainment and Stardust Pictures.
The film stars Vivica A. Fox, Carlo Rota, Jefferson Brown and David J. Phillips and it centers around around the story of two friends who get mixed up with the daughter of a gangster. The two attempt to con a group of gangsters through a poker game and the plan goes awry.
High stakes poker, both live and online, is central to the theme of the film.
Shark City won the John Muir award at the Yosemite Film Festival.
To learn more go to the film’s website.
Belgium Attempts to “Nationalize” Online Poker
Belgium appears to be the latest country that is trying to restrict its citizens to only playing on local online poker rooms.
A recent story in Belgian newspaper Da Standaard claims the government has plans to demand Internet Service Providers block any foreign online poker sites.
This could potentially have huge ramifications for sites like PokerStars, Full Tilt or PartyPoker as they would have to set up regional offices in the country to continue operations.
The changes are scheduled to become law before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is reportedly not pleased with Belgium’s decision claiming it goes against the free trade agreement made by members of the European Union.
Despite the European Commission’s objections, Italy currently restricts its online poker market to rooms that have a presence in the country.
Study Shows Bodog Best Brand
Bodog may not have the most players, but according to a recent independent study it carries the strongest brand recognition.
The report was conducted by gaming consultant Josh Apiafi using Google to understand the brand strength of the top 10 online poker websites including PokerStars, William Hill, 888.com, Bet365, Betfair, bwin, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, PartyPoker and Bodog.
“We had a hunch since I first rolled out the Bodog brand and business model that we are considered interesting,” said Bodog founder Calvin Ayre. “But that’s only part of the story – we also stand for having fun and that’s what all people want, especially ones that like to gamble."
The survey was conducted by looking at the number of Google alerts generated daily during December. Apiafi recorded every time a document was published that contained a mention of the brands listed above.
In the end, Bodog narrowly edged PokerStars by a score of 510 to 493.
Huge Growth for HeadsUp Entertainment
HeadsUp Entertainment, a poker media company out of Canada, posted its most recent quarterly statement this week and the company showed massive expansion in 2009.
The company sanctioned 362 events under its Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) brand this year, up from the 71 since it acquired the tour in 2008. HeadsUp Entertainment is aiming to host more than 560 events in 2010.
Also in 2009, HeadsUp Entertainment helped produce the CPT Finals in the Dominican Republic and Canadian Open Poker Championships in Calgary for television. The Canadian Open Poker Championship drew big-name poker players like Gavin Smith, Jennifer Tilly and Huck Seed.
HeadsUp Entertainment also currently runs www.canadianpokertour.tv and Canadian Poker Magazine.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 2008, 2009, 2010, 5, Belgium, bodog, Canada, canadian, Caribbean, cent, EUR, Europe, european, European Commission, European Union, founder, gamble, Gavin Smith, HB, high stakes, High Stakes Poker, Internet service providers, Jennifer Tilly, king, law, legal, legalizing, member, model, Online Poker, online poker room, online poker site, online poker sites, Pennsylvania, player, Poker, poker player, poker site, pokerstars, Pro
Estonia Legalizes Online Gaming
Estonia, a small European country bordering with Russia, has recently legalized online gaming as a way to increase its tax income. The decision seems to have been aided by the success of the Baltic Poker Festival hosted by PokerStars.
For now, Estonian citizens will only be allowed to play on Estonian-based platforms such as Playtech's collaboration with the Olympic Casino Group, before opening up to international operators in 2011. This leaves the Playtech group in a very favorable position at the moment as the main provider of legal online gaming in the land. Playtech's Executive Manager, Mor Weizer, commented on this development: "We are truly glad of this opportunity to start our partnership with Olympic as the leading casino entertainment provider in Central and Eastern Europe."
Estonia is one of the smallest European Union (E.U.) countries, with only 1.33 million citizens. It borders north and west with the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea, respectively, as well as Latvia on the south and the Russian Federation on the east. Because of its bridging position between Europe and Russia, Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union and Germany before regaining independence in 1991. At this point, Estonia started an aggressive and effective reform and growth program, which saw it become one of world's fastest-growing economies for several years. It joined the EU in May 2004 and was hoping to adopt the Euro as its currency by 2013. This is where online gambling comes in.
Estonia seemed a shoo-in for the Euro currency until the 2008-2009 economic crisis, which left it with the second most damaged economy of the EU, down by about 36%. A country must meet strict criteria to join the Eurozone and Estonia is taking pains to bounce back from the depression in time to join. The Estonian government hopes that taxing gaming operators will help revive its economy with the added income and influx of new jobs.
According to the Estonian Free Press, large international online gaming operators are currently showering Estonia with attention in the form of large advertising campaigns about upcoming services and there are rumors about millionaire investments planned for the country, which is seen as a gateway to the whole Baltic region's market.
Although online gambling remains a sore topic in the European Commission, where nations such as Germany and France block all online gaming in order to favor their state monopoly operators, more and more countries are opening up to its legalization and taxation. Estonia joins the likes of Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden in creating legislation that allows online gambling, ensures it is taxed appropriately, and ensures its citizens are safeguarded against negative side effects like fraud, money laundering and underage gambling.
Tags: 2008, 2009, 2011, Belgium, cent, Easter, EUR, Europe, european, European Commission, European Union, France, king, legal, manager, NFL, online gaming, Poker, Poker Festival, pokerstars, Pro, Russia, Sweden
Kevin Saul, Amnon Filippi Among PCA Day 1A Leaders
Day 1A of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) played out on Tuesday, with 668 players taking to the felts inside the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. Wayne Bentley, a PokerStars qualifier from Britain, leads the way with 329,500 chips.
Bentley nearly amassed 11 times the starting stack of 30,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament after eight levels of play. He held pocket aces and eliminated a player with pocket kings within the first few minutes of Day 1A, doubling his stack to 60,000, and he never looked back. Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu issued the traditional “Shuffle up and deal” command moments earlier. At the end of Day 1A, 430 players remained in the hunt.
Bentley sits comfortably in front of the second place stack of Amnon Filippi, who held a pile of 220,100 chips at the end of Day 1A. The accomplished poker pro was nearly 50,000 chips ahead of online poker pro Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, the winner of the 2007 installment of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup for $1.3 million. Last year, Saul finished eighth in the PCA Main Event for $234,000, outlasting all but seven of the 1,347 players who entered.
Team PokerStars Sports Stars will be out in full force on Wednesday for Day 1B, as German tennis legend Boris Becker, Swedish NHL star Mats Sundin, Dutch hockey pro Fatima De Melo, baseball commentator Orel Hershiser, and U.K. football legend Teddy Sheringham will all take to the felts. Also entering on Day 1B is Mike Kosowski, the winner of Season 1 of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.” Kosowski earned $1 million after defeating Negreanu heads-up in the finale of the poker game show last month.
2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Eric Buchman sits in sixth place after Day 1A with 159,100 chips. The PokerStars sponsored player finished fourth in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament in Las Vegas in November, adding $2.5 million to his net worth. The event was ultimately won by Joe Cada, who will take to the felts for Day 1B today. Joining him will be pros like Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Humberto Brenes, and Victor Ramdin. Also playing is rapper Nelly, who has become somewhat of a staple on the poker circuit in recent months.
Here were the top ten chip stacks in the Bahamas after the smoke had cleared on Day 1A of the 2010 PCA Main Event:
1. Wayne Bentley - 329,500
2. Amnon Filippi - 220,100
3. Kevin Saul - 175,500
4. Eric Froehlich - 166,000
5. Dustin Dorrance-Bowman - 163,700
6. Eric Buchman - 159,100
7. Garðar Geir Hauksson - 138,900
8. Jacob Avital - 137,700
9. Christian Schwarz - 133,200
10. Rafal Michalowski - 129,300
The PCA is a stop on both the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and, as such, has attracted a global field. Still remaining after Day 1A are players from the United States, United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, Russia, Finland, Argentina, France, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ireland, Belgium, New Zealand, Romania, Australia, Slovenia, Greece, Costa Rica, Austria, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Curiously absent is a representative from the host nation, the Bahamas.
Last year’s champion, Poorya Nazari, hails from Canada and nearly tripled his stack on Day 1A. Notable players who survived the first starting day, along with their chip counts, include:
Dennis Phillips – 113,000
Dario Minieri – 109,800
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,400
Poorya Nazari – 89,300
Barry Greenstein – 89,200
Jeff Madsen – 79,400
John Duthie – 60,100
Marcel Luske – 55,600
Gavin Smith – 54,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 53,900
Kevin Schaffel – 53,200
Bernard Lee – 46,800
Amit “amak316” Makhija – 42,000
Steven Paul-Ambrose – 37,900
“Miami” John Cernuto – 36,500
Chris “moorman1” Moorman – 34,700
Ivan Demidov – 27,600
Tom McEvoy – 19,900
Huck Seed – 16,000
Jeff “yellowsub” Williams – 13,100
Play wrapped up in Level 8, when blinds were 400-800 with a 100-chip ante. Day 1B will encompass the same eight levels before the field merges for Day 2 on Thursday.
Tags: 000 chips, 15, 2009, 2010, 5, 500 chip, Australia, Austria, Barry Greenstein, Belgium, bellagio, Brazil, Canada, Caribbean, cent, Costa Rica, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, EUR, Europe, european, European Poker Tour, France, Gavin Smith, Ireland, Ivan Demidov, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jeff Madsen, John Duthie, king, Las Vegas, leader, Mania, member, Norway, Online Poker, player, Poker, pokerstars, Pro, qualifier, Russia, spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tom McEvoy, tournament, United Kingdom, United States, vegas, Victor Ramdin, World Poker Tour, WSOP
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Day 1A Attracts 668 Entrants
Day 1A of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event attracted a starting grid of 668 entrants. The official number from the world’s largest online poker site was passed down around 3:30pm local time in the Bahamas.
The $10,000 buy-in tournament, a stop on the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), saw a field of 1,347 runners take to the felts in 2009. Therefore, a total of 679 players will need to turn out on Day 1B on Wednesday in order to match last year’s total. Among those in the field on Tuesday was Wayne Bentley, who doubled up within the first few minutes of the tournament after picking up pocket aces and sending a player to the rails who held pocket kings. The flop fell queen-high and Fernando Issas saw his 2010 PCA title hopes dashed soon after the opening gong.
One table in the outer reaches of the playing area featured a blockbuster lineup that included former EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final champion Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Kevin Schaffel, and Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith. Coverage found on the official website of the PCA candidly assessed the group: “That's a tough one.”
2006 PCA champion Steven Paul-Ambrose put in a healthy bet of 3,800 on the river holding A-Q on a board of A-Q-10-J-7 for top two pair. However, his opponent called and flipped up a wired pair of jacks for a set, cutting Ambrose’s stack to around 29,300. Shortly thereafter, Marcel Luske flopped a set of fours on an 8-3-4 board to push his tally in the 2010 PCA to 32,000.
By 5:30pm, word of a private sit and go in the depths of the Atlantis Resort and Casino in Nassau was brewing. It featured the cast of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” which wrapped up following Christmas with Mike Kosowski, a 9/11 first responder, defeating Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu to earn $1 million. Kosowski did not play in the sit and go, which saw Brian Barboza claim a $10,000 seat in the PCA Main Event tomorrow. Barboza won $100,000 on the poker game show and was one of four players who vied for the chance to face Negreanu heads-up for $1 million.
Daniel Negreanu made waves near the midpoint of Day 1A. First, he sent Belgium PokerStars qualifier Pierre Neuville to the rails after the Euro ran pocket sevens into Negreanu’s pocket kings. That hand pushed Negreanu’s chip stack to 90,000, or three times the starting total. Then, Negreanu put in a raise on a board reading A-10-2-A-5. An opponent nearly showed his hand thinking that Negreanu had just called, but upon realizing that Negreanu had raised, put in a raise of his own.
Negreanu claimed he saw his opponent’s hand, which he thought was A-5 or A-4, resulting in a call to the PCA’s floor staff. In the end, PCA coverage details the result of the controversial hand: “The floor man made the ruling that although there would be no penalty for Lucatelli exposing his cards, the re-raise didn't stand. Lucatelli could only call.” The Italian turned over A-10, while Negreanu held 3-4 for a straight.
At the time of writing, here were several of the chip stacks of Team PokerStars Pro members in the 2010 PCA Main Event on Day 1A:
Daniel Negreanu – 89,000
Barry Greenstein – 60,000
Dario Minieri – 55,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg – 53,000
George Danzer – 50,600
Steve Paul-Ambrose – 50,000
Dennis Phillips – 47,000
Blinds were 200-400 with a 50-chip ante in Level 6.
Tags: 2009, 2010, 5, Barry Greenstein, Belgium, Caribbean, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, EUR, Europe, european, European Poker Tour, Gavin Smith, king, member, Online Poker, online poker site, player, Poker, poker site, pokerstars, Pro, qualifier, queen, runner, tournament, WSOP
The Nightly Turbo: Online Poker in Belgium, Violence at a Home Game, and More
The Nightly Turbo: Online Poker in Belgium, Violence at a Home Game, and More
Titan Poker to Award 2010 WSOP Main Event Seats in World Challenge
It may be over six months away, but Titan Poker is getting players warmed up to battle for their chance to participate in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
In one of its biggest promotions ever, Titan Poker is offering the World Challenge 2010. The promotion is a series of tournaments broken down into 12 different regions of the world that will eventually award five players a $13,000 package to play in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. Only a certain number of qualifiers from each region will be eligible to participate in the final round of tournaments, where the five seats to the 2010 WSOP Main Event will be doled out.
With its start on Monday, Titan Poker is giving players the opportunity to “Represent Your Country and Challenge the World.” The second tournament of First Round qualification will be on January 10th, with the remainder of the First Round events held each week afterwards. The 12 regions are broken down as such and remember, Titan Poker does not accept players from the United States:
Americas: 10 qualifiers
Australia and New Zealand: 10 qualifiers
France: 25 qualifiers
Germany: 25 qualifiers
Italy: 25 qualifiers
Netherlands and Belgium: 10 qualifiers
Open Qualifiers: 10 qualifiers
Romania: 10 qualifiers
Russia: 20 qualifiers
Scandinavia: 20 qualifiers
Spain: 20 qualifiers
United Kingdom: 20 qualifiers
A series of 10 tournaments for each of the 12 regions, with a buy in of $5+$.50, will be held until March 7th for players to battle their way to the top of the regional leaderboards. Each tournament offers points for participation and finishing at the final table. The Second Round series of eight tournaments, with a buy in of $10+$1, begins on March 14th and lasts until May 2nd. The points for that segment of the series will be worth double the First Round set of tournaments.
After the completion of the Second Round series of tournaments, the regional leaderboards will be completed and the top players will be confirmed. The 200 qualifiers from the 12 regions will then embark on a set of eight tournaments from May 16th to May 30th, called the Final Round and with a buy in of $15+$1.50. Points once again will be awarded for participation and finishing at the final table. The top five finishers in points in the Final Round, regardless of regional affiliation, will earn their 2010 WSOP Main Event package.
The Titan Poker World Challenge 2010 kicked off yesterday, with over 400 players competing. Titan Poker is keeping close track of the action, with complete leaderboards for each region on the Titan Poker website and weekly newsletters sent to each Titan Poker member. While there has been a tournament completed in the First Round, there is still time for players to get in on the action without being too far behind.
The Titan Poker World Challenge 2010 is going to be the largest promotion on Titan Poker in the first half of 2010 and should draw some of the best competition from around the world. With the chance to be in Las Vegas for the 2010 WSOP Main Event for five skillful players, there should be tremendous action on the virtual tables at Titan Poker.
Belgium to Enact Laws Nationalizing Online Poker
Defying an order from the European Union (EU), Belgium has enacted laws that could have it become the next nation to nationalize online poker operations. It follows a similar stance towards online poker in Italy.
A recent article in De Standaard, one of Belgium’s newspapers, stated that the coming year would bring laws regarding the country’s stance towards online poker. The new regulations would purportedly nationalize the operations of online poker rooms by preventing outside companies, such as PartyPoker, PokerStars, and Full Tilt Poker, from being able to court Belgians. Online poker rooms would have to set up a separate operation that would be licensed by the Belgian government and located inside of the country, much like what Italy has done with its online poker operations.
This defies an order from the EU that was issued in June 2009. After receiving details on Belgium’s plans for online poker regulation from its government in March of last year, the EU decided that the plan violated several areas of the free trade treaty that all 27 member nations had signed. Some of the violations included requiring the operators of online gaming and poker sites to be based in Belgium, limitation of available licenses, criminal prosecution of customers who play on non-sanctioned sites, and restriction of services from outside nations. At the time, Belgium was also looking to use ISP blocking software to prohibit its citizens from playing on other licensed EU sites.
The EU has shown an inconsistency when it comes to nationalization plans. It allowed Italy to nationalize its online gaming operations, presumably for taxation and gaming regulatory purposes, but has disallowed other countries like Belgium and France. It also has been unable to come to an accord on the online gaming question among its own Member Nations, leading many countries to attempt to nationalize online poker for tax revenues in lean fiscal times. The government of Belgium also states that many of the online poker sites in existence have “ties to organized crime” and, as such, the need for the nationalization is necessary.
The online community is responding to this issue in many of the popular online forums. On TwoPlusTwo, a ten-page thread has developed with players are debating the issue. Part of the reason for its popularity is that one of the top online players in the game today, “Chiren80,” hails from Belgium and the proposed legislation would, in effect, remove him from international action with the threat of possible arrest.
Some of the discussion on TwoPlusTwo inaccurately says that the nationalized sites would still be part of the global network, much like different skins of poker rooms operate. This is not true; the nationalization of sites requires the online poker room to dedicate servers and operations to that nation alone, as PokerStars has done with its PokerStars.it site. With that operation, only Italians can play on the site and there are stringent rules that govern play.
The nationalization trend is, in some players’ minds, becoming a worrisome trend. “Nationalization of gambling environments and…the separation of player pools are real dangers for professional poker players in small European countries,” comments “Droschopf.” Another poster, “Sjors,” states, “I'm fine with regulating but don't cut off the world. Playing against people on the other side of the globe and having traffic around the clock is what makes online poker great.”
With the Belgian laws signed into effect, there is a great deal of pressure on the EU to formalize an agreement on online gaming and poker for the continent. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.
Tags: 2009, Belgium, cent, Dang, EUR, Europe, european, European Union, France, king, law, member, News Daily, online gaming, Online Player, online players, Online Poker, online poker room, online poker site, online poker sites, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, poker player, poker site, pokerstars, Pro, professional poker player, software
Antonio Matias Wins EPT Vilamoura
Travel agency owner Antonio Matias took down the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Vilamoura Main Event in the roving tournament series’ first ever trip to Portugal. Matias took home a €404,793 top prize.
The EPT Vilamoura stop had a buy-in of €5,300 and marked the richest tournament ever held in Portugal, according to PokerStars officials. Matias, a Portuguese businessman, was playing in his backyard and became the first native to take down an EPT tournament since Sandra Naujoks tasted victory in Dortmund last season. On his accomplishment, Matias told tournament staff following his win, “I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world, but it is very satisfying to win an EPT in my home country. I wasn’t intimidated by the competition because I play a lot of very good players in cash games. I just decided to play the way I play and hope that luck didn’t turn its back on me. When I got the chip lead yesterday, the only thing I had on my mind was winning.”
In the final hand of EPT Vilamoura, Pierre Neuville raised pre-flop holding J-10. Matias called with 8-7 and watched the action flop come J-8-7. Matias checked bottom two pair, Neuville bet with top pair, Matias put in a raise, and Neuville shoved. Matias called, having his opponent covered. Another seven on the turn gave Matias a full house, which held to scoop the EPT title. Neuville earned €257,681 for his runner-up showing.
Jeff Sarwer, a Canadian, called all-in for his tournament life with 9-5 on a flop of 9-7-3. Holding top pair, Sarwer watched as Matias flipped up pocket tens for an overpair. However, the turn came a five and, in a massive change of fate, gave Sarwer two pair, nines and fives, against Matias’ pair of tens. In heartbreaking fashion, the river came a three, shattering Sarwer’s EPT hopes and giving Matias a better two pair. The roller coaster of a hand ended with Sarwer seeking solace from Shaun Deeb, Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy, and Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, who were on the rail to support him.
Jan Skampa was eliminated in fourth place from the Portuguese tournament. He ran K-9 into Sarwer’s pocket queens in a pre-flop raising war to cripple his stack, departing a few hands later and earning €117,000. Skampa was one of four players to claim a six-figure payday.
Here were the final results from EPT Vilamoura. A total of 322 players turned out, creating a €1.5 million prize pool:
1. Antonio Matias (Portugal) - €404,793
2. Pierre Neuville (Belgium) – €257,681
3. Jeff Sarwer (Canada) – €156,170
4. Jan Skampa (Czech Republic) – €117,128
5. João Silva (Portugal) – €78,085
6. Michel Abecassis (France) – €62,468
7. Ryan Franklin (United States) – €46,851
8. Andrei Vlasenko (Russia) – €31,234
Next up for the EPT is a trip to Prague from December 1st to 6th. The €5,250 buy-in tournament saw Salvatore Bonavena claim a massive €774,000 payday last time out. The marathon Season 5 EPT Prague final table lasted 264 hands and spanned 12 hours. A bevy of Team PokerStars Pro personalities are expected, as last year, Noah Boeken, Dario Minieri, Marcin Horecki, Luca Pagano, William Thorson, Alex Kravchenko, and Katja Thater all threw their hats into the ring.
EPT Prague will be held at the Hilton Prague Hotel and will include a variety of side tournaments. In addition, cash games will kick off at Noon each day. The Main Event features two starting days (December 1st and 2nd) and registration opened today on PokerStars for interested players.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest live tournament news.
Tags: 15, 5, Belgium, Canada, canadian, EUR, Europe, european, European Poker Tour, France, Katja Thater, king, News Daily, Noah Boeken, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, pokerstars, Pro, queen, runner, runner-up, Russia, Shaun Deeb, tournament, United States, William Thorson
Poker News in Brief: Nov. 2-8, 2009
If you're looking for spoilers just check out our Live Coverage, but this is about the stories that didn't make the front page this week.
As part of our Poker News in Brief feature we've compiled a list of those lesser-known stories below.
This week we're going to look at a new poker tour in Europe, the passing of a celebrated poker player, Brandon Cantu winning yet another online tournament and more.
ParadisePoker launches new European tour
ParadisePoker is the latest online poker room to enter the live tournament scene and will offer a series of tournaments throughout Europe in 2009/2010.
The first season of the ParadisePoker Tour will include stops in London, Prague, Madrid and Bulgaria.
The ParadisePoker Tour will begin with a £550 tournament at the Empire Casino in Leister Square, London on Dec. 12 with a guaranteed prize pool of £100,000.
It's possible to qualify for the event on ParadisePoker for as little as €1.10. Click here for more information.
Poker world loses Hans "Tuna" Lund
Hans "Tuna" Lund, perhaps best known his epic heads-up battle against Mansour Matloubi at the 1990 WSOP Main Event, succumbed to cancer early Friday morning.
Lund began playing tournament poker way back in 1977 and since then he accumulated nearly $3 million in tournament winnings, two WSOP bracelets and two Main Event final table appearances.
Despite retiring from the game in 1997 to spend more time with his children Jimmy and Lilly, Lund still played the occasional tournament.
His most recent cash at the WSOP came in the 2007 Main Event where he finished 319th for $39,445.
A resident of Sparks, Nevada, Lund was 59 years old.
Playtech releases new iPoker update
Poker sites like Titan, William Hill, CD Poker, Bet365 and ChiliPoker will benefit from some new features thanks to a software update to the iPoker network.
Playtech released the new iPoker client on Wednesday and users now have access to tools like auto top-up, buddies functionality and a sharp new interface.
Other innovations include a multi-currency option, five-step seat finding feature, hand-for-hand mode in tournaments and a new tournament time-bank that offers player a predefined allotment of extra time throughout the tournament.
Brandon Cantu dominating UltimateBet games
Las Vegas Team UB pro Brandon Cantu is having one hell of a year.
Just this past Sunday, Cantu won the signature UltimateBet $100,000 guaranteed tournament for $34,580. In August he won the same tournament for nearly $37,000.
Cantu also won the weekly heads-up tournament leaderboard match on UltimateBet.
Each week the tournament leaderboard winner faces off against a Team UB pro for $1,000. Team UB pros have won the event for three straight weeks meaning the prize pool is up to $4,000 for next Saturday.
Cantu's success in 2009 hasn't just been online either. This summer Cantu won his second WSOP bracelet by taking down the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $228,867.
The aggressive poker pro is up to over $3 million in lifetime tournament earnings as well as several hundred thousand earned online.
Sites offering Belgium Poker Championships qualifiers
Satellites for the Belgium Poker Championships began this week on PokerStars.com, Everest Poker and bwin Poker.
On PokerStars, the satellites start at just $5.50, which are the first step in qualifying for the $215 monthly final.
Meanwhile, on Everest Poker, players can attempt to climb the Sit 'N' Go steps which start at just $2 and go all the way up to $360.
Finally, bwin will hold a freeroll later this year with first place winning a seat in the Belgium Poker Championship.
Last year Sijbrand Maal won €315,875 for outlasting 842 players in the 2008 Belgium Poker Championships.
The 2009 Belgium Poker Championships will take place this Nov. 21-29 at Casino de Namur.
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospeliler, Ludovic Lacay, Davidi Kitai, Lex Veldhuis and Marcel Luske are all confirmed to play with several other big-name poker players expected to sign up.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 15, 2008, 2009, 2010, 5, Belgium, cent, EUR, Europe, european, freeroll, king, Las Vegas, leader, London, Nevada, oil, Omaha, Online Poker, online poker room, online tournament, player, Poker, poker player, poker site, pokerstars, Pro, qualifier, software, tournament, usa, vegas, WSOP
Join ElkY, Marcel Luske and Marc Naalden at this year’s Belgium Open
Join ElkY, Marcel Luske and Marc Naalden at this year’s Belgium Open
Join ElkY, Marcel Luske and Marc Naalden at this year’s Belgium Open
1.5m up for grabs in Belgium Open Poker Championship
Belgium Open scheduled for November
The event will also include six separate No-Limit Hold'em tournaments with buy-ins ranging from €100 for the Ladies Event to €10,000 for the brand new Heads-Up team event.
This is the fifth year the tournament has taken place and last year it attracted 843 players, including notables like Surinder Sunar and Davidi Kitai. Dutch player Sijbrand Maal outlasted them all and earned a first place paycheck of €315,875.
Former winners include Michael Gilson (2005), Marcus Naalden (2006) and Jamel Maistriaux (2007).
The main event will be streamed live on the Internet and filmed for broadcast at a later date. Hold'em and Omaha cash games will also be running throughout the championship.
Players can qualify for the Belgium Open Poker Championship live at Casino de Namur or online at several sites including PokerStars.
Check below for the tournament schedule:
| Date | Event |
| Nov. 21-29 | €1,700 No-Limit Hold'em Championship (four starting days) |
| Nov. 23 | €10,500 No-Limit Hold'em Heads-up Team Event |
| Nov. 26 | €210 No-Limit Hold'em Event |
| Nov. 27-28 | €1,050 No-Limit Hold'em Event |
| Nov. 28-29 | €525 No-Limit Hold'em Event |
| Nov. 29 | €160 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty Event |
| Nov. 29 | €110 No-Limit Hold'em Ladies Event |
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Betclick poker signs Isabelle Mercier
"We are very strong on betting, but poker is not the strongest part of our offering," said a Betclick spokesman.
"The signing of Isabelle Mercier means we will be putting in place a strategy to develop and improve our offering, but this will not be put into action for a few months yet. It is part of our overall project to enhance our poker platform."
It's unknown exactly what will be required of Mercier as a Betclick ambassador or if she will return full-time to the international poker tournament circuit.
The announcement also mentioned Betclick's intentions to launch regionally oriented poker sites for players in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Romania and the Netherlands. The sites are scheduled to go live by the end of October 2009.
Although Mercier could not be reached for comment she did mention to PokerListings she wanted to "take on new projects" in an email on Monday.
Mercier rose to poker notoriety when she won the WPT Ladies Night tournament in 2004.
She spent the last five years as a member of Team PokerStars Pro playing in numerous events and representing the brand around the world.
Betclick is mostly known as a sports betting site but has been rapidly expanding its poker operations in the last year. Signing Mercier is the site's biggest poker talent acquisition to date.
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Tags: 2009, Ambassador, Belgium, Isabelle Mercier, king, ladies, Mania, member, player, Poker, poker site, pokerstars, Pro, sports betting, tournament
Lock Poker Signs 12 Non-US Online Poker Pros
Lock Poker, a site on the popular Cake Poker Network, has inked 12 non-U.S. online poker pros to grow its player base worldwide. Poker Players International’s Randy Kasper orchestrated the signings.
The new fleet of Lock Poker pros includes Stephen “allinstevie” Devlin (Ireland, United Kingdom), Bjorn Andre “bjolla” Hovden (Norway), Dan “danloulou” Smyth (Ireland, United Kingdom), Vincent “Diamond8” Gabel (Belgium), Elmar “EmmiV” Masson (Iceland), Joe “Conno!!y” Connolly (United Kingdom), Francisco Costa (Portugal), Robert Jan Hoogendoorn (Netherlands), Brendon “brendoor” Rubie (Australia), Maximilian Bassil (Norway), Bolivar Palacios (Latin America), and Jose Raul Severino (Latin America). Last month, Lock Poker signed Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Eric “Rizen” Lynch to be its Director of Product Development. Lynch hails from the United States.
On the impetus behind growing the Lock Poker brand around the globe, Kasper told Poker News Daily, “Ever since Lock Poker and I started talking about signing Eric, they’ve picked my brain about what I thought would be our next move. They said that international signings were the next step and I agreed. You see a good cross-section here. Most of those players are pretty good online. There are also a couple of guys who have more business-related contacts.” Lock Poker burst onto the online poker scene in March, when the USA-friendly site hosted the Bluff Online Poker Challenge, a one month-long promotion won by Brian “SNo0oWMAN” Hawkins.
Lock Poker is now charged with utilizing its one-dozen non-U.S. pros to the most profitable extent possible. On what the online poker site has planned, Kasper speculated, “Lock is going to come up with something creative. They have different ideas with what will work in each area. Lock is focused on making sure they can cater to each player’s experience, which means different things in each region. They’re not afraid to strike out boldly and create workable relationships with these fantastic players.”
In addition to its non-U.S. signings, Lock Poker has also brought onboard three more American players, headlined by Brett “gank” Jungblut, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. Jungblut was in the winner’s circle in the $5,000 buy-in World Championship of Omaha High-Low Eight or Better during the 2004 WSOP for $187,000, besting a competitive final table that also included “Miami” John Cernuto, Huck Seed, and Erick Lindgren.
Also new to Lock Poker is Vinny Pahuja, who finished as the runner-up in a $2,000 buy-in tournament held during a WSOP Circuit stop in Las Vegas in April. Pahuja banked $41,000 for his efforts in that event, about the same amount as he earned for recording a fifth place finish during last July’s Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza. Pahuja took 28th in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open last September for $21,000.
The third and final American to hop onboard the Lock Poker bandwagon is David Zeitlin, who won a deep stack event at Mohegan Sun for $136,000 in July. He also made a deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, earning $32,000 for his 262nd place finish out of 6,494 entrants. In 2007, he was the runner-up to Jason Warner in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event during the WSOP for $269,000. On the trio of Americans, Kasper commented in a press release distributed by Lock Poker, “Lock is fortunate to add such great players of great character to their ranks. These three are truly top-notch, both on and off the felt. These players are also fortunate to find a truly innovative room to partner with.”
The Cake Poker Network is the 10th largest worldwide according to the traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, boasting a seven-day running average of 1,820 real money ring game players. Joining Lock Poker on the Network are sites such as Cake Poker, Doyle’s Room, Players Only, and PokerHost.
Tags: 2009, 5, Australia, Belgium, cake poker, cent, Columnist, Erick Lindgren, game player, Ireland, king, Las Vegas, News Daily, Norway, Omaha, Online Poker, online poker challenge, online poker site, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, poker player, poker site, Pro, runner, runner-up, tournament, United Kingdom, United States, usa, vegas, World Championship, World Poker Tour, WSOP
Isabelle Mercier Signs With BetClick
Last week we told that Isabelle Mercier got booted from PokerStars. Well, it was a hasty assumption as we now know that Mercier just signed to BetClick, which is part of Mangas Gaming.
Isabelle Mercier is now a BetClick Lady
BetClick is better known from its sporting bet side, but now they’re trying to expand to Poker and they’re opening new sites in Belgium, Hungary, Netherlands, Czech Republic and Romania until the end of October.
BetClick’s mother company, Mangas Gaming, is quite big in Scandinavia, Germany and Austria. Mangas has been expanding largely lately as they just bought expekt.com.
BetClick isn’t even trying to grow as big as PokerStars, but are just trying to expand their Poker resources a bit. With Isabelle Mercier, BetClick will get a famous Poker face to promote their fresh activities.
Source: Egrmagazine
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European Commission Rejects Belgium’s Online Gaming Nationalization Plan
After receiving the proposed legislation of online gaming that the nation of Belgium planned to enact, the European Commission yesterday rejected their plan due to language in the proposed laws that appears to be a nationalization plan rather than acceptable regulation and legislation.
According to the European Gaming and Betting Association (EBGA), the European Commission was correct in their decision to prohibit Belgium from putting the new laws into effect. The Belgian plan, which was sent to the EC as well as the other Member Nations – which comprise much of the European continent – on March 27th, looked to put into place laws which restricted the online gaming and betting market to operators solely established in Belgium. This is a violation of the European Union treaty that allows for free trade practices between its Member Nations.
Several areas of the proposed Belgian laws were pointed out by the European Commission to be in violation. They included such language as required the operators of online gaming and poker sites to be based in Belgium, limitation of available licenses, criminal prosecution of customers that would play on non-sanctioned sites and restriction of services from outside nations. Belgium was also looking to use ISP blocking software to prohibit its citizens from playing on other licensed European Union sites, something that the EC was strongly against.
The Director for Regulatory Affairs of the EGBA, Maarten Haijer, was in agreement with the European Commission’s decision to disallow the drafted legislation. “The requirement for operators to be established in Belgium is one of the clearest violations of EC Treaty provisions”, Haijer stated during the EGBA’s announcement of the decision. “It wrongly denies that many online gaming operators are effectively regulated, licensed and controlled elsewhere in the EU. As several jurisdictions in the EU already prove, it is possible to guarantee a high level of consumer protection and have a well regulated and competitive online gaming and betting market at the same time.”
The ruling by the European Commission prevents Belgium from enacting their plan and offers them an opportunity to present an acceptable plan by July 30th. If Belgium proceeds forward and implements the legislation, the EC has stated that they will also proceed with infringement proceedings of the European Union treaty, which could result in trade restrictions within the EU.
The recent refusal to accept Belgium’s plan for regulation of the online gaming and poker industry is in step with previous rulings from the European Commission regarding the subject. On June 8th, the EC rejected a similar proposal from France, whose proposed legislation had many of the same components as the Belgian plan. The French have until August to present an acceptable proposal.
Although the European Commission has been rejecting these proposals from Belgium and France, there is still a great deal of conflict over the issue throughout Europe. Back in March, the European Union was unable to come to any concrete agreement that would allow for the legislation of online gaming and poker and would provide for freedom of trade between its Member Nations. Without such comprehensive legislation, many nations have attempted to nationalize their online gaming industries, which is against the EU Treaty. Until the EU is able to have its Member Nations agree to a comprehensive plan, the conflict over internet gaming and poker will continue to provide problems.
Tags: Belgium, cent, EUR, Europe, european, European Commission, European Union, France, king, law, member, NFL, online gaming, Poker, poker site, Pro, software, usa
Free Million Dollar Game to kick off WSOPE
There is also the potential to win a £10,000 WSOPE Main Event seat, a £5,000 WSOPE Pot-Limit Omaha seat and a £1,000 WSOPE No-Limit Hold'em seat.
The first step to getting in the game is finding your daily regional freeroll to play. The freerolls started April 13 and will run for 18 weeks.
The regions that will be included in the promotion are:
- United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Ireland
- Greece/Cyprus
- DE/AUT/CH: Germany, Austria, Switzerland
- Spain/Portugal
- Italy
- Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Czech. Rep., Romania, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Norway
- Finland
- France/Belgium
- Russia
- Rest of World (ROW)
- Canada
The top 18 players from each daily regional freeroll will advance to the weekly regional freeroll.
There will be 18 weekly regional freerolls, and the winner of each one will win a seat in the live regional final. The prize includes travel and accommodation for the live regional final.
The winner from each of the 15 live regional finals will be sent to London to play in the Free Million Dollar Game final.
Each live regional final will also award cash prizes to second through fifth place:
- 2nd - $1,500
- 3rd - $750
- 4th - $500
- 5th - $250
There are currently unlimited entrees into the daily regional freerolls. Starting May 4, all players will only have one entirely free entry but can earn more entries into the freerolls by earning Betfair Poker points.
For more information about this and other promotions, visit Betfair Poker.
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European Poker Tour San Remo Day 4 Update
Tags: 5, Belgium, EUR, Europe, european, European Poker Tour, player, Poker, pokerstars, PokerStars.com
‘Poker Face’ does more than top the charts
The song features a dog's breakfast of gambling metaphors and sexual innuendo, with Gaga (born Stefani Germanotta) going for broke with such lyrics as:
"I wanna hold'em like they do in Texas please // Fold 'em let 'em hit me raise it baby stay with me."
"Luck and intuition play the cards with spades to start // And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart."
And, of course,
"I won't tell you that I love you, kiss or hug you // 'Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin, I'm not lying I'm just stunning with my love glue-gunning."
The song's insidiously catchy chorus has propelled it to No. 1 on pop charts in such diverse markets as Canada, Belgium, Norway and Switzerland, and features Gaga proclaiming that her would-be lover "Can't read [her], can't read [her], no he can't read [her] poker face."
So is the song an attempt to cash in on the poker craze? Or will it further contribute to poker's mainstream appeal?
"I'd say it won't make any more fish play, but it definitely aids poker in being a bit more mainstream," said poker pro Adam "Roothlus" Levy, one of the few posters on the 2+2 forums to come out in favor of the song.
"With the growing popularity of Lady Gaga, it can only enhance the public's image of poker," he said.
"Is Lady Gaga good for poker?" said poker pro Bryan "The Icon" Micon. "Yes. Anything that gets poker out over the mainstream and makes it look cool and glamorous is definitely good for poker."
As for whether the song will bring more new money to the tables, Micon claims to have firsthand proof of the song's effectiveness as bait.
"Actually, I was sitting here, drunk, outside of [Las Vegas nightclub] Pure last night, and they were blasting 'Poker Face,'" he told PokerListings.com.
"Pure is right next to the poker room, and there were actually people coming out of the club and banging their heads to the song like, 'Ahhh, Poker Face!' and then looking over at the poker room and being like 'Ahhh, poker!' That actually happened."
The video, which features Gaga hitting runner-runner quad aces in a rubber-suited strip poker party, was filmed at the luxury villa on bwin's ((PokerIsland)) and features bwin logos prominently throughout.
The 2+2 community, at least, has taken note.
"Nice bwin adverts in there," wrote poster DaExMan. "All the fish are going to [the] Ongame [Network] imo."
"When this hits MTV I might have to change to bwin," poster youcanhaveitall agreed.
Time will tell whether bwin poker - and the poker community at large - will reap the benefits of Lady Gaga's rise up the pop charts.
But until Tiesto remixes "The Gambler," it appears the YouTube generation has found its de facto poker anthem.
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