Big Poker Blog

Rounders Covers Absolute Poker Cheating Scandal

This week was a Special in depth report on the Insider Cheating Scandal at Absolute Poker, Mike and Adam were joined by lawyer Serge Ravitch of tworags.com, a key investigator in unraveling one of the biggest cases of online poker fraud ever.  Absolute Poker accidentally leaked tournament hand histories uncovering an obvious cheat with the handle “PotRipper”. After reviewing the report it became quite obvious that this “super user” account could see all the hold cards, not just his own. For more on this story click the download link below.

Download the Absolute Cheating Special Edition of Rounders

Isaac Haxton Stuck $800k in Neteller Shakedown

Isaac Haxton finishes second in the PokerStars.net Caribeen Poker Adventure on January 10, 2007 and banks $861,789. PokerStars then dumps his winnings into his online poker account. The very next day Neteller's founders are arrested and soon after Neteller freezes U.S. accounts, which they eventually admit were seized as evidence by the U.S. Government to the tune of $55 million, $800k of which is Haxton's. We'd say he's fired up about being stuck huge by the U.S. government in this video interview with PokerNews.com, but he's not, strangely enough.

NBC Heads-Up Championship Field Set

There are few truly tolerable televised poker events left.   The World Series, the occasional WPT, Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker and any producation that hires Adam or Mike from Rounders The Poker Show off the top of our heads.  And the NBC Heads Up Championship.  March 1-4, 2007 at Caeser's Palace marks the third event of it's kind and once again the field is a mix of some of the best players in the world, some of the most marketed players in the world, a few hollywood celebs and couple of players who actually qualified.   

Gus Hansen Wins the Aussie Millions and $1.5 AUD

Gus Hansen took home $1.5 million AUD when he beat out a field of 747 players in the 2007 Aussie Millions main event championship at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. On the final day of action, Hansen was one of seven remaining players and he had to come from behind to take out Internet prodigy Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke in order to win the richest poker tournament in the Southern Hemisphere.

The chip counts for the final table were as follows:

1. Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke - $5,175,000
2. Gus Hansen - $4,845,000
3. Andrew Black - $2,100,000
4. Kristy Gazes - $1,050,000
5. Julius Colman - $785,000
6. Marc Karam - $535,000
7. Hans Martin Vogl - $455,000

In a strong showing for tournament sponsor Full Tilt, three of the online site’s representatives (Gus Hansen, Andrew Black, Kristy Gazes) reached the final table, and the day’s first elimination featured a match-up between two of those pros.

After 745 other contenders had fallen by the wayside in this superb Aussie Millions Main Event, The Great Dane, Gus Hansen, went for the throat of the 746th player. The final hand saw a flop of Qd 8d 6c which Fricke checked. Gus Hansen bet 1,000,000, and Fricke check-raised all in. Hansen called instantly and calmly flipped over his two aces. Fricke flipped over 9c 7c needing one more miracle. The 2c on the turn opened up a flush draw for him but the 9s on the river sealed his fate. Jimmy Fricke finished runner-up with a prize of A$1,000,000 to come. As for Hansen, he received $1.5 million and the Aussie Millions trophy. His win also gave Full Tilt the unique privilege to crown one of its own players as the champion of the site-sponsored tournament.

While Hansen said he enjoyed the prize money and title, he also felt that the victory served as a much-needed return to form. “I haven’t been playing my best poker in recent tournaments,” Hansen admitted. “But this win changes all that.”  What a way to start of 2007.  Well done Mr. Hansen.

*Photo courtesy Dave Goudie - Eagle Image

Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz Hosting the Ultimate Poker School

Mike and Adam have been signed on to host the Ultimate Poker School taking place at the River Rock Casino on Saturday November 18th, 2006 at 10 am.  Come out and meet the hosts of Rounders at this rare opportunity to delve into the mind of some of the best poker players in the world   Learn to play Poker like the Pros at this exclusive one day seminar featuring Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth and many other well respected poker pros.  Don't miss this rare opportunity to take your game to the next level. Seminar VIP package tickets cost $495 + applicable taxes and service charges.  A fundamentals package costing $99 + applicable taxes and service charges has been added which just includes admission, Course Guide, Meet & Greet autograph/Photo Opportunity.  For ticket details and pricing  check out http://www.greatcanadiancasinos.com/riverrock/UltimatePokerSchool/index.php.

Poker Players Take to the Streets of Washington in Protest

Onlinegamblingrights.com, is organizing a peaceful protest march through the streets of Washignton on November 3rd and 4th. The gathering is a planned attempt to demonstrate the collective outrage of the estimated 50 million poker players in the United States created by the UIGEA. Most of the outrage coming from online players having to put on pants to play at local casinos.  The person in charge of the protest drive, Debbie Richardson, reports that, at this time, 250 people have stated they will attend the protest and that several of those people have stated they will be bringing a group of people to expand the march. "We think we have enough people who have confirmed they are showing up for the event that we could fill up the square behind the White House," and that the more marchers there are, the more the protest will get noticed by the press. Several press outlets, such as MSNBC, Fox News and CNN have expressed interest in the drive.

The march will start at 9AM (although I think attendance might be better at 1 or 2 in the afternoon) each morning on the 3rd and the 4th and will meet at one of the great symbols of freedom in the Nation's Capital, the Washington Monument. From there, the marchers will move towards the White House and settle in across from the White House in the park on Pennsylvania Avenue. Poker (albeit for chips only) will be played as a form of protest during the demonstration, but there are far more significant statements being made by the march that go beyond the game.

It is with great hope that thousands of people come out for this march and demonstrate the collective impact of the American poker player and the power that they have in the upcoming elections in November. For more information on the march, to join in on it or to provide further support, be sure to visit onlinegamblingrights.com for more information.

Soren Turkewitsch Wins 2006 North American Poker Championship

Sometimes in poker, you get lucky. Sometimes, you even get lucky twice. But for Soren Turkewitsch, lightning seemed to strike again and again. No mater how big of an underdog he was. Every time he was behind after moving all in before the flop, he made the miracle comeback. In the end, the Canadian thrilled his large throng of family and friends as he beat Jason Sagle to win the North American Poker Championship.

This was the WPT’s first trip to Niagara Falls and hopefully it will become a regular stop on the tour. It was mostly amateurs making the final table with Brad " Yukon" Booth, Allen Cunningham, Farzad Bonyati, Kyle Bowker, Mark Newhouse, Nam Le, and John D'Agostino, as well as the few broads who were remaining, all falling just shot of the final six.  The only recongnizable name was John Juanda who started the final day ultra short-stacked but managed to skweak his way into 5th place.

Final table payouts: 1) Soren Turkewitsch - $1,352,224, 2) Jason Sagle - $676,107, 3) John Lam - $352,541, 4) James Worth - $289,760, 5) John Juanda - $217,320, 6) Marc Karam - $169,027.

Ultimate Poker School at the River Rock Casino

Rare opportunity to delve into the mind of two of the best poker players in the world Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth, 10 time WSOP bracelet winners, helping to better your game and to apply advance theories and techniques, Live Hand Analysis, "Ask the Experts" Panel, Additional Guest Speakers including "Yukon" Brad Booth - Cash Game Specialist. Joe Tehan – 2006 World Poker Tour Mandalay Bay Champion and Tom Gallagher – professional poker instructor.

 The seminar will take place at the River Rock Casino Resort on Saturday November 18th.  Satellites are taking place at the river rock where the first place winner receives tickets to this limited engagement. There is also a tournament taking place the following day featuring all the guest speakers with an entry fee of $250+$25.  Tickets are available through Ticket Master.

Gold Interview Soon to be Exhibit 'A'

The Jamie Gold interview on Rounders is apparently being used in the court case filed by Crispin Leyser claiming WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold agreed to split his winnings with the English poker pro.  Harrah's is holding half of Gold's 12 million dollar first prize in their cage at the Rio until the case is resolved.  Which is going to take quite awhile. They just agreed to a discovery plan which sets the cut-off for discovery at 3/14/07 and the deadline for summary judgment motions at 4/16/07. It looks like a trial would probably be a year away from now. During discovery, there will be relatively little public action.

The federal court enforced the state court TRO and ordered Harrahs to continue to freeze the 6 million. Gold objected and there will be a hearing on that at some point in the near future, but it doesn't look like it has been scheduled yet. That might produce something interesting when Gold files his brief supporting the idea that he should keep the 6 million until the case resolves.  Official documents about the case have been made public.

A message left by Gold on Leysers answering machine before the final table.

"I promise you - you can keep this recording on my word - there's no possible way you're not going to get half after taxes," Jamie reportedly said about the $12 million he would go on to win. "I can't imagine you're going to have a problem with it. I just don't want any stress about any money or any of that shit going on today, or even after the end of the day."

Go WTO! The UIGEA Faces Possiable Review by the World Trade Organization in Geneva

A recent article published on the American Constitution Society blog suggests that the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act could be challenged by the WTO.  Lawyers are split. Craig Pouncey of Herbert Smith LLP said of UIGEA, “It is openly discriminatory and constitutes a clear violation of [U.S.] international obligations.” Jonathan M. Winer, of Alston & Bird LLP offered a more measured forecast: “To the extent that the legislation eliminates foreign competition for activities that remain lawful in the U.S., such as online betting on state-licensed horseracing, or state-licensed casino gambling that meets federal guidelines, there’s no doubt it raises WTO issues.” For those in the U.S. seeking to keep striking it rich from their home PC, Julian Harris of U.K.-based gambling law specialists Harris Hagan described initial reactions as “a case of unjustified panic,” as UIGEA “does not affect payments by cheque [or] overseas payment systems.”

This is not the first time U.S. gambling legislation could be sent to Geneva for WTO review. In March 2003, the twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda (“Antigua”) launched a WTO complaint against the United States alleging that twelve federal statutes and nearly 200 state laws were inconsistent with U.S. commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services relating to the cross-border supply of gambling and betting services. Although the matter was strictly between the United States and Antigua, other parties, such as the European Communities and Japan, reserved a right to participate.

 

There is no guarantee that the WTO will rescue online poker, this is far from a sure thing. Although it is a small glimmer of hope that this prohibition may not be here to stay.

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