LAS VEGAS–This week J Todd travels to the Global Gaming Expo. In his exclusive video interview with Andre Wilsenach, the CEO of Alderney Gambling Control Commission, Mr Wilsenach clearly points the blame at Full Tilt Poker for their ‘deceptive’ reporting and business practices. However, this leaves many to wonder if the AGCC really believes they are free of blame in this situation, and how “regulation” will change in the evolving online gambling and poker industry.
On the road again! J Todd has landed in Houston after his time in Barcelona, and this week he reports on the wildfires in Texas, the smouldering remains of Full Tilt Poker, and how their players are getting burned!
J Todd returns from the Barcelona Affiliate Conference where he mingled with online gambling executives, operators, and webmasters. Plus, he has an update on the US Department of Justice amending its indictment against online poker site Full Tilt to include running a Ponzi scheme:
There’s a lot of excitement in the online gambling industry over the possibility that Internet poker could be legalized to help the U.S. deficit, via the Debt Super Committee. J Todd looks seriously at the potential it could happen, plus takes time to remember a somber anniversary.
This week’s online gambling headlines indicate a move toward regulation in the United States. J Todd takes a look at the history of our industry, and how what’s happened in our past is affecting our future.
The 250th installment of online gambling’s longest running show, Perspectives Weekly, brings you industry news from Full Tilt Poker and the suspension of their Alderney gambling license. Plus, we look at the new Fair Play USA coalition pushing for legal Internet gambling in America and remember a very special anniversary.
Online gambling bills from Congressmen in Texas and Washington State are ready to follow in the success of Barney Frank’s efforts! Plus, Internet betting is almost ready to launch in Washington DC while a major software provider gets some support in California!
Online gambling news that really sucks includes updates on from Quicktender, affiliate program closures, and the FBI giving away our money to local cops! Plus, an update on a story from Vancouver and a shout out for a friend.
This week’s online gambling news comes from New York City, where a “Black Friday” defendant has been denied bail. Plus, is legal Internet betting in Washington DC in jeopardy? Also, updates from Merge Poker, Intertops, and QuickTender.
This week’s online gambling news includes stories from Canada, Australia, and the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas! we also have our interview with Professor I. Nelson Rose about his expert opinions on Black Friday! Also, J Todd makes friends wherever he goes… even at the top of the mountain!
This week we cover another step toward online gambling regulation in the United States, as the announcement came that Poker Stars and Wynn Resorts have reached an agreement to work together! Also, updates on the upcoming iGaming Super Show and the latest from eCOGRA.
It’s a long weekend for most. For those who might need to take their poker multimedia on the road or boat … here’s some watchable and/or downloadable stuff that I’ve taken particular note of recently. You might want to, too:
Online Gambling Guy
APCW Perspectives Weekly :: Actually caught a brand new episode getting the link for this post. Thought I was gonna tip you to J. Todd’s more-than-just-poker online gambling take on payment-processor forfeitures, internet filtering, and French protectionism. But that was like so mid-August. To catch up with the times, this week it’s California protectionism FTW! for the stalemate. [Link]
Charlie Rose + Wicked Chops
This Week in Poker :: TWIP is (slowly) becoming must-watch for me. Not live … that would just be ridiculous. But definitely informative+enjoyable on the download, even if you’re just half-watching and listening in the background. This week’s ep features Full Tilt red pro (?) Jason Calcanis, Donkdown’s UB-Scrutinizer-in-Chief Todd Witteles, and Durrrr. Holy shit, it’s Durrrr!!!! Fast forward … [Link]
Poker Personalities
Under the Gun (with Jon Friedberg) :: First time I saw UTG, some guys were talking fitness and nutrition. Struck me as terrible net-TV odd, yet found it strangely compelling, watched all the way through. A few weeks later was watching a sit-down with Jean-Robert Bellande. I think UTG’s format seems to lend itself to guests who can let down their guard and shoot more from the hip. This week: Alex Outhred, recently relocated to Vegas, shit-shooting about coaching and the cutthroat poker training biz. [Link]
Artsy Euro-Fartsy
TheNutz.TV :: Have seen these dudes before, and remember thinking they were pretty good. Here they are at WPT-London interviewing Lisa Jane, the poker-artist you learned about here. Had to watch to learn more about her show, “Poker in the Eye”, and see if she’s hot. Now all I gotta do is get me one of them “like” buttons. [Link]
A multitude of random click-worthy links and watchable videos, with or without context, that may or may not play into your evolving, overall world poker view … brought to you by 1/2 NL/PLO at the Hard Rock, now playing Tuesdays, Thursdays, late Fridays and by request:
The new This Week in Poker is here. Probably not quite ready for an Emmy nomination yet, or even a Webby if there is such a thing. But smart people behind it all … and possibly eventually a show that comes in to its own somewhere around the convergence of the internet and TV. [Wicked Chops]
I love caption contests — have won many of them. But gonna let someone else take down the wordsmither’s glory (and Full Tilt prize points) on this one, featuring funny and plausibly awkward image moments from the WSOP. [Full Tilt From the Rail blog]
One blog I enjoy reading regularly throughout the WSOP (personally check in on it about twice a week) is Adam Goulding‘s, aka Snoopy, who always provides a unique and worldly perspective on Poker America. [BlackBelt Poker]
I’m also checking in regularly on the people set to do the 360-streaming of final tables. Technology is supposed to be much improved from their WPT Championship debut, and word is they just got the green light from Nevada Gaming for the 2010 WSOP … but still not sure exactly when and where I’ll find the live action I’m looking for — hope to know soon! [All360Poker]
UPDATE: Going into Day 2, with 450 players remaining from a record field size of 3,142, Tom is the chip leader. A little concerned that I couldn’t find Bob amongst the list of entrants.
Did you know David Plastik used to be a rock’n'roll photographer in the 80s before becoming a professional poker player? His photojournalism seems to wash through the bright lights and make-up for a grittier view of a glam music in a newspaper era. [DavidPlastik.com]
Hey, that mighta been my best link-dump ever! Actually led to fewer open windows on my desktop, not more, and took only about an two hours to provide you with 6+ minutes of targeted, purposeful pokery web browsing.
Oh oh oh … and one last thing (for the moment) … We’re kicking so much Tao of Pokerati arse ever since the Benjo partnership and giving Pauly a key to the server farm, I can’t even keep up with it all. But fortunately the Best Little Short-Podcast in Poker gives you so much for so little, it doesn’t take much to get caught up. Meanwhile for a little closer-to-real WSOP experience in condensed space and time, be sure to check for the latest in the Tao of Pokerati archives. There’s a Matt Savage and PPA buzz, while Benjo’s on a lesbian kick in the Rio again. [Tao of Poker]
This Week’s Tourists at the Table:
(L to R) Team Pokerati WSOP-Ladies Event Final Tablist La Sengphet, Stuey, her boyfriend DC, and Good Chuck showing the Vegas grinders that Dallas players know a thing or two about PLO.
Sorry for missing this, but I guess I hit the Google snooze alarm. Ten days ago, federal authorities arrested Todd Lyons, 36, of Beverly, Massachusetts, for allegedly running an offshore sports betting operation called Sports Offshore. They pretty much threw the book at him, levying 36 criminal charges — fraud, money laundering, racketeering, tax crimes, you name it … and one of them for violating the UiGEA.
Nothing to do with poker specifically at first glance … but if you believe the Feds don’t operate in a vacuum, there seems to be a message here that might-should have a few Poker After Dark regulars shitting bricks taking note …
I learned about the arrest from J. Todd, whom I find myself paying closer attention to than before as the June 1 D-Day approaches. However, point of order, dude, I think you got it wrong saying Lyons was the first ever UIGEA arrest. I’m 99.99 percent sure he was the second. You gotta read your Pokerati, man, where you’ll see that the first was Daniel Tzvetkoff. It’s right there, charge #4, in the criminal complaint from the DOJ! Reason magazine saw the same thing, too.
With that out of the way (we understand typos here), let’s look a little closer at this case and how it may or may not be different from payment processor arrests related to online poker …
First off, this indictment does not come out of the Southern District of New York, which we know is where the biggest poker heat has been coming from. However, is it just a coincidence that the first UIGEA arrest happened in Las Vegas (capital of the poker world) and the second was in Massachusetts (home to the biggest Congressional opponent of the UIGEA). The message someone could read here is “Barney Frank can’t save you!”
Some pokery political types are in London right now for the International Gaming Expo. Figure out for yourself why there might be foreign interest in the likes of the Poker Players Alliance, right as this bill gets ready to go into “mark-up”. Our pal J. Todd is there and he tracks down PPA Exec. Dir. John Pappas to talk about the 2010 Barney Frank bill, what’s the strategy behind it, and what makes it different from previous online poker legislation.
