The icy tendrils of winter are tightening their grip on the northern hemisphere and my sugar intake has increased 4000%. It’s December! Which, for the poker world, means not much at all. The felt is green all year round and money tastes as sweet as ever. Unless you play on Bodog or Everleaf, but we’ll get to that in good time.

Brits Can’t Stop Gambling

For now let’s start with some good cheer. UK gambling revenue increased to $4.2 billion during 2010, with bricks-and-mortar accounting for almost two thirds of that figure. Gambling is traditionally a recession resistant industry and in a country with an open – but properly regulated – market that adage appears to ring true. Noted number crunchers PriceWaterhouseCoopers predict that this UK uptick is part of global trend that will see gambling revenues increase 10% per year until 2015. [Independent]

Bodog Anonymous

Last week, Bodog unveiled poker tables which hide your ID from other users. The intention was to protect bumbling recreational gamblers from being stalked by evil grinders and their advanced HUD software. It didn’t work. Hackery hacking guys hacked into the client with their hack machines and hacked the whole thing to pieces. At least that’s what this article from data-miners HH Smith sounds like to me. At the very least, it says makes some important points about the responsibilities companies have to protect the privacy of their customer’s information. [HH Smithy]

Everleaf isn’t for Everyone

Over at the Everleaf Network, they’ve taken a similar dislike to winning players. If you generate too much income one week, expect to be barred from certain tables the next. Users are assigned a rating that accords with how much profit or loss they have recently made. Pass a certain ratings threshold and you’ll be penned into a small area with all the other successful players. And just in case you harboured any hopes of a clueless fish wandering into your sharks-only game, any player attempting to join a high rating table is presented with a pop-up encouraging them to find a seat elsewhere. [Poker Fuse]

Time for Contemplation at the AGCC

Amid the fallout from the collapse of Full Tilt, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission took a lot of heat from irate onlookers. In response to that criticism, Excecutive Director Andre Wilsenach has announced an independent review of the process that lead to revocation of Full Tilt’s operating license. The inquiry will be conducted by Peter Dean, the former chair of the British Gambling Commission and will be all important and official and stuff. [Poker Strategy]

The writing of this roundup has been punctuated by occasional bouts of rage as my football team of choice concede goals against inferior opposition. Quite literally as this sentence is being typed, we’ve pulled a goal back with 3 minutes remaining. Check the tone of next week’s column to discover if we’ve won or lost.

We talk about the 2nd round of DOJ indictments, this time with Doyle’s Room, Bookmaker, and True Poker being the victims.  Neverheeb calls us to tell us of his car-jacking and pistol-whipping, an event covered by a Bay Area newspaper!  We prank call Bodog and try to get them to offer bets on the future of their own site.  The Cake Poker 60k confiscation fiasco is discussed.  Pokerati Dan joins us to talk more about the legal environment for online poker.  Druff announces that he’s quitting online poker until it becomes legal in the US.  An update on our WSOP media pass situation is given.  We talk about the situation with Pokerstars shills, including owner Isai Scheinberg, on 2+2 for the past nine years!  We discuss the Quicktender/Usemywallet collapse.  Micon shits the bed and his actual toilet during the show.

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The news won’t stop breaking … and just because American online players may be crying in watered down beers … that’s not gonna stop one magnetic on-camera Croatian from signing a player sponsorship patch deal with Bodog, the original American-friendly online gambling operation to officially go rogue:

A semi-ironic old photo (l to r) of Phil Hellmuth, Clonie Gowen, and David Williams.

I woke up this morning (really – WSOP media conference call) and noticed a few murmurs on twitter. But surely it was just a poorly worded joke … then ran into a power problem that prevented me from digging for more. But then late tonight, I heard details from a generally reliable source, definitely reliable on this …

And indeed, David Williams is no longer a Bodog pro. What, winning the WPT World Championship and wet-cementing himself as truly one of the top-top players in the game isn’t quite the “Bodog Life”? Maybe his minglings with hot chicks and celebs at Vegas nightclubs doesn’t count as much if he ain’t drinking hard?

Williams (go Dallas poker!), of course, was one of the longest-lasting Bodog pros. The site recently scrapped Jean-Robert Bellande and Justin Bonomo, but they kept Evelyn Ng. Who woulda thunk that second place in a 2004 six-player ladies sit-n-go could ever mean so much!

Oh, and the big news somehow related to it all … Bodog did sign Amanda Musumeci, a hottie-ish 25-year-old American who built her microstakes bankroll into nearly $200k online. (Click for her Betty Page-meets-online-grinder pics.) She goes by the name “Manderbutt“, btw. Kinda looks like a Manderbutt, no?

Anyhow, new chick aboard + Evybaby = Team Bodog. It’s hard to determine if this was a pre-arranged firing or maybe Williams, who proudly wore his Bodog patch during the WPT, initiated the break-up? Perhaps it was as simple as Bodog not being willing to pony up the price Williams, now a WPT World Champion, could get elsewhere and thus they split amicably? They almost always split amicably, right? (Save for Clonie …)

I’m pretty sure we’ll discuss this a little more on the next Poker Beat … but you gotta think whatever was behind this move — again, more crazy industry shifting — it makes @dwpoker one of he hottest commodities in the game.

Unless of course he decides to vigorously declare his online poker independence and run all Darvin Moon with his newfound free agency.

We cover industry news from France to the United States, as professional sports leagues & governments have a dramatic affect on gambling. The NFL joining with others to sue the state of Delaware? Plus, an announcement about Bodog.

Our good friends at Betfair have released the betting lines — already moving — for the final table of the WSOP main event. Current market numbers:

Darvin Moon – 4.2
Eric Buchman – 5.8
Steven Begleiter – 7.2
Phil Ivey – 8
Jeff Shulman – 8
Joseph Cada – 16.5
Kevin Schaffel – 17.5
James Akenhead – 19
Antoine Saout – 21

Bodog’s lines are a tiny bit different, at least at the top:

Darvin Moon – 17/10
Eric Buchman – 3/1
Phil Ivey – 4/1
Jeff Shulman – 4/1
Steven Begleiter – 4/1
Joe Cada – 10/1
Kevin Schaffel – 12/1
Antoine Saout – 12/1
James Akenhead – 22/1

Am I the only one who thinks being chip leader is virtually a kiss of death?

A little less douchey different than the UB Party … the Bodog Party took place at the Palms Kingpin Suite, and Jean-Robert Bellande was there to bring-it so you could share in the joys of a sponsored online pokery Las Vegas drink-fest. In the process, he makes an interesting prediction that with the deeper-stacks structure in play, we should be seeing a lot more pros go deep in the 2009 WSOP main event — and if ever there’s a year for it, this could be the one where the field of bona fide pros stand a statistically real chance of loading up the final table and seeing one of their own potentially win it all:

Watch Jean-Robert Bellande and the Amazing Bowling Bodog Girls on RawVegas.tv

As of today … you can forget about BodogLife.com … after some courtroom wrangles, the Costa Rican bad boys of online poker are back at the original Bodog.com.

Their news arm — Bodog Beat — still hasn’t repopulated yet at the new old domain. But hey, as Calvin Ayre and friends now know … the internet is hard.

The 200 companies that are to supposed to be blocked by 11 ISPs to Minnesota residents has now been published by IMEGA, which can be found here on their site . The list of 200 companies is an eclectic list of sites, because it was chosen randomly. While sites like Bodog and Full Tilt Poker are on the list, there are a few notable omissions: Absolute Poker, PokerStars, and Ultimate Bet. The list also contains sites that don’t take US customers (BetFred, Everest Poker, Interops, William Hill, among others).

Why was the Washington State Gambling Commission ordering PR Web to cease and desist? And what’s the good news from the Bodog camp? We cover these stories, plus interesting online gambling news from Europe.

For the first time in six years, Amarillo Slim’s speaking out on charges that he inappropriately buggered his granddaughter. In Part 1 of 2 of Nolan Dalla’s interview, Slim addresses specific allegations and tells us that charges have been dropped, and family relationships repaired. In Part 2, we learn more details behind what were apparently incriminating plea deals. We hear nothing, however, about his loss of sponsorship at WinStar. I’m having a hard time finding any info about that — but wasn’t he accused of inappropriate sexual advances toward a teenage employee when the casino first opened? I could be confusing that situation, of course, with the parking lot proclivities of any number of my friends.

A few things jump out at me from the pieces … 1) be sure to read Johnny Hughes’ comment about the old days with slim; 2) his declarations of octogenarian impotence — “Back when I could have sex, I don’t have it anymore – I can’t help that – I would have had it when I could. How come I waited until I was impotent to do something like this?”; and 3)

There was a site [WickedChopsPoker] which called me a pedophile. I’m considering suing them if they don’t publish a retraction because none of it is true.

Libel cases are, thankfully of course, difficult for plaintiffs to win. He’d have to show:

1. Blatant disregard for the truth … that should be no problem with WCP, they do that all the time! But it’s also arguably part of their shtick, so …
2. Financial damages … easy enough. Without a doubt, Amarillo Slim missed out on plenty of sponsorship opportunities because of his poker-boom reputation as an extra-dirty old man. But is Wicked Chops any more responsible for this than, say, 2+2 or any other blogs that reported the same things with similar verbiage?
3. Malicious intent … and this is probably what saves Wicked Chops from legal trouble — he’d have a near-impossible time proving The Entities had it in for him and therefore were specifically out to do him harm.

With all this said, am I the only one who thinks there might be more to AS’s coming clean/defending himself? The WSOP is coming up, and World Championship buy-ins can be pretty darn expensive. Being able to wear a patch promoting an online poker room would certainly help the cause, and that simply wouldn’t be/hasn’t been possible with a sexual predator stigma hanging over him.

But now with the likes of Russ Hamilton and Ernie Scherer III out there, and dudes like ZeeJustin being welcomed back at PokerStars, the timing seems right for him to remind the world that, hey, I’m endorsable, too! I’m predicting a Doyle’s Room patch … but wouldn’t it be kinda funny if he ended up as Bodog’s partyin’ grandpappy?

Speaking of bikinis … there’s another poker-skin photo shoot fixin’ to go down in Vegas … reportedly Tiffany Michelle, Erica Schoenberg, and Evelyn Ng will be waxing up for a big poker-themed spread slated for a summer issue of KnockOut magazine, which is basically like Maxim Wicked Chops, only with more chicks and less poker.

Kinda unique here is the coming together of three poker patches — Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt, and Bodog — all in the same shoot.

And though I don’t know this for sure, my guess is that it’s all somehow connected to the forthcoming Knockout Poker Tour. Their inaugural event runs June 5-8 (during the WSOP) at the Hard Rock. This is not a four-day tourney, mind you, it’s a four-day “experience” … where the tournament is a $5,000 + 4,000 or 5,000, your choice depending on what level of VIP perks you want … private jets, limos, penthouse suites, VIP club seating, three parties, Rehab cabanas, etc. … and apparently surrounded the whole time by KnockOut hotties, who will happily let you take pictures with your hand on their butts. Oh, and the champion gets a bracelet, too.

Should be an interesting event, to say the least. And should you decide to forgo the $5k NLH WSOP tournament going on the same day (which pays out about 91 94 percent) in favor of the KOP event (paying out just 50 percent, but guaranteeing a higher booze-and-tail return) and actually win:

Private security will be on-call to fend off any over-zealous club girls who want a piece of the Knockout Poker Tournament Champ. Remember players, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. That includes the bevy of girls throwing themselves at your feet and the collection of email addresses and phone numbers you accumulated over the weekend.

From APCW.org:

As many of you have probably noticed by now, Microgaming casinos are dropping US Players quickly in a mass exodus from the US Market! Plus, a few weeks ago we warned you about “big trouble” coming for Bodog. Guess what? It arrived this week!

Not only that, but we finally make the biggest announcement in APCW history! This is one episode you must see!

Well, to be truthful, it coulda been a lot worse! On first glance, it may look like Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has won this court case… but not so fast. While it’s true that the court upheld the state’s right to seize the domain names, the did give online gambling company’s an out! Tune in to see!

We also release the results of our Bodog cash out audits to see how long it really takes for players to get their money… plus ask why so many online gamblers seem to be in favor of electing John McCain!

From APCW.org:

Wow friggin’ wow … sorry, trying to reign in the visceral reaction, but that’s all I can say the more I learn about what’s going on in Kentucky, and Gov. Steve Beshear’s intent on taking unprecedented legal action against online poker (and other online gambling) companies. Don’t think he’s serious — that this is an effort on which he’s willing to stake his political career? The state is already claiming to have seized legal control over FullTiltPoker.com and 140 other sites … and we all remember what happened to Bodog.com the last time American courts got into it with ICANN over issues of not-so-eminent domain.

Have a listen to Beshear’s declaration of war against an industry near and dear to so many of our hearts, and decide for yourself if you think he’s bluffing:

Steve Beshear vs. Online Poker (right-click to save/download)
Kentucky governor on the need for hostile domain takeover
Sep 22, 2008

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(5 min 29 sec)

Prediction: If this case makes it into court in any non-frivolous way, it will end up in the Supreme Court. With or without online poker as a defendant, Kentucky is challenging what government can and can’t do in terms of policing/taxing the internet, issues of states rights vs. federal law, and matters of international treaty and internet jurisdiction to boot.

More…