ALABAMA — A small little gambling fight is going down in the land Spencer Bachus represents, over a matter of semantics, technology, and the millions of dollars bingo machines represent. Bingo is legal in ‘bama … but should video bingo be? The fight is a dirty — complete with one agency repeatedly trying to raid a well-monied operation that believes it’s on the right side of the law.

CHINA — After a slow start, gambling revenues in Macau are reaching record levels.

IOWA — The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission’s computer system got hacked, and they’re blaming China:

Chinese foreign ministry officials strongly disputed the report, issuing a statement calling it “full of bias and ulterior motives.”

Personal information in the breach included names, Social Security numbers, home addresses and dates of birth. Most of the people in the licensing database are Iowa residents, but it also includes residents of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and other states, Ketterer said.

The list includes workers such as card dealers, slot machine technicians, jockeys, trainers and owners of horses and greyhounds.

LOUISIANA — The New Orleans-to-Shreveport casino-biz is in a definite recession, one not planned for when the state planned on becoming the central-coast alternative to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. They blame Texans for not gambling enough Oklahoma and Mississippi for cutting in on their action.

NEW JERSEY — Big fight going on over laws related to the building of Revel — the east coast’s $2.5 billion version of CityCenter. Should be an interesting development to watch go up (or down) as New Jersey fights to stay competitive with the smaller casino operations set to open shop in Delaware and Pennsylvania, but not Maryland.

MARYLAND — Gov. Martin O’Malley is saying Maryland’s not gonna jump into the gambling expansion fray, despite assertions that his state is gonna lose out as neighboring locales up their casino offerings to include table games + poker.

OHIO — As we know, Lyle Berman has effectively bought himself a piece of all the newly legalized action to come in Cincinatti, Cleveland, and Toledo. But he’s run into some blowback over the location of a new casino in Columbus. The constitutional amendment voters approved in November called for a full-blown casino-resort downtown, but now a referendum on a May ballot will decide if the Penn Gaming development should be moved to a blighted part of the city.

Related: “It’s Lyle’s Ohio Now”

UNITED KINGDOM — Once upon a time, Great Britain was leading the world in all things online gambling. But regulations and tax issues are messing that up — and it’s turning into a battle of Labour vs. the Tories for the UK’s gambling future. Good rundown on some British gambling-law history and where the different parties stand on gambling in the UK … as the rest of Europe catches up.

Three armed gunmen burst into a strip-mall game to rob it, and one of the players pulled out his own weapon and began firing. The player shot one of the bandits (whom police found dead in the parking lot) and the other two escaped. One player was hit and transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital with what appear to be non-critical wounds.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Sigh. This is what we saw in Dallas … The underground blossoms for a year or two, the police start raiding rooms … games move more underground … robberies follow the next year … eventually someone gets hurt. Expect a huge boom for poker business in the card rooms just across the Louisiana border in 2010.

UPDATE: More details here.

Click below for all the official details after the jump. I’ll be paying attention to Marc Fratter, from Clonie’s hometown of Murphy, TX. (Kinda near where my folks live, too.) He seems to have his game on these days, and if so seems well-seated with a medium stack:

Fratter

SEAT 7: Marc Fratter
HOMETOWN: Murphy, TX
CHIP COUNT: 311,000
Marc Fratter is a 36-year-old attorney from Murphy, TX. He has a three-year-old daughter named Kate who loves to play poker with her dad. Fratter was the co-champion of the 2007 Caesars Indiana Poker Championship. He won $117,000 in that tournament. He also cashed in the 2007 Red River Roundup. This is his third time to cash in a major tournament.

Miles

Go Mark! I mean Marc!

He’s going up against Timothy “TK” Miles, who won a $1,000 WSOP-Circuit event in New Orleans this past winter and has the chip lead.

Drogba

The WSOP-Circuit final table, however, is in a tough time slot tomorrow — going up against the UEFA Cup finals, being broadcast live from Moscow. (Bluff Media video honcho and former Fox Football Fone-in host Nick Geber is presumably ocnflicted.) Honestly, the soccer game will probably get most of my attention even though I’m not sure whom to root for — Chelsea vs. Manchester Utd. — since I usually just root against those two teams. (Go Liverpool/Wigan/Blackburn Rovers!)

Rooney

Chelsea, of course, is are the bad-ass team from the yuppity side of London, loaded with great players, most notably Drogba from the Ivory Coast. Man-U are the working-class faves from Britain’s Second City, with bratty high-paid hotshot Wayne Rooney … who likes to gamble (badly) and used to play Texas Hold’em in a rough-and-tumble Man-U home game.

Again, click below for details on the poker event going up against what is essentially, worldwide, the Super Bowl:

The Fifth Annual Bayou Poker Challenge
Championship Event
Event #15
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $5,000 + $150
Number of Entries: 249
Total Prize Money: $1,196,650
May 19-21, 2008

The Final Table:

1. Floyd Vanderford New Orleans, LA 65,000
2. Check Kelley Staunton, VA 142,000
3. Lou Esposito Howard Beach, NY 116,000
4. Timothy “TK” Miles Tallahassee, FL 687,000
5. Jeff Tims Houston, TX 345,000
6, Ed Jatho Abita Springs, LA 406,000
7. Marc Fratter Murphy, TX 311,000
8. Gabe Costner Albertville, AL 166,000
9. Nick Ceci Peachtree City, GA 256,000
Player Profiles:

SEAT 1: Floyd Vanderford
HOMETOWN: New Orleans, LA
CHIP COUNT: 65,000
Floyd Vanderford is a 39-year-old general contractor from right here in New Orleans. This is his first-ever in-the-money finish in a major poker tournament. In fact, this is the first major tournament Vanderford has ever entered. He qualified to play in this championship event at a cost of just $50, which bought him into a satellite tournament held inside the Harrahs Poker Room last month. That won him a seat into another satellite tournament, which he won – and now here he is at the final table playing for nearly $400,000. Vanderford has a big challenge ahead today as the shortest stack. But, he would probably agree that he is already a “winner” no matter what happens.

SEAT 2: Chuck Kelley
HOMETOWN: Staunton, VA
CHIP COUNT: 142,000
Chuck Kelley is a 47-year-old real estate manager from Staunton, VA. He is an alumnus of Clemson University. With his cash in this tournament, Kelley is guaranteed to pass a personal poker milestone. He will now have over $1 million in career poker tournament winnings. Kelley’s best finish so far was second place at the Borgata Poker Classic in Atlantic City last year. Today, he hopes to achieve his first major victory.

SEAT 3: Lou “The Big Easy” Esposito
HOMETOWN: Howard Beach, NY
CHIP COUNT: 116,000
Lou Esposito is a 32-year-old professional poker player from Howard Beach, NY. If his name sounds familiar here at Harrahs, it’s because Esposito is the defending champion of this tournament, which he won last year. Esposito won the 2007 Bayou Poker Challenge championship, which earned him more than $516,000. If you wonder why Esposito is called “The Big Easy,” it’s because New Orleans has been very good to him. He not only won in 2007, he also made it to the final table of the Bayou Winter Challenge, held right here last December. This makes three straight final table appearances for Esposito here in New Orleans. He also has over $1 million in career tournament cashes. Here’s a scary fact – he only started playing poker in 2006.

SEAT 4: Thomas “TK” Miles
HOMETOWN: Tallahassee, FL
CHIP COUNT: 687,000
TK Miles is a 29-year-old professional gambler from Tallahassee, FL. He says he was “born a gambler, and will die a gambler.” Well, so far so good. Miles currently holds the chip lead at this final table. He has three major tournament victories, including winning a gold ring at the 2007 Bayou Winter Challenge. He was also named “Rounder of the Year” by a leading poker magazine last year.

SEAT 5: Jeff Tims
HOMETOWN: Houston, TX
CHIP COUNT: 345,000
Jeff Tims is a 25-year-old poker pro from Houston, TX. He won Event #12 at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge, good for nearly $60,000 in prize money. Prior to turning pro, Tims was a small business owner. This is his fifth major poker tournament final table appearance. When he is not playing poker, Tims enjoys golfing, watching movies, and reading.

SEAT 6: Ed Jathro
HOMETOWN: Abita Springs, LA
CHIP COUNT: 406,000
Ed Jatho is a financial consultant from Abita Springs, LA. He says he is 59 years old, and counting. He is a former U.S. Marine helicopter pilot. In fact, his father, brother, son, and nephew are all former Marines – and he has a son on active duty as a Navy Lieutenant. He wants to say hello to his wife Sharon, and five sons and two daughters. This is Jathro’s first final table appearance at a major poker tournament.

SEAT 7: Marc Fratter
HOMETOWN: Murphy, TX
CHIP COUNT: 311,000
Marc Fratter is a 36-year-old attorney from Murphy, TX. He has a three-year-old daughter named Kate who loves to play poker with her dad. Fratter was the co-champion of the 2007 Caesars Indiana Poker Championship. He won $117,000 in that tournament. He also cashed in the 2007 Red River Roundup. This is his third time to cash in a major tournament.

SEAT 8: Gabe Costner
HOMETOWN: Originally Albertville, AL and now Long Beach, MS
CHIP COUNT: 166,000
Gabe Costner is a 31-year-old professional poker player. He was a stock broker before turning pro. Costner has over $178,000 in career tournament winnings, but still is primarily known as a cash-game player. An interesting side note about Costner is that once when he was asked what he would like to see change in poker, he answered: “I would take the emphasis off tournament poker and give more credit to the cash players that play everyday and make up the group that consist of the best poker players.” Should Costner win this tournament today, we’ll be sure to ask him again what he thinks about tournament winners getting all the glory.

SEAT 9: Nick Ceci
HOMETOWN: Peachtree, GA
CHIP COUNT: 256,000
Nick Ceci is a 38-year-old demo contractor from Peachtree, GA. He has been happily married 12 years. He has three children – ages 13, 10, and 5. He says he took a few years off from playing poker because his wife was seriously ill. But things are better now and Ceci is back to playing poker. He has already made one final table at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge. He took eighth place in the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event.

Blinds are 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante. There is 19:47 remaining in Level 14.

On Wednesday May 21st, the final table begins at 2 pm CST inside the Harrahs Theatre. Video coverage of the final table will be shown at the official WSOP website (www.worldseriesofpoker) and will be carried by Bluff Media starting at 3 pm CST.

Prize Money Payouts and In-the-Money Finishers:

1 $382,928
2 210,610
3 107,699
4 83,766
5 71,799
6 59,833
7 47,866
8 35,900
9 23,933
10 Sahen Fatolla Houston, TX 14,360
11 Jason Brice Houston, TX 14,360
12 Mike Browne Tampa, FL 14,360
13 Matthew Stout Atlantic City, NJ 11,967
14 Blakely Purvis Montgomery, AL 11,967
15 Cory Albertson NA 11,967
16 Suju Abraham NA 9,573
17 Darryll Fish Cape Coral, FL 9,573
18 Jonathan Little NA 9,573
19 Devin Jarreau Baton Rouge, LA 7,180
20 Charles White Houston, TX 7,180
21 Thurman L. Wilson Houston, TX 7,180
22 Richard Drury NA 7,180
23 Robert Quin NA 7,180
24 Johnathan Nathan Atlanta, GA 7,180
25 Michael Cohen Houston, TX 7,180
26 Gary Friedlander Bellaire, TX 7,180
27 Dana Diephouse Baton Rouge, LA 7,180

Former Bayou Poker Challenge Champions:

2007 (winter) – Andy Philachack
2007 (spring) – Lou Esposito
2006 – Peter Feldman
2005 – Walter Chambers
2004 – Boulos Estafanous

The Lady is a Champ!
Daphne Turner Becomes the First Female Ever to Win an Open WSOP Circuit Event in New Orleans

New Orleans, LA – The eleventh of fifteen scheduled events at the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge concluded today as Daphne Turner won the $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competition. The tournament was hosted by the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Hotel. First place paid $34,920. Ms. Turner was also presented with a gold ring, awarded to all World Series of Poker Circuit winners here in the Crescent City.

Turner’s victory established several milestones. First, she became the first female to ever win an open WSOP Circuit tournament in the five-year history of the Bayou Poker Challenge (Note: “Open” events mean those tournaments which are open to all players). She also became only the sixth female to accomplish this feat nationwide since the WSOP Circuits began four years ago. Turner’s victory was truly remarkable, considering she has no previous record of cashes in a major poker tournament of any kind.

Turner is a 39-year-old bill collector. She lives in Richmond, Texas – which is near Houston. She destroyed everyone sitting at what was her first final table ever. Turner personally busted eight of her nine adversaries in a three-hour performance that can only be described as overwhelming.

UPDATE: It’s reportedly a $500+ event … First place is about $28k, 10th place about $2,800. They started the final table at about 4 pm eastern … and Terry was short-stacked, standing 8th in chips.

From worldseriesofpoker.com:

World Series of Poker Circuit
2007-2008 Season
Harrah’s New Orleans

The Fifth Annual Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #3
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $500 + $50
Number of Entries: 187
Total Prize Money: $90,695
May 11-12, 2008

Official Results:

1 Johnathan Westra Gainesville, FL $29,385
2 Brian Walsingham Atlanta, GA 15,418
3 Brandon E. Robinson Blytheville, AR 9,070
4 Glenn Hyde Atlanta, GA 7,256
5 B.J. McBrayer Tuscaloosa, AL 6,442
6 Rob Quin Metairie, LA 5,535
7 Terry Keratsopoulos Dallas, TX 3,628
8 Brandon Guillory Opelousas, LA 2,721
9 Rob Thies Debary, FL 1,814
10 Ricky Roussel Metairie, LA 1,451
11 John Cleaveland 1,451
12 Teddy Conner 1,451
13 Danny Smith 1,270
14 Gary Holcomb 1,270
15 Keith Gliner 1,270
16 Garnetta Hays 1,088
17 James Saldutti 1,088
18 Adam Lippert 1,088

Johnathan Westra Wins Second WSOP Circuit Gold Ring and $29,385 at Bayou Poker Challenge

22-Year-Old University of Florida College Student Now Has 16 Major Tournament Cashes

New Orleans, LA – The third event on the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge schedule was completed today as Johnathan Westra won the $500 no-limit hold’em competition. The tournament was hosted by the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Resort. First place paid $29,385. Westra was presented with a gold ring, awarded to all World Series of Poker Circuit winners here in New Orleans. This marked his second career WSOP Circuit victory. Westra also won the Short-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship held at the Tunica Grand Casino-Resort in January.

The tournament began with 187 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $90,695. After 177 players were eliminated on day one, the final ten players resumed play at the final table with Westra in the chip lead, with 72,900 in his stack. Brandon E. Robinson was close behind with 69,500 in chips. All the remaining players resumed play with less than 43,000. The exact starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: Johnathan Westra 72,900
Seat 2: Brian Walsingham 45,500
Seat 3: Terry Keratsopoulos 20,200
Seat 4: Rob Quin 29,000
Seat 5: B.J. McBrayer 20,500
Seat 6: Ricky P. Roussel 42,900
Seat 7: Brandon E. Robinson 69,500
Seat 8: Glenn Hyde 25,000
Seat 9: Brandon Guillory 32,700
Seat 10: Rob Thies 17,700

Opening blinds were 800-1,600 with 200 antes.

10th Place – On the 12th hand of play, Ricky Roussel moved all-in with pocket sevens. Brian Walsingham called with A-9. In a typical hold’em confrontation (pocket pair versus two overcards) Walsingham prevailed as a nine flopped. The final board showed 10-9-5-4-4 meaning the pair of nines topped the sevens. Ricky Roussel a.k.a. “ATC” (for “Any Two Cards”) works as a project manager in nearby Metairie, LA. He pocketed $1,451 for tenth place. Note: “ATC” finished in 8th place at last year’s Harrahs New Orleans Labor Day Poker Invitational.

9th Place – Seven hands later, short-stacked Rob Thies was eliminated when his A-Q ran into a roaring freight train. Thies moved all-in pre-flop. Terry Keratsopoulos called instantly and gleefully tabled his A-A. Thies had some hope of dishing out a bad beat when a queen flopped. But the final board showed Q-6-5-3-7 giving Keratsopoulos the 35,000 pot. Ninth place paid $1,814. Note: Thies now has four WSOP-related cashes, all within the past year. He took 14th, 14th, 28th, and now 9th place in previous events.

8th Place – Next, Brandon Guillory made an ill-timed bluff and was eliminated in eighth place. Holding K-10, he moved all-in after the flop came 9-7-5. His two overcards were crushed by Johnathan Westra’s pocket nines, which had flopped a set. Westra scooped the 60,000 pot, adding to his chip lead. Meanwhile, Brandon Guillory, an attorney from Opelousas, LA accepted a settlement totaling $2,721. Note: Guillory won the Imperial Palace Poker Classic in 2008.

7th Place – Hand number 26 brought and end to Terry Keratsopoulos’ final table stay. He moved all-in with pocket eights. Big-stacked Westra made the call with K-Q. Westra made a pair of kings on the hand, putting Keratsopoulos out in seventh place. The financial advisor from Dallas added $3,628 to his poker portfolio.

6th Place – About 90 minutes into play, Rob Quin went bust when his A-J lost to Brian Walsingham’s pocket fives. The hand put Walsingham up close to 100,000 in chips for the first time. Meanwhile, Quin took home $5,535 to nearby Metairie for sixth place. Note: This was Quin’s second time to cash in New Orleans. He took 13th place in an event here last year.

5th Place – A few hands later, B.J. McBrayer was very low on chips. He moved all-in with his last 11,000 and was called by two players. The two rivals checked down the board and an ace-high ended up scooping the 35,000 pot. Robinson was forced to settle for a fifth place. The teacher from Arkansas collected a payout of $6,442. Note: This was McBrayer’s fifth WSOP Circuit in-the-money finish. His best showing was 3rd place at the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge in Nov. 2007.

4th Place – Hand number 46 knocked out Glenn Hyde. He moved all-in pre-flop with A-J. But Brandon E. Robinson woke up with pockets aces in the blind and called instantly. The final board showed 10-6-4-K-5. Hyde missed a possible straight (from the turn), which resulted in a fourth-place showing. Hyde, who has been playing poker for more than 20 years and now resides in Atlanta, received $7,256. Note: This was Hyde’s second time to cash at the Bayou Poker Challenge. He took 31st place in Event #1.

3rd Place – Down to three survivors, the chip lead shifted a few times before the next elimination. First, Walsingham seized the chip lead away from Westra when he won a big hand. That put the three competitors relatively close in chips. After blinds increased to 2,000-4,000 with a 1,000 ante, Westra regained the chip lead when his K-Q bested Walsingham’s pocket eights. A short time later, Brandon E. Robinson had the biggest stack, after scooping multiple small pots. Thirty hands into three-handed play, Westra took the chip lead again, and never lost it.

On the 91stth hand of play, Robinson finally was knocked out when his pocket nines lost of Westin’s A-Q. The final board showed A-10-4-7-8, which made a pair of aces for Westin. Brandon E. Robinson, a music teacher and band leader from Blytheville, AR trumpeted $9,070 in prize money for third place.

2nd Place – When heads-up play began, Westra enjoyed a 5 to 1 chip advantage over Walsingham – 312,000 to 64,000. It only took six hands to determine the winner. That came when Walsingham was dealt pocket kings and moved all-in. Westra had A-6 and called. Once again, the deck was generous to Westra, as six on the flop and an ace on the turn made two pair for the soon-to-be champ. Westra ended up scooping the last pot of the tournament with aces over sixes when the final board showed 7-6-4-A-J. Brian Walsingham, who works in the import business and lives in Atlanta, earned $15,418 as the runner up. Note: Walsingham came in second at the 2007 Gulf Coast Poker Championship. This was his first ever WSOP Circuit appearance.

1st Place – Johnathan Westra is a 22-year-old college student. He attends the University of Florida where he is studying business and finance. Westra has done remarkably well during his short 18-month poker career. He now has 16 cashes at major tournaments. This was his sixth time to cash at a WSOP Circuit event, and fifth final table appearance. Westra becomes the ninth player in the four-year history of the WSOP Circuit to win multiple poker tournaments.