Alright everyone, I usually give you all three podcast to listen to, but since one of the shows has a run time of four plus hours we will only be bringing you two shows. This week we are bringing you some of the newest information from the Ultimate Bet scandal.

Rabbit Hunt:

Our friends over at the Rabbit Hunt started off this weeks show with some news but the part we are all interested in starts at the 16:00 mark. The guys got mookman5, who is a wealth of information when it comes to the Ultimate Bet scandal, to come on the show and discuss the latest Travis Makar bomb that was dropped the week before. They discuss reasons why Makar would be coming out at this point and speculate on this lawsuit that he made mention to throughout the interview. Take a listen to the show on either the Cardrunners site or download it directly from iTunes to listen to this interview.

DonkDown Radio:

I usually do not repeat shows in back to back weeks, but these guys are at the center of the poker podcast world this week and have came back from last weeks bombshell of a show with a followup show that has a run time of over four hours. Do not be worried though, we will tell you where to skip ahead to so that you can save some time.

• 22:30 – Bryan Micon starts to discuss his meeting with Travis Makar, where he discusses some of the documents that he saw during the meeting.
• 45:10 – Brad Booth joins the show to discuss being cheated by the super-user accounts.
• 1:20:00 – Micon starts to break down the Addressing a Few Rumors on the UB Blog.
• 1:41:00 – Haley Hintze joins the show to discuss who may have actually made the payments to Zoltan “Brainwashdodo” Rozsa.
• 2:35:35 – Travis Makar calls into the show to ask Booth some questions, the first of which is how does he know that Russ Hamilton actually cheated him.
• 2:48:00 – Booth ask Makar what it is that he is truly looking for from bringing this information public.
• 3:19:36 – Dustin Woolf joins the show to discuss how he was cheated.

You can listen to the show at the DonkDown site or subscribe and download it via iTunes.

Finally, keep an eye out for a new episode of The Micros tonight, as it was posted on their Facebook earlier today that a new episode should be up tonight at around 9PM PT or 12AM ET.

Yesterday we brought you the transcripts of the Travis Makar transcripts thanks to the guys over at DonkDown. In the short synopsis that we gave you we made mention that Bryan Micon had planned on meeting up with Makar to take a look at some of the documents he supposedly was in possession of.

Well that meeting happened yesterday and Micon was able to walk away with more than just some mental pictures of the documents. He actually got Makar to let him leave with one of the many emails that he made mention of during the interview. You can view that email and Micon’s thoughts of the meet-up over on the DonkDown Forums.

If you are still wanting some more information on the meeting then be sure to check out the DonkDown Radio show tonight at 10:30 PM ET where Micon will be giving more details and be answering questions throughout the show.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, UB COO Paul Leggett has posted his own response to the original Travis Makar interview here.

This past week in the Weekly Podcast Roundup we highlighted DonkDown Radio due to an interview they had with Travis Makar. For those of you that do not know who Makar is, head over to our Wicked Chops Poker and read Part II of the Ultimate Bet Super-User Cheating Scandal.

The guys were nice enough to publish a transcript from the interview that can either be found in their forums. Here are a few of the highlights from the transcripts:

• Makar says he knows where the missing hand histories are.
• According to Travis, Russ Hamilton is taking the fall for others.
• Not all of the names used to cheat have been released.
• Annie Duke borrowed money from Hamilton to buy a house but has never paid the money back.
• Company people were accessing random high roller players accounts, playing on them, and transferring any winnings. If they lost they lost.
• Travis is going to try and meet up with Micon to show him some of the documents.

We will keep our eye on this story and bring you all the new information as it becomes available.

Carter Gill, 24, a top-ranked online poker pro, may be offline for a while, as he says he’ll be reluctantly turning himself in to authorities in Jefferson County, Oklahoma, to begin serving a 14-day jail sentence. The charges stem NOT from his arrest in September for public drunkenness at WinStar Casino, where he had to leave his chipstack behind in The River main event after being hauled away in a police cruiser (but still took 90th place in absentia, winning $4,540). Instead, he’s answering to the courts for various other unrelated crimes, including a DUI.

Gill is known for his unashamed belligerence, politically incorrect rants, and a “FUCKITALL” attitude. I totally dig this guy, partly because he’s virtually a male copy of myself (so I “get him”) and partly because I respect his game. But a recent Facebook status update shed some new light on his true vagina character: “I really don’t want to go to jail… 14 days is going to be brutal,” he whimpered.

Shortly after publishing that comment, Gill’s ballsack threatened to tear itself off and run away in shame. I was really disappointed to see the him panicking over two short weeks behind bars. Let’s put this in perspective…getting fisted by Edward Scissorhands is brutal.  A coathanger abortion is brutal. Two weeks in a hillbilly jailhouse isn’t so much brutal as it is inconvenient

Keep your chin up, Carter; I’m sure the two weeks behind bars will come and go as fast as your bankroll does.

DonkDown Radio:

The guys over at DonkDown are known for their pursuit in getting to the bottom of things in the UB Poker scandal. This weeks show gets off to an unexpected start when Travis Makar calls into the show. For those not familiar with Travis he was linked to the scandal in the report put together by our friends over at Wicked Chops. Travis makes mention of the missing hand histories and recordings that are being used in a federal case. For those that are interested in just the UB part of the show should skip ahead to the 30:30 mark and enjoy the ride for around the next hour. You can listen to the show at the DonkDown site or subscribe and download it via iTunes.

Two Plus Two Pokercast:

This week the guys have one of the new team PokerStars members, Andrew Brokos, on the show but the main feature of the show is Eugene Katchalov. Eugene comes on and discusses his move to the US and some day trading before getting into the SuperStar Showdown that did not got his way. Eugene talks about how he prepared for the match by playing against Daniel Negreanu and then how the match actually went. Finally he discusses his Super High Roller win from the PCA. Listen to the show at the Two Plus Two Pokercast site or download it on iTunes.

PocketFives Podcast:

After giving you guys two podcast that have run times of over two hour each here is one that just eclipses the thirty minute mark. The guys over at PocketFives are joined by Lauren Kling this week to discuss her recent success, along with how she got started playing poker. Lauren also discusses how trying to make it in the poker world as a female can be difficult due to guys not wanting to give her the credit. Overall it is a good and short interview full of information from Lauren, check out the PocketFives Podcast on their site or via iTunes.

A sign seen in the new Aviator Casino, in Delano, California, reminding me of a difference between casinos regulated in lands we know well and virtual establishments based out of places that may or may not exist beyond our poker imaginations:

More…

Check it out … a new show from Jay Rosenkrantz and John Wray, aka KRANTZ of 2 Months 2 Million “fame” and JimmyLegs, CardRunners’ chief filmmaker. Their web-video series promises “high stakes, low comedy” … and as seen in the pilot episode here, it may be the most accurate (and funny) look at the degenerate side of online poker yet.

Seriously, LOLed for real multiple times. And more than 90,000 views after being up for just a couple weeks? Not even Durrrr and Jungleman draw those kinda numbers right out the gate. Might this be the show about poker (online poker specifically) that transcends Norman Chad and 2+2?

CR is a finalist for “favorite poker resource” in the 2010 Bluff Readers Choice Awards, too. Vote here!

As December’s American political dialogue takes shape — lame-duck tax policy, North Korea, Wikileaks, don’t-ask-don’t-tell — online poker (and “poker only”) is registering a few blips on the national radar. It still will take some time before the main-mainstream really takes hold of our issue(s) … but what the big-media talking heads have to say on these matters is taking shape here in Nevada.

Check it out as Andy Bloch appears as the informed, sensible voice of poker — and current efforts to legally mainstream it — on Face to Face with Jon Ralston, a Vegas-based poli-pundit. I think this is like a mainstream media undercard — big match on a medium stage featuring a couple rising media welterweights … or maybe more like a WSOPunditry circuit event?

OK, might-gotta workshop a few mixed metaphors myself … but regardless, Bloch’s appearance begins at about 2:40, where he potentially lays out a starting point for future poker news-talks:

Quick review: well-opened with the suit-and-tie banter, but questionable play with the arrest-talk shove.

UPDATE: There’s a second segment, too. (Click the second little square in the player.) Much better in the second-round subtopics, imho.

Oh Yeah? Regardless of what you call them, the WSOP parent company’s old logo was like so 2010.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that the name change is now official, citing chairman and president Gary Loveman as the source. The Sun gives no context, however, as to why this time he really means it, other than to provide a rather generic summary:

“The new name can open new opportunities for the company in the future.”

Hmm, a name leading to new opportunities? Harrah’s has been talking about the name change for more than a year — pretty much ever since they opened up their non-poker online gambling opportunities at CaesarsCasino and CaesarsBingo dots-com — but have never gone through with it, at least in any marketable or taxable way. But sure enough, a form filed with the SEC yesterday confirms that Harrah’s Entertainment Incorporated would now, finally and officially, like to be called Caesars Entertainment Corporation. At least in the eyes of Uncle Sam.

And while the new monicker may lend itself to illustrations of Loveman in a toga eating grapes and future mockery should Harrah’s-cum-Caesars ever wanna deny its imperialistic nature … some of us can’t help but wonder if there isn’t even more to it than that. Why now for such a bold move? Surely it will cost a few million bucks to get everyone new business cards and change the labels on bottled water … so what relation, if any, might it have to seemingly accelerated online gambling pursuits and/or, most recently, a (suddenly) delayed IPO — both specifically addressed in the same document as the name change.

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So there was a media conference call this morning and there were some interesting things to come out of the call:

• The pseudo-live coverage of the final table will be on ESPN3, which means if your ISP does not provide it (or you live outside the US) then its fairly likely you will not be able to watch the proceedings short of proxies/other hackery. Obviously it will not have hole cards (Ty mentioned that Nevada is more “conservative” than Europe in that regard), but it will have community cards and a video stream.
• James Hartigan will provide the play-by-play and pros will provide additional commentary (which means, basically, they are doing a very similar format to the EPT Live coverage, right down to the commentators).
• Mizrachi is on a lot of poker media member’s minds: including his tax issues. ESPN noted that while they are talking about it, but its not a big part and they are dealing with the “Year of the Mizrachis” angle, at least they had been until the final table.
• Some of the storylines of the final table: youth of the table + the experience of the players + the international flavor of the FT (even if the majority of players are American, some players were born elsewhere).
• The WSOP and ESPN are definitely enforcing the 3 player patch rule. Players were informed about the rule and they understand the situation. (One thing that didn’t get asked in the call was if players would essentially be able to swap patches with a non-patched player if a patched player is eliminated.)
• Walk-on music will combine with other aspects that will give the final table a more choreographed feel. (As Ty Stewart put it: “More pomp and circumstances this year.”)
• Changes to the Penn + Teller Theater: More seats to the public, fewer seats to friends and family.
• Editing the final table is pretty much a non-stop endeavor, and they actually record voiceovers for more hands than actually get shown depending on how the story of the final table plays out. Voicing gets finished while the 1st hour of the final table coverage is already on the air.
• The NGC, Harrah’s, and federal regulators feel like online poker is illegal, according to Ty Stewart (but for some reason have no problem taking ad dollars from said people).

Some pretty important topics were addressed (how ESPN is going to deal with Mizrachi’s tax problems, how FTP is going to deal with its push to actually get a main event champ in the stable, etc.) and as the November Nine gets closer some of these may come more into focus.

Washington state’s anti-internet gambling law has been getting a lot of attention lately after the Supreme Court in that state upheld the law late last month. Its worth noting, however, that this has been a struggle that’s been going on for over 5 years, where only now sites such as Pokerstars have pulled out of the mix. Here’s a look back at the big dates as we look at how we got to where we are now in my first “news timeline” of a big news story:

• June 2006 – The law is initially passed, specifically banning online gambling and making it a Class C felony to gamble on the internet. This made it an equivalent crime to forgery, possession of child pornography, and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. As with all Class C felonies it also carried a 5 year sentence and/or a $10,000 fine. Critics even in the early stages said the law was too broad to hold up in court [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

• April 2007 – In order to protect Washington State citizens from government intrusion, state legislators passed Bill 1243 to correct excessiveness in the 2006 law. Now, it is legal for a Washington state resident to gamble online for recreation, but not for “organized profit” (read: profession). Although the change was made, it is still illegal for online operators to provide online poker to the state, making the change largely cosmetic. [Pokerpages.com]

• May 2008 – A King County court judge is the first to uphold the gambling law from challenges from Lee Rousso (attorney and the PPA’s Washington State Director).The judge in the case, Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts, stated that Rousso had not proven that the state law unfairly protected gambling within the state at the expense of interests outside of Washington. [Seattle Times]

• March 2009 – An appeals court was the next destination for Rousso’s quest to overturn the 2006 law. Unfortunately, he was not successful either. In a unanimous decision by three Division I appeals judges, Rousso would have to prove that criminalizing online poker imposes excessive burdens on commerce. Even by this point, there hadn’t been any prosecutions of online poker players to date, but Rousso felt this was an important enough issue to appeal to the Washington Supreme Court. [Bluff Magazine]

• May 2010 – The PPA hold a rally outside of the Washington Supreme Court to try to show the justices of the court support for overturning the law. [PPA]

• September 2010 – The last possible court before forcing the case to go to federal once again sided with the State of Washington after arguments were heard earlier in the year. While the state was not delegated power to deal with online gambling, the law does not violate the commerce clause nor is it considered an “excessive” law, with the court citing gambling problems that are found in off-line and on-line casinos alike in its ruling. [Eric Goldman Tech & Marketing Law Blog]

• September 30, 2010 – After spending years stating the law did not apply to online poker, Pokerstars announces that Washington state players may no longer play on Pokerstars for real money. They cited the Washington Supreme Court decision as the main reason for its decision, though in theory nothing has really changes so its interesting that Stars waiting until all appeals were exhausted before enacting the ban. [Pokerstars]

• October 5, 2010 – As announced here earlier, Full Tilt has stated that they are monitoring the Washington state situation closely and will make a decision regarding offering real-money play to the state’s citizens in the near future. With Pokerstars’ pullout from the state a week earlier, the pressure has been turned up on other US-facing sites to make a decision. [Part Time Poker]

From Rich Muny of the PPA, a statement from PokerStars:

PokerStars statement on the blocking of players from Washington State

PokerStars today announced that it would cease providing real-money poker to residents of Washington State. To date, PokerStars has operated in Washington on the basis of legal opinions where the central advice was that the state could not constitutionally regulate Internet poker, or at least could not discriminate in favor of local cardrooms and against online sites. Last week, however, the Washington Supreme Court for the first time rejected that position and upheld the state’s Internet gaming prohibition.

In light of this decision, following extensive consultation with our legal advisors, we believe that the right course of action is to now block real money play by Washington residents on the PokerStars.com site. This policy will remain in effect until the law changes or subsequent legal challenges succeed. Our decision to block real money play in Washington does not affect the balance of funds in customer accounts, which remain completely safe. Our payment services team continues to be available to Washington State residents to assist with cashout requests.

We regret this decision, which will no doubt disappoint our customers in Washington State. However, in all of the jurisdictions where we operate, we are committed to making responsible decisions that are based on a full and considered understanding of the most up-to-date legal advice.

PokerStars remains supportive of passing sensible Internet poker regulation in the United States that will provide much-needed tax revenues and formalize consumer protections. PokerStars operates under those conditions, complying with rigorous licensing regimes, for its worldwide operations in the Isle of Man (UK), and for local operations in Italy, France and Estonia.

PokerStars has also created a FAQ for Washington state residents, at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/news/washington/faq

On this day nine years ago — September 11, 2001 — cards got in the air for a new online poker site called PokerStars.

The best multitable tournaments, player loyalty rewards, stats, and seeing your own picture at the table were the vision unleashed on the world on September 11th. Click to look back at the site as it was then.

It was just for play money at first, but the timing would prove fortuitous. People seemed to enjoy the software and were telling their friends … as online poker seemed to provide a much-needed escape from the ever-more-difficult to swallow news of the day.

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It’s a rare moment to have online poker discussed on late night TV, but Tuesday night had two separate programs dedicated time to the topic.

First, ABC’s Nightline aired their segment on teenagers winning big playing online poker:

Later, NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno featured Barney Frank, and when the subject came around to ways to raise revenues (around 3:45), Frank offered his support of legislation regulating online poker. Leno — making appearances this month at the Mirage in Vegas — wasn’t supporting the idea:

Drama was out in full force this past week, with allegations of hypocrisy, cheating, and extortion exploding through the poker world, which was still feeling aftershocks from an Annie Duke/Daniel Negreanu feud that had reached new levels of nastiness after Negreanu’s aggressive C-bet. But the poker fight that really blew up late last week was between the Commerce Casino and PPA, and shows how heated political matters can get in a very short period of time.

Open letter from pros, PPA website target Commerce
Though Barney Frank’s online gambling bill made it out of committee last month relatively unscathed, one troublesome opponent came from the Commerce Casino in California. In an effort to squelch the impact of their dissent, the PPA sends its million-plus members word of an open letter to the Commerce (signed by a few dozen top-level pros) and launches PlayersBeforeProfits.com, making it easy for poker players to bombard the Commerce with tweets, emails, and phone calls voicing displeasure.

Commerce says PPA misguided, Frank bill will cost jobs and hurt poker
Commerce board member Tom Malkasian, who testified against HR 2267 last month, turned up his rhetoric against the PPA, saying they are ignoring key issues. The Commerce has a right to fight against unfair competition from offshore operations, he tells PokerNewsDaily, and its something they must do to protect California revenue, American jobs, and poker player interests, he says. At least Duke and Negreanu seem back on the same team, having both signed the initial letter and both tweeting to help get thousands of signatures for the PPA in just a couple days. Duke hints at plans for a boycott.

Bike, other California casinos lock step with Commerce
In what’s becoming an increasingly hostile back and forth, the PPA appears to be winning the PR battle, now with more than 6,000 signatures and countless tweets to Congress. The Commerce counters with even bigger numbers and a sign their side is growing, too. They mass-email a press release late Friday, announcing a unified front with other major California card rooms, including the Bicycle, Hawaiian Gardens, and Hollywood Park. These card rooms claim they collectively represent more than 20,000 California employees and handle $13.4 billion in wagers, all of which would be severely threatened by the Frank bill.

Industry Leaders Join Together with Commerce Casino in Opposing Frank Bill; “California Will Lose If Frank Bill Is Passed”

The letter suggests HR 2267 is too broad, and would be more acceptable if it tried to legalize poker-only, not all online gambling. It also says the Commerce welcomes the emails, but asks concerned players to use their new email address supportonlinepoker@commercecasino.net.

Boycott Commerce?
Twitter suggested lots of support for the idea, but few if any have thus far declared intent to cancel plans or skip the upcoming Commerce Hold’em Series, which kicks off Wednesday with a $500k Guarantee.