We’ll be seeing the brackets for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship soon (drawing party is tomorrow) … and with some help from KevMath, I put together a list of who’s going to be represented at the mini-tables in this made-for-TV event. The list isn’t complete — feel free to let me know if we missed any representatives that are already settled and we’ll update accordingly — but it does give an interesting snapshot of where things stand in the competitive online poker landscape-dot-net circa early 2010.

Totals:

Full Tilt – 21
PokerStars – 15
UB – 4
Victory Poker – 2
PartyPoker – 2
Doyle’s Room – 1
Bodog – 1
Betfair – 1
Expect – 1
bet365 – 1
Cake (Unabomber Poker) -1
Non-Poker (GoDaddy) -1
Unknown / Undecided / For Sale – 8

Should be interesting to see how at least a few of these unknowns end up. (Darvin Moon, for example, and Jamie Gold.) Click below for a breakdown by player …

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Woke up this morning talking a little Full Tilt with The Poker Beat crew … and looking back through some old archives …

I remember hearing about this “new site” from Clonie way back before they even existed (and the UIGEA was about as unimaginable as Barack Obama). Was looking to see if I happened to write anything that woulda implied a belief in ownership even before Pokerati’s traffic was borne from Google searches for “Clonie Gowan naked”.

I did not find anything resembling contractual evidence, but I did come across this site’s first-ever post … which seems a bit ironic in hindsight. For those wanting to join me in this self-indulgent quest for perspective:

APRIL 21, 2004
ON TILT?
It seems like everyone and their grandmother is opening up an online poker room these days. And why not? Each imaginary table that pops open in the cyberether forms a little vortex of constant pecuniary intake (no matter what’s happening in the game itself). But is the market at a saturation point?

Probably so, but that didn’t stop Full Tilt Poker from going online this week. Despite the competition, I suspect this site — a venture put together by a bunch of top pros (Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, et al.) — will fare well. Haven’t played it yet, but at first glance they’ve upped the graphical interface significantly. And the ability to give your avatar facial expressions … very cool. Could change the online game when you think about it.

Posted by Dan Michalski on April 21, 2004 09:20 AM

Click the links, which are archived.org … bias or not, honestly surprising that the judge wouldn’t give these sorts of old records a look, let alone her attorneys a chance to depose the other defendants about them.

LOL: Is the market at a saturation point?

ALT HED: Kicking myself for not using an affiliate code

As more and more casinos proliferate across the United States, some of the old stalwarts are looking for ways to keep themselves at the top of their region when it comes to poker prestige and casino profits … and the famed Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut has hired semi-accomplished poker pro and ESPN analyst Bernard Lee as their new representative.

Beyond being a landmark deal for himself personally, Lee’s partnership with Foxwoods opens up what may or may not become a trend in US brick-and-mortar poker rooms — hiring poker players with brand-worthy recognition to represent them on the tables, in the media, and possibly even at casino business meetings. Who needs an online site when there are fully legal, long-regulated American corporations trying to compete for gambling revenue share?

Pretty nice score for a guy who had one of his worst poker years ever in 2009, going 0-fer in the last WSOP and booking just a single five-figure cash ($13k for a 23rd-place finish in Misssissippi) since the election of Barack Obama.

Click below for the press release Foxwoods has put out announcing their new marriage:

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We know little because we’re thousands of miles away, but why am I not shocked that what coulda been the greatest thing ever — poker that helps a bunch of kids on Super Bowl Sunday — has left at least a few people with a sour taste in their mouths?

I sent an email trying to find out how many people played, how much money was raised, and what celebs if any may have gone deep in the biggest freeroll in Texas history … but instead learned from Dallas CAN!, the charity who helped make it happen:

Went ok the poker company we partnered with did some things that were not right to help our charity and although we packed the place and paid up front for everything, we never saw a dime last night.

Wicked Chops has the intro and the detailed breakdown … and they provided the actual list:

1. PokerStars
2. Full Tilt Poker
3. Mitch Garber
4. Howard Lederer
5. Ty Stewart
6. Doyle Brunson
7. Joe Cada
8. Barney Frank
9. Tony G
10. Daniel Negreanu
11. Phil Ivey
12. John Pappas
13. Mike Sexton
14. Mori Eskandani
15. Brian Balsbaugh
16. Lance Bradley
17. Joe Sebok
18. Barry Shulman
19. Matt Savage
20. Per Hagen

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I couldn’t help but find this convo between Kathy Liebert and Daniel Negreanu incredibly interesting. Not just because they kinda-sorta call Annie Duke a “Hooo-ore”, but also because Pokeratizens have long dealt with @donkeybomber’s bitchings about why he doesn’t get the accolades and patch deals offered less accomplished players. With him, my usual answer is, “What have you done for me lately?” But that doesn’t necessarily apply for Kathy Liebert — who is pretty much always winning something. Instead, there’s another game out there, Negreanu suggests, that Liebert chooses not to play.

From the WPT:

NOTE: Kathy Liebert still has a standing offer to play for Team Pokerati. We don’t pay your buy-ins, but we will put a patch on your chest and clap extra loud for you.

Bill Rini has some screenshots (that America-based interneters can’t see.) And some good analysis of what this means for the online poker landscape in coming years.

Sonic the Hedge-bettor.

More new players trying to get in on the online poker game … SEGA, the what-happened-to-them video gaming pioneer just opened its interactive online gaming/gambling sites … SegaCasino and SegaPoker … with more TK in 2010 they say.

At least we think the sites are live. With players from the US and Japan forbidden to play, I get a 403-Forbidden error when trying to access SegaPoker.com.

Had to double-read this one … How is it possible that Kara Scott isn’t already in the pocket of PokerStars or Full Tilt? Or at least UB/Absolute! Oh well, like a late draft pick, PartyPoker — in yet another sign of their prepping to re-enter the American market — has added the new High Stakes Poker co-hostess to their start-from-scratch poker crew. Back in the day, PartyPoker prided itself on having no pros — save for Mike Sexton. But now it seems they’re clearly trying to build a real, competitive team of personalities like the American-friendly sites have been doing for years.

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Man, 2009 sure has been a year full of lawsuits, no? People seem to need money these, and I suppose they gotta find it somewhere … and that may or may not alter their perception of who really owes what to whom. Beyond the frivolous, sometimes the big guy screwed the little guy, other times the little-guy with big-money poker dreams (but little experience in poker) defrauded backers and/or customers, and other times plans just didn’t work, and the parties can’t seem to agree on what they agreed on.

In this situation, Guardian Gaming is suing Montel Williams and the International Team Poker League in federal court over a $300k apparently investment gone awry.

The plan called for a team tournament concept attached to live casino events and a (new) online poker site. I dunno … sounds to me a little like the Poker Bowl meets WorldPokerParty.com, maybe with a dash of Sports Legends Challenge?

Without looking too deeply into the Montel case, we can tell you:

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NeverwinPoker.com, the filthiest, most offensive poker site on the internet — filled with racist, sexist, drug-addled degeneracy and perverse nudity that provided a voice for a notably vile, socially maladjusted segment of the poker world — is no longer, or at least no longer what it used to be.

Tony G and the semi-corporate interests at PokerNews, who bought a controlling interest in the “gossip site” two years ago, have turned off the infamously uncensored forum. It simply wasn’t “converting” supposedly.

But don’t expect thousands of black-cock refugees to suddenly flood 2+2. Neverwin pioneer Bryan Micon is launching a new site for his toxic flock of angry outcasts at www.donkdown.com.

Meanwhile, PokerPages is somehow staying afloat — producing semi-regular new poker articles — despite declarations that they’d be fully out of business by the end of October.

(Left to Right) Andreas Oscarsson, a man charged with trying to extort him, billionaire investor Stefan Bengtsson, and former Hells Angel president Thomas Möller.

A 44-year-old man allegedly tried to extort PokerListings for nearly $2 million; the site’s murdered cofounder, Andreas Oscarsson, was to testify against him this week on aggravated racketeering charges. The unidentified man claims he was working for operatives of billionaire Stefan Bengtsson, an early investor in PokerListings and one of the richest men in Sweden — supposedly trying to collect promised monies withheld after passage of the UIGEA.

At least that’s what we can tell from Swedish-to-English Google translations … should be interesting to see what comes out in the extortion and racketeering trial, which may or may not have provided a motive for killing Oscarsson this past summer.

Haley Hintze (former editor of PokerNews) is following the story closely, and she’s dug up the latest from Swedish press (and 2+2). Highlights from her work below, along with a few more clicks worth of info about some of the characters emerging in this tragic tale of a boomtime poker media pioneer who became somebody’s target and a violent casualty after the online affiliate bubble burst.

Plausibly important allegations, defenses, and partially verified connections:

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A new show launches this week on Fox Sports … Poker2Night … starring Joe Sebok and Scott Huff. I’m not sure if this few-holds-barred-poker-news concept makes The Poker Beat more of a fluffer or a clean-up man, but regardless … good on Ultimate Bet for buying time in a way that helps elevate poker to the level of other sports that have weekly news shows covering the baseball/football/soccer/foosball/whatever biz.

Wednesdays at 11 pm … time zone/cable-service-provider variance not yet clear:

Early tip on improving the show without having seen any of it: More Wolfman!

@Poker2Nite on twitter.

photo: BJ Nemeth

A shocker but not really … Jeffrey Pollack and Harrah’s are breaking up.

The WSOP Commissioner, President, and Twitterer in Chief’s last day with Harrah’s and the World Series is today.

“I’ve made the decision after four years of successfully leading the WSOP as a global sports and entertainment property,” he says. “[Today] is my last day. Friday the 13th.”

Pollack — who has never played a poker tournament — took over the reigns shortly after the 2005 WSOP, the first year Harrah’s ran the 35-year-old tournament series bought from Binion’s.

The list of accomplishments under his aegis include drawing more competitors from more countries (putting it on par with the Olympics in terms of numbers), supporting women in poker, helping Don Cheadle and Annie Duke build Ante Up for Africa into a Hollywood A-list charity event, and working closely with players (via the Players Advisory Council) to steadily improve what is undeniably the biggest and arguably the best annual festival of poker tournaments in the world. He credits his team for incorporating TV broadcasting (most recently securing a new long-term contract with ESPN), new media, sponsorship, licensing, and summer-time side events that have made the Rio a real home for the WSOP and part of sure-to-endure poker lore.

“I’ve achieved everything I set out to do and more,” Pollack says.

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In a move PartyGaming says is specifically part of their positioning themselves for re-entry into the US market …

9 November 2009

PartyGaming Plc
(“PartyGaming” or “the Company”)

Acquisition of World Poker Tour completed

PartyGaming, the world’s leading listed online gaming company, announces the completion of the acquisition of the business and substantially all of the assets of WPT Enterprises Inc. (“WPTE”) for a cash consideration of $12.3 million plus an additional minimum aggregate payment of $3m over the next three years relating to an ongoing revenue share agreement.

The assets being acquired include, inter alia:

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No new sponsors added to the WSOP in the November Nine interim … save for AMC-The Prisoner on Steve Begleiter.

(We did, however, get a free packet of beef jerky upon entering the building.)

I went to Bellagio yesterday for free danish a little poker suit ho-down to learn more about the PartyGaming-World Poker Tour merger/acquisition/absorption … and was thinking how this meeting that included outgoing WPT president Steve Lipscomb and incoming new boss Adam Pliska might be kinda like George W. Bush handing the keys to the White House over to Barack Obama — you know, peaceful transition of power, new regime, new direction … change … then I thought, nah, that comparison might not be fair, and might be stretching things a bit.

But then, upon meeting Pliska a few minutes later …

Hmm … White House, WPT House, WPTE House … Party Politics … workshop … but still, there might be something there.

Click below to read the corporate bio of a guy who stands to be rather influential in shaping poker’s future. But first, here’s another pic (taken at the actual White House) of the new WPT president, who was in town to talk about plans for what he believes will be a major poker stimulus:

Saw this truck parked downtown (next to Binion’s) this weekend. And not only did it finally teach me the proper/awkward way to spell and punctuate “Jack Link’s” Beef Jerky … but also it made me laugh seeing that the title sponsor of the 2009 WSOP is also a major sponsor of Snack Man!

(Seriously, how have JLBJ not chosen Darvin Moon to be “their guy” at the final table?)

Not to get all Chicken Little, but while we’re a week away from crowning a new WSOP champion semi-live on TV … we’re three weeks away from at a ticking bomb blowing up in the poker industry.

Dec. 1 is the UIGEA enforcement deadline … and effective, appropriate policy wheels are supposedly in motion in Washington DC to get this theoretical D-day at least moved back. But if we fail, dare I say it, we’re FUCKED! facing significant new challenges.

Though I don’t have detailed-details — yo Mitchell, got a copy of the actual letter? — apparently banks are already letting their customers know that they will not be processing certain online gambling transactions, and even mention the UIGEA by name. Or is this just old news to Californians who have already had funds confiscated?

Mitchell the Razz Guy writes:

My bank wrote to tell me that they will no longer process these transactions:

“any wager which involves the use of the Internet, where such bet is unlawful under any applicable Federal or State law in the State or Tribal lands in which the bet or wager is initiated, received or otherwise made.”

The bank even updated their Deposit Agreement and Disclosure to include the UIGEA.

Again, I’m hesitant to presumptiously declare the Nagasaki to the UIGEA’s Hiroshima … but yeah … bing bang boom!

McDaniel.

Bosch.

James McDaniel gets sentenced today. McDaniel, of course, is the smooth-talking, purple-suit-wearing rogue Dallas underground-poker-room-operator/drug-dealer convicted in June for contributing to the overdose death of SMU coed Meaghan Bosch. Good money says he will go to prison for the rest of his life … as he was already on parole after serving 20 years for the murder of a former Dallas cop before he got into the underground poker scene. Jurors in the Bosch case were not told his past murder conviction, nor were they allowed to consider allegations from up to a dozen young women claiming they were drugged and raped inside his poker room, some of them apparently on video.

UPDATE: McDaniel did indeed get life. He is currently in custody at Seagoville’s federal prison, but will likely be sent to a less comfortable state prison to finish out his old murder sentence before being sent back to Seagoville for his time on Bosch’s death.

Oscarsson.

Meanwhile, Swedish police are still looking for clues around Europe in the murder of PokerListings founder Andreas Oscarsson. They’ve concluded that indeed his killing was carefully planned by a professional hitman — with his family home fully staked out, exits noted, etc. … allowing the killer to break into the house and fire six silenced shots into Oscarsson and then leave without waking his six family members also asleep in the house that night. And while no motive has been disclosed, apparently investigators have unearthed at least a few death threats against him. and possibly have ruled out some Latvians.

Click here and here for Google translations of the latest from Hungarian news reports.

Dean.

Urch.

And Daniel Dean will get a new trial in the death of fellow amateur poker player Mark Urch. The two players were involved in a drunken dispute over hands in an Australian amateur pub tourney, and when they took matters outside, Dean leveled Urch with a single punch to the head, a blow that caused his death a couple days later. Australian courts sentenced Dean to seven years for manslaughter (eligible for release in May 2011). However, an appeals court threw out the conviction last month and ordered a retrial, on the grounds that the judge may have misinformed the jury about provocation and self-defense matters of law.

There’s a Daniel Dean support group on Facebook.

People may not realize this … because we have gotten along just fine even with the UIGEA for more than three years now … but December 1st is something of a D-Day for online poker. If no bill or procedural measure undoes the status quo in the next six weeks … well it’s not clear how the game will change, but it will. Dramatically.

That’s why the PPA has partnered with many groups to get this enforcement deadline extended — including the horse racing people, who should LOVE the UIGEA, since it specifically singles them out as A-OK. But even they know the law itself, as it was passed in 2006, is whack … and potentially will mess up their business big-time.

The PPA’s John Pappas gives a brief explanation:

That’s not really the point of this video, but hey, when Lacey Jones talks for 15 seconds about the business of getting naked, people listen.*

The Absolute Poker/Zizzazz girl’s latest spokesmodel gig is with Ksino.com (a gambling-themed clothing line by the people who helped set standards for douchebag- club-culture fashion with Caffeine).

The vid gives a little behind-the-scenes peek at her signing the deal, and then follows her as she hits the streets of Manhattan, where she runs across at least one New York City underground player who offers a glimpse of how the games work there. She also explains how above-ground casinos handle the shark-whale relationship, and eventually starts dressing dudes she meets on the streets … which is kinda like undressing them, but not quite. Special appearance by Spongebob Squarepants.

* listening props: @AlCantHang

An update on a story from last month, but AJ Benza confirmed earlier this morning on 2+2 that he has been replaced on High Stakes Poker (taping for season 6 starts in November) by a woman cohost.

Unconfirmed reports name Vanessa Rousso as his replacement.

AJ has more on the decision at his blog.

Congratulations to the Hendon Mob, who were picked by Pokerati readers as the clear favorite when it comes to looking up a player’s stats.

The Mob got nearly half the votes. CardPlayer got roughly half the remaining half. And an interesting 3rd-place finisher: PokerPages … which as we recently learned is going out of business.

Word on the electronic street is that at least two entities that didn’t make a strong showing in Pokerati’s unscientific poll are beginning the process of trying to buy PP’s player database at a fire-sale price.

Meanwhile, be sure to check out our new poll — sidebar, toppish-right — wondering: How many November Niner names do you know?

This just in over the transom …

POKERSTARS SMASHES GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
WITH OVER 300K PLAYERS ONLINE SIMULTANEOUSLY
PokerStars.com breaks ‘Most Players at an Internet Poker Room’ Guinness World Record

ISLE OF MAN, UK, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 – PokerStars.com, the world’s largest poker site, has shattered its own world record for hosting ‘THE MOST PLAYERS AT AN INTERNET POKER ROOM’ – an achievement that’s been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. On Sunday September 6, 2009, PokerStars.com recorded 307,016 players at 42,814 tables playing online poker simultaneously – smashing the old record by over 100,000 players.

This new record comes less than two months after PokerStars.com destroyed another of its own Guinness World Records; the ‘Largest Online Poker Tournament’, officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The largest online poker tournament was held on Sunday July 19, 2009, when a total of 65,000 players from 155 countries came together to play in the same tournament.

Damn, that’s a lot of poker. Can anyone figure out the rake on that? If we were to go really conservative on the estimate, say $40/hr per table (because not all can rake as much as others, right?), you’re talking $1.6 million in the peak hour alone. Fugk, let’s just take about 30 percent of that — $500k/hr and say for only 20 hours a day … that would be $10 million a day. My numbers can’t even be close to right, but whatever the real figures are, you gotta wonder how much PokerStars is putting aside for the U.S. government, should the country ever decide to make let them pay up for the right to have these monies heavily taxed.

(I’m suddenly believing the $62 billion figure the DC politicos are using to press for online gambling regulation.)

A new video came out yesterday … the long-awaited premiere of “Forever” by Drake (featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem) … which apparently is the second single off the soundtrack to More than a Game, a forthcoming documentary about LeBron James.

Check out how the video starts … an awkwardly cut opening with LeBron in a limo playing online poker (on PokerStars). Can’t quite tell what stakes he’s playing for, but his screen name is “RealLebron”, and he appears to be playing a short-stacked heads-up tourney (against “Royal 00′/”). Blinds are 10/20 … the little blind calls and the NBA star smiles, seemingly ready to move all-in for 970 more with pocket 4s.

Nice!

Then you realize he must be multi-tabling, playing a 6-handed cash game, too … then, PokerStars cameo complete, the real song begins.

I’ve got a buddy named Adam who believes there’s no such thing as an original idea. Then you’ve got guys like Pauly, who, according to one of his closest friends and colleagues, “if you use the word ‘and’ in your writing he’ll think you took it from him.” (In Pauly’s defense, shady web ops around the world do steal Tao content daily, and he knows just how dirty Hollywood and Las Vegas can be …)

So in light of last week’s $85 million lawsuit against Poker PROductions, NBC Universal, and Mori Eskandani, see for yourself and decide: Does Brandon McSmith’s All Star Poker Challenge* look like ill-gotten inspiration for Face the Ace to you?

* Not to be confused with the British All-Star Poker Challenge, which ran for one season in 2005.

The above is a Powerpoint presentation McSmith sent me a little more than a year ago seeking feedback. Click below for my response: in a nutshell, I tell him I think this might have worked in 2006, but not now … and it needs more monkeys … but keep trying!

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That’s been the buzz amongst dealers and floor staff at both Planet Hollywood and Harrah’s Hotel … and now the LVRJ is semi-confirming. Technically, Harrah’s is just seeking purchase of P-Ho’s $860 million debt, but financial analysts say this could likely be a way for them to acquire the whole property.

Planet Hollywood, of course, earned the distinction for being the Worst Poker Room in Las Vegas in 2007 (according to Pokerati.com), and last month saw its poker room management removed in handcuffs — arrested for allegedly skimming money via fake Bad Beat and High Hand jackpots.

Thanks, Shrink, for the tip!

ALT HED: WSOP-Ho?

OK, maybe I’m stretching his definition a bit, but still … gotta like the message Factor viewers are getting when Bill O gives a big American thumbs-up to Eva Longoria for hosting her big charity poker tournament in San Antonio this evening:

This tournament, btw, part of the Second Annual Tony and Eva Parker Celebrity Casino Night, is now, I’m almost certain, the biggest charity event in Texas — one of a few, if not the only one, that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars at a pop.

Awesome, and good for the beneficiary, Eva’s Heroes.

The guy instrumental in making this event happen, btw: Phil Hellmuth

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I have a feeling Party Gaming’s (PRTY.L) stock will go up sharply this morning. I dunno — total stocks donkey here — but I like what Obama had to say about the importance of generating revenue, and I suspect Canary Wharf (I think it’s also called The City?) will, too.

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Click here to download Flash Player now

Let’s see if I’m right. I’ll be checking it in the morning. Party stock opened today at 2.53 (and I started writing this post before the London bell rang). It’s at 2.60 now.

Full disclosure: I own a teensy-eensie-weensie sliver of PartyGaming … I think I bought the company a few sleeves of coffee cups post-UIGEA. This post contains forward-thinking statements that are not my attempt at a pump-and-dump.

UPDATE: Boo, Boo! C’mon, get up there!

UPDATE: Closed at 2.59 … up about 2 percent. So I kinda win, but not really.

It really is amazing what the people of Texas have built in Oklahoma. Not only is WinStar now the third-largest casino in the world*, but also Choctaw (the “other” casino for Dallas people) is undergoing an expansion that will make it the 17th largest in the world.

* Third is my number, btw, based on Business Week data, despite WinStar’s claim that they are just 5th.

At 110,000 square feet, the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Okla., will have the same amount of gaming space as Wynn Las Vegas, and slightly more than Wynn Macao.

Check it out:

“Texas hold’em / Ain’t nobody foldin’!” Rockin’!

We all know where that came from, of course:

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They’re in the money (and just waking up for Day 3 right now) at the APPT Main Event in Macau, and sure enough, Season 3 saw a record number of entrants and prize pool. 429 players, $2.1mm prize pool, $540k first prize. Click here to follow the action.

This comes on the heels of the APT Main Event in Macau earlier this month, which saw 326 players and $1.4mm prize pool, up from 257 last year.

(All figures in US$, though buy-ins and payouts were in HK$.)

Business Week has taken note:
In Macao, Betting on a Poker Boom

Despite a slow start for Macao casinos as a whole, the article points out that new poker rooms are opening almost monthly in the Phillipines, and:

The poker industry seems to recognize the potential for further growth, both for land-based as well as online poker operators. But significant entry barriers remain. One of the biggest: Online gaming is illegal in most Asian countries, making it difficult to show poker tournaments on TV to popularize the game. The Philippines, for instance, has become the fastest-growing poker nation in Asia with about 18 poker rooms around the country, thanks in part to TV broadcasts.

BTW, for those wondering … the APPT (Asia-Pacific Poker Tour) is the PokerStars-sponsored series, modeled after the EPT. The APT (Asian Poker Tour) is an independent operation, hosted by Matt Savage and assisted by a consortium of online sites, including bwin, PartyPoker, PKR, Titan, JBet, Winamax, Chilipoker, and a new-to-me Chinese site called Dafapoker (which I have since learned is an 888 operation).

Apparently our good friends across the pond are a bit more optimistic about the notion of the US opening its online gambling market in 2010 than we are … and in preparation, the buzz around England is that Betfair — the British online poker-and-more company and title sponsor of WSOP-Europe — is getting serious about making an estimated £1.5 billion ($2.5 billion) initial public offering.

The intent would be to raise capital in preparation for all sorts of crazy consolidation and forthcoming acquisitions in the online gambling sector.

At least one Betfair exec dismisses the talk as little more than speculation, despite meetings with Credit Suisse and other banking advisors that have the European financial press getting their knickers in a bunch as “companies seek to position themselves to enter the world’s biggest gambling market.” Should the rumored floatation happen, it would be the first major listing on the London Stock Exchange since the global economic collapse.

$400k HORSE

At the same time, Betfair last week made another move toward American soil by pledging $400,000 to the New York (Horse) Racing Association as an overlay should two specific horses face off against each other in October at Belmont Park:

Rachel Alexandra, the first filly to win the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown since 1924, has won her last eight races. Zenyatta is undefeated in 12 career starts, including the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic.

LOL, I didn’t even realize they had ladies events in horse racing!

Across the Chunnel: Refashioning French Poker

Arnault.

Betfair also just got themselves approved to enter France’s online gambling market, which is set to open next year … apparently with some nice poker-friendly alterations to the rake. (The new French law originally had players paying tax on every bet and raise, on every street … which can totally screw with your pot-odds calculations!) Helping get Betfair to the front of the French licensing line, with a better rake structure no less? Heavy lobbying efforts from billionaire bling merchant Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton, 10 percent owner of Betfair, and the 15th richest person in the world.

New-and-improved Yahoo! Poker Coming Soon

We’re talking Yahoo! Uk & Ireland, of course, not Yahoo! USA. The British arm of the web behemoth just re-upped its partnership with GTech G2, for two years, to provide real-money gaming options — and part of that deal includes plans to unveil a fully downloadable real-money Yahoo! poker room, not just the (lame) in-browser version currently available.

Magazine Moguls Jump into Mobile Gambling

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan recently said that the biggest threat to established online gaming brands comes from major media outlets, not current competitors. And sure enough … Dennis Publishing — the mega-magazine company behind Maxim, MacUser, Computer Shopper, Bizarre, Men’s Fitness, and more than a dozen other publications (including PokerPlayer, Inside Poker Business, and Stacked) — just launched its Monkey Mobile Casino, offering real-money online gambling on handheld devices. (The current issue of Monkey, fwiw, features a picture of Lady Gaga’s recent nipple slip.

The Swedish Taxman Cometh

Meanwhile, the Swedish Tax Authority (Skatteverket) has been studying all forms of internet commerce tax evasion since 2007, and has concluded that online poker companies with offshore servers are one of their biggest sources of uncollected e-commerce taxes.

Oh, huh, whaddya know … another international team event. Yep, this concept of national pride meets team poker ain’t going nowhere. (You know who you are who said that, dumbshit(s) ha ha.)

We’ve got the Caesar’s Cup coming up at WSOP-Europe, PokerStars has their America’s Cup of Poker, there’s another new op taking shape called World Team Poker … and at the APT-Macau tourney going on right now, they just had the JBET Battle of Nations, where the Koreans — represented by Brandon Wong, Chino Rheem, and Steve Sung — outmuscled the Vietnamese Le brothers — Nam, Tommy, and Allan — to take down an HK$406,000 first prize. (US$52,400.)

I don’t quite understand how it worked — teams of 3 playing macro-heads-up on 6-handed tables? — but click below for more details … I’m sure it was a good time; team poker always is … and with all these events I think it’s clear that team poker will indeed become a part of the true-to-life poker landscape … making the real question now: which format is gonna stick? I dunno, maybe I’m jumping the gun … but the Winter Olympics, World Cup 2010 … how can flags not be coming into fashion on the poker table and off?

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The official word on the long-term partnership between ESPN and the WSOP is out. They’re not trying to pull a fast one on us, are they? You know, like how Harrah’s spun losing their title sponsor last year into a “happy” announcement about MBL continuing on as the official beer?

Click below to read:

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A couple of great pieces for weekend reading…

Amy Calistri always has eyes on the stock market and the corporate goings-on of poker-related businesses, and her latest take on the sale of the WPT assets is right on the money. She gives the latest about stockholder rage over the WPT/Gamynia move and puts into words what I’ve been thinking for years, since shortly after I left the WPT fold and began to notice its downfall. That’s not to say it can’t rise again, but it might need new leadership to make that happen. An excerpt:

Frustration and envy appear to be the seeds of the series of missteps that sapped millions of dollars and focus away from the company’s core business. While the WPT helped create the poker boom, its television production business model only got a small piece of the obscene profits that were being generated by poker’s popularity. Online poker companies and online media sites reaped the lion’s share. This infuriated the WPT; they felt they were owed.

Gambling law professor I. Nelson Rose can break down a legal document or political issue like nobody’s business, and it’s a good thing he took the time to analyze the Menendez bill introduced to the Senate this week. Thanks to Poker Grump, this piece takes a look at the 91-page document and sheds some light on the proposed participation of states in the regulation/licensing of online poker, the tax on deposits to online sites, and the possible exemption of sites like PartyPoker from licensing. A sampling from the article:

Taxes might be a problem. The Frank bills have no limit on what taxes states can impose on operators, but limit the federal government to what is called a fee of 2% on deposits. Menendez is asking for less and more: A Federal Internet gaming license fee of 5% of deposited funds and a State or Indian tribal government gaming license fee of another 5%. This does get over the big problem with the Frank bills, that the big states, like California, where the customers will be, have no incentive to support Internet gambling operated and taxed by Nevada. Under Menendez, California gets that 5% tax. Although the states won’t like this provision: Tribes are treated like states, so if a player is on Indian land, that tribe gets the full 5% and the state in which the tribe is located gets nothing.

Of course, the tax system is still screwy, since it is a tax on deposits, not revenue. But it might work.

What, is this like 2005 again? It’s like everybody and their dog wants to do poker-ish TV. I’m not so sure how these will work out, because they never responded to my inquiry … but then again, maybe they didn’t care for my resume and headshot submission: “Pokerati.com ”

Anyhow, there was an interesting little poker job fair yesterday at Binion’s, with online recruiting efforts powered by Craigslist:

Talent and Production crew members needed for 4 poker television shows

Reply to: gigs-ra6zz-1303970800@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-08-03, 1:30PM

The Poker Television Network is producing four brand new shows that will be filmed at Binion’s. I have listed each show below along with the talent needed. If you know poker and want in on a ground floor opportunity with a new television network please reply ASAP. We have productions starting in one week from today. I will be conducting interviews this Thursday at noon at Binion’s.

1. Wake up with Poker
Talent: Attractive male & female co hosts
Production: Camera People, Writer/News gatherer

2. Poker Talk Live
Talent: Band, co host, Future host
Production: Writer, Production Assistant, Camera People

3. Poker School
Talent: Attractive Female Host
Production: Writer, Production Crew

4. Strip Poker
Talent: Attractive Female Host
Production: Writer, Production Crew

Contact Dustin ASAP with your contact information and resumes. Production crew members, please supply a link to your work or bring a copy of your demo reel with you.

dustin@pokernetwork247.com

Location: Binion’s Casino
Compensation: Minimum of $10/hour

Original URL: http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/tlg/1303970800.html

Hmm, they’re offering actual money, so that’s good. PokerNetwork247 seems to be the offspring of a low-stakes grassroots poker community in Colorado, headed up by some dudes who dig big boobs and NASCAR.

Thanks @johnharristtu for the heads-up. If I were less of a dick I probably woulda posted this sooner so others could take advantage of the info. But hey, really, Poker 24-7 … really?

Andreas Oscarsson, founder of PokerListings.com.

He was the first guy I met (at the 2005 WSOP) who taught me that not all affiliate-based “shill sites” were inherently bad. As a co-founder of PokerListings.com, Andreas Oscarsson helped build a company that not only has been extremely profitable by funneling online players to major poker sites, but also has shown a commitment to solid, informative, and entertaining poker news reporting, tournament coverage, and reader service.

http://www.pokerlistings.com/pokerlistings-founder-passes-away-43083

We are very sad and shocked to confirm that Andreas Oscarsson, founder of PokerListings.com, has tragically passed away while visiting his childhood home in Sweden.

At this point, we do not have any details other than he was found dead in his bed on the morning of August 3rd. He had been shot.

Oscarsson cashed out of the full-time poker website biz two years ago — opting instead for more family time after the birth of his son — but remained an emeritus figure on the PL team, serving as an advisor and sometimes more. He was 36.

UPDATE: Apparently police have ruled out suicide. Sweden’s English-speaking newspaper:

Several relatives, including the 2-year-old boy, were in the house where the man was found dead on Tuesday afternoon, Thord Haraldsson, head of the police anti-crime unit in Trollhättan, told news agency TT. None of the man’s family members are suspected of being involved in the murder, however.

The man moved to the United States ten years ago but originally came from Trollhättan and had been on holiday in Sweden when he was shot dead, Aftonbladet reports. He had planned to leave Sweden on Tuesday.

“A forensics investigation has been conducted at the scene and a preliminary investigation has indicated murder or manslaughter,” said Robert Edh, commander of the police communication centre in Gothenburg.

Wow. Sad. Wow. It’s sometimes about way more than just poker.

The going price: $9 million (+ a percentage of future profits):

StreetInsider.com on WPT Sale

According to official info (click below), current operations should remain essentially in tact — meaning no friends or colleagues about to get insta-fired — and Gamynia’s big plans have everything to do with getting into the online poker market. All we know about Gamynia Limited (at the moment) is that it’s a company forming part of a privately held investment firm.

WPTE stock climbed 12 percent, to $1.49, on the news.

From WPT Enterprises, Inc.:

WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE – the “Company”) today announced that Gamynia Limited (”Gamynia”), a company which forms part of a privately held investment group with substantial holdings in a range of diversified assets, has agreed to acquire substantially all of the Company’s operating assets other than cash, investments and certain excluded assets. Gamynia will pay the Company $9,075,000 plus a percentage of future revenues earned by Gamynia from the World Poker Tour(R) and Professional Poker Tour(R) brands.

Under ownership of Gamynia, the World Poker Tour and Professional Poker Tour brands will continue all operations including the Company’s television, sponsorship, distribution and licensing units and will under the agreement enter the online gaming market. Gamynia has secured the services of an industry leading online gaming marketing company Hardway Investments Ltd. which will seek to exploit and develop the WPT brands with the goal of maximizing future revenue opportunities.

Under the asset purchase agreement, the Company will sell its television library, including all related intellectual property rights, brand names, trade names, certain assumed contracts and tangible personal property. Gamynia will assume specified liabilities including one of the two corporate leases. The Company will retain its cash and cash equivalents, investments in debt securities and put rights, certain other investment and litigation assets, and future foreign sponsorship revenues from the sponsorship of Seasons Four, Five and Six of the World Poker Tour and Season One of the Professional Poker Tour by PartyGaming and the license of Season Seven of the World Poker Tour to PokerStars. The Company will also retain certain office lease obligations and all of its employee obligations.

The net cash proceeds from the asset sale will be retained by the Company and the Company plans to use the cash to develop or acquire a non-poker related business. The Company does not currently intend to distribute any proceeds from the asset sale to the Company’s stockholders.

You can see how the debate over online poker regulation is getting more sophisticated. (And it makes a fun subplot during these times of health care debate.) While our side has effectively taken the argument away from our opponents about needing to protect children and potential addicts (and John Pappas’ TV skillz have gotten more polished), Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling is now claiming the online poker model is unsustainable because it relies on 10 percent losing players to profit. (I think Full Tilt and PokerStars would respectfully disagree.)

While the opposition argument may be one of those frustrating argghs from someone who clearly just doesn’t get it — poker profits are based on rake, not degenerates who can’t afford their next buy-in — you can see we are moving to that next necessary phase of poker enlightenment, which is separating poker from other forms of gambling.

As a few people have noticed, the water in the Amazon room has changed. No longer is it All In … Johnny Chan’s “energy water” … it’s just the generic Rio bottled stuff. Clearly something has gone awry between All In and the WSOP. Back in November, the excited word was that All In would be the official energy drink for at least two years. But then, much to our surprise, we saw Red Bull being served this summer, and no All In banners … just All In water.

Hmm, now call it a coincidence, but that All In water disappeared from the Amazon room the day after this article ran on the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in which the least championed 10-bracelet winner says:

Not everyone is as happy about the World Series as Harrah’s Entertainment, which bought the series in 2004. One of poker’s legendary players and a two-time main event winner lashed out at how the gaming company has run the event and treats the players.

“In the old days, when Jack Binion owned it, he never took a penny out, but we always tipped the dealers good anyway,” Johnny Chan said, complaining about how the gaming company has increased its cut of the players’ pool. “Now Harrah’s takes out 4 to 10 percent.”

The company also has cut back on its comps to players, Chan said. Harrah’s gave him only a $100 food coupon when he entered the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event last week, he said.

Chan has not been much of a presence this year at the WSOP. He has shown up for a few big events (4?), but hardly sticks around once he busts. In fact, he sneaks out a back door, whereas last year he was constantly in the hallways at his company booth, or in the VIP lounge, which was also heavily labeled with All In signage. And that was before he became a supposedly official sponsor. Might someone have made a deal and forgotten to pay the water bill?

Another poppy video where PokerStars got some noticeable product placement was in Katy Perry’s “Waking Up in Vegas”. Check it out (along with an appearance by Daniel Negreanu) at about 1:15:

Apparently the original 2008-09 girl-kissing girl didn’t want to let Lady Gaga get all the poker player goo-goo … hence this video.

[via Wicked Chops]

The girls from Sapphire Pool — a unique partnership between the Rio and the world’s largest strip club, or “titter” as the politicos call them — may have had their booth shoved in a back corner outside the Amazon room, but that doesn’t mean they still can’t do their part to make poker as clean as possible. Apparently figuring if you can’t beat’em, join’em, they hosted a charity car wash in the WSOP parking lot, and our intrepid-reporting pals at PokerListings were all over the story:

The girls from the biggest strip club in the world, the Sapphire Club, decided to raise some money for the United Way with a bikini car wash.

Naturally we threw some dirt on the Prius and headed over to see what it was all about.

Not a big deal at all, I’m sure … just a little report about a new company coming to Canada — Harrah’s. The new CEO of Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment, Mitch Garber, will be setting up shop in his old hometown of Montreal … which, of course, is kinda like a suburb of the Kahnawake (Online Poker) Nation.

Furthermore, it seems to be less and less of a secret that the WSOP, which retakes control of its own website later this year and not too long ago successfully fought a court battle for control of WSOP.com, has plans to take its brand of poker tables online.

From the Montreal Gazette:

Harrah’s agreed that he could manage the World Series of Poker teams already in Las Vegas and England out of a Montreal office and still focus on growing the 40-year-old Vegas-based competition.

“There is a hunger for World Series of Poker events, like PGA golf, with events taking place everywhere, whether it is Moscow, Montreal, Rome. Our intent is to deal with government and licensing authorities in every jurisdiction to grow the World Series of Poker,” he said yesterday.

Garber already has a Montreal office in the core of the city and about 10 people, mostly business-development types, working there. Should all go according to plan, the office will expand to “hundreds” of people, mostly customer-service employees and a scattering of Web designers.

The business plan has two main goals, said Garber, who has invested “substantially” in the privately held Harrah’s.

The first is “to offer online gaming in the U.K. and potentially elsewhere in Europe where it is legal and government-licensed.”

The WSOP almost slipped one by us … back in February we reported that Milwaukee’s Best Light had re-upped with the World Series, which was technically true … but our spin-detectors must have been low on batteries, because we totally woulda negatively re-spun the hedline to “WSOP Loses Top-Level Sponsorship” had we recognized that too was technically the case. Very clever, WSOP.

But now we know … the official new name of the biggest annual mass pilgrimage to the desert this side of Mecca is:

the World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky

Mmm, tasty!

Click the link and come up with your own funny pokery sayings that can fit in with Jack’s marketing message that dried beef snacks are a better alternative (from a mom’s perspective) than chips. From our perspective, we’re just happy to be able to provide you a link to a presenting sponsor that honors hirsuteness doesn’t require age verification first. (Hi kids, welcome to poker!)

Anyhow, always interesting and presumably good for the game when a new player sits down. We’ll be sure to let you know what they bring to the table. Click below for the well-crafted official details:

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Semi-related to poker … was working on a post over at Soccerati (our baby brother site), about how an online gambling op (188Bet.com) has come in to buy up the jersey space on two English Premier League teams. It just seems kinda funny to me — considering that the NFL is so anti-online gambling, and the EPL is so pro. Soccer in general seems to have totally embraced the online gambling biz. Such a clear distinction between American football and European football.

In fact … check this out … you have very major teams across the pond (and a few minor ones) that have direct links and betting pages on their official sites. The Spurs, for example, are supposedly working with their sponsor Mansion to develop a Tottenham skin, and already host weekly freerolls for game tickets.

The people making money off Peyton Manning jerseys hate online poker; meanwhile the other kind of football teams proudly support it — or are being supported by it.

Now you know I’m not much of a boycotter — really, I generally think they’re stupid and ineffective — but it does occur to irk me how much “free advertising” poker players give NFL teams by wearing their jerseys. Considering that American football gives nothing back to poker, and in fact subtracts from it … maybe it might be time for poker players to hang up their lucky Tony Romo jerseys, ya know? Just sayin’ … all it takes is watching a little soccer to realize how wearing any NFL promotion at the WSOP wouldn’t be too different from wearing a Bill Frist or Jim Leach campaign button un-ironically.

2+2 is speculating that “Clonie Gowan’s suit against Full Tilt dismissed” [sic].

PokerNewsDaily followed suit:

With the majority of the case being dismissed with prejudice and only Tiltware, Bitar and Lederer eligible for any further action, Gowen’s lawsuit appears to be dead at this time.

And then PokerNews reported “Gowen Lawsuit Against Full Tilt Dismissed”.

These hedlines are for the most part inaccurate, and at a minimum misleading. Clonie’s lawsuit is still alive … the courts have simply stripped out some irrelevant defendants while considering motions for expedited discovery, and her team has 30 days to amend their complaints around the still relevant defendants, i.e. Tiltware, Howard Lederer, and Ray Bitar. These recent rulings may be considered setbacks, but it’s not like she has to start from scratch to “refile”.

Read the court documents for yourself:

Gowen Motions Denied
Gowen Hearing Vacated

Now granted, these are a little confusing, so Pokerati has made half-hearted attempts to contact attorneys on both sides of the case, and have received no response from either. We’ve also contacted insiders on both sides of the case, whom literally say the exact same thing: “It’s definitely not over”. To be sure, on both sides, no one’s celebrating nor stomping about wildly screaming “Appeal!” bemoaning these most recent decisions.

In the meantime, to help us understand, Pokerati has brought in an independent, poker-savvy legal expert from a neighboring state to help translate:

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That’s the unconfirmed word on the street … despite what seemed like a semi-big win for Team Aced/Gold at Dream Team Poker … Dream Team can probably go ahead and retire that jersey set, because the new online poker site and former WSOP main event champion supposedly have broken up.

No details yet … just third-hand information over here. But I’m hearing that either Gold said hey, time to pay up and they didn’t have the cash, or Aced said, yo, Jamie, where are all those players you promised us?

Either way … assuming that some element of the above is true, is it shocking that this didn’t last?

Today is the annual conference call done by the fine folks at the World Series of Poker (such as Jeffrey Pollack, Jack Effel, someone at Milwaukee’s Best, someone from Harrah’s etc), is scheduled to start at 10am PT. The audio usually turns up later in the day, and there’ll be some live blogging/commenting of the call, at least at Wicked Chops Poker. Can we set an over/under on the number of stupid questions that get asked by the non-poker media?

It’s becoming less and less of a secret that I get excited about most things soccer-y … and since moving to Nevada from Texas I really miss Mexicans. (We have Latinos here in Las Vegas, but the food, the music, the lawn care … not the same.) So you can imagine I was quite delighted to see PokerStars getting in bed with Mexican Futbol’s Primera Division.

This development actually probably has more to do with recent WPT World Championship-casher Boris Becker and “sports” in general than it does poker-and-soccer specifically, but still … here’s a sample of the ads they’re running on Mexican TV, this one featuring CD Chivas’ Luis Michel:

More at 2+2.