Wider World of Poker
I really hope the Lederer Files are building towards a dramatic finale. Maybe Chris Ferguson could storm into the room demanding a paternity test or something. Whatever transpires, I’m definitely be picking up the special edition DVD with exclusive commentary by Annie Duke. Until then, I guess I’ll have to settle for some more worldwide poker news packaged into neat bite-sized chunks.
Zynga Bolsters its Troops 
Zynga continue to gear up for their assault on all things online gambling with the hire of Maytal Olsha – former senior vice president at 888. Olsha has been appointed as the Chief Operating Office of new markets. Those “new markets” most likely being the ones with friendly online gambling regulations. [Bloomberg]
A Trio of Tournaments
Prepare yourselves for a potent laser beam of pure tournament news. First let’s skip over to Macau for the conclusion of the Macau Poker Cup Championship. Surely either ‘Cup’ or ‘Championship’ is redundant in that title? Either way, Rui Chen is the guy who won it, taking home HK$1,108,500 (US$142,996). [OnlinePoker.net]
A mere 1117.733km away in Paris, France, Matt Salsberg was wrapping up his victory in the WPT Grand Prix de Paris. He beat the likes of Theo Jorgensen at the final table to capture the €400,000 ($521,000) first place prize. [Poker News]
And deep within PokerStars’ digital tournament hall, Olivier “Adonis112” Busquet bested all comers in the WCOOP $10k No Limit Hold’em High Roller event to the tune of $224,000. [Poker News]
Scamming Afoot at Lock Poker?
Twoplustwo, the first refuge of all jilted poker players, has been the sounding board for another sorry tale of online poker drama this week. Lock Poker regular ‘GimmeDAT’ was the victim of a $100k scam after accidentally downloaded keylogging software that allowed a hacker to gain access to his account. The scammer, using the name ‘highgrind22’, was later seen losing around $80k to an Omaha regular, who has posted on 2+2 under the name ‘FWHITNEYDOH’ claiming ignorance. [4Flush]
Entraction Ends
After years of sloshing about in the middle ground of online poker’s network soup, Entraction is on the way out. It’s parent company, International Game Technology, are cutting their losses and shutting the network down, choosing instead to focus on their other online gambling products. The company blames increasingly varied regulation in Europe for the decision. [Business Week]
British Poker Award
A gaggle of Britain’s poker elite, and a decent clump of interested onlookers, gathered in London this week to celebrate this nation’s finest people and places. The big winner was Sam Trickett, who, among many other successes over the past twelve months, finished second in the One Drop for over $10 million. [Poker News]
While everyone’s getting hot under the collar about Full Tilt, we all seem to have missed the fact that the WSOPE starts tomorrow. Under the palm trees of Cannes, bracelets will be won, stories will be forged and, traditionally, the Octo/November Nine have a chance to prove their worth. Check in for the biggest stories, next week.
