Posts Tagged ‘Poker News’

Update on Elie v. Ifrah lawsuit

by , May 15, 2013 | 2:41 pm

The attorney for Chad Elie filed an amended complaint against Jeff Ifrah, Ifrah PLLC, and others yesterday in the District Court of Clark County, Nevada. Recall that the original complaint had some very serious allegations made as against Ifrah (none of which have been proved in court). The amended complaint has the same basic claims for relief, but expands upon some of the earlier allegations and offers some further particulars.

For example, paragraph 3 of the complaint now pleads that Ifrah is licensed as an attorney in the District of Columbia but not in Nevada, California, Florida, or Illinois, even though “he performed services for and provided legal advice to” Elie while Elie was in those jurisdictions. (Interestingly, however, it’s not specifically pleaded that Ifrah gave Elie Nevada, California, Florida, or Illinois legal advice.) Paragraph 7 is now explicit in introducing the client conflict that is a big part of Elie’s purported case: that Ifrah was conflicted in representing both PokerStars and Full Tilt (for whom he is alleged to have been rustling up processing solutions) and Elie (who was exposed to criminal sanction for providing those solutions). This doesn’t change much; the original complaint was clear on this point, but the amended version ties this characterization in earlier in the narrative and gives some additional factual basis for it.

Another new tidbit is the claim that Ifrah requested that Elie’s payments to him be characterized as payments for “consulting” services rather than legal services (see new paragraph 59). Ifrah is alleged to have done this so that he would not be conflicted out of representing criminal defendants when and if indictments for payment processing were handed down, as Ifrah expected, for example, like those coming out of the SDNY on Black Friday. (See new paragraphs 60 and 74.) Elie’s amended complaint states that Ifrah subsequently denied that he even acted for Elie in putting together Elie’s processing deals.

Assuming that the original complaint was served on or about April 11th, Ifrah and his firm appear to have 10 days to respond to the amended complaint after service.


Instapoker

by , Sep 17, 2012 | 3:00 pm

Matt Salsberg
Photo: World Poker Tour


Today’s Boxscore

Matt Salsberg €380,000 – WPT Rendez-Vous à Paris
Pratik Ghatge £71,700- UKIPT London Main Event
Matthew Colvin $21,097 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #1
William Byrnes $20,440 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #2
Tom Franklin $11,930 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #3


It’s fun when something interesting happens in poker, especially when it’s on the results page. Something to temporarily make us forget the muddled, confused state of poker in the world. This week it was one of the fun guys in the game winning a big tournament across the Atlantic Ocean after grinding his way along for several years.

Matt Salsberg is better known as the man behind the scenes as a writer/producer for popular cable shows Entourage and Weeds. He is a regular at the Commerce Casino and a favorite among many of the professionals (especially Matt Stout, but I can’t imagine that has anything to do with “Weeds”). This weekend he put himself firmly on the poker map by winning the WPT Rendez-Vous à Paris at the Aviation Club beating a tough final table including Philipp Gruissem, Tim “Tim0thee” Adams, Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania, and Fabian Quoss. He defeated Theo Jorgensen heads up to grab the title and €380,000.

He then immediately hopped a plane to the States in enough time to catch Day 1B of the WPT Borgata Poker Open.

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day – While Salsberg was busy winning his WPT event, the folks at the Commerce put the live stream up on the big screens. Here Matt Savage checks it out while WhoJedi does the grunt work.

Exclusive: FTP Former Shareholder Speaks Out, Interview with Andy Bloch – The poker world has been waiting for some of the former Tilt owners to tell their side and first up is Andy Bloch. My favorite line from the interview is about the GBT offer on the table with a little jab at the PPT debacle, “I was in favor if the players had been “made whole”. But their version of ‘make whole’ is like the french definition of ‘guarantee’.”

The Lederer Files: An Introduction – The Bloch interview was a big deal for a few days but there comes word today from PokerNews about an interview with none other than Howard Lederer. That is a blockbuster scoop which every media outlet would have killed to nab. PokerNews has over 7 hours on video and will release them over a series of time. I suspect they will see a spike in viewers.

Feds eye poker champ’s assets – Of course that Lederer interview occurred on September 8th, before the DOJ filed a second amended complaint against him. Howard Stutz has a look at exactly what Lederer purchased with his ill-gotten gains including a few interesting looking automobiles.

Season XI WPT Grand Prix de Paris: Champion Matt Salsberg – The fun loving Kristy Arnett interviews Matt Salsberg, where the video just happens to last exactly 4:20.


Ivey’s White Knight Deal Almost Done + Full Tilt Poker

by , Jul 1, 2011 | 8:51 am

We recorded our first Wicked Chops Podcast yesterday with some friends from across the pond–Ben Fried, who launched Betfair’s poker room–and Kim Lund, who did the same for Poker Room. While some of the content is already dated (a lot of it is speculation about Tilt’s future in light of the AGCC license revocation), still some interesting European perspective on the Tilt situation and their international market perception.

Listen, and read more here.


WPT Seminole Hard Rock

by , May 3, 2011 | 11:45 am

If you count a Club WPT patch as a part of our patch watch then patch watch was once again revived today at the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Final table today. Allen Bari and Abbey Daniels showed up to battle for the $1,122,340 first place money wearing Club WPT patches, a company that offers subscriptions based play where you can play satellites to win a seat into future WPT events.

Once again wearing a patch would not bring the players good luck with Allen Bari being eliminated fifth place for $211,997. He was followed shortly by Abbey Daniels who took home $286,819.

The final three players would battle it out into the early hours of the morning before Justin Zaki, the last player from Florida, was eliminated. From there it only took Taylor Von Kriegenbergh 8 hands to finish off Curt Kohlberg for his first live win since hitting the circuit earlier this year.

Here is a look at how the final six finished with payouts:

1st: Taylor Von Kriegenbergh – $1,122,340
2nd: Curt Kohlberg – $586,109
3rd: Justin Zaki – $415,680
4th: Abbey Daniels – $286,819
5th: Allen Bari – $211,997
6th: Tommy Vedes – $166,272


WPT Seminole Hard Rock

by , May 2, 2011 | 7:47 am

Stop me if you have heard this before; Patch watch is over. After the elimination of Mike Sexton in Day Four it was assumed that the rest of the tournament would play out without a single player with a patch.

That was until James Mackey showed up with his fifth place stack wearing a Hero Poker Pro patch. It seems that wearing a patch may not be a good thing for these players as Mackey became the TV bubble boy when he was eliminated in 7th place by Taylor Von Kriegenbergh.

Von Kriegenbergh goes into Day Six with a 2.187 Million chip lead over Justin Zaki in second place. Von Kriegenbergh and Zaki will be joined by the four other final table members on Monday to battle it out for the $1,122,340 first place money. Here is a look at the remaining six with chip counts according to seat position.

Seat 1: Abbey Daniels – 2,192,000
Seat 2: Tommy Vedes – 1,570,000
Seat 3: Allen Bari – 1,984,000
Seat 4: Taylor Von Kriegenbergh – 4,384,000
Seat 5: Curt Kohlberg – 655,000
Seat 6: Justin Zaki – 2,197,000

With only six players left in the field and no Full Tilt representative on site to patch up players this possibly could be a final table without a patch. Check back with us for the final table report to see if the the plug was indeed pulled on patch watch after Day Five.


WPT Seminole Hard Rock

by , May 1, 2011 | 6:45 am

Coming into Day Four the patch watch almost dead, after Day Four it IS dead. With only two patches to keep track of Day Four’s patch watch was made even easier with Mike Sexton (Party Poker) and Zach Clark (Doyles Room) sitting on the same table.

Although both players started out the day in the lower half of the leader board they only needed to outlast 6 players to make it to the money which they both managed. Clark would eventually be eliminated in 33rd place while his table mate Sexton managed a 27th place finish.

The last patch wearing player was Mike Sexton who was eliminated in 27th place.We caught up with Clark before he was eliminated to discuss Black Friday and how it is affecting his sponsorship deal. He declined to comment on anything exactly what he is being told but did tell us that he inquired about wearing his patch for the tournament and they told him to operate as normal when it came to that.

Coming back for Day Five is Blair Hinkle, who became the first player to win seven figures in a single tournament on Full Tilt back in March in the FTOPS Main event when he chopped three handed to receive $1,162,949.74, sits atop the leader board with 1,783,000. Catching up with Hinkle during a break he discussed his FTOPs score and told us that he had not moved the majority of his funds off Full Tilt before Black Friday. He did not seem overly concerned that he would have trouble getting the funds off site, but did state that it would be nice to just win this event for his second 7 figure score of 2011.

Day Six will start at noon today with 18 players playing down to the final 6 in the High Roller room of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room. With no patches left and no one left to patch up players when the final six are determined this will be the first WPT final table in some time without a single player wearing a patch. Maybe that is a sign to come for future events in this post Black Friday era.


WPT Seminole Hard Rock

by , Apr 30, 2011 | 9:34 am

With only 51 players left after three days of play here at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood Florida only two players are left wearing patches.

Mike Sexton and Zachary Clark will be the only two players returning for Day Four wearing Party Poker and Doyle’s Room patches. Sexton returns with 192,000 while Clark is close to the bottom of the standings with 119,000.

It appears that if one of these two players do not reach the final table that the final six will be completely patchless since the representative for Full Tilt that usually ensures the two of the final six are patched is leaving on a flight on Saturday.

At the top of the leader board is Taylor VonKriegenbergh with 1,080,500. He is closely followed by the only female left in the field Abbey Daniels who has 1,016,500.

The players return to play down to the final 18 or for six levels on Saturday at noon.


WPT Hard Rock Seminole

by , Apr 27, 2011 | 6:58 pm

The first major live poker tournament since Black Friday in the United States kicked off today with the World Poker Tour at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood Florida. One of the unknowns coming into the tournament was wether or not sponsored pros would show up wearing their patches.

With 406 players in the field today only 13 players were found wearing either a Full Tilt Poker or a Ultimate Bet patch. The one “big three” site that did not have a single patched up player was PokerStars, even though WPT regular and PokerStar Pro Jason Mercier was in the field.

Also in the field today not wearing their normal patch were Maria Ho (UB) and Antonio Esfandiari (Victory). The fact that these two are not wearing a patch for their respected site while Adam “roothlus” Levy (UB) and Jonathan Little (Victory) are patched up definitely creates more questions.

Here is a rundown of the players found in todays field that were wearing patches:

  • Gavin Smith (FTP)
  • John Dolan (FTP)
  • Anette Obstread (FTP)
  • Scott Montgomery (FTP)
  • Allen Kessler (FTP)
  • Josh Arieh (FTP)
  • Steve Brecher (FTP)
  • Stuart Paterson (FTP)
  • Jeff Madsen (FTP)
  • Andrew Lichtenberger (FTP)
  • Erik Cajelais (FTP)
  • Paul Wolfe (FTP)
  • Adam Levy (UB)
  • Matt Stout (Lock Poker)
  • Jonathan Little (Victory)
  • Amit Makhija (Doyles Room)
  • Steve Gross (Doyles Room)
  • Mike Sexton (Party Poker)
  • 4 Other Party Poker Players
  • Since we are on the discussion of who is wearing what Tony Dunst, who is known for always being well dressed was not wearing his normal suit today due to a delay in dry cleaning. Instead he was wearing a V-Neck shirt and a pair of jeans. Dunst will be returning tomorrow, hopefully in his freshly cleaned suit, to grind out his short stack.

    After 5 levels of play only 290 players remain with registration open until the start of play with Randy Dorfman at the top of the leaderboard with 160,000. Other players returning for day two are Vivek Rajkumar, Shannon Shorr, Annette Obstread, Mike Sexton, Kathy, Leibert, and Lauren Kling.

    The players will return at 12 noon local time tomorrow for the start of day two of this six-day event to play another 5 levels.


    Merchdawg’s Podcast Roundup

    by , Apr 22, 2011 | 11:49 am

    It should be no surprise what the focus of this weeks Roundup will be with all that happened last Friday. Since the indictments were unsealed a week ago today everyone is hitting the airwaves to give their take on what has transpired with the DonkDown guys being the first group to hit the airwaves shortly followed by Marco on Quad Jacks.

    Pregame.com

    The team over at Pregame.com not only addressed how poker players have been affected by the indictments but also got some insight of how other people in the poker industry are being affected thanks to their guest Kristen Bihr. Bihr, who is a writer for PokerStarsBlog.com as well as being the PCA Ladies Event Champion, discusses how the poker media industry is being affected along with her current predicament of having the majority of her Ladies Event winnings tied up online. You can listen to the show in its entirety on the Pregame.com site

    Quad Jacks Interviews

    Already running 6 days consecutively with numerous host the show is going to come to an end shortly after reaching the 7 day mark for some rest. Numerous guest have joined over the past week, including Shaun Deeb, Katy Leibert, Daniel Negreanu, Gary Wise, BJ Nemeth, Kevin “KevMath” Mathers, and our very own Dan Michalski to break down what the indictments mean to not only the poker community but also personally to themselves.

    Along with being a part of the show this past week KevMath also took a few of the interviews from the past 6 days and made them available for download. These are not in iTunes but they are indeed safe files.

    Chuck Kidd Interview
    Shaun Deeb Interview
    Daniel Negrenu Surprise call into the show

    On a side note a few of our favorite podcast have different host this week due to the regular host choosing to step aside either due to honoring the request to not speak or out of fear of causing problems due to their affiliation. This week ESPN’s The Poker Edge went on without Phil Gordon, though he did provide a short message to listeners that was played at the beginning of the show. The other pro to step aside this week is Dennis Phillips, who also spoke briefly at the beginning of the show to give a brief statement before stepping aside for the rest of the show to go on.


    Merchdawg’s Podcast Roundup

    Rants Alive, SuperStar Showdown, & Kagome Kagome

    by , Apr 15, 2011 | 9:54 am

    Rabbit Hunt:

    The Rabbit Hunt crew return after taking a week off to catch everyone up on the latest poker news. After discussing the recent legislation passed in Washington D.C. and Zynga Poker the host move on to discuss the WSOP rematch concept. Matt goes rants about how he does not like the concept, saying he would rather see a boxing match between Phil Helmuth and Eskimo Clark than the Helmuth vs. Johnny Chan rematch. To close out the show Matt continues on his rant party, this time he rants about the World Poker Tour and why it should not be considered a major along side the World Series of Poker. Take a listen to the show on either the Cardrunners site or download it directly from iTunes to listen to this interview.

    Two Plus Two Pokercast:

    Also coming off a week hiatus the Two Plus Two Pokercast returns this week with Scott “URnotINdangr” Palmer coming on to discuss his recent supersized SuperStar Showdown match. Starting off the show with a discussion on the recent big sporting events the guys confess their love for this time of the year, Hockey Playoff eh? Brandon Adams joins the show this week to discuss his trip to Augusta for The Masters before talking a little poker. At the 1 hour 54 minute mark Palmer joins in the discussing to give some commentary of his match against Blom to close out the show. You can listen to the show at the Two Plus Two Pokercast site or download it on iTunes.

    Poker Static:

    If you are looking for interviews, interviews, and more interviews then you need to be listening to the Poker Static guys. Kagome Kagome, formerly known as IHateJuice on Full Tilt Poker joins the crew this week to discuss the meanings behind his names and the discussion he had with Full Tilt when they wanted him to change his username. You can either download the show from iTunes or watch the video below.


    Merchdawg’s Podcast Roundup

    St. Louis WSOPC, Chops, & Online Regulation

    by , Apr 8, 2011 | 9:10 am

    Final Table Poker Radio Show:

    The Final Table Poker Radio Show crew got kicked out of the poker room this week due to the start of the WSOP Circuit events in St. Louis. After discussing the recent happenings at the circuit event Dennis and Paul are joined by Pat Walsh who discusses his recent win at the Big Event Shootout. Mori Eskandami closes out the show discussing production of TV poker shows along with the host change for High Stakes Poker. You listen to the entire show or catch up on previous show by either visiting The Final Table site or on iTunes.

    The Hardcore Poker Show:

    This week’s show starts off with the guys talking about what they think Phil Ivey’s new site will be about and wether Ivey can teach the average Joe how to be like him. The show then moves on to a discussion about chopping tournaments before Jess Welman, who most will know from the two time award winning Poker Beat, joins the show. Welman discusses her recent second place finish at the Hollywood Poker Open and how she was one of the lone players that did not want to do a chop when the players were down to 18 players. After telling the stories of the names she was called because she did not want to chop Welman moves on to discuss recent poker news to close out the show. If you would like to listen to the show you can either download it via iTunes along with catching future shows every Monday from 8-9pm EST on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 98.

    A Perspectives Weekly:

    Coming out with a April Fools Day show this week the APCW crew come together discusses some new happenings at eCOGRA before moving on to discuss the deal between PokerStars and Wynn.


    Merchdawg’s Podcast Roundup

    Chad Brown & Legal Talk

    by , Apr 1, 2011 | 10:13 am

    The Poker Edge:

    Andrew Feldman and Phil Gordon are joined this week by Chad Brown. Before getting to Brown the two discuss recent poker news and lay out some details for Feldman Challenge will Feldman will take on someone in 25 to 250 hands at $0.01/$0.02. After finishing up the news Brown comes on to discuss his recent battle with cancer, including how it was found and the surgery to remove the tumor. He also breaks down what the future looks like and equates giving himself the best chance to stay cancer free to poker. You can listen to the entire podcast on ESPN.com, or download it directly via iTunes.

    Two Plus Two Pokercast:

    It’s been a while since these guys made it on the roundup but this week they were joined by Pokerati’s own Scarlet “scarlet_lv ” Robinson. Robinson follows Daniel Negreanu and Alan Boston this week to discuss online regulation (at the 1 hour 52 minute mark) breaking down the recent state bills that have been in the news. Robinson also gives her thoughts on where things go from here and what happens if these bills do not pass along with her thoughts on the recent alliances that some online sites are doing with some Las Vegas brick and mortar casinos. Listen to the show at the Two Plus Two Pokercast site or download it on iTunes.

    DonkDown Radio:

    Continuing on the legal front our very own Dan Michalski has been on a podcast tour since the cancelation of The Poker Beat. This week he returns to DonkDown for a new segment called the Poker Power Hour. Michalski comes on around the 32 minute mark to bring some of the recent legal news to the show. After he leaves the show the guys attempt to make some calls to those involved in the UB scandal before being joined by Shane “Shaniac” Schleger. You can listen to the show at the DonkDown site or subscribe and download it via iTunes.


    Merchdawg’s Podcast Roundup

    Drama, Good Mindset, & Mega-Grinding

    by , Mar 25, 2011 | 10:30 am

    Rabbit Hunt:

    Our friends on the Rabbit Hunt podcast jump right into the middle of the Joe Sebok drama this week. The guys break down and criticize both sides of the drama, breaking down what both sides of did wrong. They also discuss why Paul Leggett will probably never agree to come to 2+2 to answer questions from the forum readers and how much work the moderators have had to do over the past few days. Take a listen to the show on either the Cardrunners site or download it directly from iTunes to listen to this interview.

    The Bernard Lee Poker Show:

    Making its first appearance in the roundup The Bernard Lee Poker Show welcomes mindset coach Sam Chauhan to their show. Chauhan speaks about being in the positive mindset in order to be successful. He also discusses about how he got started in the poker community with a short discussion that he had with Antonio Esfandiari in a restroom at the Rio. To close out the show the two discuss some of the tools that Chauhan uses with his students to keep them in the right mindset. If you would like to listen to this show you can either download it from Bernard’s site, listen to it directly on on Rounders Radio, or through iTunes.

    I Am Nanonoko – Team Pokerstars Online Documentary:

    OK, this is not a podcast but it was brought to our attention this week from our good friend Dr. Pauly from Tao of Poker. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be in the head of a Supernova Elite you definitely should check out this short documentary that was done on Randy “Nononoko” Lew. Also check out the brief blog that gives an introduction to the film.


    Merchdawg’s Podcast Roundup

    Nolan Dalla & More UB

    by , Mar 4, 2011 | 3:38 pm

    I know we all want more UB scandal stuff but this week I am going to start you off with a something else before I get into the two big hitters for UB info for the past few weeks.

    Ante Up Poker Magazine:

    This is the first time that the guys from Ante Up have hit my roundup but I do not think that you will be disappointed with this show. The guys get started off talking about how poker terms are finding their way into movies or TV shows before moving into a discussion about the first episode of Season 7 of High Stakes Poker. The meat of this show is an interview with Nolan Dalla, who is the WSOP Media Coordinator, along with being a man of massive poker knowledge. Dalla talks about the growth of the WSOP Circuit along with the future of poker regulation. Check out the show on Ante Up’s site or on iTunes.

    Rabbit Hunt:

    With the latest UB scandal information being dropped the one side we have not heard from on the podcast scene was that of UB. Well this week the crew from the Rabbit Hunt podcast got UB Pro Joe Sebok to come on for an interview to speak for UB, as he has done for UB since he joined. Joe discusses how UB wants people to come forward with information like what Makar has brought forward over the past few weeks. Sebok states that UB has reached out to Makar wanting to get any and all information that he may have so that it can be fully released to the public. Take a listen to the show on either the Cardrunners site or download it directly from iTunes to listen to this interview.

    DonkDown Radio:

    The guys are back this week recapping the bombshell that was dropped on them by Travis Makar, skip ahead to around 45 minutes into the show to get straight to more UB talk. After a brief sidetrack to talk to some random female before talking about the SuperAllah registry key that was a tool used to allow people to see the whole cards. At near the 1 hour 4 minute mark the guys start to break down the Rabbit Hunt interview with Sebok. Spartan Fox joins the show at the 2 hour 13 minute mark to discuss his interview, just a few minutes in Spartan Fox states that Paul Legget had recently stated that even though they are missing ten percent of the hand histories they have one hundred percent of the finical data. You can listen to the show at the DonkDown site or subscribe and download it via iTunes.


    Merchdawg’s Weekly Podcast Roundup

    Travis Makar/Ultimate Bet Scandal Updates

    by , Feb 25, 2011 | 1:32 pm

    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.