It is tough out there for poker movies – however hard they try, they seem to have a strong tendency to flop. Director Gil Cates is bravely attempting it again, this time with a documentary on Joe Hachem's win of the 2005 WSOP. Read more »
HR 2140, the Internet Gambling Study Act, was scheduled to be marked up on Wednesday, July 30th, but a resolution and report on Karl Rove took center stage, making national headlines and forcing discussion of several bills on the docket to be postponed. Read more »
Poker News Daily: How did you get started playing poker? When did you know poker would become more than just a hobby? Hoivold: I have played five card draw since I was very young. I started playing Texas Hold'em in 2003. In 2006, I knew it would be more than a hobby. Read more »
According to a report released by Forbes on Wednesday, the United States government has seized $24 million from bank accounts belonging to Bodog. The report cites court documents filed in Baltimore, Maryland which outlines that the money in question was seized from four of the largest banks in the U.S.: Wachovia, Bank of America, SunTrust, and Regions. All four are publicly traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Forbes noted that "word of the seizures is likely to rattle the confidence of U.S.-based online gamblers that they will receive their winnings, not only from Bodog but from the industry's other remaining participants." Read more »
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission appointed former New Jersey State Gaming Regulator Frank Catania to complete "a full forensic audit/investigation of the online gaming business" of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Read more »
The WPT seems unstoppable in its quest for new markets: first they cracked China – the largest population in the world – and now they are set to spread the poker fever over India, the second most populated country in the world. Read more »
Recently, four Congressmen wrote to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Bernanke. Their goal was simple: Clarify the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act as to what is legal and illegal under its jurisdiction. Read more »
Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker? Leigh: I played $5 sit and go tournaments. It was like sticking a needle in my vein. I was in college and someone transferred me money. I didn't even want to download the software because I wasn't yet 21 years-old. It took a lot of coercion by my friends to convince me that I only had to be 18 to play online. I won my first $5 sit and go, which became my starting bankroll. Read more »
The Olympics are not the only exciting event to happen in China this year. The massive gaming company AsianLogic Ltd has joined forces with interactive media company C Y Foundation to establish a pan-China online game network which will offer Texas Hold'em along with traditional Chinese games. Read more »
Young poker star Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh is the embodiment of the multi-talented, multi-tasking internet generation: a successful poker player, she is also famous for posing for Playboy, has a reputation as a hacker and a high ranking as a World of Warcraft player, and is releasing a clothing line. On top of all of these achievements, Jennifer Leigh has just signed a deal with Iron Duke Poker. Read more »
Despite being in the middle of a firestorm of controversy surrounding her ongoing battle with Poker News, Tiffany Michelle found time to sign with Ultimate Bet in a move that was officially announced on Tuesday. Read more »
Each week, several of the largest online poker rooms offer gigantic prize pools as part of their Sunday tournament offering. With the news this week that it would bump up the prize pools of the Sunday Million and Warm-Up starting next week, PokerStars saw a nice bump in traffic for its five major tournaments that kicked off Sunday afternoon. Combined, they offered more than $2 million in guaranteed payouts and more than 15,000 total entrants. In this week's online tournament roundup, we'll focus on the online poker action from the largest room in the world, PokerStars. Read more »
Sportingbet has come under fire in several countries around the world due to its internet gambling presence. Recently, the attacks came in Turkey, where two employees of the UK-based company have been held in custody for what iGamingNews called "organized crime, money laundering and tax evasion." The company, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "SBT," finished down 1% to ₤31.500 at the end of trading on Monday despite news that one of the two detained employees had been released back to the United Kingdom. He was not charged in the matter. The second employee still remains in custody. Read more »
Iron Duke Poker made headlines on Tuesday in the online poker world by announcing the signing of Jennifer "Jennicide" Leighwho will become the newest face of the Merge Gaming site. Read more »
Some people can't get enough action in Sunday tournaments online. You'll find many of the same names playing in several of the major tournaments on the weekends for that exact reason. One online poker room recently set the bar for guaranteed tournaments just a little bit higher. Over the weekend, it was revealed that the two largest tournaments offered on PokerStars every week would see their guarantees increase dramatically starting on August 3rd. The Sunday Million, which currently sports a $1 million guarantee, will now offer at least a $1.5 million prize pool. The Sunday Warm-Up, which currently boasts a $500,000 prize pool, will now have a $750,000 guarantee. In both cases, the largest online poker site in the world just increased its two largest guarantees by 50%. Read more »
Ultimate Bet has come into the forefront of the media for the past few days since the Kahnawake Gaming Commission announced that its findings on the cheating scandal at the online poker room would be announced shortly. Read more »
Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker? Bloch: I always played games growing up. I started playing poker in Boy Scouts, then with my school friends, and then played a little bit in college. They were mostly nickel, dime, and quarter games. I didn't really get into poker in casinos until right after I graduated college, when Foxwoods opened up in Connecticut. I started going there and got bored with my job. I then got fired from a job and so played there a lot more. I started with the MIT Blackjack Team through a friend I met in a poker game in the Boston area. When my project got canceled, I decided to play blackjack and poker full time. Read more »
This week, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission released a statement concerning the improper conduct on the tables of two of its permit holders, Absolute Poker and UltimateBet. Read more »
Johannesburg must be looking very attractive to many professional poker players today, as South African President Thabo Mbeki has signed the National Gambling Amendment Bill (NGAB) allowing the licensing and regulation of online gaming. Read more »
Major news hit the wires in the online poker world on Thursday, as the management of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker announced the launch of CEREUS, a poker platform that will combine the users and features from both sites. Read more »
It was only a matter of time before the Poker Players Alliance, the main lobbying group for the online poker industry in the United States, weighed in on the cheating scandal that has rocked Ultimate Bet, one of the world's largest online poker rooms. After all, the cheating occurred in an online environment that was not regulated by any U.S. entity, which is exactly what the PPA has been seeking ever since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was enacted into law in 2006. With regulation and oversight, in theory, future situations like the ones that occurred at Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker could be avoided altogether. Read more »
Leading Scandinavian gaming operator Betsafe joined Cryptologic's large poker network in January 2007 with Betsafe Poker. 18 months later, both companies have found a way to seamlessly merge wallets, so that Betsafe players can now use the same bankroll for poker, casino and sports betting. Read more »
You may have never heard of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association. It's called iMEGA for short and it's leading the charge to declare the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act unconstitutional. How, you ask, could the 2006 law be overturned? iMEGA is on the verge of filing its claim in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in the Northeast United States, charging that the UIGEA violates First Amendment rights. A judge recently granted the organization standing to sue. PokerNewsDaily recently spoke with iMEGA Executive Director Ed Leyden to learn more about the Washington-based organization and the future of its lawsuit. Read more »
Poker News Daily: You've had a lot of success in the Sunday major online poker tournaments. You've taken down the Full Tilt $750K Guaranteed, the Full Tilt Sunday Mulligan, and the Bodog $100K Guaranteed. What is the secret to your success? Herm: In the Sunday tournaments, you really have to play aggressively in order to win. Aggression is the key. In order to get through that many people, you either have to get really lucky or play really aggressively. Playing aggressively in the Sunday tournaments is actually easier than playing aggressively in the daily tournaments such as the $100 rebuy on PokerStars. Read more »
Online poker giant Party Poker is getting ready to celebrate its seventh birthday, a lucky landmark for the site and for its members, who stand to profit form generous guarantees and special tourneys. Read more »
